Need answers to my dumb questions please :)

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Please be patient - I'm new, and have some silly questions:

1. What's more important - meeting my calorie goal daily or weekly? For example, if I'm over on my calories on any given day, can I make it up another day as long as I'm under my weekly goal? With both of these situations produce the same result?

2. Is there somewhere on MFP that lists all of the acronyms people are using? I'm trying to follow some of the boards but having trouble understanding what everyone's saying when there are all sorts of letters and numbers flying around

3. How long to people stay on MFP after they've reached their goal? I see people talking about "maintenance". What is that and where can I find info on it?

Thanks!

BigT555

1. both will produce the same result. its the overall plus/minus that accounts for weightloss. whether you count daily or weekly is a matter of preference. some prefer daily since it simplifies things, some prefer weekly since it allows you to "make up" for having a crappy weekend or whatever later on in the week (or conversely allows people to save up calories so they can indulge a little on the weekends)

2. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1069278-acronyms-and-terms-for-new-mfp-members-v-6?hl=acronyms

3. some leave as soon as they hit their goal weight, some stay forever. the people who stay forever tend to be the ones who keep the weight off. you can find info on maintenance in the "Maintaining Weight" forum

Tilran

Please be patient - I'm new, and have some silly questions:

1. What's more important - meeting my calorie goal daily or weekly? For example, if I'm over on my calories on any given day, can I make it up another day as long as I'm under my weekly goal? With both of these situations produce the same result?

2. Is there somewhere on MFP that lists all of the acronyms people are using? I'm trying to follow some of the boards but having trouble understanding what everyone's saying when there are all sorts of letters and numbers flying around

3. How long to people stay on MFP after they've reached their goal? I see people talking about "maintenance". What is that and where can I find info on it?

Thanks!

1. Great question. Technically it is all a mash up. Breaking it down daily is the easiest way to track but in the end it is an ongoing tracker. So if your calorie goal is 2000 and you eat 3000, you could do 1000 the next day and balance it out. Some people actually purposefully do this and it is called Intermittent Fasting or IF. There gets a point when this doesn't work however. For example you don't want a day with 5000 calories and try to make it up with 4 days of 1000 calories. If you have a really bad day, try to make up for it if you can the next day...if not, learn the lesson of why you overate and move on. This is a long process

2. I'm not sure if there is a list of acronyms but Google can be your friend here. The more you become involved in the community the more you will learn acronyms people are throwing around like IIFYM, IF, CICO, TDEE, BMR and so on.

3. Maintenance is what you do once you hit your goal weight. People may stay on MFP longer because they want to gain weight afterward, or maybe they just want to keep tracking for maintenance. Maintenance is maintaining your current weight without losing or gaining. I've been here for 2 years, hit my goal after 1 year and created a new goal for myself which I am working on now.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

You guys are awesome, thanks so much!