Calories vs day length

jalara

Hey everyone, I have a question

If I'm eating 1200 calories a day, but the length of my days vary from 12 hours to 20 hours, should there be an adjustment made to my intake?

Thanks!

theresa7576

I think you should try to focus on a 24 hr period.. because a "day" is relative to what you are measuring it against. You could count calories per week if you want... but I think a day is choosen becuase it is manageable.

KWIM?

sbwood888

I think that the cals are calculated based on any given 24 hour period.

jalara

If that's true then I can run errands all day and need the same amount of calories as if I'm laying in bed asleep. That doesn't make sense.

I'd love to get some more input please!

sbwood888

So increase your calories and see what happens.

funfitfoodie

If that's true then I can run errands all day and need the same amount of calories as if I'm laying in bed asleep. That doesn't make sense.

I'd love to get some more input please!

I see where you're coming from. Most peoples days are about 15 hours once you take away sleep (say if you get up at 7am and go to bed at 10pm) If you're working long hours you might benefit from a couple hundred more calories but I'm no expert!

eates

I consider a day 24 hours. So some days (like today) I'm on the go all the time (gym, boys to tumble tots, home, lunch, boys to nap, shower, laundry, clean the bathrooms, clean the kitchen, pick up dog poop, boys up, go strawberry picking, home for dinner, etc) and some days (like yesterday) I'm a bum/don't feel well and don't do much (read a book, went to a movie with the family)
My theory is it will even out. So on days when I'm more active I compensate for the days that I'm less active.

bcattoes

Interesting question. I'm no expert but I would think that yes you should. Perhaps you should focus on eating the same amount of calories per week, but eat a little more on your long days and less on the short days. Otherwise you are probably going to be pretty hungry on the 20 hour days.

JMCade

If that's true then I can run errands all day and need the same amount of calories as if I'm laying in bed asleep. That doesn't make sense.

I'd love to get some more input please!

I see where you're coming from. Most peoples days are about 15 hours once you take away sleep (say if you get up at 7am and go to bed at 10pm) If you're working long hours you might benefit from a couple hundred more calories but I'm no expert!

This is actually a very good point! I never thought about it, but I would think if you are awake doing more, then you should need more food. Just like your car, if you drive 100 more miles a day than average you need more gas to go.

dragonbait0126

running erronds can burn calories though especially if you are doing things like grocery shopping. include the amount of time you are out of your car and actually on yur feet as exercise. the faster you walk through the store, the more calories you will burn. you can put it in as moderate walking since shopping isn't listed as an exercise. just make sure you calculate the actual amount of time you are on your feet and doing things. putting in the energy you are expending as exercise will provide you with additional calories that you can take in during that day (i.e. if you burn 150 calories grocery shopping then you gain an additional 150 calories you can take in).

MrsHinds7

I think the calorie intake is based on whatever activity level you put in when you made your account. Ex: I put that I have low activity because I have a desk job. So whenever I'm very active, like when I help cover the mailroom and am walking all over the building, I input that activity as exercise and eat the corresponding extra calories. So I think on a normal day, you would eat the regular calories, but if you spend an extra five hours running errands, estimate your total walking time, input that and eat those calories. Thats what I would do anyways.

bentobee

That's why I find having BodyMedia Fit so helpful... I can gauge where I am and adjust my calorie intake appropriately. My calorie expenditure varies a lot day to day, even without workouts figured in.

hockeyman28

On the short days should you not then intake less calories?

I also have days of varying length and I stick to my 1790 whether I start my day at 3am (3 days a week) or 8am(the rest). Maybe I should adjust?

theresa7576

I calculate myself as sedentary and take any extra activity as a bonus that I burn off.... I see what you are saying but If you want to look at the big picture and that is how your week is every single week, then look at it as you need 9000 calories a week or whatever.... Just like people think they can take a day off of their diet and eat 2500 calories instead of the normal 1300... Newsflash that 800 distributed over the rest of the week puts you back to square one.. no loss. SO set your calories for the normal you and anything extra in terms of activity count as a bonus or make it into exercise and credit yourself with more calories if you really think you burned that much more.

theresa7576

I think the calorie intake is based on whatever activity level you put in when you made your account. Ex: I put that I have low activity because I have a desk job. So whenever I'm very active, like when I help cover the mailroom and am walking all over the building, I input that activity as exercise and eat the corresponding extra calories. So I think on a normal day, you would eat the regular calories, but if you spend an extra five hours running errands, estimate your total walking time, input that and eat those calories. Thats what I would do anyways.

this exactly.

Fidgetferguson

I see what you are saying. And have wondered the the best way to approach this myself. Ultimately what I ended up doing is, I change my activitiy level in my profile almost daily depending on what that day is going to look like. That makes looking back through and finding patterns damn near impossible. But as far as day to day monitoring, it makes me feel more comfortable that I am adjusting my intake as needed.

Today for example I'm pretty much just hanging out on the the couch with a sick kiddo, so sedentary it is. Saturday I spent 8 straight hours climbing up and down ladders with heavy boxes, so that day my profile said active. It's probably not a perfect approach, but it feels more manageable to me than playing guessing games

TTHdred

If that's true then I can run errands all day and need the same amount of calories as if I'm laying in bed asleep. That doesn't make sense.

I'd love to get some more input please!

I see what you’re asking.

My non-expert opinion: It should not change the general recommended amount of calories per day. The amount is based on your BMI which is what your body needs to function – BMI includes time at rest. That said, what should influence it is the amount of “activity” you do in a day. Hence, when you work out and log it here in mfp you are allowed more calories consumed for the day as your body demands more. So in theory the more time you are “awake” so to speak the more “activity” you should be doing. Therefore it’s not so much the time spent awake that influences it but rather the time spent doing activities. Overall however, this site (as with most) are all averages, so listen to your body.

bcattoes

running erronds can burn calories though especially if you are doing things like grocery shopping. include the amount of time you are out of your car and actually on yur feet as exercise. the faster you walk through the store, the more calories you will burn. you can put it in as moderate walking since shopping isn't listed as an exercise. just make sure you calculate the actual amount of time you are on your feet and doing things. putting in the energy you are expending as exercise will provide you with additional calories that you can take in during that day (i.e. if you burn 150 calories grocery shopping then you gain an additional 150 calories you can take in).

Eat back the calories you spend just doing everyday activities like grocery shopping?? I'm pretty sure that's how my hips got this way in the first place.

jalara

running erronds can burn calories though especially if you are doing things like grocery shopping. include the amount of time you are out of your car and actually on yur feet as exercise. the faster you walk through the store, the more calories you will burn. you can put it in as moderate walking since shopping isn't listed as an exercise. just make sure you calculate the actual amount of time you are on your feet and doing things. putting in the energy you are expending as exercise will provide you with additional calories that you can take in during that day (i.e. if you burn 150 calories grocery shopping then you gain an additional 150 calories you can take in).

Eat back the calories you spend just doing everyday activities like grocery shopping?? I'm pretty sure that's how my hips got this way in the first place.

Agreed!

So I sleep about 10 hours a day, sometimes more if a (private) condition I have is acting up. Less sleep than that and I'll end up unwell for a stint. So when I'm having bad days, I wonder if I should take a little off my calorie intake. This is been the case for the last couple of weeks and I've gained slightly.