Saving up Calories for the weekend?

lisay9

Hi all
Can anyone tell me whether its advisable to save up calories for the weekend?
I am going away for the weekend and I want to drink some Baileys and as I only started 'eating right' a week ago when I joined this site, I can't bear the thought just yet of going away for the weekend and not drinking my customary Baileys!
So I was wondering if I save 300 calories a day can I use them at the weekend (Isn't this how Weightwatchers works?)
Especially as I wont be going to gym while I'm away do I will be on basic calories anyway.
Any feedback would be appreciated

SHBoss1673

That's really not how the human body works. Calories are a "just in time" thing. You can't bank calories like that.

vickiele1

"saving" calories isn't really effective - the body doesn't keep a bank account of calories. What it does do is recognize how many calories you take in and how many calories you burn. If at the end of the day, your calorie burn is greater than or equal to your calorie intake you will decrease or maintain your weight. So, if you CHOOSE to drink baileys - and you don't want that to have a negative impact on your continued decreasing of weight, then you would have to exercise to compensate. A better way to look at it is that you are CHOOSING to have some fun, enjoy a few drinks. The excess calories may be enough to increase your weight by a pound or two, but you can then also CHOOSE to exercise more the following days to compensate for the added potential weight gain. It is a journey and life style change. Accepting that there will be days when we CHOOSE to do something different that doesn't necessarily contribute to the goal of weight reduction is part of that life style change. It is good to have fun once in a while - but there is usually a consequence for indulging - be sure you are ready to pay the price and accept the consequence.

Vickie

andreahanlon

Weight watchers does use a concept similar to that with flex points, I think it's called, where you have points you can use for the weekend if you want. I think you lose less weight the more you use. The other idea I would suggest is that you are saving 300 or so calories a day anyway when you are eating a reduced caloried diet, so your maintenance calories (instead of weight loss calorie goal) would be around 300 calories or more higher than what you are currently eating while using MPF. You could just eat in a more maintenance style manner for this weekend and just understand you won't see a weight loss those two days.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying your favorite drink on occassion. I think it's advisable acutally, so you don't get fed up with feeling deprived and give up. If you try to eat healthy that day and then have your drink (and not throw away the whole day -- eating whatever you want --because you know you'll be drinking), the "damage" should be minimal.

Becoming and maintaining a healthy weight is a lifestyle. Go for it. Just eat as well as you do when you are "doing good" for most of the day and then treat yourself.

sharonuk10

It seems this is debatable. I read a booklet from the British Heart Foundation on diet and weightloss. It stated that you could allow yourself 100 calories a day for a treat OR you could save that up everyday and have a BIG one on the weekend. Not those exact words but this gets to the point. My opinion is that if I am under 200-300 calories everyday, which is usual for me then if I have a meal out on the weekend that is slightly high in calories I am not going to worry so much about it. I believe it is calories over a time period that matters.

I say enjoy your weekend and drink your baileys you only live once and one day or one weekend isn't going to hurt anything. This is my opinon.

Yasmine91

I think you should allow yourself that one day where you just don't worry too much about what you're putting in your mouth.
I always use saturdays (my weigh in day) to allow myself a treat and to eat my mum's cooking. Then it's back to dieting the following week and this has not hurt my weight loss whatsoever

sallyLunn

I do "save up for the weekend" but I'm not trying to loose weight, just maintain.

1Steph1

No. your body needs a certain amount a day, depriving yourself daily in order to eat more on the weekend is going to slow your metabolism and then when you eat more on the weekend you wont burn it all off because your body is most likely in starvation mode because its getting less than normal.

1Steph1

However I so strongly believe in having ONE cheat meal per week. One cheat meal a week wont make you gain and it keeps you sane Then I just eat super clean the rest of the week

quentien3

I would recommend buying an excercise fitness DVD to take on your trip. Simply use the DVD when you wake up. This should allow you to incorporate some exercise on you big weekend and give you a little wiggle room on you deficit. Just remember, you don't want a weekend indulgence negate all of you hard work throughout the week.

JennaM222

I think you should allow yourself that one day where you just don't worry too much about what you're putting in your mouth.
I always use saturdays (my weigh in day) to allow myself a treat and to eat my mum's cooking. Then it's back to dieting the following week and this has not hurt my weight loss whatsoever

I agree. I give myself on day on the weekend to go a little over, or eat smaller meals so I can enjoy my wine/vodka guilt free. put in some extra workouts this week and you will be fine

LastFighter

I can confirm weight watchers does this but I am also skeptical. If you want to stay on the plan and have a really bad day this weekend that is fine. Ive had a 7000 calorie day, I worked out before I went and extra the next day and didnt have a gain. Do the same thing work out hard in the morning, moderate your other meals and then the next couple of days put in a couple extra minutes in the gym and you will be fine.

