Calorie budgeting day vs. week

sfcrocker

I buy 8 oz of smoked salmon and eat it over four days, so I just put in 2 ounces a day instead of weighing it figuring it all events out, but this got me thinking ...

Would tracking calories on a weekly basis, say 14,000 a week vs. 2,000 a day, still work? Or is there something special about daily calories vs. tracking over some other time period?

girlinahat

many people on this site, myself included, use a rolling average. On the app I can quickly see what my daily net and total averages are and so plan accordingly. So on days where I don't feel like eating much, I don't, or if I overeat I can compensate the next day.

Same goes for the dreaded boozy weekends, I can gradually trim the average back down again (not after last weekend though, there's no hope there...)

6502programmer

Daily goals is simply a way of gathering calories into manageable units for humans. Your body is a continuous register, and logging daily is like a company's quarterly financial report. Eating to 14k per week will yield roughly the same results at 2k per day, but not if you're eating 500 per day Monday through Thursday so you can eat and drink 4k every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

A lot of people will carry higher deficits during the week so they can go out with friends and family and have more calories to consume on weekends. Like all things health-related, in moderation (ie, moderate differential between high and low calorie days), it's all good.

ashjongfit

I also use a rolling average! For example, I might be STARVING on a Monday, so I eat over my 1900 calories, but by Thursday I'm not as hungry so I eat less than 1900. By the end of the week it all works out to be 1900 daily. It helps me to stay on track because I know while I have gone over my calories, I still have 6 days to even out. Intuitively our bodies do this naturally anyway so no reason why it wouldn't work

MommyMeggo

I do this. If I want a treat one day- or had a particularly stressful day and my wine bottle gets a little more attention than I intended...Ill scale it back over the next few days. 50-100 cals or add in an extra bike ride or walk.
If I gave my self a week Id screw it up, but an over/under over a couple of days keeps it easy to stay on track.

nowine4me

I follow a weekly average too since I discovered the "weekly" tab under Nutrition. Wish I'd known about that from the start.

leanjogreen18

I also do a weekly average. I have a couple high calorie days and a couple low cal days the rest around 1250. This adds variety and I'm also hoping my one maintenance day keeps my leptin level.

Asher_Ethan

I do the weekly. Yesterday I consumed 1900 calories but I also ran 9 miles. I wasn't hungry last night after my run so I went to bed. I woke this morning feeling famished and I knew I could have 2 bowls of captain crunch with my son because of my 9 mile run from last night. I'll probably consume 2400 today.