Does Anyone Average?

You got to remember that how many calories you take in in a day also depends on your exercise for the day. If you do anything strenuous like a run or lifting or even just having to move around a lot more then you should take in more calories. However, if its a day when you dont get out and do anything then your caloric intake should be less.

If you wanted to keep logging exercise, then you also have the option of spreading those extra calories over the week, so you don't feel like you're stuffing yourself one day, and starving the next. But, by all means, go for it. Lots of people round here just work out their TDEE (including additional exercise) and make a cut from there.

I'm tempted, and I might do when I've maintained for a while, but for now, I feel that I get a slightly more accurate estimate of my caloric needs from logging additional exercise. That's partly because I'm not able to do the same amount of exercise every week at the moment. But, if you have a good idea of your overall burns, then I'm sure you'll be fine. You'll soon find out if you're off on the numbers. No calculator is 100% accurate, there are so many variables. Just experiment until you're happy and not losing or gaining, and you'll have the right number.

I think you might be surprised with how many calories you burn throughout the day just doing "stuff". I recently bought a BodyMedia armband which tracks exactly (to the best of possibility) how many calories I burn per day. On "lazy" days of little or no exercise I burn 2,000. On exercise days I burn anywhere from 2,600-3,000.

I am 5'6" 132 pounds and 42 years old. I work as a teacher and although I don't sit behind my desk all day I'm not getting as much movement as I would like or what I get on the weekends.

I definitely eat the same amount of calories per day and know that on some days I only have a deficit of 250 and on other days it could be over 1,000. This approach seems to be working for me. I also indulge occasionally for special occasions and don't worry because I think it all evens out in the end.

I do keep a spreadsheet that tracks my monthly progress and I do see my monthly average food, average calories burned through daily activity (including exercise) and net calories.

You have to find out what works for you and it might take a bit of time. Good luck!

I do, and I think it's superior to the MFP method.

I eat a fixed amount daily and only raise my calories by 300 if I lift weights. This is the guideline in New Rules of Lifting for Women. I eat around 1900 calories a day and 2200 on lifting days. I've been doing extremely well with this program when I'm consistent. Remaining consistent is the hardest component for me.

I don't record my exercise on MFP as I tend to want to eat too much when I do. I set my calories for 1300 and that leaves wiggle room on a day that I'm really hungry or have a special occasion. I see progress by doing this. Everyone is different so you should experiment to figure out what works best for you.

edit for spelling

I eat at a 15% cut from my estimated TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). This is a number that takes into account average activity level so I don't eat back exercise calories. When I'm consistent it works great (I also have some insulin issues that impeded progress slightly when I'm less consistent).

My opinion is that it is fine to average it out, and I know someone had posted a lovely Excel spreadsheet on MFP a little while back to help you do exactly that. Eat more when you are hungry, less when you are not, as opposed to eating b/c your food diary says you have calories left, just makes sense!

As long as you keep up the exercise to burn that many calories in the week, to me the danger would be in slacking off on the tracking if I was doing it weekly as opposed to daily.

I totally eat more when I'm hungry (aka hungover) and I never eat just because I have calories left (rather have beer instead).... it's a viscious cycle but I'm still losing with it.

This totally works and more or less mirrors what I do for myself. If you find yourself gaining or losing over a period of 2-3 weeks just add or subtract calories accordingly.