Cheaters
6 07 2008I had a great 4th of July weekend. I drank too much, ate too much, and had tons of fun with tons of friends. I also got in a ton of walking, and while I didnt get in an official workout, my steps each day totalled out to about 17000. Which is really good for me when I wasnt even trying by hopping on one foot while watching tv or making extra trips to bring in the groceries.
So this morning as I was sipping my coffee and picking at an english muffin with peanut butter because I am still full from last nights burgers, pasta salad, mojitos and fruit from a friend’s birthday party, I opened my email to find this little gem: Weekends Slow Weightloss.
I know for me, on the weekends, not only do I tend to eat food that normally wouldn’t be my first choice, but the times I eat at tends to be all over the place as well.
During the week (Mon-Thur) I always eat like so:
4:45- Breakfast
10:30- Snack
2:30- Lunch
5:30- Dinner
9:00ish- Snack
Friday, during the day is the same, but I usually go out (either a party or otherwise) and snack a lot more, or have a few drinks. I NEVER drink during the week. Just dont have any desire to. Its more of a social thing for me.
Then Saturday, its never same, but usually:
10:30- Breakfast
3:00- Lunch
8:00- Pick up something quick, or snack the whole night away, depending on the plans.
Sunday, is the same as Saturday, but dinner is a bit more structured.
I dont keep track of the calories, but during Friday and Saturday I know I eat a lot more than I do during the week.
Keep in mind, I rarely have any guilt when it comes to food (which took me a REALLY LONG TIME and a CRAP TON OF MONEY to get over) so all of this isnt an “I ate way too much I feel horrible,” or a “I screwed up/cheated this weekend,” kind of post. Cheated what? or Who? I never really got the turn of phrase. BUT it is an observation, that even for me, someone who has no intentions of losing weight, and doesnt restrict whatsoever, I still goes overboard on the weekends just like everyone else.
Or does everyone else?
Does anyone out there have, say, Monday as they day the stray from their normal eating patterns?
Does anyone eat consistantly throughout the entire week with no noticable difference in their intake?
For those of you that use “cheat days” to help keep you sane during the week, do you use them as an excuse to go completely nuts, or are they actually a day that you splurge just a bit to keep you on track? Are you doing a structured diet, (atkins, southbeach,) or do you just try and watch what you eat and stop for a day during the week?
What makes those days you cheat different than others? Do you pick your day in advance? Is it always the same? Or does it change depending on the situation for that week?
For me, its that I don’t work on the weekends, so I dont have that set schedule of knowing where i will be and when i will be able to eat the entire day. Also, on the weekends there are more social engagements where the food and alcohol are abundant.
Do you think people are just using the weekend as an excuse? I don’t know anyone that uses cheat days on, say, Thursdays, because you’d rather save it for the weekend when those chances to go really crazy and cheat your heart out are more common. Is that healthy or is it planting a negative message about food?
I don’t “cheat” either. This is not a test; it’s life. Therefore, I “splurge”. It sounds so much more civilized. Luxurious, even.
I do allow myself one splurge meal per month to accommodate celebrations with family and friends. Or to salve a really, really strong craving, like pizza or chips and dip. The splurge starts when I sit down at the table and ends when I get up. None of this all day eating and calling it “my splurge meal.” I also have Cake Day, which occurs every 2500 minutes of vigorous exercise IF I’m eating healthy otherwise.
Your post made me realize I missed my splurge meal for June. I hate when that happens.
i used to do the “saturday” cheat day thing, but then it evolved to the weekend and now i’m kind of mindless about it – which is good b/c i’m not obsessing about calories or food intake anymore or feeling guilt, but i definitely agree that my eating is not as structured as it is mon-thurs… nor is it as balanced…
silly question for you and if you dont want to share this information, i completely understand, but what do you eat in a typical day… i was intrigued that we have similar “eating” patterns in terms of times & number of meals, so i was just curious if you ate mini meals, large meals w/ snacks in between, etc…
have a good rest of the weekend… interesting cartoon!
