The six day calorie deficit aka banking calories

garystrickland357

After reading the OP I see this as a realistic approach to both weight loss and maintenance. It helps us see that weight management is about consistency over time. When we are consistently in a calorie deficit we lose weight and when we are consistently in a surplus we gain. I sometimes "bank" and/or "borrow" calories in the context being used in this thread. I did so to lose 80 pounds and I still do in maintenance. If I know the kids are coming home and I'll be cooking something special and intend to indulge a bit, I'll bank a few calories along the week before. If life happens and I give in to the doughnut at work, I'll just shave a few calories over the next few days. The bathroom scale always tells me if I'm doing the math right.

I will make one comment about exercise. I can see the point that @pierinifitness was trying to make. Yes, adding a few steps per day that are not in your usual routine have the same net result as eating a few less calories. In my experience though that is a slippery slope. I started commuting to work by bicycle - it's literally 5 minutes from my house to work by bike. If I ride back and forth to work and home for lunch, that's 20 minutes of easy activity and 150 calories. The "slippery slope" is that this has become routine and part of my daily activity. PLUS, on rainy or bitterly cold days when I don't ride I don't get the calorie burn. I have learned that controlling my intake is the most effective way over time to control my calorie balance. I failed at maintenance once before by depending on exercise to keep me in calorie balance. Milage may vary for others.

lemurcat2

pierinifitness wrote: »

All roads lead to Rome. Seems simpler to me to go take a walk and earn the calories of your treat but that takes getting off your butt and moving. Easy for some, not so easy for others. Again, all roads lead to Rome.

Nothing to do with the topic. One can exercise a lot and still bank calories. When I was logging more regularly I used the TDEE method, where you have the same calories daily most days. My schedule was such that I did long runs/bikes or races on the weekend, but often went out to dinner on Friday, and I'd often eat slightly less on other days than my TDEE (TDEE with exercise averaged across the week) and then use the extra calories to have what I wanted at dinner on Friday.

Since my workouts are driven by plan, I find it not helpful to think of a workout to earn or make up for extra food. Instead, they are based on my training goals. YMMV, but it's not really cool to suggest that those who do it differently from you are unwilling to get off their butts and move.