Was this the right thing to do?

nykismile

I've accidentally undereaten severely for the past few days. Two days ago, I only ate around 750 calories, and yesterday I only ate around 1,250 calories. For maintenance (though inclined for slight weight loss) I should be eating around 1,800-1,900 calories per day.

I wasn't trying to eat so low; it just kind of happened due to a busy schedule. But today I weighed in at 107 lbs (I try to stick to 110 lbs) so I ended up eating about 3,000 calories later. I burned off only about 500 calories, which leaves me netting 2,500 calories.

I know I was well over, but since I was under the past two days, does it all shake out okay? I try to avoid these ups and downs though. So this is not a regular occurrence.

The_Enginerd

Basically yes. I use the weekly average to make sure I am pretty on target for the weekly goals. I would try to avoid REALLY low days like the 750 calorie day, but really in the big picture even that won't matter. Due to my running schedule, my net calories can vary by over 1000 calories from day to day. I would find it very hard to vary the amount I eat per day by such large amounts when some days are rest days and others have 1600 calorie burns.

When your intake varies by large amounts from day to day, you will probably see swings due to water weight, but this is normal and something you shouldn't try to chase. It would be best to give yourself a 5 lb range.

edit: My personal data on weight swings
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1404624-this-is-what-maintenance-looks-like

Kalikel

If you don't want to count calories for the rest of your life, it's good to start learning about eating when you're hungry.

Some people have equal hunger all the time. Some do not! Some of us are more hungry one day and less the next.

I think it's really good to pay attention, eat for your hunger and watch how it shakes out.

joshuaperson

It certainly will not hurt you in any way

nykismile

Thank you for the feedback - I was just ravenously hungry today and I just figured it was because of the under eating days. I'll just make peace with the zig zagging and get back to a normal schedule.

ingridkhajeh

You can't just look at one day out of a week. If you need x amount of calories a day to maintain a certain weight you should be eating that amount. You are right not to go so low in calories. But from time to time it happens. You were also right in supplementing calories the following day. Only if you ate a properly balanced diet and not a whole bunch of junk because you were starving.
I'm assuming you burned 500 cals doing some form of cardio work. If you only do cardio work you'll have great cardiovascular fitness however the real metabolism come from your muscle mass. It is living tissue that just being there burns calories, whereas fat just sits there waiting. Fat is stored energy. Every decade after 30 years old we lose 3% of our lean muscle mass. This is called sarcopenia.

Tanya949

I agree with the person that said you need to eat when you are hungry, and not rely solely on a certain number of calories per day. If you eat that few calories for a few days, naturally you will be hungrier the next day or 2 and eat more. That is your body balancing for you, you just have to listen and stop when you are full.