Is it healthy for your calorie totals each day to go way above or below as long as they average out?

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abbynormalartist
abbynormalartist Posts: 318 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I used to eat right up to my "daily goal" of calories each and every day for most of my time on myfitnesspal. I occasionally re-calculated the this daily goal, but once I had it in that was the number of calories I would eat every day for a few months until the next time I re-calculated.

Right now I'm somewhere between maintenance and a very slow loss.

For the last few months I've noticed a pattern of eating way over my daily goal for a few days, then maybe fasting for a day or going under my goal for a couple of days. I don't want to get in an unhealthy cycle of binging and starving. I'm by no means there but I don't want to continue this way if it's not ideal.

When I go over on my calories it's not a snap decision to get fast food or to gorge on candy- yesterday I went over with a couple bowls of raisin bran before bed and an extra helping of pasta with parmesan for dinner. It doesn't sound like much but was nearly 1000 calories over my daily goal. My diary is open if anyone wants to peek. I'll probably fast most of today and have a reasonable dinner this evening so my calories average out evenly. Often I go over my goal during family cook outs or if we go to a restaurant for a special occasion, etc. I like being able to partake in these events when I know that I can maintain my weight by fasting the next day or going into a bit of a deficit with my calories.

Is this a healthy and sustainable way to eat? I'm not as concerned about it being physically healthy (I don't see it hurting me much), I'm more concerned about it being mentally healthy.

Replies

  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    In terms of weight, it’s fine as long as your calories average out over the week. I would mostly be concerned about a few things.

    First, dramatically undereating could lead to binging on the next day (which already seems to be happening to some extent). When we’re hungry, it can be hard to make the same choices we would make otherwise. I would be really careful about that potentially leading to more binging. Some people find it easy to slip into the “just one more bite” mindset, and others don’t.

    Second, you’ll probably see scale changes due to water fluctuation and extra undigested food, which makes some folks concerned when the scale number moves around more than they expected.

    Finally, I’d check micronutrients, especially on days you eat less. Some vitamins are stored in the body, but some are not stored and have to be replaced frequently. This is true for vitamin C and all the B vitamins.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    Do you feel like it's unhealthy for you? Do you feel guilty or like you have to punish yourself after a high calorie day?

    Some people actually plan their eating like that... calorie cycling, or calorie banking, so they will eat lighter a few days or most of the week, then have a few high calorie days that all balance out. That is what I do, I have two very light days, three medium and two high days. It is all in the plan though and there is no guilt, binging, restriction or punishment... if you feel any of those things maybe you have to plan and change your mindset, or that way of eating may not be a good fit for you.

    When I was losing weight I did almost exactly what @sardelsa describes. I'd bank calories for the weekends because I knew, especially in the warmer months, that I'd be in front of a BBQ with a beer in my hand most of the time. Now that I'm in my third year of maintenance I generally try to stay at or near my calorie goal, and on days I manage to go way over I will just push a little harder on my workouts for the next couple of days. I don't keep a serious track of it other than with the scale every couple of weeks. If I see a trend going up further than I want I'll pay closer attention for a month or so but otherwise I just go with the flow.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    edited June 2018
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    Do you feel like it's unhealthy for you? Do you feel guilty or like you have to punish yourself after a high calorie day?

    Some people actually plan their eating like that... calorie cycling, or calorie banking, so they will eat lighter a few days or most of the week, then have a few high calorie days that all balance out. That is what I do, I have two very light days, three medium and two high days. It is all in the plan though and there is no guilt, binging, restriction or punishment... if you feel any of those things maybe you have to plan and change your mindset, or that way of eating may not be a good fit for you.


    Pretty much this. Everyone who's not on a regimented eating schedule calorie cycles or banks to some degree.

    The question is are you punishing yourself for overeating or rewarding yourself for fasting? or are you riding the natural ebbs and flows of hunger and satiety. I'm not super hungry this morning because I had a late dinner with a bit more fat/fruit than usual.


    Also as @Spliner1969 points out, there's nothing wrong with recognizing that you ate a bit more than planned and so you owe a few extra miles. That's not the same as binge/restrict punishment cycles.

    There's also nothing wrong with having a cinnamon roll and a beer after a 10K or half.
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
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    Yes. If your calorie goals are 2000 per day. Having one day at 1500 and the next at 2500 is prefectly fine. Remember, the processing of nutrients in our bodies is a continuous activity, there's no reset every 24 hours.

    During the winter, because of the sheer number of events, birthdays, and such... I "bank" calories during the week as I know I'll go over on the weekends. It's a common thing a lot of people do.

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