Question About Eating Enough

Raddichio

I've been tracking food here for the past month, as well as getting informed by doing a lot of reading on this site. I've read various posts about being sure to eat enough, both for good health and to avoid having the body go into "starvation mode."

I do have one question that I haven't seen addressed, although I may have just missed it. Do you think it's important to eat pretty much the same amount each day, or is it okay to have some days when you eat lighter (but still at or above your minimum requirements) and other days when you eat a bit more. For example, some days I'm just not as hungry as others. I'm also talking about maybe shaving off 100 calories a day M-F, which will be consumed over the weekend. For example, I like to eat more conservatively during the week to allow me the freedom to comfortably eat out with friends/family on the weekend. I don't abandon all restraint and eat anything and everything, but I also don't want to have to eat only a salad whenever we go out. I view my healthier eating and weight loss as a lifestyle change, not a diet, so I need to be able to enjoy a meal with friends on occasion.

For a little background, I have been following WW plan on my own (never joined WW) with success, and I initially came here to have a way to track my points by using the nutritional information here. I was horrified to find that most days I was eating less than 1,000 calories a day. I didn't have to read the posts here to know that's unhealthy over long-term, and after reading here I see it's counterproductive, too. So I'm following the recommendations here and making sure I get my minimum caloric requirements and eating a balanced diet. I still have some work to do---the first week I tracked here (on WW), I averaged 838 calories per day; the second week (still on WW), I averaged 996; and the third (as I applied more of the principles here), I averaged 1134. Myfitnesspal calculated I should be eating 1200. I'm determined to average 1200 a day this week.

Let me know what you think. I've learned so much here already, and I can see that there are a lot of knowledgeable people who post here.

cmriverside

Life is going to continue to happen. You are not seriously over weight, so if you go over one day and under on another, it really will all come out in the wash.

Don't get so hung up on perfection or absolutes that you lose sight of the over-all goal. Eating over on a couple days a week is not a big deal. If you are already eating at a deficit, then those "over" days are closer to your maintenance calories, right?

I used to get obsessed over the exact calories in and out every day. I realized it's not an exact science, and the scale and my clothes get me close enough - now that I have a grasp on approximately how much to eat. You're going to make 200 calories worth of errors in calculations on any given day.

Raddichio

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I just try to add up my calories for each week and check to see if my average daily consumption is close to my target, even though some days I may eat less and other days more. I guess as long as I continue to lose or at least not gain, I'm okay managing it this way.

astrampe

Keep track of your calories over a week long period - daily fluctuations actually works the best for me - I eat more than you do as I eat to my BMR +100 and exercise a lot -the calories burned there are also eaten:bigsmile:
I even throw in a "spike day once a week where I eat twice my BMR - usually on a Saturday...
As long as your weekly calories are still in a deficit, it works....

tigersword

A weekly goal is more accurate than a daily goal. You don't want to eat very little for consecutive days due to hormonal survival responses, but a low day followed by a higher day is fine, as long as you hit what you need to every week.

Helloitsdan

TDEE is key.

Anything consumed below TDEE will result in weight loss.
Anything consumed near or below BMR can result in lean mass lost.

Figure out your TDEE and cut from there but dont eat below BMR.
=D

Raddichio

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like I'm on the right track.

Tourney3p0

It should even out in the end so long as you don't continually go extremely low.

For example, Alternating between 1500 and 1700 net for a total of 11,100 per week would almost certainly give the exact same results as 1585 a day for a week. On the other hand, eating 0 calories for 6 days and eating 11,100 calories on the seventh day would be very bad.

So you probably won't see any benefit, but it also probably won't hurt anything.