Is this stupid?
JasmineDiver22
Posts: 148 Member
I been all over the place with calories.
One day I eat over my calories, then the next day I eat under my calories to make up for the day before so it basically evens out daily. Is this stupid?
One day I eat over my calories, then the next day I eat under my calories to make up for the day before so it basically evens out daily. Is this stupid?
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Replies
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Nope, not stupid at all. Just make sure you have a weekly deficit. A lot of people "save up" calories for the weekend, so it isn't uncommon to vary your calories throughout the week.5
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No, but are you binging? I mean being WAY over and out of control?
Many people do a version of IF that will have them well under and well over on different days. Others save calories for the weekend. If you are in control and keeping to your weekly limit, there is no harm.
I try to focus on the last 7 days in the app (the website doesn't do this) and plan ahead if I know a splurge is coming up.5 -
Unless it sets up a binge/restrict type disorder...5
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No no no. I don't binge. I'm usually over like 100-300 cals.2
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Still less calories I was intaking before I started dieting. I was probably eating 3k+ a day!!0
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Do you know what your maintenance calories are?
My point being - my maintenance calories are ~2300. My daily goal is 1860. If I eat over my daily goal by 100-300 calories (like your example), I'm still not over my maintenance calories. No need to eat under the next day. I'll lose slower, but I'm still in deficit.2 -
In some ways, yes. In some ways, no.
On the "yes" side... mentality. If you find yourself slipping into a "I screwed up yesterday so now I have to fix it today" approach, that's probably not going to do you any favors in the log run. Beating yourself up today because of what happened yesterday/over the weekend/whenever else can be a slippery slope. This may or may not be the case for you, but it's worth being aware of.
On the "no" side... it's really just math. If you can be a little more strict on some days in order to have more leeway on others, then go for it. As long as you are in a deficit over time, you should see progress.4 -
my cals are 1510 for me wanting to lose 2 pounds a week. But I think realistically I'm probably only losing .5. It's only been 3 weeks and the scale hasn't moved. Which, yes, because I just started. But frustrating.0
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JasmineDiver22 wrote: »No no no. I don't binge. I'm usually over like 100-300 cals.
That's really not that much variance day to day. I find it easier to have a goal range and average by week rather than try and hit a strict daily goal. That way I can build in splurge days eating out, too. Just because MFP defaults to a daily goal doesn't mean it's the only way to go.2 -
If it's an eating pattern that feels easier ans more pleasant to you, then no it's not stupid. It's a perfectly viable strategy. Now, if it's fueled by "lower calorie days as punishment for overeating" type of thinking, then you're treading dangerous grounds and setting yourself up for an unhealthy dieting mentality.3
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Also, just because the app "lets" you select two pounds a week doesn't mean that's the best option to shoot for. If you're making healthy changes that you can stick to, you're on the right path. Work your way up to a bigger deficit, but don't let yourself think that you're only succeeding if you're losing 2 pounds a week. I spent years gaining this weight - even a month without gaining is an improvement.1
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I tend to shoot for a weekly goal more so, I don't worry on the daily, some days I feel ravenous and want to eat a lot other days not so much so I feel like it all evens out at the end of the week. I never worry about a couple hundred calories.
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Its not stupid. Thats called "banking calories". It can be useful if done right. You still need to get your nutrients every day. You have to learn to find the balance in it. Its pretty difficult to do bc people think that it means eating less one day and then eating whatever you want on the weekend. Do this multiply your daily calorie goals by seven to establish your maximum weekly calorie intake. As long as your not exceeding that,then you are safe. If you are gaining weight in the form of fat, then you may have to adjust your daily caloric intake by 200, then so on and so on. This is a hard thing to follow properly. Just watch your body and how it responds. Everyone is different.1
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Nope I do this as well, I knew I was going to go out drinking last week, so the day before I banked a couple hundred calories. Makes the drinking better and guilt free.1
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I would say most of my days are like this. It works for me and allows me to still enjoy the foods I love0
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If your calories average out to your goal over the week it is not a problem to eat different amounts each day. If you are really struggling to stick to your calorie goal then you might need to think about if it is best for you.
Are you going over some days because your goal is too aggressive?
I see you are going for losing 2 lbs a week. Maybe dial back to 1 lb which would give you 500 more calories per day or choose 1.5 lbs a week and get 250 more a day than you do now. Weight loss is a long term thing so you want a deficit you can sustain consistently.
If you are not losing after several weeks at what you think is a deficit really look at the accuracy of your logging. Are you logging everything you consume? Use a food scale. Check that the database entries you use are correct. Use the recipe builder for homemade foods.0 -
It sounds like you are just doing a variation of calorie cycling. Staying in calorie deficit at the end of the week is what matters.
If you are stalled out, then I would double/triple check my diary entries/logging efforts, exercise calories eaten back if you are eating some/all back.
Also weight loss is not linear, there will be weeks when you lose less or nothing and the next week you could do a significant drop, a lot of this can be due to female hormones and the up and and down in calories (lower carbs/sodium one day to higher the next, etc..), how well you are staying hydrated, any added stress to the body from activities/exercise (many things play a role in what you see weight wise on the scale)...
