For those on 1200 calories, how many calories do you think i

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swimmchick87
swimmchick87 Posts: 458 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Today is my "spike" day, but I'm never really sure how much extra I can eat without doing myself in. I'm on 1200 calories a day, as the title suggests. For those of you that do spike days, how many calories do you go over by? I tend to want my "weekly" calories to still be under/at the goal, so I have been eating maybe 400-500 calories over my goal on Fridays, but since I had a few extra exercise calories from earlier in the week, it all balances out. Should I be going over my "weekly goal" still? I don't want my metabolism to slow down, but I also don't want to ruin my whole week by eating too much on Fridays.

Also, does anyone know if there's a way I can set my calorie goal higher for just that one day? I have this little OCD thing about seeing the red numbers, lol. I think it would be good for me also to set a higher number for just that one day so I can have more, but also make sure I'm staying under that number rather than just going totally crazy since I'm in the red anyway.

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  • littlelily613
    littlelily613 Posts: 769 Member
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    I don't usually eat 1200 (well, I tend to eat anywhere between 1100 and 1600 most days). But, the nutritionist I saw said that I could eat 1200 a day and be perfectly healthy, so I can't see it slowing your metabolism to much. If you go under that though, you are at risk of starvation mode. I've heard (from the nutritionist) that the best way to keep your metabolism going is to eat 5 small meals a day rather than 3 big ones. Not a direct answer to your question, but hope it helps anyway.
  • carrie340
    carrie340 Posts: 36
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    What is a spike day?

    I'm on 1200 now, should I have a spike day?

    4210516.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • ShrinkingChelle
    ShrinkingChelle Posts: 187
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    I aim for double my normal caloric intake.
  • gregpack
    gregpack Posts: 426 Member
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    What is a spike day?

    I'm on 1200 now, should I have a spike day?

    4210516.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

    Whether you should have one depends on your weight activity level, and caloric intake.

    Spike days supposedly prevent plateauing. I'm a a believer. I went low calorie for too long and had issues. Just a few high carb days and everything normalized. For more info read up about the hormone leptin.

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