Saving calories for other days?

sabulaboys4

I see in some posts that people post that they eat less on days before a known over indulging day. Is it possible to save calories for later days? In my thinking the calories that didn't get consumed would be gone and you start over the next day.

jaga13

Some people look at their overall weekly calories, rather than daily. It may work well for you if you don't mind eating a little less some days.

kami3006

I follow a weekly calorie goal so some days are high and some are low. It balances out. Never affected my weight loss nor is an issue in maintaining.

100df

If I have uneaten calories, they expire within 24-48 hours. I walk for exercise. I don't save those calories. Either I eat some of them the same day or I don't eat them. I don't know the science on this.

I will re-evaluate my expiration policy when I'm closer to goal and need to tighten everything up to continue to lose.

arditarose

I used to shave off 100 calories every day and eat the extra on Saturday. I actually started it because I had a hard time sticking to a strict deficit on Saturday. It was really helpful for me both in weightless and maintenance.

lynn_glenmont

susan100df wrote: »

If I have uneaten calories, they expire within 24-48 hours. I walk for exercise. I don't save those calories. Either I eat some of them the same day or I don't eat them. I don't know the science on this.

I will re-evaluate my expiration policy when I'm closer to goal and need to tighten everything up to continue to lose.

Whether to "save" your calories or not and how long to do so is not a science. It's an accounting mechanism. MFP is set up for an accounting period of one day. It allots you calories for one day that it believes will allow you to lose at the weekly rate you've asked for, and it wipes the slate screen every day. There's nothing magic about one day. Since the goal is for a weekly loss, one could certainly argue that it makes more sense to think about a weekly calorie allotment. But there's nothing magic about a week either. One time period only makes more sense than another based on the individual -- how they think, and what's convenient for them. Your body keeps a running tally; it doesn't borrow from the future, and it doesn't lend to the future. It doesn't start fresh every day or every week, except to the extent that it's starting fresh every second. At any second your weight represents a running tally of all the energy you've consumed and used, plus a few pounds for things like water and food in your digestive track.

Personally, I don't think about saving calories beyond my next weigh in, because that messes with my accounting method. But your calorie deficit doesn't expire or disappear [from your body]* until you fill it with surplus calories.

*ETA from your body for clarity.

Asher_Ethan

I save my calories if I know I'm going to have a big meal. It's probably the only thing that has kept my sanity during this weight loss.

20yearsyounger

I am currently maintaining and using this week as an example I definitely am saving up some calories for christmas. I have a weekly view within MFP that shows how many calories I am below goal for the last 7 days. Right now, I am at about 1400 below goal. Not intentionally, I just wasnt very hungry. These days I definitely enjoy getting to eat my unused calories back.

busyPK

Asher_Ethan wrote: »

I save my calories if I know I'm going to have a big meal. It's probably the only thing that has kept my sanity during this weight loss.

Ditto

rankinsect

I think it depends on how any person psychologically takes it. The one thing I think can be dangerous about longer-term calorie goals (weeks, etc.) is that for some people, it could lead to cycles of binge and restrict. If it's not doing that for you, there's no inherent reason to not carry over for some length of time - it's up to you to define what works for you.

7lenny7

The use of a 24 hour period to track your calorie consumption & expenditure is not mandatory. A 3500 calorie weekly deficit can be distributed over the seven days however you like. If I have a 0 calorie deficit today and a 1000 calorie deficit tomorrow, that's still an average of 500 calories per day and I'm still on track to lose a pound per week.

I love to run. When I run 8 miles, I burn about 1300 calories. Rather than eat back all those calories in one day, I'll end the day with a larger deficit and eat more the next day. That ends up being easier or me to do rather than pig out after a run just because those calories are available.

sabulaboys4

What I do is go day by day and very rarely eat back any excercise calories even though it is very few and I usually don't eat the 2000 calories MFP says I can have unless the crazy person comes out then I go over considerably. I guess I was curious about carrying over calories you didn't use especially as I am baking brownies and pumpkin bars for tomorrow

dutchandkiwi

I work on a weekly average more than on one day only. Works for me as it allows me to relax if something unexpected goes wrong (for instance needing a meal at a train station as my international train does not run)

20yearsyounger

sabulaboys4 wrote: »

What I do is go day by day and very rarely eat back any excercise calories even though it is very few and I usually don't eat the 2000 calories MFP says I can have unless the crazy person comes out then I go over considerably. I guess I was curious about carrying over calories you didn't use especially as I am baking brownies and pumpkin bars for tomorrow

I focus on daily too knowing that I will have calories left over for times like that. For how much, I look at the weekly view. I also have premium and once I noticed my eating trends, I modified my daily calories to be lower on the days I usually am generally low on and higher on the days I am generally higher on while keeping the same weekly average.