Can you save Calories for the weekend

Hughesers
Hughesers Posts: 22 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey guys, does anyone know if you can save a few calories every day and add them on to a Saturday night if you have a night out.

Replies

  • CookyBell
    CookyBell Posts: 22
    Love it! The rule of thumb I've always worked to is that if you are eating clean 6 days out of 7, and within your AMR requirements, having a cheat day can be beneficial. But still having a cheat day doesn't give you carte blanche to totally destroy all the good work you've done previously.
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
    What I used to do is just eat a lot less for breakfast and lunch on whatever day it was that I wanted to go out.
  • tonytoo
    tonytoo Posts: 307
    Yes. Yes you can.
  • slim_photographer
    slim_photographer Posts: 310 Member
    on paper it works really well. You restrain yourself a little more on weekdays. Let's say you save 100 cals mon-fri. Then you can have fries with that burger or an extra slice of pizza.
    However in my personal experience is not the big intake in one day (cheat meal or day) that kills you but the next day when you say 'what the hell, another won't hurt' and the third day you say the same so a cheat day becomes a cheat week and then you're no longer even trying.
    IF you can do it for one day, IMHO there's no harm. If you find that the cheat meals becomes more than that, then why play with fire?
  • wilmnoca
    wilmnoca Posts: 416 Member
    No, you cannot. The above are wrong. Eat clean thru the weak and loosen up on the weekend. Done.
  • kri1977
    kri1977 Posts: 63 Member
    You can also just go for a run to "earn" the additional calories :) You would normally not eat those but at weekend it could be a good thing :)
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,226 Member
    I worry more about my weekly average than my daily, so that sometimes means I'm under my goal for a number of days, then quite over for one or two. Works for me!
  • FJMilner
    FJMilner Posts: 407
    IT's my understanding that as long as your cals add up over the week rather than on a daily basis then you're all good. That's only my understanding, not sure if it's right or not! So in theory you could save 100 cals for 6 days and have an extra 600 to play with on yr "cheat" day
  • skinnytayy
    skinnytayy Posts: 459
    A lot of people on here will tell you that your weekly calorie intake is the number to pay attention to, rather then day by day. So I'd assume if you "saved" calories throughout the week for one particular day, it wouldn't do any harm. As long as you have a deficit at the end of the week, I wouldn't think it matters when you eat your calories. I'm by no means I'm no expert though.
  • vypeters
    vypeters Posts: 475 Member
    Yep. Calories in vs. calories out is not tied to 24 hour buckets.

    Add up your weekly calories. Eat that many calories in a week. From a loss perspective that's all there is too it. Of course you can take it to an extreme - if you eat all your calories in one day and nothing the other 6 you won't feel so hot, but as long as you use a little common sense it works.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
    I tried this for a while didn't really work. I do sometimes do a high day then a low day, but not sure it works the same carrying them over all week

    Zara
  • symonspatrick
    symonspatrick Posts: 213 Member
    Yes. Yes you can!!!!
  • Hughesers
    Hughesers Posts: 22 Member
    thanks everyone for your tips, very helpful
  • Four_Leaf_Clover
    Four_Leaf_Clover Posts: 332 Member
    This was the whole premise of a very famous and popular commercial diet plan 10 yrs ago - you could bank calories for special occasions. .
  • Unknown
    Unknown
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  • luticiaf
    luticiaf Posts: 92 Member
    From what I understand its more your average intake that counts, so say weekly average, so yes you can. Additionally, it's best to vary your caloric intake to keep your metabolism 'guessing' - under some days, over others - as long as your average is on par with your goals.
  • emergencytennis
    emergencytennis Posts: 864 Member
    I worry more about my weekly average than my daily, so that sometimes means I'm under my goal for a number of days, then quite over for one or two. Works for me!

    This is what I do as well. I get most of my exercise in 2 or 3 big bursts a week, when I use up 1000-1200 calories a time. If I tried to hit every daily goal I would be eating half as much food again on those days or more, then dropping back down the next. The weekly average is much more useful to me.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    who knew..calories are like cell phone minutes..they roll over!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    This was the whole premise of a very famous and popular commercial diet plan 10 yrs ago - you could bank calories for special occasions. .

    bank of calories?
  • Arazante
    Arazante Posts: 12
    Binging is not healthy.

    lol(?) to the stuff ndj1979 has mentioned but, it is a little silly to think calories work like cellphones or banks... they don't. Your body needs daily vitamins and calories to function properly. Daily, is the key word. Our bodies are systems, but they are not mechanical systems, they are organic.

