Weekly calories or daily calories?

Jmgkamp

Hi All,

Do you look at your weekly or daily calories to make sure you're in deficit?

I thought that weekly was fine (if you have an over you can make up for it with an under). I'm correct, aren't I?

SueInAz

There's no magic reset at midnight, our bodies are burning calories 24/7 so I also think about my calories more on a weekly basis.

Jmgkamp

Thanks, I just needed another voice of reason. I'm actually getting in trouble with my intake, I'm going way under 1200 calories daily. Believe me, I'm here and looking to lose another almost 80 pounds (past my already lost 30) so it's not as if I've never been able to eat - I'm quite good at consuming, it's what got me here to begin with.

But I'm worried because I'm averaging really low calories. Unhealthy amounts. And I have a scale and log every single thing that I eat. Down to the gram.

The last thing I want to do is detail or sabotage myself. But I've changed so much about what and how I eat, that even a day after I've eaten 700 calories I can't seem to allow myself to eat more than 1200. I'm not doing myself any good in this thinking. I've got to figure this one out...

jemhh

I follow a daily average across one week, which I define as Monday through Sunday.

SueInAz

Jmgkamp wrote: »

Thanks, I just needed another voice of reason. I'm actually getting in trouble with my intake, I'm going way under 1200 calories daily. Believe me, I'm here and looking to lose another almost 80 pounds (past my already lost 30) so it's not as if I've never been able to eat - I'm quite good at consuming, it's what got me here to begin with.

But I'm worried because I'm averaging really low calories. Unhealthy amounts. And I have a scale and log every single thing that I eat. Down to the gram.

The last thing I want to do is detail or sabotage myself. But I've changed so much about what and how I eat, that even a day after I've eaten 700 calories I can't seem to allow myself to eat more than 1200. I'm not doing myself any good in this thinking. I've got to figure this one out...

You're right. You're risking long term negative effects if you continue to eat so little. For one, more of your lost weight will be from muscle rather than fat which will lower your metabolism and make it even harder for you to lose weight as time goes on.

If one of the things you've changed is eating a lot of "light", "reduced fat" or "low fat" foods, switch to full fat, normal foods. It's an easy way to eat more calories without adding more food. Most of those foods have added sugar to replace the fat lost which isn't really ideal, anyway. I hope you get things sorted out.

Jmgkamp

Yes, starting today I'm focusing on meeting my goal for calories. It's been ridiculous for the past two weeks. The last thing I need is to lose muscle!!! Thanks for the feedback.