Question about calories

fernie8787

So I am curious to know if anyone has tried calories swings for weeks and have lost weight? What I mean is some days you go by the calories mfp gives you if you want to lose 2 lbs a week and other days you go by maintenance calories. What were your results doing this? And how long you went through this trend?

142jmh

There was a thread a few years ago that talks about this, and links to some articles. Its very interesting! Turns out that diet breaks are actually a really great strategy for long term weight loss.
Here is the original thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Personally, I do have breaks where I eat at maintenance calories for a week about once a month. That works for me and where I am currently at in my journey.

lynn_glenmont

I have taken breaks where I ate at maintenance. I have even taken breaks (usually vacations) where I knowingly and without guilt ate above maintenance. My results were pretty much what you would expect. When I ate at maintenance, my weight generally stayed the same. When I ate above maintenance, I gained weight -- usually a lot more weight than you would expect based on calories, because water, but the water weight generally dropped off quickly when I went back to a deficit, and the real weight gain (fat) dropped off at the rate expected based on my calorie deficit.

cmriverside

fernie8787 wrote: »

So I am curious to know if anyone has tried calories swings for weeks and have lost weight? What I mean is some days you go by the calories mfp gives you if you want to lose 2 lbs a week and other days you go by maintenance calories. What were your results doing this? And how long you went through this trend?

I don't think I'd call that a Refeed like that thread suggests....a refeed generally is eating at Maintenance for a while - like a week to three weeks.

There was a "diet" method called Zig Zag eating and it seems to be what you're doing.

But when I was in weight loss mode I ate some days at maintenance or over...unintentionally.

I think many people eat quite a bit more on one or more days every week and then stick to a deficit on most days, such as weekend "cheats." Find your sweet spot.

You can also base your deficit on your weekly calories. As long as you are under your number consistently over time, you'll continue to lose weight.

dviolin1982

Last week I ate exactly at maintenance for one day unintentionally and the rest of the week I was way under my goal, I did lose weight but I'm trying to be more realistic now. So no, unless it's a holiday like christmas, I try not to eat at maintenance. I need to leave some space for over-inflated calorie numbers or exercise totals.

corinasue1143

Yes. I figure my maintenance calories and try to always eat under that. Some days a little under, some days a lot under. I am losing very slowly, which is ok with me.

robertw486

If people don't get hung up on the day to day smaller changes, any balance shift either up or down will determine the trend. And for a lot of people this is probably easier to handle, as they get a break from the norm when they want to.

Do what works for you. If you need a break, take a break, just don't lose sight of the long term goal.