does anyone give themselves a range?

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kidznpupz1
kidznpupz1 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a veteran of Weight Watchers. That said I am trying to lose the last 15 lbs. My question is - how does everyone plan for occasional splurges. I have to eat 1200 calories to lose .8 lbs/week after I work out for 40 minutes 5 days a week. To maintain I can eat 1,590 calories a day. Weight Watchers has always given you weekly points or optional calories or a range or something. How does everyone hear handle an ice cream cone or slice of birthday cake?. life needs to go on along with your diet if you are to be successful in the long term I think :)
Thoughts?

Replies

  • Kst76
    Kst76 Posts: 935 Member
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    I don't deprive myself of anything. Just make sure you stay within your limit and you should be fine. The days I know I'm going to splurge I figure out how many calories that might be and I go to the gym until I burned that equal amount. :)
  • nicoleknapp754
    nicoleknapp754 Posts: 53
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    Ive never participated in weight watchers but over the past 15 months as I have lost 58 lbs, I have developed the one bite rule. The first bite of anything is always the best...so when I really can't resist eating something I will eat one bite or one spoon full. this is actually enough to satisfy me without going over my carb/calories. I"m diabetic, If I find my blood sugar too high , I ride my stationary bike or go for a little longer of a walk than usual. I never have a full piece of anything that has a lot of carbs or sugar....just not worth it to me. ( of course I would like to but it just takes my blood sugar too high.
  • MaryPoppinsIAint
    MaryPoppinsIAint Posts: 157 Member
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    I follow the IPOARM thread, using TDEE-20% to set my calories. It's much less restrictive than MFP's numbers would be for a person of my size, and it's working better, as you can see. I eat fun stuff regularly, chocolate, even wine. If I want it and it fits in my calories and sodium, it's come to mama. Bonus, I have regularly planned "hell with it" days (1 day in 10, literally plotted on my calendar) where I am allowed to eat anything I please guilt-free. Those are the days I use for restaurant meals, special events, etc. If I know a special event is coming up, I adjust the planned "HWI" days to allow one to fall on that date, and enjoy myself. The most memorable one of late was a date night at Joe's Crab Shack. I find that having it planned out like that helps with the days where the cravings are a bit nutty... I can look at my calendar and say "See? You've got a HWI day coming up on Wednesday, be good until then and you can have all the pizza you want."
  • emcclore
    emcclore Posts: 38
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    I don't know about WW but I do like to give myself a range... MFP has me at 1430cals and I don't beat myself up if I eat up to 1600 or 1700. Some folk might feel that whoa whoa that's a large range but I never know what could come up. I workout about 3-4 times a week and I usually don't even have time to eat my all my cals back! So on cheat days I don;t go too crazy but I don't feel bad since I know my workouts burn a significant amount of cals ( zumba, high intensity aerobics). Also, the times that I ate something bit heavier than I would like, I just add another 15mins worth of cardio to my workouts.... just like paying for my little treat.... hope this helps! good luck!
  • lioness803
    lioness803 Posts: 325 Member
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    A weekly average is easier to go by than trying to hit your calories exactly every day...so you go over one day, a couple other days during the week you'll probably be under. If you know you're going to a party or something, you can try to save calories for an extra treat or two. You would have to eat 3500 calories over your maintenance for the week to GAIN one pound, so you've got room to go a little over.
  • dachiri
    dachiri Posts: 14
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    "Saving up" too much can be a bad thing, but there's no reason you can't work off a splurge over several days through both diet and exercise. Although, personally, my exercise varies WILDLY from day-to-day. 2 days a week I play sports, for big burns, but it's tiring enough that I don't have much appetite left on those days. The weekends are filled with household chores that have me bending, lifting, and scrubbing myself into a sweat. So I love to watch the exercise calories stack up throughout the week until Saturday night rolls around and I'm like "I'll have the craft beer, and a slice of chocolate cake." :) I might pack on a few ounces those nights, but they come right back off Monday evening when I hit the field and sweat it out.
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
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    I follow the IPOARM thread, using TDEE-20% to set my calories. It's much less restrictive than MFP's numbers would be for a person of my size, and it's working better, as you can see. I eat fun stuff regularly, chocolate, even wine. If I want it and it fits in my calories and sodium, it's come to mama. Bonus, I have regularly planned "hell with it" days (1 day in 10, literally plotted on my calendar) where I am allowed to eat anything I please guilt-free. Those are the days I use for restaurant meals, special events, etc. If I know a special event is coming up, I adjust the planned "HWI" days to allow one to fall on that date, and enjoy myself. The most memorable one of late was a date night at Joe's Crab Shack. I find that having it planned out like that helps with the days where the cravings are a bit nutty... I can look at my calendar and say "See? You've got a HWI day coming up on Wednesday, be good until then and you can have all the pizza you want."
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
  • mrsbiscuit
    mrsbiscuit Posts: 19
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    I definitely have a range. I look at the weekly average more than the daily, so some days I might eat more and some days I might eat less. Also I eat absolutely whatever I want as long as it reasonably fits my calories -- or if it's something ridiculously high in calories, I might just have a little. I don't restrict food groups. Thus far, it's worked very well for me. :) It's not a diet, it's just being aware of what I eat.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    I use the "calorie zig zag" method, which means some days I'm under my goal and some days I go over. It all evens out. For example, over the weekend I went over pretty bad (okay REALLY bad, worst splurge I've had in like a year haha), but all last week and today I was under my goal by a couple hundred calories. I've been doing it this way for a while and I'm still losing weight.

