Eating more on weekends to avoid plateauing?

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angiechimpanzee
angiechimpanzee Posts: 536 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've come up with a theory that MAY be the answer to a lot of peoples' plateau issues? It's the method I'm using now but since I just started I'm not currently able to profess whether or not it works. I assume though that it should!

Basically, what if someone chose to focus on getting the majority of their calorie deficit taken care of during the weekdays? For example, if they needed to net 1500/day to lose 2lbs a week, but they didn't want their body to get used to the relatively low limit & stop losing, wouldn't it be a smarter idea to stick to 1300/day for Monday through Friday, then on Saturday & Sunday up it to 2000, closer to their maintenance level? So that by the end of the week, they're technically averaging 1500/day BUT their body never really has time to "get used" to that lower amount? So basically, each weekend their "refreshing" or "resetting" their metabolism, if you will.

I feel like this would work because I know that EVERY time I've been eating around maintenance for a bit (1800), and then I suddenly drop to a lower amount (1300), the weight starts falling off quickly the first week or two. It's only after those first two weeks that I feel the weight loss start to slow down or stall, & I think it's because I didn't give my body any 'breaks' from the reduced amount of calories so it started to adjust. And I don't think it's relative to my starting weight, because I've noticed this when I weighed 112 pounds and now when I weigh 123. It's always the same pattern.

Any opinions on this?

Replies

  • sarahisme18
    sarahisme18 Posts: 574 Member
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    My parents have done that, on WW, and it worked really well for them. They were able to get through any plateau and hit their goal very quickly. Instead of eating high calorie for a whole weekend, though, they indulged in a high-calorie italian meal every Friday. It worked every time!
  • SarahAFerguson
    SarahAFerguson Posts: 250 Member
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    It seems to work for me.
  • jojorocksforeva
    jojorocksforeva Posts: 303 Member
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    First of all just because your eating less that does not necessarily mean it will cause a platue.
  • _AllieCat_
    _AllieCat_ Posts: 515 Member
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    I was able to break a 3-month plateau by practicing basically the same thing you're talking about.

    I calorie cycle and intermittent fast. What it is, is every other day I don't eat after 2-3pm. The calories I didn't consume that day I go over my net amount the next day. On my low days I may eat 600 less than my goal, or I may eat only 100 less. The big factor that helps me is varying my intake every day to keep my body guessing.

    I lost my first 18 or so pounds by sticking to my goal every day, but at some point my body got used to the lower calorie amount and stopped showing lower numbers on the scale.

    This method has worked wonders for me, but it's not for everyone. It takes a lot of planning ahead and willpower. But since I wasn't getting results with my old methods I had to try something new.
  • ptak1sm
    ptak1sm Posts: 172
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    That's basically how I've been going since I started and I've never hit a plateau. I started tracking in April, I think, and I've lost about 1.5lbs/wk. I don't log at all on Saturdays, which has been a benefit to me, I think. If I knew all those numbers, I might've gone crazy and done something to screw up the work I'd put in. I'm switching to maintenance in a few weeks, maybe a month, but I've already started upping my calories a bit.

    I'm a huge proponent of an entire cheat day. Take that day to go out to dinner, go to the bar, what have you. Don't make the entire day a gorge fest. I still eat a good breakfast and lunch, fruits and veggies, etc., but I don't log anything, I'll enjoy a few indulgences, and it keeps me from going overboard when the cravings hit.
  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
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    That's what I was doing, The first 40 lbs came off like butter, i thought..."this is easy!". I'm down to 12 pounds i want to lose, and It doesn't work anymore. I've cut my carbs down, and increased my cardio...I'll see how it works on my Sunday weigh in.
  • ExplorinLauren
    ExplorinLauren Posts: 991 Member
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    Bump.. wanna read later
  • krickeyuu
    krickeyuu Posts: 344 Member
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    It's what I do most of the time, lost 12 pounds so far. Friday night is "date night" so we go out and I give myself permission to enjoy dinner and wine, margaritas, whatever (but with sensible restraint.)
  • possibri
    possibri Posts: 158 Member
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    First of all just because your eating less that does not necessarily mean it will cause a platue.

    When you use "first" that implies you will have a second point...


    And I have just recently started being a little more flexible with going over/under on my calories, and found that I lost 1.4lbs after going ~700 cal over my goal for the week... go figure. I assume that it is pretty much what you're describing here, though, so I like to pretend that I know for sure that's what's causing it and not stressing if I go over a little bit.
  • leestulip
    leestulip Posts: 11
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    I lost 9 lbs my first week and have not lost anything since that time (1.5 mo). I am so frustrated. I am never eatting my daily amount of calories and excercising steadily. I may sometimes eat the 1500 calories alotted to me, but i I excercise I never make those up. Am I supposed to? I am so frustrated and feel like I am getting no where.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    Any opinions on this?

    I think this method is viable in terms of it working towards weight loss, but I don't think there's any evidence that single days or weekends at higher intake are sufficient enough to do anything appreciable towards offsetting any downregulation of hormones associated with fat loss.

    In other words, I don't think you're preventing plateaus in any way by doing this, as those plateaus are largely driven by change in fat stores. However, I DO think it's a viable method if your preference is to eat more on the weekends, and there's nothing wrong with this kind of approach.
  • bub_snig
    bub_snig Posts: 56
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    when I plateau I usually go on a two day protein detox.... where I eat only protein based meals. Its pretty boring but because it's only for two days it helps jumpstart me again. Plus all of the protein usually keeps me fuller for longer too!
  • debsclio
    debsclio Posts: 24
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    I think I need to try this, the first 13 pounds came of really easily and now for 2 weeks nothing.
  • angiechimpanzee
    angiechimpanzee Posts: 536 Member
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    I lost 9 lbs my first week and have not lost anything since that time (1.5 mo). I am so frustrated. I am never eatting my daily amount of calories and excercising steadily. I may sometimes eat the 1500 calories alotted to me, but i I excercise I never make those up. Am I supposed to? I am so frustrated and feel like I am getting no where.
    How much do you exercise? If you do enough cardio to get your net pretty low (like 1000) then yeah, you might need to eat some of those calories back.
  • becs_91
    becs_91 Posts: 180 Member
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    That's more or less what I'm doing. It wasn't really intentional at first, but it doesn't seem to be hurting, that's for sure! My MFP set goal is 1340, and I find that generally, I go under through the week, then on the weekends eat all the way up to goal, including some exercise calories. I guess it keeps my metabolism guessing. No plateau yet.

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