Whats more important? Daily or Weekly Deficit?

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mammafrog
mammafrog Posts: 176
in Food and Nutrition
What is more important to have? A daily deficit or a weekly one?

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  • celerieaz
    celerieaz Posts: 26 Member
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    Weekly!

    At least that's my opinion. Granted, you won't get a weekly deficit without daily deficits.
  • mammafrog
    mammafrog Posts: 176
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    Weekly!

    At least that's my opinion. Granted, you won't get a weekly deficit without daily deficits.

    Very true. I was under almost very day this week but then had a bad day and it might hurt my weekly so I wondered
  • Silverstar46
    Silverstar46 Posts: 187 Member
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    Remember that the calories they have us eating are made to automatically create a BMR deficit each day even if we eat ALL of our daily calories. However, if you can manage to be under by a few calories every day, then if you do have a day where you can't resist that brownie or piece of chocolate, then it's not such a big deal. Remember it's a lifestyle change and not a diet - this has to be something you can do for the rest of your life which means sometimes you WILL eat a 'non-healthy' snack. That's okay and perfectly normal.
  • EricMurano
    EricMurano Posts: 825 Member
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    What is more important to have? A daily deficit or a weekly one?

    Mmmm that depends. Can you expand the question a little?
  • karenwill2
    karenwill2 Posts: 604 Member
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    seems more like a chicken or the egg question. You can't have one without the other.
  • TeresaC79
    TeresaC79 Posts: 316 Member
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    seems more like a chicken or the egg question. You can't have one without the other.

    Yes you can. Not every day, but you can.

    I went over one day this week to celebrate my birthday, but will still have an overall weekly deficit. I'm assuming the OP was not talking about going over every day. I'm assuming she probably had one day over but is still in a weekly deficit.
  • shydaisi
    shydaisi Posts: 833 Member
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    Weekly! :smile:
  • MrFatLegs
    MrFatLegs Posts: 149 Member
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    Weekly!! I know some people even zig-zag their daily calorie intake, just as long as it adds up at the end of the week
  • mammafrog
    mammafrog Posts: 176
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    seems more like a chicken or the egg question. You can't have one without the other.

    Yes you can. Not every day, but you can.

    I went over one day this week to celebrate my birthday, but will still have an overall weekly deficit. I'm assuming the OP was not talking about going over every day. I'm assuming she probably had one day over but is still in a weekly deficit.

    Yes most of the week I was under some. Yesterday I had a cheat day and went over by 375. It doesn't help that I have monthly time non stop hunger
  • elvb
    elvb Posts: 423 Member
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    Weekly!! I know some people even zig-zag their daily calorie intake, just as long as it adds up at the end of the week

    Yes! Weekly is better....for me anyway.
  • piercedanatomy
    piercedanatomy Posts: 28 Member
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    It's the average deficit for the week that matters. But that means more often than not deficits for daily.
  • Angelabec
    Angelabec Posts: 505 Member
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    Definitely weekly, I have got this far by being extra good all week, then enjoying the weekends. And for the sceptics, yes, to me, that's a sustainable plan, I pretty much plan to live my life like this now!
  • LukeDoolittle
    LukeDoolittle Posts: 3
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    This question is kind of broad but the short answer is, for all intents and purposes, that it is weekly that matters. However if your eating habits are very symmetrical in terms of timing and quantity, studies show that your TEF (thermogenic effect from food) gets a significant boost. So that's motivation to try and eat consistently from day to day.
  • karenwill2
    karenwill2 Posts: 604 Member
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    without a daily deficit you CANNOT have a weekly one. They are both equally important. Deficit is the name of the weight loss game, right? So if you go over a day...no biggie so long as you don't go over every day. A
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    without a daily deficit you CANNOT have a weekly one.

    You can. You could eat a daily surplus of 100 calories and on one day per week eat a 1500 calorie deficit and end in a 900 calorie weekly deficit.

    As to the original question, what is most important is that over the course of time, you are eating in a deficit. Whether you measure this weekly or daily or every 3 days isn't as important as long as you use a method that allows you to execute successfully.
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
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    without a daily deficit you CANNOT have a weekly one.

    You can. You could eat a daily surplus of 100 calories and on one day per week eat a 1500 calorie deficit and end in a 900 calorie weekly deficit.

    As to the original question, what is most important is that over the course of time, you are eating in a deficit. Whether you measure this weekly or daily or every 3 days isn't as important as long as you use a method that allows you to execute successfully.


    I'm reminded that no one became very overweight because of a day of going over on their calorie goals. It is because over time many more calories were consumed than spent. I would most definitely agree that it's most important that over time you are eating in a deficit so that you can continue to lose successfully. Good question!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    The body doesn't work on a 24 hour clock. It doesn't say "Hey it's midnight, I've eaten 500 calories over my maintenance today so I will now store 1/7th of a pound". I pay attention to my weekly average. That way if I have a "spike" day I can make up for it by eating slightly lower the rest of the week.

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