Eating Exercise calories back on a different day

handebwill
handebwill Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I wonder if any of you kind, helpful people could help me understand this please. If I exercise 4 days in a week but I haven't used the extra calories earned from exercise on those dates and then i go over my calorie goal on 1\2\3 of the other days, will that affect weight loss?

Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Nope. The body is constantly adapting to calorie need/supply. You *might* see greater day-to-day fluctuation on the scale, but the long term change should be the same.

    .
  • PunkinSpice79
    PunkinSpice79 Posts: 309 Member
    I go by a weekly average, since I weigh weekly. So, as long as I have a deficit for the week, I don't worry about an overage one day. Hope that helps! :)
  • lindustum
    lindustum Posts: 212 Member
    Can more people confirm this? I wonder the same thing. I often exercise as late as 9pm and then the day isn't long enough for me to be sufficiently hungry to eat all calories. Instead I'd like to just leave a great deficit for that day and have a yummy dinner at the weekend. I feel that would suit my lifestyle much more, but I am worried that the daily-routine would be broken..

    That said, I haven't lost a single gram in the last 14 days :/
  • helenrosemay
    helenrosemay Posts: 375 Member
    As long as you don't eat more calories than what you've burned in any given day, I can't see that being a problem. Just make sure you still have a calorie deficit.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    As long as you don't eat more calories than what you've burned in any given day, I can't see that being a problem. Just make sure you still have a calorie deficit.

    You actually can eat more and still be ok, as long as the long term supply of cals is less than the long term demand. A 100 calorie surplus today is easily "made up for" by a 200 calorie deficit tomorrow.

    Your body and your metabolism don't wear watches, they don't know what time it is. Just because you go to bed doesn't mean your body resets some kind of caloric clock. It's constantly burning and constantly storing. As long as your good days out weight your bad days, you'll be just fine.
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
    Weight watchers does this...

    As well as a few other programs.

    I did it one time before when I was losing. I was young and wanted to drink on the weekends...so I pre-accounted for anything extra during the week. You shouldn't go crazy...you need your BMR every day. But as long as it's reasonable, the only thing you should see is bigger fluctuations on the scale.
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    It can go across days. My primary exercise is running, generally long runs 3 times a week. I eat about the same every day and my loss was (I made goal! :bigsmile: 55 pounds gone) very consistent; no plateaus except for one I did on purpose with about 10 pounds to go so that I could adjust and lose the rest slowly. In clinical studies the change in BMR is usually very small and takes days to trigger.
  • slatts75
    slatts75 Posts: 32
    I am currently doing this and losing 1- 1.5 pounds a week. I like to drink wine with my Friday/Saturday night meals!
  • handebwill
    handebwill Posts: 3
    Thank you everyone for your comments which are really very helpful. This is my first week and i have 60 pounds to lose so it's great to hear from you experienced people who are doing amazingly well with your weight losses. I didn't use up the extra calories on the 4 days i exercised this week but i know tonight, as i am eating at friends i likely will go over the daily total. So from what i understand from your responses, so long as i stay within the total over a week i should be ok. Fingers crossed, i guess it's a bit of trial and error too right ?

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