We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Do you count calories by the day or by the week?

KrazyKrissyy
KrazyKrissyy Posts: 322 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've heard some people go by a weekly allowance as opposed to daily. Am considering doing this. What's your intake/experience?

Replies

  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    Basically by the day, but if I want to use more for some reason or need to do the math after a spontaneous late night snack, I care about the weekly total.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I look at my weekly goal instead of just daily.

    I try to be 100-200 cals under goal on Monday-Thursday so that I can eat more at the weekend if I go out etc.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Usually I go by daily because I am a pretty consistant eater unless there is a holiday or special occasion. The weekly calorie goal is more important than the daily goal.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,150 Member
    I go by daily counts.
  • powered85
    powered85 Posts: 297 Member
    Daily
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
    Daily, but sometimes I take a 7 day average just out of curiosity. Vast majority of days I'm under goal but very occasionally I go a bit over and then there are those days right around goal.
  • JessicaMcB
    JessicaMcB Posts: 1,503 Member
    I go by daily but mind the weekly numbers as well
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    edited September 2016
    Funny you ask, I stay up late, lots of post-midnight eating etc., so I sorta go by groups of days, usually 2 sometimes 3. In my mind, that is. And what is a "day" anyway, when you think about it.
  • msalicia116
    msalicia116 Posts: 233 Member
    Both. I know what my daily goal is to stay on track for my weekly weigh in and average. If I only looked at it by the day, and I veered off course, I would probably think I already messed up why not totally blow it. With a weekly goal in mind, there is no all or nothing thinking.
  • wagnerpe123
    wagnerpe123 Posts: 65 Member
    I enter my calories daily, but think in weekly terms. Sunday through Friday, I usually have a deficit in my MFP allowed calories. Then I "spend" those calories on Saturday.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    wagnerpe123 wrote: »
    I enter my calories daily, but think in weekly terms. Sunday through Friday, I usually have a deficit in my MFP allowed calories. Then I "spend" those calories on Saturday.

    Me too!
  • grammageegee
    grammageegee Posts: 78 Member
    Me three. Great minds tnink alike!
  • law102189
    law102189 Posts: 85 Member
    I do both. I enter daily and stay under my allowance every day (mostly), but save my exercise calories for Friday and Saturday so I can enjoy wine in the evenings. We also often get takeout pizza or Chinese food on Fridays, and have a nice dinner on Saturdays, so I need to bank as many calories as I can. This way I don't feel deprived or even as though I am dieting; it's more of a life-long lifestyle commitment.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,463 Member
    edited September 2016
    I log food daily, with a small deficit (like 200 cals/I'm at maintenance.) Then at the end of the week when I weigh in I record my weight and the week's average calories.

    I usually have a couple days when I eat over maintenance, so it balances out but it isn't a specifically planned day.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,246 Member
    I do daily but all I really care is weekly. Life happens so I prefer to indulge when I want to.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Both I guess. When I am tracking I try my best to hit my daily goals but I will sometimes eat less/more during the week to make up for overeating/undereating on weekends
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    Daily, but I have a range I'm happy with and I keep an eye on the monthly average (automatically calculated in a spreadsheet I keep) to make sure it doesn't go *too* high.
  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
    both i guess. i stick to my daily goal, but if i go over a couple days in the week, i don't sress because i know i had another 2 or 3 days where i was lower than my goal. so weekly it evens out.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Log daily.. I can tweak the diary daily to eat less or more but still meet the weekly goal.
  • selina884
    selina884 Posts: 826 Member
    Both - I try to keep daily controlled but ultimately what matters is the weekly target achieved.
  • Habiteer
    Habiteer Posts: 190 Member
    By the day. There's only so much micromanaging I want to do and I just like to listen to my body. If I need to eat over my goal one day, then that's fine as I probably needed that food to function or I had plans on doing something difficult later on.

    I'm not gonna purposefully under-eat just because I overate the day before in order to stick to some almost arbitrary guideline. I do track weekly weights though, which tells me whether I should be eating more on the higher end of my daily goal (if I'm losing weight too fast) or if I should be cutting back (if I'm not losing weight or losing it too slowly).
This discussion has been closed.

Categories