    If you continually eat significantly less during the week to "store up" for the weekend, you will screw around with your metabolism and might find it harder to lose weight. You're better off working off what you eat- this a general rule of thumb. If you eat/drink a lot on the weekends, work it off. Spend longer or work out more intensely the day you binge.
  • Nana_Booboo
    Nana_Booboo Posts: 501 Member
    Either it works for you or it doesn't. You'll still be going out, right?? Enjoy your one night. Don't stress over it! And get back at it. "One day of 'bad' eating will not make you fat same as one day of 'healthy/ clean eating will make you thin"

    Have a great night out, love!
  • ScatteredThoughts
    ScatteredThoughts Posts: 3,562 Member
    Binging is not healthy.

    lol(?) to the stuff ndj1979 has mentioned but, it is a little silly to think calories work like cellphones or banks... they don't. Your body needs daily vitamins and calories to function properly. Daily, is the key word. Our bodies are systems, but they are not mechanical systems, they are organic.

    If you continually eat significantly less during the week to "store up" for the weekend, you will screw around with your metabolism and might find it harder to lose weight. You're better off working off what you eat- this a general rule of thumb. If you eat/drink a lot on the weekends, work it off. Spend longer or work out more intensely the day you binge.

    How is this binging?!?!

    OP said a "few" calories, so I don't see how there is going to be any harm. Yes, our bodies need calories, but they certainly do not need to have the exact same amount every single day.
  • amberxy
    amberxy Posts: 35 Member
    on paper it works really well. You restrain yourself a little more on weekdays. Let's say you save 100 cals mon-fri. Then you can have fries with that burger or an extra slice of pizza.
    However in my personal experience is not the big intake in one day (cheat meal or day) that kills you but the next day when you say 'what the hell, another won't hurt' and the third day you say the same so a cheat day becomes a cheat week and then you're no longer even trying.
    IF you can do it for one day, IMHO there's no harm. If you find that the cheat meals becomes more than that, then why play with fire?

    This. I feel alot of it comes down to trusting yourself to have the planned 'cheat', then get right back on the wagon.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Binging is not healthy.

    lol(?) to the stuff ndj1979 has mentioned but, it is a little silly to think calories work like cellphones or banks... they don't. Your body needs daily vitamins and calories to function properly. Daily, is the key word. Our bodies are systems, but they are not mechanical systems, they are organic.

    If you continually eat significantly less during the week to "store up" for the weekend, you will screw around with your metabolism and might find it harder to lose weight. You're better off working off what you eat- this a general rule of thumb. If you eat/drink a lot on the weekends, work it off. Spend longer or work out more intensely the day you binge.

    How is this binging?!?!

    OP said a "few" calories, so I don't see how there is going to be any harm. Yes, our bodies need calories, but they certainly do not need to have the exact same amount every single day.

    for the record ndj - me - was being sarcastic....

    I prefer to hit a certain calorie goal every day ..but sometimes on weekends I will eat less for breakfast so I can have larger dinner...or something like that...

    I don't see how planning to have dessert with dinner or a few drinks would be "binging" ...binging implies that you are going to destroy like 2000 calories in a two hour window...
  • Arazante
    Arazante Posts: 12
    Yeah, my bad for misinterpreting "few". I guess I had the impression that "few" was an under-generalization of the actual amount. Sorry about that to the OP.
  • auteurfille22
    auteurfille22 Posts: 251 Member
    Definitely! Remember, although it's easiest for us to track calories in 24 hour time frames because that's the system of time that we follow, our body doesn't likewise "reset" itself every 24 hours. There's constantly calories going in and out continuously. If you save 100 calories each day Mon-Fri, then that's 500 extra calories you can definitely tag onto another day - your body doesn't know the difference as long as it's not a huge period of time that you are "saving" calories - i.e., don't save calories for a month and then have a 10,000 calorie binge. But that's not what you have in mind so you're fine. While you can of course also eat less earlier in the day that you want to splurge and exercise more to gain more calories, what you have in mind is totally fine. Sometimes, if I've been naturally under my calories for a good amount of time I let myself splurge every once in a while - just don't let it become a habit that justifies you eating way more than you should on a regular basis.
  • Hughesers
    Hughesers Posts: 22 Member
    I have managed to save around 100 calories per day, planning to do a body pump class tomorrow morning and a brisk 20 minute walk to and from the game at the stadium tomorrow night, think that might give me the few extra calories for dinner and a couple of drinks :)
  • nomesw84
    nomesw84 Posts: 101 Member
    As long as I come in on target for the week then I'm happy!

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