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4 Ways to do a Free Day (AKA Cheat Day)
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Feb 18, 2025
In this episode of the Lose Weight by Eating podcast, host Audrey Johns discusses the concept of 'free days'—a more positive spin on the traditional 'cheat days' in dieting. She shares her personal weight loss journey and explains how incorporating a free day each week can help maintain a healthy eating plan. Audrey outlines the benefits of free days, different approaches to implementing them, and essential rules to follow for a successful experience. She emphasizes the importance of self-compassion and enjoyment in the weight loss journey, encouraging listeners to embrace food freedom while still achieving their health goals.
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0:00
welcome back to the lose weight by
0:01
eating podcast I'm your host Audrey
0:03
Johns and this week I want to talk to
0:06
you about free days also known as cheat
0:09
days and we're going to get into why I
0:11
call them free days and not cheat days
0:13
but first let's do a little bit of
0:17
catching you up so last week I talked
0:19
about my reweight loss story as I like
0:21
to call it I was very vulnerable with
0:24
all of you and I talked about how I
0:26
gained a lot of weight after a
0:27
hysterctomy and had a really tough time
0:30
taking it off and it's not just a matter
0:33
of hey you know I gained some weight and
0:36
then I had to do the work to get it back
0:38
off no it was a whole journey so be sure
0:40
to check out the last episode but one of
0:42
the parts of this journey that really
0:44
helped me the most was having a free day
0:49
every week so what is a free day a free
0:53
day also known as a cheat day is a day
0:55
that you're allowed to go off of your
0:57
diet and why does that work is the big
1:01
question so there are a few different
1:03
reasons why a free day can work this
1:07
does not mean it will it all comes down
1:09
to you and your body and how your body
1:11
reacts to it but I do recommend trying
1:13
it out if this episode does resonate
1:15
with you so the first reason why a free
1:18
day will work is because it helps you
1:20
stay on plan right so if you say I can't
1:24
have that until free day but I can have
1:26
it then it does help you stay on plan
1:28
throughout the week the the other way
1:30
that it helps you is if you end up
1:32
having one day a
1:34
week where you have a lot more calories
1:37
than the other days so say Monday
1:39
through Saturday you're running on a
1:41
calorie deficit to lose weight obviously
1:44
you're having you know your recommended
1:47
amount of calories and maybe you're
1:49
exercising and not adding those extra
1:52
earned calories in so you're working on
1:54
a deficit when you have a day where you
1:56
go off the rails where you have maybe a
1:58
th000 extra calories and when you would
2:00
usually have your body says okay well we
2:04
don't have to worry about getting enough
2:06
calories anymore she's having more food
2:09
or he's having more food and then the
2:12
next day you end up burning more fat
2:14
because your body assumes it's going to
2:16
get that extra thousand calories it
2:18
takes two to three days for your body to
2:20
go okay I get it yeah we're on a calorie
2:23
deficit again so having that day where
2:26
you kind of have a few extra calories it
2:29
does trick your body if you're stuck in
2:31
a plateau this is a great way to get
2:33
over it but stay tuned to the rest of
2:35
the episode CU there are lots of
2:36
different ways that you can do a free
2:38
day and some are far healthier than
2:40
others so I schedule my free days on
2:43
Sundays and the reason why I schedule my
2:46
free days on Sundays it's the same
2:48
reason why I don't work out on Sundays
2:51
because it's the end of the week and if
2:53
something comes up
2:55
midweek say my birthday on a Tuesday and
2:59
I want to have a free day on a Tuesday
3:01
cuz it's my birthday and I don't want to
3:03
go to the gym on my birthday you I'm
3:05
sure you can understand that right then
3:07
I can just go ahead and take my free day
3:09
on that
3:10
Tuesday and I won't have it on Sunday I
3:13
just move it up but if your free day was
3:15
on Monday it would already be used so I
3:18
put it at the end of the week and I
3:20
almost always use it at the end of the
3:22
week but it does give me that luxury of
3:26
being able to have it whenever I want to
3:28
should the need AR
3:31
right so whenever I want something off
3:34
plan and last week I kind of went over
3:37
everything that I've been eating
3:38
recently what if I want to have
3:40
something that's not part of my calorie
3:43
budget or not part of my weekly plan I
3:46
tell myself you know what I can have it
3:49
on Sunday I'll just wait until Sunday
3:52
have it on my free day right I want a
3:55
donut hell yeah I can have a donut on
3:57
Sunday right but here's why this aspect
4:01
works as well come Sunday I don't always
4:05
want it I have now given myself the
4:07
permission to have it which therefore
4:11
makes me want it less which goes back to
4:14
my chocolate diet episode listen to that
4:16
one very helpful but more often than not
4:20
what we really want is the stuff we
4:21
can't have right as soon as you say well
4:25
I'm going to go low carb now all you
4:26
want is bread imp pasta right so the
4:29
whole idea is that you're telling
4:30
yourself I can have it but I got to wait
4:33
until Sunday and then Sunday rolls
4:35