    Basically, don't fret if you go over your goal every once in a while - chances are, your'e under your goal sometimes so it balances out. Have that slice of cake! Just don't eat a whole cake every day :)
  • suzanne_oh
    suzanne_oh Posts: 95 Member
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    I have a range which is based on my hunger and activity level. I try to stay between 1200 - 1700 cal. I know that if I try to restrict myself to one specific number I will fail. I am making healthy food choices, drinking lots of water, exercising and I'm losing weight and inches. I know that many people on MFP have their opinions about what works, but ultimately I think you have to find what works for you.

    Best of luck to you!
  • suzanne_oh
    suzanne_oh Posts: 95 Member
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    And by the way, I have lost a total of 33 lbs. (8 lbs. since joining MFP).
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I follow the IPOARM thread, using TDEE-20% to set my calories. It's much less restrictive than MFP's numbers would be for a person of my size, and it's working better, as you can see. I eat fun stuff regularly, chocolate, even wine. If I want it and it fits in my calories and sodium, it's come to mama. Bonus, I have regularly planned "hell with it" days (1 day in 10, literally plotted on my calendar) where I am allowed to eat anything I please guilt-free. Those are the days I use for restaurant meals, special events, etc. If I know a special event is coming up, I adjust the planned "HWI" days to allow one to fall on that date, and enjoy myself. The most memorable one of late was a date night at Joe's Crab Shack. I find that having it planned out like that helps with the days where the cravings are a bit nutty... I can look at my calendar and say "See? You've got a HWI day coming up on Wednesday, be good until then and you can have all the pizza you want."
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
    ^^^THIS!

    Been eating according to the road map thread for over a year with awesome success! Came through the holidays without gaining anything, but enjoyed all my favorite goodies. Finally hit goal weight, dropped another pants size, and lost many inches and lots of fat, while eating 1800+ cals a day (I'm 5'8", 44 years old, and I work out at home). Upped my cals after hitting goal weight, but still eating below TDEE as I want to lose a bit more fat - been eating over my goal of 1950 quite a bit lately (Easter, birthday celebrations, and life just brings ya pizza, burgers, beer and ice cream sometimes! :bigsmile:), and I'm still not gaining.

    Eating well and enough has been awesome - my body is happy with all the fuel and seems to burn through everything. It's wonderful not having to stress about having treats, or going out, or holidays, etc. These are lifestyle changes I can stick with for good - no going back!
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
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    I don't understand 1200 calories. It doesn't compute at all. I would exercise more just to get a couple hundred more calories. I walked a couple miles once just to have extra mayo in my pasta salad. I wish I was kidding.
  • volume77
    volume77 Posts: 670 Member
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    I use the "calorie zig zag" method, which means some days I'm under my goal and some days I go over. It all evens out. For example, over the weekend I went over pretty bad (okay REALLY bad, worst splurge I've had in like a year haha), but all last week and today I was under my goal by a couple hundred calories. I've been doing it this way for a while and I'm still losing weight.

    Basically, don't fret if you go over your goal every once in a while - chances are, your'e under your goal sometimes so it balances out. Have that slice of cake! Just don't eat a whole cake every day :)



    This
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
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    On here, your calorie goal is about 500 calories less than what your maintenance goal would be. So any time I do go over, I know that if I'm over by 1-500 calories, I'm still in a losing range. If I'm over by a little more than 500, hell I'm still in a maintenance range, so that's still OK. And really, to be at that maintenance range, I'd have to be over every day of the week. Just one day really doesn't matter at all.
  • volume77
    volume77 Posts: 670 Member
    Options
    On here, your calorie goal is about 500 calories less than what your maintenance goal would be. So any time I do go over, I know that if I'm over by 1-500 calories, I'm still in a losing range. If I'm over by a little more than 500, hell I'm still in a maintenance range, so that's still OK. And really, to be at that maintenance range, I'd have to be over every day of the week. Just one day really doesn't matter at all.



    yep

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