Over eat then under eat?

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losingArni
losingArni Posts: 89
in Food and Nutrition
So, I am considering going over my daily cals for the day, and then making up for it my being under by the amount I am over today, tomorrow. do any of you do this? eat over your intake one day and then compensate by eating less the next?
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Replies

  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)
  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
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    occasionally, but it doesnt really seem to work..all it does is make me feel horrible about myself for acting like a pig..damn those hungry days..good luck
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    I hope you're being sarcastic?

    Your body is NOT on a 24 hour clock, at least not when it comes to weight loss. What matters is your overall calorie intake over time. If you're generally eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    What a lot of people (inlcuidng myself) do is look at our WEEKLY goals instead of daily. I net about 1400 calories a day, which is 9800 per week. As long as at the end of the week I'm at or below 9800 calories, I'm going to lose weight right on track... even if I went over a couple days.

    So the short answer is yes, you can go over and make up for it the next day. I do it all the time and have had great success.
  • meredith1123
    meredith1123 Posts: 843 Member
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    Yes, but the scale may fluctuate up then back down more because of it so if you are a person who focuses on the scale, dont weigh yourself except one day a week.
    I may have bad days, but i'll try and have a few REALLY good days to make up for it. I tend to focus on my macros mostly but as long as i am overall averaging out or balancing out my 'average weekly calories/macros' intake, then all is well.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
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    Of course you can compensate by eating less the next day. That's one way thin people stay thin. Many people do it because they happen to have overeaten one day, not as an ongoing weight-loss strategy.

    The real issue is are you regularly overeating in large quantities with the expectation that you'll make it up the next day? That may be a poor habit to develop.

    Your focus should be on your overall calorie intake for the week. Make sure you eat healthily and create an appropriate calorie deficit.
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,124 Member
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    Well if you think about it you need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1 lb. Who is to say that your deficit has to be 500/day? Why wouldn't it be 1000 today and 0 tomorrow? Many people just look at their weekly calories vs daily. However.... your TDEE is daily... so make sure you're not going over by THAT much because you can't make that up later :) For instance, my TDEE is 2460.... so I make sure even if I go over my daily goal that I stay under 2460 at all costs.
  • Vonwarr
    Vonwarr Posts: 390 Member
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    Many people balance their calories on a weekly basis instead of a daily basis. It's definitely possible, contrary to the previous poster.

    Just be aware that a low cal day like that can trigger hunger/binging for some. So, if you are prone, be mindful during the low cal day and the day after.
  • ChristinaR720
    ChristinaR720 Posts: 1,186
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    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    ^^^Did you just make this up?

    Your calorie deficit should be based on your weekly calorie intake, not your daily intake. What the OP is describing is a form of calorie cycling. It works for some people and doesn't for others. It helped me break through my plateau. Just make sure you don't go too low on the lower calorie days, and try not to eat too much over your TDEE on your higher calorie days (you can eat at your TDEE on those days, though).
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    I hope you're being sarcastic?

    Your body is NOT on a 24 hour clock, at least not when it comes to weight loss. What matters is your overall calorie intake over time. If you're generally eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    What a lot of people (inlcuidng myself) do is look at our WEEKLY goals instead of daily. I net about 1400 calories a day, which is 9800 per week. As long as at the end of the week I'm at or below 9800 calories, I'm going to lose weight right on track... even if I went over a couple days.

    So the short answer is yes, you can go over and make up for it the next day. I do it all the time and have had great success.

    Your body is on a 24 hour clock per my doctor. I'm going with what he says. That's why we have our sleep cycles and all of our other body's rhythms and cycles. 24 hours. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic. If I eat 3,000 calories one day and only 1,500 the next it does not "undo" the day before. I have to be under by 500 calories per day not per week. See what I mean?
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    I hope you're being sarcastic?

    Your body is NOT on a 24 hour clock, at least not when it comes to weight loss. What matters is your overall calorie intake over time. If you're generally eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    What a lot of people (inlcuidng myself) do is look at our WEEKLY goals instead of daily. I net about 1400 calories a day, which is 9800 per week. As long as at the end of the week I'm at or below 9800 calories, I'm going to lose weight right on track... even if I went over a couple days.

    So the short answer is yes, you can go over and make up for it the next day. I do it all the time and have had great success.

    Your body is on a 24 hour clock per my doctor. I'm going with what he says. That's why we have our sleep cycles and all of our other body's rhythms and cycles. 24 hours. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic. If I eat 3,000 calories one day and only 1,500 the next it does not "undo" the day before. I have to be under by 500 calories per day not per week. See what I mean?

    You and your doctor are mistaken. Badly.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    THIS:

    24 hour clock.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    Options
    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    I hope you're being sarcastic?

    Your body is NOT on a 24 hour clock, at least not when it comes to weight loss. What matters is your overall calorie intake over time. If you're generally eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    What a lot of people (inlcuidng myself) do is look at our WEEKLY goals instead of daily. I net about 1400 calories a day, which is 9800 per week. As long as at the end of the week I'm at or below 9800 calories, I'm going to lose weight right on track... even if I went over a couple days.

    So the short answer is yes, you can go over and make up for it the next day. I do it all the time and have had great success.

    Your body is on a 24 hour clock per my doctor. I'm going with what he says. That's why we have our sleep cycles and all of our other body's rhythms and cycles. 24 hours. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic. If I eat 3,000 calories one day and only 1,500 the next it does not "undo" the day before. I have to be under by 500 calories per day not per week. See what I mean?

    You and your doctor are mistaken. Badly.

