Spreading out calories throughout the week

KBmoments

I usually do this unintentionally, but as long as I'm around my goal net calories for the week, I don't' sweat it (versus every day the same amount of calories). My question is, what if I'm on the LAST day of my week and I end up splurging.. aka, go over my calories by 500+? My week is finished for me to spread them out over... since my body doesn't reset at the end of the week, does it make sense for me to spread them out over the following week? I keep seeing that it's really over a period of time that your body recognizes weight loss, so I'm thinking this is ok. Anyone else have luck doing it this way? Thank you!

SezxyStef

I 99% of the time stay in my weekly goal...I don't let 500 calories + or - flow into the next week...

No weight loss is not linear but you need to be in a deficit on average and if you take that extra 500 from last week and try to make up for it this week...when you know you already do go over on some days how is that going to keep you in a deficit.

I wouldn't worry about it...leave it where it is and start a new week.

willrun4bagels

I 99% of the time stay in my weekly goal...I don't let 500 calories + or - flow into the next week...

No weight loss is not linear but you need to be in a deficit on average and if you take that extra 500 from last week and try to make up for it this week...when you know you already do go over on some days how is that going to keep you in a deficit.

I wouldn't worry about it...leave it where it is and start a new week.

^this.

I used to try to do that. Thinking that if I had an extra 500 calories worth of food one day because I was hungry, then I'd just log it as an extra few hundred cals over the next 2-3 days to even it out... but then it'd be the next day, and I'd try to eat a few hundred less than normal... I'd be so hangry. It was never worth it.

stuffinmuffin

I've always worked to weekly calories and never had any problems through weight loss and maintenance.

I wouldn't sweat over being 500 calories over at the end of the week. If you are on a deficit then it would just be eating into that and not causing weight gain (just might slow your weight loss progress).

Remember it takes on average 3500 cals OVER maintenance to gain a pound of fat.

rileyleigh

If you go over your calories for one week, just log it, and then go on to the next week. No need to carry it over. 500 calories extra during one day will not destroy your weightloss. You are likely eating at a 500 calorie deficit or more per day, so going over you goal by 500 will simply result in weight maintenence for that day.

If it is just one day, i would just say move forward and forget about it. Start over new during the next week and try a little harder to hit your goals.

shadowofender

I'd say you're fine to go over once in a while. Leave it where it is, and move on with your fresh week. Unless it becmes a habit, and then you probably need to step back and re-evaluate where you are at with everything.

KBmoments

Thanks, everyone! I would say this time I most likely went over by 1,000 - which would still put me at a very slight loss or into maintenance. Just thinking I could offset it some by eating a little less the next few days and try a bit harder to stay within my goals for the next week and not "roll over" any calories into the following week .

I guess my thought process is that my body doesn't know when my week ends, so technically it COULD be the start of my week .

Thanks for the feedback and reminder that I 'm not gaining by going over for the week since I was eating a deficit anyway.

Branstin

I balance my calories for the week and never take any leftovers into the next week. You will have plenty of calories to eat each week so there isn't any need to carry over calories and risk blowing your deficient.

KBmoments

What would be the disadvantage of spreading it out over the next week and then staying in your calorie goal that week? I guess I don't really see how it would actually hurt anything?

Branstin

If you are meticulous about tracking and manually balancing your calories then give it a shot, otherwise, you run the risk of overeating and yo-yoing from week to week. There isn’t any law that forbids you from doing it just record your activities as accurately as possible so you could easily pinpoint any problems that may surface.

cingle87

What would be the disadvantage of spreading it out over the next week and then staying in your calorie goal that week? I guess I don't really see how it would actually hurt anything?

It won't your body does not have a calendar, it doesn't know when one week starts and another end. Spread it out over the next few days and it would even out.

DrJenO

You could go either way, but what I would recommend for the future is to always try to "save" ahead of time - if you know you are going to splurge one or two days on the weekend, try to come under 100-200 a few days during the week to build up a surplus to use on the weekend.

Do you have your weekly calories (I'm assuming you are using that feature on the iphone app) set to restart on Monday?

KBmoments

You could go either way, but what I would recommend for the future is to always try to "save" ahead of time - if you know you are going to splurge one or two days on the weekend, try to come under 100-200 a few days during the week to build up a surplus to use on the weekend.

Do you have your weekly calories (I'm assuming you are using that feature on the iphone app) set to restart on Monday?

That's a good idea. Yes, my week resets on Monday and yes, I use the feature on my phone.