Daily or Weekly Calorie Intake?

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May33338
May33338 Posts: 300 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Which should I focus on?

Some people have told me that as long as I eat my weekly total of maintenance calories a week, I'll be able to stay at the same weight while others have told me to eat my maintenance calories every day to maintain the same weight.

My maintenance calories are 1400 per day, which means 9800 calories per week.

I tend to eat around 1200 calories from Monday through Friday because when I'm busy, I tend to not feel hungry, but around 1800-1900 on Saturday and Sunday when I have a lot of free time to cook and try out new recipes.

Should I change to eating 1400 everyday? Or is it okay for me to continue eating the way I do now?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Do what suits you now and for the rest of your life.
    Eating to the same calorie limit every day would be horribly restrictive to me.

    Must say your maintenance of 1400 is incredibly low!
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    I look at a week at a time, and I don't freak out if it's a little over because my real data point is "the last 30 days."
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    I agree that you should do what suits your lifestyle. If you're not going hungry during the week just so you can eat more on weekends, I don't see a problem with it. I've always eaten more on weekends. I don't typically cook on Saturdays or Sundays, so we eat out a lot. If it fits into my weekly goals, it's fine.

    Personally, I'd probably want to kill myself eating 1200 calories per day, weekday or not, but that's another issue entirely.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    I do weekly. I have 1840, I usually eat 1500 daily M-F and Sunday's. Which leaves me Saturday to not log and eat whatever. That is the day the BF makes waffles for breakfast, I drink the beer I want, if there's a dessert I've been wanting or dinner out. It's been working. I range between 148-153. I'm 5'11 and 36 years old.
  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
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    Weekly is what works best for me. It's a lot easier for me to eat low M-Th and then not watch so carefully on the weekends.
  • Whittedo
    Whittedo Posts: 352 Member
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    While I'm still in the losing mode I use daily calories, but once I am in maintenance (12.4 pounds from now) I will go to a weekly 4/3 plan where I will be more restrictive Monday - Thursday and looser on the weekend. If that doesn't work out I will go back to daily.
  • kluvit
    kluvit Posts: 435 Member
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    I recommend doing whatever will work for you for the long haul. Maintenance is all about maintaining the habits that help you stay within goal range. For me, imposing too many rules and "shoulds" on myself is a recipe for disaster as I tend to rebel against anything too restrictive; thus, I fit my nightly ice cream cone into my macros. Having that to look forward to (and pre-logged) helps me say no to other temptations throughout the day. I look at it daily so as not to go too far over, but as long as it averages out across the week, I'm happy. I usually eat more on the weekends, but workouts tend to be longer, so it all works out.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I focus on daily. But that's because I don't want to think of the week long #s. I do indirectly, though, by aiming for a slight deficit some days (100-200) to make up for having a few drinks, etc. others. But I don't aim for a perfect balance. As long as I'm within my maintenance weight range of 123-128, I don't stress too much on the details.
  • peacemongernc
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
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    I kind of do both, but that's because I'm not a rule follower. I aim, most days, for about 140 calories under maintenance, because technically I need to lose more. I lost 125ish a couple of years ago, and sort of stalled. But I'm happy where I am, so that's okay. So anyway, I aim for about 140 under maintenance, and usually hit that about 5 days a week. I often end up around maintenance most weeks. Recently, I've been having good weeks and bad weeks. One week I end up about 1400 under maintenance, and then the next I eat way too much, and end up close to maintenance over two weeks instead of one. I'm not entirely convinced this isn't a recipe for disaster, but I've been doing this for the last year and my weight has fluctuated, but not gotten out of hand.

    Ultimately, I'd say do what makes you feel the most in control and the most responsible. I think keeping that attitude of commitment to the cause is important. If you can do that spreading it out over a week, or even more, that's fine. If you feel like your slipping, take it a day at a time.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    Whatever works for you. I do weekly, and I've maintained for 11 years now.
  • bunnypy
    bunnypy Posts: 109 Member
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    I also maintain around 1400 (5'0 short, 108lbs), I do a bit of 4/3 fast because during the weekends I have a very low appetite, so Saturdays, Sundays & Wednesdays I eat 1000 calories and then the rest of week I eat like a tall person hahahahaha!
  • jane837
    jane837 Posts: 68 Member
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    Weekly works best for me, but just do what makes the most sense for you!
  • andrew125741
    andrew125741 Posts: 6 Member
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    Weekly is best for me, If i mess up on Tuesday i can fix it Wednesday, it makes it easier for me. Or you can plan meals ahead of time like pizza if you wanna low carb some days. Hope this helps
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    It is a continuum...we put time constraints on these things because that's how are little pea brains work..there is not "re-set" at midnight or 7 days later or whatever...it's a continuum.
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    Do what suits you now and for the rest of your life.
    Eating to the same calorie limit every day would be horribly restrictive to me.

    Must say your maintenance of 1400 is incredibly low!

    sijomial - It looks pretty reasonable to a short chick like me! (My TDEE on a day without exercise is 1450.) :D

    May - I think that sijomial's advice is pretty good. If you eat too many calories one day, don't eat as much the next day. Yesterday, we had Cream Cheese Chicken Croissants for dinner -- carby and fat-filled and so yummy I ate 3! And I was 250 calories over. Today, I burned 400 calories exercising and only had about 1300 calories total. I'm not taking out a calculator, but I figure the two about even out. If, at any point, I notice I'm putting on weight or losing too much (HA!), I'll be more strict with my caloric intake, but I'm not going to stress too much about things.

    All the many people telling you it's a continuum are right. When you've hit a weight you're happy with, yes, be careful that you don't fall into bad eating habits, but there's no sense in worrying about hitting a certain calorie goal every single day. Too stressful.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Weekly for me. My maintenance calories are not that high and there's no way I can be sure I will stick to that on a Saturday.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Weekly has always worked best for me through weight loss and maintenance

    Must admit I am struggling to see how 1400 can be a maintenance level though
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
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    I go by weekly because I tend to eat less calories during the week but then weekends are higher (and include alcohol lol). This has worked well for me, but you just need to experiment and see what's a good fit for you :)
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Weekly has always worked best for me through weight loss and maintenance

    Must admit I am struggling to see how 1400 can be a maintenance level though

    That’s cause you have 8” on them. A 5 foot 108 pound woman maintains at 1395/day according to IIFYM. Exercise 3 x per week bumps that up to 1595 though, so it sounds a lot better…

    Anyway, I go for daily, except for if I have a day where I’m either more or less hungry than usual - then I amortize my calories across a few days. Doing what works best for you is the way to go!

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