Let's say you were always eating below your goal...

crlyxx
crlyxx Posts: 186 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If you were eating below your goal maybe by 100 or 200 calories daily, would it be okay to spend one day a week where you might have maybe 500 or 600 calories above your goal? Or are there some potential bad consequences to this?

Replies

  • crlyxx
    crlyxx Posts: 186 Member
    Bump it like you just can't bump no mores.
  • auteurfille22
    auteurfille22 Posts: 251 Member
    I think that's totally fine. There are some people on here who only really pay attention to weekly calories - I'm not one of them, but there have been weeks where I have one really over day but my average ends up being under my goal. Saving calories for that one day is not a bad thing at all, in my opinion.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,232 Member
    I often do that and it hasn't hurt my losses. I tend to worry more about my weekly average rather than the daily.
  • crlyxx
    crlyxx Posts: 186 Member
    Alright, thanks everyone! :)
  • snooj
    snooj Posts: 69 Member
    What is your goal? Maintenance? You're in a deficit for 6 days, a total of 600-1200. Then you take one day to eat above maintenance for a weekly loss of 0-700. More likely than not, yep, seems like you're still in a deficit, assuming you want to lose weight, so that's fine. :)
  • crlyxx
    crlyxx Posts: 186 Member
    I'm trying to lose a pound a week, so I do a 500 calorie deficit each day (about 1200). I usually hit around 1000-1100, however. So would hitting my maintenance (1600) set me back, is what I'm asking. From reaching one pound a week.
  • Tanja_CHH
    Tanja_CHH Posts: 216 Member
    Its all maths, so if you eat maintenance one day you would only have eaten 3000 less, and therefore might not reach your pound loss a week. Try it out and see how you do if you wish to do it is the only way to truely know :)
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    Actually I think it helps to switch it up every once in a while. Keep your body guessing.

    Always strive to hit a mild deficit though if you need to lose weight. I remember staying around the same weight for a couple of months, even while busting my butt at the gym. I was probably eating more calories than I logged and not realizing it. When I did and added in some extra cardio days of activity and hit a slightly higher deficit, I started to lose again.

    If you overdo calories for the day or even hit maintenance, try to do weight lifting that day (so some of those calories would theoretically go to rebuilding muscle), and simply cut calories the following day.
  • crlyxx
    crlyxx Posts: 186 Member
    Its all maths, so if you eat maintenance one day you would only have eaten 3000 less, and therefore might not reach your pound loss a week. Try it out and see how you do if you wish to do it is the only way to truely know :)

    But I'm already getting a 100-200 calorie deficit from my already 500 calorie deficit daily (should be eating 1200, eating more like 1000 or 1100). So would one 1600 day not hinder my pound-a-week weight loss, is what I'm saying.
  • coreybooth
    coreybooth Posts: 28
    In my experience that is ok! I have a cheat meal every Saturday which always bumps up my calorie intake. You got to give yourself some luxuries, remember you only live once so you have to enjoy the good stuff from time to time :)
  • RonandDi
    RonandDi Posts: 120 Member
    I've been doing it for the past 6 months and It's worked for me. I very rarely eat what MFP says I can during the week, and normally end up at, or just above what it says on the weekend. Seems to even out in the end.
  • rekite2000
    rekite2000 Posts: 218 Member
    I use my iPhone app to watch the weekly average. If I am over one day, I will be down the next. As long as the week averages out, I am happy. Has worked so far.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    I'm trying to lose a pound a week, so I do a 500 calorie deficit each day (about 1200). I usually hit around 1000-1100, however. So would hitting my maintenance (1600) set me back, is what I'm asking. From reaching one pound a week.


    According to your profile you only want to lose around 7lbs. A sensible rate of weight loss for anyone with less than 10lbs to lose is recommended at 1/2lb per week. Aiming for 1lb loss and then eating even less than that is unlikely to help you achieve your goals. Chances are you will indeed lose 7lbs in your 5 week goal, but consider what the loss is going to be. Losing too fast means as well as fat you will also lose water and muscle.

    Eating so little will also mean that as soon as you try to increase your calories to maintenance you will likely put the weight back on because losing muscle causes decreased metabolism, essentially lowering your maintenance. Therefore you will have to eat less to maintain your weight.

    At such a young age you should take steps to preserve the muscle mass you already have, lose *fat* slowly (i.e. aiming to minimise muscle loss) and not set yourself up for years of yo-yo dieting.
  • StArBeLLa87
    StArBeLLa87 Posts: 1,582 Member
    Zig zag approach is the best in my opinion!
  • crlyxx
    crlyxx Posts: 186 Member
    I'm trying to lose a pound a week, so I do a 500 calorie deficit each day (about 1200). I usually hit around 1000-1100, however. So would hitting my maintenance (1600) set me back, is what I'm asking. From reaching one pound a week.


    According to your profile you only want to lose around 7lbs. A sensible rate of weight loss for anyone with less than 10lbs to lose is recommended at 1/2lb per week. Aiming for 1lb loss and then eating even less than that is unlikely to help you achieve your goals. Chances are you will indeed lose 7lbs in your 5 week goal, but consider what the loss is going to be. Losing too fast means as well as fat you will also lose water and muscle.

    Eating so little will also mean that as soon as you try to increase your calories to maintenance you will likely put the weight back on because losing muscle causes decreased metabolism, essentially lowering your maintenance. Therefore you will have to eat less to maintain your weight.

    At such a young age you should take steps to preserve the muscle mass you already have, lose *fat* slowly (i.e. aiming to minimise muscle loss) and not set yourself up for years of yo-yo dieting.

    Everyone says that as long as I'm not going below 1200 a day, I can avoid that right? So would simply aiming for 1200 each day and having little variation make it so that I'll be okay for the most part?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    I'm trying to lose a pound a week, so I do a 500 calorie deficit each day (about 1200). I usually hit around 1000-1100, however. So would hitting my maintenance (1600) set me back, is what I'm asking. From reaching one pound a week.


    According to your profile you only want to lose around 7lbs. A sensible rate of weight loss for anyone with less than 10lbs to lose is recommended at 1/2lb per week. Aiming for 1lb loss and then eating even less than that is unlikely to help you achieve your goals. Chances are you will indeed lose 7lbs in your 5 week goal, but consider what the loss is going to be. Losing too fast means as well as fat you will also lose water and muscle.

    Eating so little will also mean that as soon as you try to increase your calories to maintenance you will likely put the weight back on because losing muscle causes decreased metabolism, essentially lowering your maintenance. Therefore you will have to eat less to maintain your weight.

    At such a young age you should take steps to preserve the muscle mass you already have, lose *fat* slowly (i.e. aiming to minimise muscle loss) and not set yourself up for years of yo-yo dieting.

    Everyone says that as long as I'm not going below 1200 a day, I can avoid that right? So would simply aiming for 1200 each day and having little variation make it so that I'll be okay for the most part?

    Are you exercising? If so, you can eat more than 1200 calories. And realistically, 1/2 lb per week is ideal. Your metabolic rate alone will be greater than 1200 calories unless you have a condition. It's better to eat closer to your estimated metabolic rate so your metabolism doesn't slow down. I exercise so I can eat an extra 500 calories + a day. I love finding reasons to eat more.

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