I actually think that my eating is more regulated on the weekends… busy schedule means i eat when i can, which is bad
Cammy- i like that- “its not a test, its life.” People have a pass/fail relationship with food which just sets you up to fail. no one can eat perfectly all the time. im not even sure what eating perfectly is. i have a 90/10 relationship with food. I eat healthy 90 percent of the time, so when i want to eat something unhealthy- i do. because i want to and i said so.
Lindsay- it always changes so its hard to say, but usually I have:
Breakfast: an english muffin with peanut butter and coffee with ff milk, or some oatmeal with peanut butter and nuts w/ coffee w/ff milk
snack: 1 banana with a ff yogurt and cheese stick, or a banana with a power bar or something like that
lunch: a turkey sandwhich on ww bread w/ lettuve and veggies and a piece of fruit, or whatever i had for dinner the last night
Dinner: a turkey burger on ww bun with oven baked sweet potato fries, or pasta with veggies, or if im lazy scrambled eggs with ww toast and peanut butter, or even cereal and an english muffin or bagel.
Snack: an ice cream cone, or just ice cream, or if i ate all the ice cream, some yogurt with granola.
I like ice cream
But like i said it always changes.
Adria- interesting. Even though Im busy during the week, its always with the same stuff (work, gym, writing, etc.) so I always know when I will have time to eat. Its hard when you are out all the time though, like people in college, cause its hard to carry a lot of food along with you. Im really bad at that. Ill just think, “oh ill wait till later,” or i wont bring enough food along and end up grabbing something.
I don’t do the whole cheat or splurge thing either. I just kinda eat what I want. We tend to eat out more on the weekends so I guess you could say the meals that I don’t have control over “health” wise are on the weekends. I follow the 80/20 rule for food. Okay, I shouldn’t say rule, but I eat good 80% of the time. The other 20% is fun stuff. This weekend was filled with homeady PB cookies, banana pudding, strawberry shortcake, and candy. I’m not talking about “give me a tiny bite” portions either. But you know what? I don’t eat like that all the time. I was celebrating the weekend with family and friends. I do like my healthy junk too. Lately I have been on a ZBar kick. I’ll eat two a day (just finished one actually). Sure, I could sub that chocolate brownie Z bar with fruit and a string cheese but sometimes I just want a Zbar or too!! I used to feel guilty about giving into my cravings but not any more. I eat healthy most of the time so I figure I’m not going to put on a ton of weight with my everday indulgences. Phew, that was long winded and I don’t even know my point. Now, where is the ice cream?
Not related to the food discussion (although I know I drink more on weekends and if I’m eating more it’s usually related to the drinking), but I am so happy to see the toothpastefordinner comic. which makes me need to mention the xkcd.com comics because those are the ones that have stolen my heart. oops.
I do tend to be more unstructured on weekends – I sleep later, tend to eat brunch instead of breakfast and lunch and yeah, a few drinks are usually consumed.
I don’t count calories or anything, but I try to keep the quantities relatively normal anyway. I’m never going to be perfect on weekends simply because I refuse to let my eating dictate my life. Life happens and I’m not going to turn down a night out because it doesn’t fit into my ‘diet’
toothpaste for dinner rules.
i think it’s normal to have days where you eat more and other days (because of business, whatever) where you don’t. whether that falls into a weekday/weekend pattern or not is arbitrary, but in our society that’s natural for a lot of us (including me). kath calls it this natural up/down pattern the ‘squiggly line’ approach, and i think a lot of people do it without even thinking about it, really, and things just average out. hunger levels naturally balance things out a lot of the time, even if we don’t consciously realize that. i think our bodies are actually smarter than we give them credit for sometimes . . .
Kelly L- i eat what i want, too. I eat what makes me feel good. My body doesnt like fried stuff, and really sugary stuff- it literally makes me sick to my stomach. But sometimes i crave it, so i listen to my body and give it want it wants.
Kristie M- thanks for the link. If you like that stuff, you should look at bunny suicides. they are adorable, hilarious and dark. the best combo.
Gemfit-yeah im fascinated by this idea of a “cheat” day. eating shouldn’t be so rigorious that you CHOOSE when you are going to have a good day and “bad” day.
sarah- of course your food is going to change from day to day, but its the idea of planning it out that gets me. you shouldnt eat healthy so that you can “earn” the right to eat whatever you want for 1 day. Its that restrict and then overcompensate mentality that ruins people’s relationships with food.