    You are mistaken: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm
  • NikkiiiT
    NikkiiiT Posts: 34 Member
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    I don't think you should 'under eat' the next day but just make sure you eat healthy stuff. I do that sometimes. I went out for a meal and I was at a wedding in the same week so I just ate extremely healthy for the rest if the week to make up for it and I still had a loss when I weighed myself.

    There's nothing wrong with indulging or going over now and again.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Yep. I wouldn't recommend getting in the habit, but every now and again is fine.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    and this. 24 hour clock:

    http://www.saga.co.uk/health/body/body-clock-and-your-health.aspx

    You are saying that if a person eats 3,500 calories over maintenance (say at a party) they would not gain that one pound because well, they were good the other 6 days that week? How in the world do you explain that. You eat 3,500 over maintenance for one day and you gain one pound.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I don't think you should 'under eat' the next day but just make sure you eat healthy stuff. I do that sometimes. I went out for a meal and I was at a wedding in the same week so I just ate extremely healthy for the rest if the week to make up for it and I still had a loss when I weighed myself.

    There's nothing wrong with indulging or going over now and again.

    And under eating on a regular basis to "undo" the day before or the day before that can really screw with your metabolism. If you're not fueling your machine and following some "oh MY body does not actually operate on a 24 hour clock because I'm an alien" situation.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    Options
    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    I hope you're being sarcastic?

    Your body is NOT on a 24 hour clock, at least not when it comes to weight loss. What matters is your overall calorie intake over time. If you're generally eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    What a lot of people (inlcuidng myself) do is look at our WEEKLY goals instead of daily. I net about 1400 calories a day, which is 9800 per week. As long as at the end of the week I'm at or below 9800 calories, I'm going to lose weight right on track... even if I went over a couple days.

    So the short answer is yes, you can go over and make up for it the next day. I do it all the time and have had great success.

    Your body is on a 24 hour clock per my doctor. I'm going with what he says. That's why we have our sleep cycles and all of our other body's rhythms and cycles. 24 hours. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic. If I eat 3,000 calories one day and only 1,500 the next it does not "undo" the day before. I have to be under by 500 calories per day not per week. See what I mean?

    Notice how I said "at least not when it comes to weight loss." Of course we are on a circadian rhythm, our sleep cycles, etc. However, as someone else pointed out, a pound per week is 3500 calories PER WEEK. 500 calories a day is the simplest way to make that happen, but it doesn't have to be that way. Hell, you could probably eat at maintenance 6 days of the week and have a 3500 cal deficit one day, and still lose a pound that week (I would never recommend doing this, it's just an extreme hypothetical situation).

    Your doctor is correct about the circadian rhythm. Unfortunately, that's not what this thread was about.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Options
    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    I hope you're being sarcastic?

    Your body is NOT on a 24 hour clock, at least not when it comes to weight loss. What matters is your overall calorie intake over time. If you're generally eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    What a lot of people (inlcuidng myself) do is look at our WEEKLY goals instead of daily. I net about 1400 calories a day, which is 9800 per week. As long as at the end of the week I'm at or below 9800 calories, I'm going to lose weight right on track... even if I went over a couple days.

    So the short answer is yes, you can go over and make up for it the next day. I do it all the time and have had great success.

    Your body is on a 24 hour clock per my doctor. I'm going with what he says. That's why we have our sleep cycles and all of our other body's rhythms and cycles. 24 hours. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic. If I eat 3,000 calories one day and only 1,500 the next it does not "undo" the day before. I have to be under by 500 calories per day not per week. See what I mean?

    You and your doctor are mistaken. Badly.

    You are mistaken: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm

    Sleep cycles are separate discussion. We are talking about the effects of cyclical calorie intakes. You are claiming that you can't create larger deficits on some days and smaller deficits on other days and have it average out to approximately a net deficit.

    This is exactly what happens. If you eat at maintenance a few days per week and a deficit a few days per week, you will lose weight "roughly" according to that net deficit over time.

    How else do you propose things work in real life?

    When you over-eat, fat storage goes up and fat oxidation goes down. When you under-eat, fat oxidation goes up and fat storage goes down. Over time the difference between fat storage and fat oxidation is all that matters.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    *edited... too much stupidity to argue with*
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Your body is on a 24 hour clock. Sorry. You can't make stuff up. You can of course log a bad day and do better tomorrow and the next day. :)

    I hope you're being sarcastic?

    Your body is NOT on a 24 hour clock, at least not when it comes to weight loss. What matters is your overall calorie intake over time. If you're generally eating less than you burn, you'll lose weight.

    What a lot of people (inlcuidng myself) do is look at our WEEKLY goals instead of daily. I net about 1400 calories a day, which is 9800 per week. As long as at the end of the week I'm at or below 9800 calories, I'm going to lose weight right on track... even if I went over a couple days.

    So the short answer is yes, you can go over and make up for it the next day. I do it all the time and have had great success.

    Your body is on a 24 hour clock per my doctor. I'm going with what he says. That's why we have our sleep cycles and all of our other body's rhythms and cycles. 24 hours. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being realistic. If I eat 3,000 calories one day and only 1,500 the next it does not "undo" the day before. I have to be under by 500 calories per day not per week. See what I mean?

    Notice how I said "at least not when it comes to weight loss." Of course we are on a circadian rhythm, our sleep cycles, etc. However, as someone else pointed out, a pound per week is 3500 calories PER WEEK. 500 calories a day is the simplest way to make that happen, but it doesn't have to be that way. Hell, you could probably eat at maintenance 6 days of the week and have a 3500 cal deficit one day, and still lose a pound that week (I would never recommend doing this, it's just an extreme hypothetical situation).

    Your doctor is correct about the circadian rhythm. Unfortunately, that's not what this thread was about.

    I think it's one and the same. Show me proof that the body operates on a 24 hour clock EXCEPT when it comes to weight loss.

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