around and maybe you don't actually want
4:36
it anymore and that's a really big win
4:38
so you don't have to have it at that
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point it's about taking that we want
4:44
what we can't have out of the equation
4:47
because you you can have it you just
4:48
have to plan for it so now a lot of you
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might be wondering why do I call it a
4:55
free day and not a cheat day
5:00
so cheat is a bad word cheat on a test
5:05
get kicked out of school cheat on your
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spouse get kicked out of a marriage
5:09
cheating is a bad
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word right it's it's not there's no
5:15
positivity around it but a free day
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meaning I am free to have whatever I
5:20
want hell that sounds like fun so call
5:23
it a free day because You' earned it
5:25
you're not cheating on your diet this is
5:27
part of your diet
5:30
I am free to eat whatever I want on free
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day which also means I am free to stay
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on plan on free day and have nothing
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extra that's fine too and I've done
5:40
it so let's stop calling it something so
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negative because it's not negative
5:46
you're not screwing up you're not
5:47
messing up you're not cheating on your
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diet this is part of the
5:52
plan so taking that negative connotation
5:55
out of it is so so helpful I really do
5:58
recommend that you try
6:01
it now let's get into the different
6:03
types of free days cuz I swing all over
6:05
the place on these
6:08
five but there are many different ways
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to do it the first is probably the one
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that you have in your head right now
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where you go wild nothing is off limits
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you can have absolutely anything you
6:21
want to have today knock yourself out
6:23
bab and yep you can you can do that with
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any diet you want including the lose
6:28
weight by eating diet
6:30
go
6:31
crazy go wild have what anything you
6:34
want that's the first kind of free day
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and keep in mind you can there is no
6:40
real rule here I mean I'm just telling
6:42
you to go wild so you can choose how you
6:46
want to do these different free days I'm
6:48
just trying to give you a few different
6:50
ways to look at it the next one is you
6:53
only drink alcohol on free days now when
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I was losing reusing all of my weight I
7:00
found that alcohol was a real problem
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for me not in that I was abusing it but
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most of my extra calories were coming
7:06
from alcohol and if I just cut that
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piece out it was easy and with that
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said there were times that I worked it
7:14
into my diet so I still had the same
7:16
amount of calories and I still wasn't
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losing weight for some
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people alcohol can actually cause you to
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gain weight even if you're staying
7:25
within your calorie goals if you don't
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want to give up that aspect of that
7:30
whole social aspect of going out and
7:32
having fun with friends you can do it on
7:35
free day now let's quickly say please
7:39
don't ruin your liver all in one day
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please don't drink a 12pack of beer you
7:44
know but if you want to have a couple of
7:45
cocktails and have fun go to brunch on a
7:47
Sunday yes do that have
7:50
fun but this is another way where you
7:53
could kind of toe touch into the low
7:56
alcohol lifestyle so that's a fun way to
7:58
do it
8:00
then there's also and this is the one I
8:02
typically try to lean towards going to
8:05
be honest I'm not always perfect but
8:06
it's only one free meal on free
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day so say for instance I knew I was
8:13
going to go out to lunch with friends
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that would mean I would have a healthy
8:17
breakfast have a fun lunch with my
8:19
friends and then come back home and have
8:21
a healthy dinner so you could do it that
8:24
way where it's only one meal that you
8:27
kind of go off the rails on the fourth
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way to do a free day would be no calorie
8:32
counting but go all natural let me give
8:35
you an example of this recently I did a
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free day and it was 12 degrees outside I
8:40
was not going to go out and get treats I
8:43
was you know it was cold I just wanted
8:46
to stay home and watch movies and stay
8:48
warm and I went a little overboard with