Find calorie burning activities on your trip.

miqisha

I don't know the theory behind saving calories....but I do know this is a lifestyle change, unless you don't ever plan to drink again, go out and enjoy yourself.

Try and get your workout in, and instead of trying to save up calories over the week, just watch what you eat that day, so you can get your Baileys in...I love Bailys rum cream, and if that's a favorite of yours, don't deprive yourself, because over time you will grow bored and resentful of your weightloss journey and you wont be able to stick it out.

Enjoy yourself, and jump back on the wagon Monday morning.......

cmriverside

It seems this is debatable. I read a booklet from the British Heart Foundation on diet and weightloss. It stated that you could allow yourself 100 calories a day for a treat OR you could save that up everyday and have a BIG one on the weekend. Not those exact words but this gets to the point. My opinion is that if I am under 200-300 calories everyday, which is usual for me then if I have a meal out on the weekend that is slightly high in calories I am not going to worry so much about it. I believe it is calories over a time period that matters.

You say the booklet "stated that you could allow yourself 100 calories a day for a treat OR you could save that up everyday and have a BIG one on the weekend."

100 calories. Not 200-300. Especially not the 300. Unless you are obese. 100 calories one way or the other is not going to affect you. Heck, I'm sure we make that much of an error in calculations EVERY day.

You get up to the 300 a day range over / under and do it for weeks - you'll likely impact your weight.

SHBoss1673

I'll try and explain it the same way I have in the past (I was looking for how I've answered this question before, but alas, those posts have been washed away in a veritable sea of hypertext).

So the human body does not have any means of saving food pre-digested. In other words when you eat, one of four things happens. 1) the food is broken down and used immediately as energy (generally this is from starches aka carbohydrates). 2) the food is broken down and recombined to be used as building blocks for repair and growth (generally this is what happens to protein and calcium) 3) the food is broken down and because there is more food than energy needs at the present, it is stored as adipose fat (body fat) to be used later, and 4) it is broken down and it's components travel around the blood stream being taken in as a kind of mobile energy (cholesterol).

We need to know that to understand the rest, bare with me.

OK the above being said, you can see that there is no way to store pre-digested food, that's why we can't eat way over the amount of calories we need to burn. Simply put, we store what we don't need as either fat or cholesterol (mostly fat). Those same lines of reasoning go the other way. The human body needs what it needs to run correctly. Research has proven that after about 3 days of a diet far enough below maintenance (Please note this is in NON-OBESE people, obese people have a slightly different, more relaxed set of rules because the availability of fat in their system for energy), the body will begin a few internal processes that slow down the effective metabolic rate. 1) it will increase fat storage 2) it will kick protein canabalization into high gear 3) it will slow down growth type hormone production (I.E. the rate at which lean tissue and bone will repair and build will fall drastically) and 4) if you do this long enough, organs and whole organ systems will start to reduce productivity.
Collectively this is called starvation mode or in scientific communities the "famine response". NOTE: you don't need to completely abstain from eating for this to begin, generally for non-obese people the gap is somewhere between 600 and 1000 calories, but that's a very VERY loose range. And it's not an on/off switch, it is a constant evaluation.

So this is why calorie banking is a slippery slope. 100 calories is probably not going to send you into famine response, but if coupled with an existing deficit, you never know, make it 200 or 300, depending on your fat levels, and it's quite possible. Add to that what happens when you eat all those extra calories (see the first part of my post) and now you're not only slowing down your metabolism, but now you're generating fat reserves at a much faster rate than normal. Make no mistake, the body won't burn body fat as readily and as easily as it will ingested food, so don't think that the calories you save, are just burned off your fat reserves, that's not how it works.

By the way, I can get the link to the studies I refer to, they are on ajcn.org, I forget the names of them though, and It would take me a little while, so PM me if you want them and have the ability to read scientific studies, they were quite fascinating.

SHBoss1673

found the link.

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=789564&jid=PNS&volumeId=54&issueId=01&aid=789556#

elainegsd

There is no problem with fitting an occasional indulgence into your new healthy lifestyle. Just track the Baileys and account for it as much as possible during that day. If you go over a bit, no big deal, it is one day...

lisay9

Thanks for going into so much detail, I have only just seen this post as I dont get notifications for some reason.
I understand what you mean now so thanks again