In general- i think the term “diet” gets thrown around a lot in the wrong way. What you eat is your diet. thats the definition. if you eat your weight in hersheys syrup, thats part of your diet. everything fits.
For me, I know the weekends mean less moving and more eating. Typically don’t go to the gym. Have to make a plan for a run. And we are more likely to go out to eat on the weekends. Thank goodness for Monday mornings when the gym and better eating take place.
No cheat days for me either and no good foods or bad foods. All is good in moderation. And for me, that usually works out to be the same eating schedule during the week due to work, and all over the place on the weekends. And typically, I eat more on Friday and Saturday nights and then on Sundays I barely eat anything because I’m just not hungry.
But, in the summer, I do manage to do a ridiculous amount of cleaning and yardwork, which are good calorie burners. Oh, and I teach a Saturday morning bootcamp.
kelly — i completely agree with you. i’m just saying the action of ‘uneven’ eating is normal, and i think it is the mindset behind it that can be problematic. i am not by ANY means advocating restriction on the weekdays to party friday night, more just that things often do even out naturally. and i am not a fan of the ‘diet’ concept either.
FBG- couldnt have said it better myself!
Sarah- exactly. what is normal eating, you know? I think normal eating and healthy eating are too different things.
I definitely don’t count calories.. but I think about food groups all the time (like varying the fruit I eat and making sure to get in as many veggies as I can). I tend to be a bit more structured thoughout the day, but night-time kills me.. I come home and snack more mindlessly. Funny enough, I usually workout on the weekends and don’t tend to snack as much throughout the day… but it’s always the night for me when I consume more than I should. I used to eat so much snack food and candy as a kid that I find it really hard to stop the snacking pattern (and if I don’t have candy in the house, which I usually don’t, I just look for other things to nosh on). I’ll do well for awhile, but then it catches up with me again. Thankfully I don’t really have weight loss goals right now, but I need to watch it so I don’t gain and don’t interfere with my desire strengthen and tone.
I don’t have much to say about cheating – my opinion varies by the month on whether I think it’s a great idea or Satan’s spawn. But that cartoon made me laugh my butt off! Oh, I love it.
I don’t have a special cheat day or anything like that. I work part time and from week to week the days that I work changes. Also, all of my friends are from different parts of my life so I tend to hang out with people more one-on-one than in group situations, which means that I do a lot of socializing… usually in the way of going out to eat. I get lunch or dinner etc with friends several times a week. I manage it all by eating as healthy as I can wherever I go, and sort of go by how I’m feeling… if I really want the dessert, I’ll get it. I go by what my body tells me rather than have a set day that I let myself indulge to excess.
I actually just left a comment on Charlotte’s site about this very thing. Normally I’m really good all week, with snacks in the evening but nothing too crazy, and on Fridays my husband and I usually get some really fun dessert…then back to the healthy stuff all weekend (minus the dinner we eat with the in-laws on Sunday night). But THIS weekend – I’ve been completely bingeing (did I spell that right?) on carrot cake. I had three pieces yesterday – three square meals as I see it. But tomorrow’s my birthday, so I’m going to indulge and try not to beat my self up about it too much. I did choose my Kashi cereal in favor of the cake this morning. Oh, and yesterday morning – I ran my fastest 3 miles yet! I think it had something to do with the BBQ all weekend with a healthy dose of carrot cake on the side!
Great post-weekend post! I definitely eat worse during the weekends. I think for me it’s that the people I tend to hang out with really do not prioritize nutrition in their lives. I try to, but I so am not cut out to be the nutrition police or the girl who orders the dish on the “healthy eats” section of the menu. And one of the reasons I love reading the blogs I do, most especially this little blog, is because they make me think there are other cool people out there who care about being nice to their bodies and feeling energetic and taking care of themselves, but who are not rigid and humorless about it…sometimes, eating junk food doesn’t feel good physically, but emotionally it feels better than being overly rigid, for me!