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snacks that day but they were all
8:54
healthy I had a big old handful of
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cashews 250 calories is not an ideal
8:59
amount for a St but I went for it so the
9:03
way of just eating all
9:05
natural the way you already are but just
9:09
enjoying some extra SN and just not
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counting those calories going over your
9:14
calorie your calorie goals but maybe
9:17
you're not stressed or worried about how
9:20
many calories in all these different
9:21
things you're just like it's all natural
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it's fine and then one of the last ways
9:26
and I'm sure I will have many more ideas
9:28
but how to Go Wild on a free day and
9:30
please make sure to leave me your
9:32
comments on what I missed cuz I'm sure I
9:34
did miss some but only eating specific
9:38
things on a free day so this is kind of
9:40
like only having alcohol on a free day
9:42
only having sugar on a free day if
9:44
you're giving up sugar only having beef
9:46
on a free day if you're trying to
9:48
eliminate red meats or only having carbs
9:51
on free day if you're trying to go low
9:53
carb this is another great way where you
9:55
can still try to eat healthy or
9:58
healthyish but still enjoy these things
10:01
that you're missing on a regular
10:03
day-to-day basis on free
10:06
day so now we get to the point where I
10:09
want to ask you a few questions should
10:12
you try a free
10:13
day so if you answer yes to any of these
10:17
I want to recommend that you try free
10:19
days for one to two
10:21
months do you regularly go off of your
10:24
eating
10:25
plan right if you
10:28
regularly have have an extra cookie have
10:30
a slice of cake too much pizza you know
10:33
if you
10:34
typically at some point in the week go
10:37
off plan a free day might be perfect for
10:40
you cuz now allowing yourself to have
10:42
it and you're able to stay on plan
10:45
throughout the whole week because you
10:46
know I'm going to be able to have that
10:48
on free day it makes it easier second
10:51
question are you having difficulty
10:53
sticking to the
10:55
plan well here's your reward at the end
10:58
of the week don't have to stick to the
11:00
plan for one whole day your next
11:02
question are you waiting until you lose
11:04
all of the weight you want to lose
11:06
before you can have the foods you love
11:08
again let me ask that again are you I'm
11:12
going to ask it in a different way are
11:13
you planning on having anything you want
11:15
once you lose all that weight because
11:18
you will gain it all back
11:20
H if you are waiting to have the foods
11:24
that you love until you lose
11:26
weight three days is perfect for you
11:29
because you can have those foods and
11:31
still lose weight and actually turn this
11:34
into a lifestyle as opposed to a binge
11:38
diet that you'll end up gaining all the
11:40
weight back I'm sorry I know that's
11:42
harsh but it's the
11:44
truth and then my favorite one do your
11:46
kids or your family beg you to go out to
11:48
eat and you feel like you
11:51
can't if your kids are begging you to go
11:53
to McDonald's and you feel like you
11:56
can't go out for pizza order pizza go
11:59
out for ice cream get donuts go to
12:01
brunch any of these things are your kids
12:03
or your family or your friends begging
12:05
you to go out and do this stuff try free
12:07
day for it but there are some rules and
12:10
that's the next step know rules are the
12:12
worst part right I think you're going to
12:14
like these though free day rule number
12:18
one no feeling guilty
12:23
nope you're not allowed to feel
12:25
guilty no punishing yourself is rule
12:29
number two so you may not absolutely may
12:32
not and yes I am getting Stern Audrey
12:35
here but you may not skip a meal the
12:37
next day to make up for it and you may
12:39
not work out twice as hard the next day
12:41
to make up for it then it's on a free
12:43
day then it's a punishment day or a
12:45
cheat
12:47
day next rule is stop calling it a cheat
12:50
day it has a negative connotation and
12:52
will make you want to punish yourself or
12:54
feel bad you earned this day enjoy it
13:00
call it a free day the next rule is try
13:04
maybe it's not a rule maybe it's a a
13:07
gentle nudge try to keep it all natural
13:10
if you can no fake sugars no
13:14
preservatives you know we're about to
13:16
get to what I had yesterday so that's
13:19
why I'm saying try and final free day
13:21
rule celebrate it celebrate it you got
13:25
to the end of the week you stayed on
13:27
plan you planned for this this this is
13:29
your day have some freaking fun
13:32
man
13:34
now I've alluded to it let's talk
13:37
about my free day so if you follow me on
13:41
Instagram I posted a picture of
13:44
something Divine that I found at the
13:46
grocery store I grew up in New Orleans
13:48
part of my childhood was in New Orleans
13:50
and we are in Marty gr season and my
13:53
daughter and I are walking through our
13:55
local Kroger of all places it's called
13:57
Fred Meyer here but I like to say Koger
13:59
because they're called something
14:00
different in each area walking through
14:03
and my daughter says to me she asks me
14:06
is it Marty gr and I such a random
14:09
question to hear in January of all times
14:12
I turned to her and I go no why cuz
14:15
there's a Marty gr cake here and I look
14:18
down and there is one only one king cake
14:22
and I recognize the label I know I've
