Weekly calorie intake v daily calorie intake

crazihel
crazihel Posts: 72 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey

I just have a very simple question - it is better to meet your calorie goal absolutely every day or on average by the end of the week. I have days I go over and days I go under (particularly when I'm at the gym) my daily calorie goal of 1270. So does it make any difference?


I've lost weight before without the help of any apps or programs but decided to use MYP to help me shed the last bit of weight, not very used to counting calories seriously. Also I'm low on the friends front, so please add me if you want another friend.

Cheers :)

Replies

  • StefieLou
    StefieLou Posts: 45 Member
    I don't know an answer for sure; but I I used to do Weight Watchers online, and between the flex points and such, it was weekly. They would encourage you to stock pile a few extra calories for a Friday night out for example.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I usually look more closely at my weekly average.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    I use a spreadsheet to track my daily calories. I make a point to always be under during the week, then I know how many I have left to give myself a bit of a splurge on the weekend. It's my answer to "cheat days", and it's worked out really well for me.
  • threechins
    threechins Posts: 35 Member
    My experience has been weekly is fine. A lot of people on here will talk about 'zig zagging' and starvation mode, and I've no idea whether or not there is any merit to those arguments, I've just found that if I have an overall deficit at the end of the week I lose weight.

    The way I do it (which I'm not proposing or evangelising) is to count from Saturday to Friday and aim for being between 0 - 500 calories over my overall weekly target - which is still 3,000 below my weekly requirement to maintain weight. Every Saturday I reset the counter and start again. Saturday, it is no coincidence, is usually the night I stuff my face with pizza and drink far far more than is good for me!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I go for weekly net. As long as I am 100 cals either way at the end of the week, then it's all good!
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    Weekly is fine.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
    I aim for daily but console myself with weekly when weakly requirements dictate
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    I go for weekly net. As long as I am 100 cals either way at the end of the week, then it's all good!

    This all the way!
  • PrincessNikkiBoo
    PrincessNikkiBoo Posts: 330 Member
    I aim for weekly, especially if eating back exercise calories. There are some days when you just can't do it!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Weekly is fine.

    This, but if your goal is only 1270 you really shouldn't ever be under on your gym days what are you netting, 800 cals?
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    Weekly is fine.

    This, but if your goal is only 1270 you really shouldn't ever be under on your gym days what are you netting, 800 cals?

    QFT
  • amyljl77
    amyljl77 Posts: 43 Member
    I don't know which is supposed to be better, but I've just been focusing on daily intake and I've been losing steadily.
  • LoveMyLife_NYC
    LoveMyLife_NYC Posts: 230 Member
    I go for weekly. I wish MFP would show a weekly net calorie goal summary the way it does for exercise. It would make things easier to track!
  • alastairliddell1
    alastairliddell1 Posts: 2
    Hello there,

    I am Alastair, i weight 223 lbs, used to be in great shape 10 years ago with rugby etc etc. I now need to lose 20lbs....

    I have cut my calories down from around 3000 a day to 1200 net...correct times of the day, 30 mins of cardio and weight training to build lean muscle, been going for ONE WEEK and lost 0.6 of one pound...

    Am i doing something wrong?

    What can i do better?

    Thankyou!
  • MonsterToBe
    MonsterToBe Posts: 244 Member
    Weekly. I'm a zig-zagger... I eat slightly above maintenance on days I lift (heavy lifting, barbells) and considerably below maintenance on non-lifting days, which lets me make sure I adequately fuel workouts and recovery but still have an overall calorie deficit for the week.
  • kazza2cats
    kazza2cats Posts: 87 Member
    I go for the overall weekly as days after a long run I get very hungry.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Hello there,

    I am Alastair, i weight 223 lbs, used to be in great shape 10 years ago with rugby etc etc. I now need to lose 20lbs....

    I have cut my calories down from around 3000 a day to 1200 net...correct times of the day, 30 mins of cardio and weight training to build lean muscle, been going for ONE WEEK and lost 0.6 of one pound...

    Am i doing something wrong?

    What can i do better?

    Thankyou!

    Well, you've only been at it one week so you haven't wrecked your body yet. You're eating way too little for a grown man. At 1200 calories a day you are LOSING muscle, not building it.
  • pjrbs
    pjrbs Posts: 179 Member
    Weekly absolutely works for me too.

