Calorie "Banking" Questions?

JessicaMcB

So I have been on MFP for a while, I have lost 90lbs and am maintaining. Now that I am here I am playing around with some things I was too afraid to mess around with in weight loss phase (as I was fortunate enough that my weight loss was basically linear I did not want to screw with it).

There is a lot of talk in these forums re: banking calories. So theoretically, given that my maintenance is about 3000, I have 21k to work with in a week. If start a running tally of 21k and deduct daily until I hit a zero balance should I still theoretically maintain? Those who practice this method or say the heavier weekends, lighter weekdays method where in the cycle do you weigh in?

TIA for any input, I have to this point focused on the daily spread and feel like at this point weekly might be more manageable

avskk

Yes, you would theoretically maintain by using a running weekly balance. You would probably see daily fluctuations on the scale as your glycogen stores, retained water, and waste accumulated and dissipated throughout the week, but that's basically what maintenance is -- staying within a certain range around your target weight. (Think of it as if your goal weight is the center point of a merry--go-round or see-saw, if that helps.)

I focus more on my weekly goal than my daily one, and MFP makes it very easy to do so. I can just check in my "nutrition" tab (on the phone app), change the setting to "weekly," and view calories, macros, or micros at any time, so I always know where I'm at for the entire week. Right now I know I'm 3,500 under my weekly calorie goal (which is already a 5250 deficit from maintenance), which means I can comfortably go over my daily goal without hurting my progress, if I want to. I weigh every day just so I can track fluctuations. It doesn't really matter at what point you weigh in, if you're doing it weekly, as long as it's the same point every time.

When I was on here the first time, a couple years ago, I ran across a few people who even worked on a monthly goal/deficit, rather than daily or weekly. It's really about doing whatever works to help keep you in a deficit overall (for losing) or in homeostasis (for maintenance).

CattOfTheGarage

Yes. If you're using the Android app, it's actually easier than that, as if you click on "nutrition" in the left menu it will give you a weekly running average. Just keep that average as close as possible to your goal and you're sorted.

I weigh daily. If you weigh weekly, as long as you're weighing at the same time every week you  will get a reasonably steady result - although this method will cause more fluctuation than a steady intake, as @avskk says.

I usually eat around 1200 calories net through the week and then a bit more on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to bring the average to 1500 net. I am not totally consistent with that - my favourite thing about this approach is it allows me to take advantage of unexpected snack opportunities, like free food at the office, without blowing my budget.

leanjogreen18

I've done this for 4 months now and I'm averaging 2 lb a week loss. I also plan on doing this in maintenance only because eating a stagnant amount everyday feels like a "diet" to me.

fr33sia12

I eat more at the weekend (or do less exercise) and am still losing, so I don't see why that shouldn't work in maintenance too.

trigden1991

Yep that will work. I personally would weigh after 2 lower calorie days to avoid the effects of water retention. I find that saturday morning is my lightest every week after 5 days in a deficit, before the weekend at a slight surplus.