Sorry, I had to comment again – TFH – you are so right and I definitely feel your pain! I love my sweets as much as the next girl, but I feel like absolute crap right now after my cake filled weekend. And it seems like everyone around us (my husband and I) wants us to eat horrible food all the time, and we just feel obligated. *SIGH*
I am 100% a weekend ‘cheater’. I never really have what I assign as ‘cheat days’, it is more that during the week I pack my food to take to work and I just am a lot more organized. On weekends, I am usually out of town or have plans to go out, therefore I am obviously going to eat different things. I can’t imagine saying I eat the same thing all the time and never deviate…where is the joy of food in that??
I actually think my eating is fairly the same throughout most of the week, I eat what I want (in moderation), when I want. I found just trying to tell myself I get a “cheat meal” on the weekend makes me crave it more and want to splurge every day instead. So just letting myself have little bits of what I want when I want works so much better.
But I am AWFUL with water on weekends, which is strange since I get more exercise in then… I really need more water in my weekends…
This post is really timely for me as I am currently struggling with the whole concept of a “cheat” meal. I don’t always plan the day unless I have a social activity but I will usually allow myself to “cheat” on my weekend date night or something. I am trying to move more towards your 90/10 approach because I am given to extremes. I’m either on or off and I don’t think that is a healthy approach. So a cheat meal for me will have an (unhealthy) appetizer, meal *and* dessert because I gotta get it all in while I can right? I do tend towards more disorganized eating on the weekends because my schedule is not set. I try to hit up bootcamp on Saturday and I always do a long run on Sunday. Hopefully, the exercise counteracts my tendency to crave carbs and carbs only during the weekend.
I have to admit that I do have a “cheat meal”. But after reading all these comments I’m starting to think I should stop viewing food as good or bad. I’m aware of my eating and what I do. I know that I have a problem with wanting to control all that I eat so during the week I eat very healthy and I know (each day) what I am going to be eating. But that’s the sad part of OCD. I’m trying to stop counting calories but that is a slow process. This past weekend I did take my “flaw” out for a margarita, okay four and a quarter!!! They were damn good and for the first time in a long time I didn’t wake up the next morning angry with myself. Just with a horrible headache.
I’d have to say that “cheat” days tend happen for me once a week, whether I schedule them or not. I’m not against, say, a Thursday cheat day, but the opportunity for cheat days that are worth it (i.e. birthday parties, family parties, a night out with the girls) just tend to happen more on the weekends, so I usually plan to go off my normal eating routine for a weekend event, not an entire day. I think it helps me to see it as a “cheat meal” or “cheat night” rather than an entire day. I look forward to the event more but don’t see the entire day as a reason to eat differently. It helps me lessen any guilt I may feel after eating more or differently than I would on a non-cheat day. Hope this made at least some sense!
I used to be really big on the concept of “off” days (as in, had them, not advocated them) but have really tried to stop that approach because a) it made me feel WAY too restricted during the week if my friends went to happy hour or something and b) I was eating things because I “could” and not because I wanted them. Like, I’d grab a muffin for breakfast on Friday becuase it was Friday and would go out for dinner and drinks that night anyway. But did I really want the muffin? Well, I always want muffins, but probably not especially that day.
So I’ve tried to even out. For all the reasons you said (regular schedule, lunch packing, etc.) my weekdays tend to be more regular and healthier, while my weekends incorporate more drinking and eating out. But I’ve toned down the mentality of “now or never” to the weekends which makes me feel a lot freer during the week for the one-off baseball game or happy hour. It’s all a process, right?
The one thing though – I do tend to get a lot more analytical and critical of my intake on the weekend, to my own mental detriment sometimes. I haven’t had a muffin in a long time, and I’ve wanted one but been worried I was going back to that “all or nothing” approach. And that’s no fun. So I guess “all or nothing” swings both ways, right?
Oh – I almost replaced the word “muffin” with “candy” because for some reason muffin sounds dirty. But I didn’t because I just really really like muffins for some reason.
My splurge: when I’m hungover (and home on long island) I get a completely guilt free ny bagel: everything bagel with low fat vegetable cream cheese… Its the BEST but it had no nutritional value haha