Which is better?

skinnydreams19
skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Is it better to eat about the same amount of calories everyday (but have it be a higher amount than you'd like) or have some days of reaching the MFP/TDEE goal and therefore have a couple binge days per week, where your calories are way out of control (like 2,000 to 3,000 over). I used to be the latter, but the last week I've been able to avoid bad binges, but that's because I ate a bit too much daily.

Obviously neither is ideal, but which is better/worse?

Replies

  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
    I would cut my calories from the recommended to drop weight. That is why I don't usually eat all of my exercise calories back. Isn't 3500 calories a pound? That is my assumption. Question-What was your recommended calorie goal in the beginning when u first signed in to lose weight?
  • skinnydreams19
    skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
    I would cut my calories from the recommended to drop weight. That is why I don't usually eat all of my exercise calories back. Isn't 3500 calories a pound? That is my assumption. Question-What was your recommended calorie goal in the beginning when u first signed in to lose weight?

    I understand that, but I just want to know the answer to the specific question I'd asked... Of course neither is good, but one must be worse the other?
  • skinnydreams19
    skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
    It recommended 1200 at the beginning, but I've since manually changed the goal to 1800 for something more reasonable.
  • KatNewby
    KatNewby Posts: 26
    There are certainly people more equipped to answer this question than me, but sheer logical leads me to believe that your metabolism would do better overall with a steady or somewhat steady diet everyday than with a diet that is "on target" some days, and much too high other days.

    My sister does that latter, and she maintains her weight, but never loses. The same can be said for my grandpa.
  • KatNewby
    KatNewby Posts: 26
    Bump.

    I'd love to know what people had to say about this. I hear slight cycling is good for the metabolism (within a couple hundred calories), but I imagine it would be better to keep calories more steady all week than to eat less 5 days out of the week and eat a lot more two days out of the week.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    I prefer a more constant daily calorie level, especially if trying to avoid the loss of control that binge eating causes.
  • Armyantzzz
    Armyantzzz Posts: 214 Member
    Practice moderation... you'll benefit to the greater extent! I try to save my binges for the end of the month for one day to celebrate a good month. ie; pizza, restaurant, etc. If you need an extra treat here and there in the meantime... feel free to proceed. Don't torture yourself... and don't go overboard! good luck.:wink::wink:
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Whichever one is closer to your weekly goal.
  • kw85296
    kw85296 Posts: 265 Member
    Which ever one can help you reach your goal. If your calorie goal is say 10,000 for the week then whichever way you can stay close to that goal. A calorie is a calorie and it takes a deficit of 3500 to lose a pound. That isn't done overnight it is a cumulative deficit ( like over a week, etc)
  • zlauerMom
    zlauerMom Posts: 183 Member
    I'm not sure if one is better than the other. But I think it is better to not deprive your body constantly over a long time.

    If you are eating at a deficit to lose weight over a long period of time, I believe it is good to take a break from that once in a while. When your body is constantly wanting/needing more than you are giving it, it is going to eventually change in some way other than just using up your extra fat, like slowing down your metabolism.

    I try to eat my daily expenditure of calories at least one day a week. I'm down 28 pounds since Jan 2013 with doing this. The rest of the week I eat 750 calories below my TDEE. This has been working for me. As I get closer to my final goal weight, I plan to eat 300-500 calories below TDEE only five days a week and consume all my TDEE calories the other two days.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    to be under set calories everyday

Categories