Over calories followed by under calories?

LaurenLouG

I went WAY OVER in my calories yesterday (wine will do that) so is it okay to under eat my a few hundred calories for the next few days to make up for my guilty binge?

Rikki007s

I certainly do that by spreading the calories out over the few days after going way over like you suggest. I'm not sure what other people will say, but guessing its a lot healthier than trying to make up the calories in one day. You can also make sure you work out a little harder to make some up.

TimeForMe99

Not only ok but good for you! Some folks practive calorie cycling (zig-zagging), where they don't eat the same calories each day. It's supposed to keep your body guessing and avoid plateus. Besides, it's a perfectly natural thing to eat differently on some days than others. Just try to stay within your cals for the week. Be sure to get your protein and fat though; you over indulged in carbs but the protein need goes on.

MeeshyBW

I think it's fine to do this. I usually just look at my calories for the week rather than just individual days. x

tomcornhole

No problem. I do this every week on purpose. It's called cheat day and I purposely exceed TDEE by at least 100%. Next day is usually under TDEE by 25%. Been doing this for a year. Key component of my weight loss program and I get to eat anything I want on that day.

Confuzzled4ever

I do this constantly.. under/over.. if you're weekly intake is under you are good..

The reason we monitor by day is so we can identify problems when they occur and fix them. but really all that matters if you eat healthy and your intake is less then your outtake.

troth1025

Thanks for this post. I had the same question. I've been doing Weight Watchers for over a year and am at goal now and trying to maintain. On that program you have a daily target and then a bank of weekly points to use throughout the week. I was wondering how it should work on here...if eat everything it tells me I get for the day then what happens on those splurge days that I used to just save up for on WW. Usually those splurge days are not days I'm getting a lot of activity in, so it's not like I can make up the calories working out.

Right now I'm tracking both points in WW app plus calories here. It's interesting that there are days here where I finish and MFP says I didn't eat enough calories, yet on WW I've gone over my daily points allowance. I think I like the way MFP calculates better, but guess I'll have to wait a few weeks to see how the scale reacts.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Not only ok but good for you! Some folks practive calorie cycling (zig-zagging), where they don't eat the same calories each day. It's supposed to keep your body guessing and avoid plateus. Besides, it's a perfectly natural thing to eat differently on some days than others. Just try to stay within your cals for the week. Be sure to get your protein and fat though; you over indulged in carbs but the protein need goes on.

Please link at least one peer reviewed journal supporting your claim.

Any evidence supporting calorie cycling is anecdotal at best. There's nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't provide any added benefits.

eric_sg61

Not only ok but good for you! Some folks practive calorie cycling (zig-zagging), where they don't eat the same calories each day. It's supposed to keep your body guessing and avoid plateus. Besides, it's a perfectly natural thing to eat differently on some days than others. Just try to stay within your cals for the week. Be sure to get your protein and fat though; you over indulged in carbs but the protein need goes on.

Please link at least one peer reviewed journal supporting your claim.

Any evidence supporting calorie cycling is anecdotal at best. There's nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't provide any added benefits.

So your saying long-term calorie restriction doesn't slow down your metabolism. If so then why do people on long term deficits lose a lot of weight, and then when they start to eat normally again they gain it all back and then some?

SideSteel

I went WAY OVER in my calories yesterday (wine will do that) so is it okay to under eat my a few hundred calories for the next few days to make up for my guilty binge?

Physiologically: Yes, it's fine.

Speculation on my part:

Psychologically: Maybe yes, maybe no. If you're guilting yourself into not eating my belief is that this might lead to worse things. And I realize you're only talking about a few hundred calories but I believe the point is worth mentioning.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Not only ok but good for you! Some folks practive calorie cycling (zig-zagging), where they don't eat the same calories each day. It's supposed to keep your body guessing and avoid plateus. Besides, it's a perfectly natural thing to eat differently on some days than others. Just try to stay within your cals for the week. Be sure to get your protein and fat though; you over indulged in carbs but the protein need goes on.

Please link at least one peer reviewed journal supporting your claim.

Any evidence supporting calorie cycling is anecdotal at best. There's nothing wrong with it, it just doesn't provide any added benefits.

So your saying long-term calorie restriction doesn't slow down your metabolism. If so then why do people on long term deficits lose a lot of weight, and then when they start to eat normally again they gain it all back and then some?

Calorie cycling isn't the same as a diet break. An example of calorie cycling would be having a calorie goal of 14,000 for the week and have over/under days like 1500 one day, 2500 the next, etc.

LaurenLouG

I went WAY OVER in my calories yesterday (wine will do that) so is it okay to under eat my a few hundred calories for the next few days to make up for my guilty binge?

Physiologically: Yes, it's fine.

Speculation on my part:

Psychologically: Maybe yes, maybe no. If you're guilting yourself into not eating my belief is that this might lead to worse things. And I realize you're only talking about a few hundred calories but I believe the point is worth mentioning.

Yep. I definitely have body issues, and I feel pretty damn awful for going over my daily allowance, especially considering I've just upped my allowance after reading about BMR/TDEE.

I'm a girl in my early twenties, body image issues run pretty rampant in my demographic. I wish I didn't place so much importance and self worth on the scale but I do.