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    Smart or not? Low cal today, high cal tomorrow?

    Posts: 173 Member
    edited January 24 in Health and Weight Loss
    Hi everyone,

    I just want to get some opinions on this. Tomorrow is our oldest daughter's birthday party and I definitely plan on having some cake. I'm not going to pig out but I will definitely have a piece. I also plan on having some yummy Chick-fil-A nuggets. I typically net about 1400 calories a day but I know it's going to be a lot more tomorrow. Her cake has three layers of buttercream filling so that alone will probably be 500 calories :). My question is this. Is it smart for me to net under 1000 cal today or should I bet my normal amount. I run every day but I'm not sure if I can get a run in tomorrow so it definitely will be a different day for me. I'm going to go back to eating very healthy and running on Sunday but I just don't know if I should net less today or if that is just stupid.

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    Replies

    • Posts: 387 Member
      Life happens and sometimes it's necessary. Look up the topic about calorie cycling, etc. -- some people do it as a normal part of their week.
    • Posts: 190 Member
      Not much different that 5:2 fasting which is harmless. I say go for it
    • Posts: 613 Member
      Go for it. Have you figured out what your "maintenance" calories would be? If so, I'd try to maybe stick with that. That way, you'll still be net under maintenance (in a loss position) for the week overall.
    • Posts: 309
      If that is what you want too do go for it.

      Or you could just eat the cake and eat normally today still, it won't backtrack you or make you gain ect, you just might only lose .5lb or something this week, but you won't gain!

      If your still good during the day, drink plenty of water and such, a slice of cake and a miss of a run won't harm you, neither will going under once in a while!!

      Sounds yummy by the way!
    • Posts: 9,834 Member
      no issue with one low day
    • Posts: 943 Member
      Look at it this way. It takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound. A "cheat" day or eating a piece of cake and some chicken nuggets may slow your progress toward your total deficit for the week but it won't stop it or reverse it. Add a few minutes of cardio each day over the next week and you'll more than make up for the birthday indulgence.
    • Posts: 105 Member
      I do 5:2 Fasting so I eat 5 days around 1800-2000cal and 2 days 500cals...it works for me!
      What you are planning sounds like a good idea to me :) ENJOY! :drinker:
    • Posts: 788 Member
      Just deal with the higher calorie day and move on. There is no need to starve yourself because you're going to have 1 higher calorie day. It's one day in a long journey. It's not going to make any difference in your progress. Just enjoy the day and eat normally the other days. You don't need to compensate on the other days.
    • Posts: 173 Member
      Thank you so much for your advice everyone, I really appreciate it! I just finished a really long run in anticipation of the cake tomorrow so I'm feeling pretty good about it. On top of that, my 10th anniversary but my husband and I are just going to take our kids to Outback. I plan on having grilled chicken but maybe have some frozen yogurt for dessert. As crazy as this sounds I really don't treat myself to sweets so I have been looking forward to this cake for a week!
    • Posts: 190 Member
      If you want cake -- eat a piece of cake -- if you want some chicken nuggets -- have some chicken nuggets -- just make allowance for the rest of the weekend to not go over and you will be fine!!
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