In the end its the method that works for you and gets you the results according to the rate of loss you should be expecting.0 -
What if you reversed the days? Would you eat more tomorrow if undershoot your target today? If you say no, then why not?
For me, with a target of 1 pound per week, if I overshoot by 300, I just log it and don't sweat the small variations. I'm in control.1 -
you over eat becuase you are cutting too much on the other days. Follow what mfp tells you and exercise...eat back some of your exercise calories.
When you're eating don't do the newbie thing and eat salads only or things that don't have enough volume. Lots of greens and lean meats like turkey/chicken...0 -
The scale doesn't lie and it will tell on you if you are eating too many calories. You just have to decide how dedicated you are and how fast you want to reach your goal. And yes the magic pills on TV are so much easier than this.1
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My understanding is what you did the day before doesn't matter. Say today you go over-when you go to bed that stuff is going to sit in your stomach and turn into fat still. The next day when you don't eat much you might loose a little but probably not what you gained the day before. I would suggest forgetting what happened yesterday. Focus on today.
Meal planning can help with that. A great free meal planning site is pepperplate.com it isn't going to give you the calorie count but you can keep that in mind while making your menu. The site makes it so easy-I mean it even makes your grocery list for you. Just like anything it might take a bit to get your recipes into it bit one you do things are so easy!
I meal prep/grocery shop for 2 weeks. So I'll make my menu for 2 week and print is out. Then go back and hand write on there the calories to make sure I'm on point. I try to give myself a little leeway to be on the safe side. If you want-send me a message and I can send you an example. It might sound confusing!0 -
MissMandyT85 wrote: »My understanding is what you did the day before doesn't matter. Say today you go over-when you go to bed that stuff is going to sit in your stomach and turn into fat still. The next day when you don't eat much you might loose a little but probably not what you gained the day before. I would suggest forgetting what happened yesterday. Focus on today.
Your body does not reset at midnight. You are in this for the long haul, so what happened yesterday can easily be offset by what you do today, either undereating or overeating. If you are under your goal by 250 cals one day and over the same the next, the net effect is zero. Lots of people do this successfully.
Looking at the 7 day average makes more sense than looking at one day at a time if you want to vary your days.
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I choose the days I want to eat more, and I chose days I want to eat less.... I don't binge or over eat on purpose. It works for me so far in order for me to stay sane. I was just wondering if it was stupid what I was doing. It's been 3 weeks, I'm literally the same exact weight as the day I started. Not even water weight has has changed in my body and I'm not even consuming half the amount of sodium I was before changing my eating habits... So at this point I'm not sure if what I'm doing is even worth it anymore. No im not giving up, but I'm wondering if I should just change everything I'm doing, by eating awfully boring foods with no taste, and eating way less. I'm just lost.0
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1510 cals daily which equals out to be 10570 for the week. Not sure how to maintain that weekly without not paying attention to daily..?0
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Help me figure out this weekly thing. Can I start my week off on a Monday? And then the next Monday count how many calories were consumed and compare to the goal? Or no?0
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i think it's best to not over think it. What i did was my TDEE is 2016 so with a 500 cal deficit im at 1516. MFP says 1200. So i eat between 1200-1500. Exercise wise i also eat half of my exercise calories back.
it's been working so far.0 -
JasmineDiver22 wrote: »1510 cals daily which equals out to be 10570 for the week. Not sure how to maintain that weekly without not paying attention to daily..?
If you are using the app on a phone, you can look at your calories in a week view. It will show you your net and your under/over goal for the last 7 days. Takes a bit of playing to figure out (if you haven't logged everything for the day, go to yesterday then switch to week view to see the last 7 days).
I'm thinking your issue is more with accurate logging (using crappy entries from the MFP data base) and not using a food scale. But 3 weeks may not be a long enough time period especially if you hit TOM in there as that will impact your water retention.1 -
JasmineDiver22 wrote: »I been all over the place with calories.
One day I eat over my calories, then the next day I eat under my calories to make up for the day before so it basically evens out daily. Is this stupid?
Doesn't sound a bit stupid to me. That's how I did it. (1.5 years in maintenance and still eating this way)
You don't have to figure your calories weekly if you don't want. You could start a spreadsheet, put how much eat each day in and have a cell that figures the average of all. If that average is a deficit, you're good.0 -
It really doesn't matter when you start or end. Don't overcomplicate this. You need to have a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose a pound. Whether you get that in 2 days or spread out over 14 days is irrelevant. If you want to lose one pound a week that means you need to lose 3500 a week. So, could you eat maintenance 4 days and have -1,200 calorie deficits the other 3 days? Sure.
However, i think the key is doing something that is sustainable. Doing something that makes you miserable will only lead you to quit. If you like going up and down, that's fine. Some people eat more on weekends and less on weekdays because that's more sustainable for them. I personally like eating the same amount of calories every day, whether or not I exercise, so I average out my exercise calories over the days I don't exercise.
http://physiqonomics.com/fat-loss/
Again, I really suggest reading that. I think he does a good job of plainly nailing what's important and what's not.1
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