    I have fat Fridays and potluck lunches at work and the usual birthday and other social occasions with friends and famiily.

    I can partake as I have eaten fewer calories the day(s) before and day after. After years of being on strict diets and failing, I now eat and celebrate with everyone else and dont feel deprived which usually ended up with "poor me" binges.
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,733 Member
    Hey

    I just have a very simple question - it is better to meet your calorie goal absolutely every day or on average by the end of the week. I have days I go over and days I go under (particularly when I'm at the gym) my daily calorie goal of 1270. So does it make any difference?


    I've lost weight before without the help of any apps or programs but decided to use MYP to help me shed the last bit of weight, not very used to counting calories seriously. Also I'm low on the friends front, so please add me if you want another friend.

    Cheers :)

    in bold, for the win!

    just because we break time into 24 hour blocks, doesn't mean our metabolic processes follow the same schedule. who can say how long it takes to actually store new fat or burn stored fat? there are several processes happening concurrently and sequentially, so step back and look at the whole forest instead of focusing on individual trees.

    i log my calories and exercise to a spreadsheet daily and worry only how my monthly totals change. i don't shoot for any particular daily goal, i just focus on my average daily NET calories for the month and try to make that meet the goal. in the end, it' the big picture that matters.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    My overall goal is the weekly average. When I am marathon training I tend to have some big under days that I try to balance out with other days of quality food days that are higher in cals. I do still look at the days themselves though as it is not good practice to binge one day and fast another but the weekly average allows you to be 200 over or under one day...a little under and a little over another without worrying about it so much. Or like me, on Sundays I might be a big whopping 500 under but on Mondays if I take a rest day and am 200 over it all balances out at the end of the week.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    I go for weekly. I wish MFP would show a weekly net calorie goal summary the way it does for exercise. It would make things easier to track!

    on the apps in the iPhone and the android app you can see that but not on the website. If you are on the app homepage there is a tab that says summary, daily, weekly...if you hit weekly it will show you a bar graph of each day and at then a bar with the average on it. I use this to keep me on track
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    I don't know which is supposed to be better, but I've just been focusing on daily intake and I've been losing steadily.


    This works too as each day becomes part of your weekly average anyway. Using the weekly average is helpful if you have a varied workout schedule...for instance someone who walks three days a week but then does intense CrossFit 3 days. That would be a huge variation in calories burn and calorie needs for the day. People training for endurance events have long days where they burn twice their daily calorie goals in one workout. If I run 20 miles in one day I cannot eat all those calories unless I eat all junk, ice cream and booze. Therefore I can spread out my cals a little bit through the rest of the week. When I am just exercising for health and fitness and not training for something daily goals work fine. When I am training the weekly goals are practical.
  • IronPlayground
    IronPlayground Posts: 1,594 Member
    Hello there,

    I am Alastair, i weight 223 lbs, used to be in great shape 10 years ago with rugby etc etc. I now need to lose 20lbs....

    I have cut my calories down from around 3000 a day to 1200 net...correct times of the day, 30 mins of cardio and weight training to build lean muscle, been going for ONE WEEK and lost 0.6 of one pound...

    Am i doing something wrong?

    What can i do better?

    Thankyou!

    You won't be building any muscle at 1200 net. Muscle is already lean. You just need to burn the fat covering it. You can't do both, build muscle and burn fat. You need to pick one. If fat burning is your goal, then you need to determine a reasonable deficit. You are eating too little. I'd recommend a combo of heavy lifting and very little cardio.
  • gespo89
    gespo89 Posts: 3 Member
    It doesn't matter if you track that over days, weeks, or months. Think of it like a savings account. If you make a deposit one day, and a withdrawal the next, or do them both on the same day, the amount in the account will still be effected the same. All that matters if if your total deposits(food) or total withdrawals(exercise) are bigger over the life of the account(your body).
  • crazihel
    crazihel Posts: 72 Member
    Thanks for all your replies - very helpful. I generally meet my daily goals apart from heavy gym days when I tend to be several hundred under, however I'm expecting weekend treats/social occasions to bump my overall weekly number up to goal! :)

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