14:25
had this Bakery back in New
14:27
Orleans and there's only won and I spent
14:30
$20 on a damn king cake and I have no
14:33
guilt I was able to share this
14:36
experience with my daughter we I was
14:38
able to explain to her all of
14:41
the fun aspects of having a king Kake my
14:45
my stepdaughter loves trying new foods
14:48
she has like a list of all these
14:49
different foods she wants to try so the
14:51
next time she was over I got to
14:53
introduce her to King cake it was an
14:54
amazing experience so what I did was I
14:57
sliced it into appropriate servings
15:01
using quotes here appropriate servings
15:03
and I froze it on a sheet pan and then I
15:06
put all of the slices of king cake into
15:09
a big gallon freezer bag and froze it
15:12
and that's what I've been having every
15:14
single week for my free day I've been
15:17
having king cake for breakfast and and
15:20
before when I said you know no
15:23
preservatives none honestly there is
15:26
three different colors of sugar on top
15:29
like there's no way this is a all
15:31
natural at the very least there are food
15:34
dyes in it which I really do try to stay
15:35
away from
15:37
but you guys I live in Boise Idaho I
15:39
haven't had a king cake from New Orleans
15:42
since the East there's no way I'm going
15:44
to pass this up and once it's all gone
15:46
it's all gone and you know I'll be
15:48
hopeful to find another one but I'm not
15:50
going to go out of my way to order one
15:52
or you know it's fine I'm going to live
15:54
it up I'm going to enjoy it so yes I
15:57
have cake for breakfast
15:59
and then we had gotten some here in
16:02
Boise Idaho we now have two two
16:06
In-N-Outs and as a California girl I'm
16:08
so happy about that and my partner also
16:10
grew up in California so we got lots of
16:13
In-N-Out gift cards for for Christmas
16:16
and Hanukkah and for my partner's
16:18
birthday so we've been going in and out
16:20
and I get a I get a burger and I get
16:24
fries and I get a Neapolitan Shake oh
16:27
gosh you guys so good good it used to be
16:29
a strawberry shake but then I Revisited
16:33
the secret menu online and yeah if you
16:37
haven't tried any AP poan shake you kind
16:39
of haven't lived so then what do I do
16:41
sorry I'm actually salivating and I just
16:43
had this yesterday but I know I can have
16:45
it on Sunday so I'm okay so I also had
16:50
whatever healthy snacks I wanted we had
16:52
these great seed crackers that we get at
16:55
Trader Joe's They're phenomenal I had a
16:57
couple of those didn't even worry about
16:59
how many calories and then for dinner I
17:02
made a healthy meal like I always make
17:05
every single night but what I did
17:08
differently
17:10
was in the next episode we're going to
17:12
talk about doing a low grain diet as
17:15
opposed to a low carb diet because low
17:17
carb makes me grumpy but I typically
17:20
find that I don't do well with grains at
17:23
dinner that if I just go low grains or
17:27
low carb for dinner then I'm able to
17:30
lose Andor main weight maintain my
17:32
weight but on free day I get to have the
17:35
rice or the quinoa or the pasta or
17:37
whatever it is that I'm making for
17:38
everyone else in the household and so
17:41
that's what my free day looks like
17:46
now I quickly want to go over the rules
17:49
again please bear with me because it's
17:53
very important if you have a free day
17:56
and you feel guilty about it then you're
17:59
going to punish yourself and then you're
18:01
going to starve yourself the next day
18:03
all of this is it's not
18:07
helpful and it actually really harms all
18:10
of the good that a free day could do for
18:12
you because remember how I said at the
18:13
at the top of this podcast
18:15
episode you can do a free day and it can
18:18
trick your body into losing more weight
18:22
but if you do a free day and then the
18:24
next day you go to the gym for two extra
18:26
hours and starve yourself and don't eat
18:28
breakfast or lunch it's not going to
18:30
help it's going to hurt you it's going
18:32
to really mess up your system so no
18:34
feeling guilty no punishing
18:38
yourself stop calling it a cheat
18:42
day that's where all the guilty and the
18:45
punishment comes from from one stupid
18:47
little word please please stop using
18:50
that word try to keep it all natural you
18:53
know as much as possible and celebrate
18:56
it so I hope this has been helpful I
18:58
have truly found that having one free
19:01
day a week helps me stay on plan you
19:05
don't have to use it you really don't
19:08
and if this sounds too difficult try
19:11
listening to my chocolate diet episode
19:13
it is as amazing as it sounds and it
19:16
does take some of what you may have
19:19
learned from this podcast episode and
19:21
reapply it to the daytoday basis so be
19:26
sure to check out more episodes of the
19:28
lose we by eting podcasts like the
19:31
chocolate diet yes yes check me out at
19:34
lose weby eating.com follow me on
19:36
Instagram at Audrey Johns on Tik Tok at
19:39
Audrey Lee Johns and on Facebook at
19:42
loseweight by eating with Audrey Johns
19:43
thanks so much stay tuned to next week
19:46
the episode we're going to talk about a
19:48
low grain diet something so much more
19:51
doable than the stinky old low carb diet
19:54
I think you're going to love it thanks
19:56
so much for listening have a great day
19:58
be kind to yourself please no more cheat
20:01
day it's a free day babe bye
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