Saving calories for the weekend?

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msstatz
msstatz Posts: 163 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know I am going to want to indulge this weekend as I am going out of town. I was thinking about maybe cutting back on calories for the next few days to "save up" some calories. Does anyone else do this? Does it work?

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  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
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    When I was in college, I was able to stay pretty skinny by eating carefully during the week and eating whatever I wanted on the weekends It worked for years till either my metabolism slowed down or I started eating too much overall. Maybe a little of both.

    Short answer: it depends on whether your average calorie intake per day is still low enough. I'd also be careful about not living on rice cakes and water for 5 days and splurging on the weekends. There are probably only so many calories you can save per day before it's bad for your health.
  • msstatz
    msstatz Posts: 163 Member
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    When I was in college, I was able to stay pretty skinny by eating carefully during the week and eating whatever I wanted on the weekends It worked for years till either my metabolism slowed down or I started eating too much overall. Maybe a little of both.

    Short answer: it depends on whether your average calorie intake per day is still low enough. I'd also be careful about not living on rice cakes and water for 5 days and splurging on the weekends. There are probably only so many calories you can save per day before it's bad for your health.

    I'm thinking about saving 100-200 calories a day. Nothing major and definitely not living on rice cakes. lol
  • d2footballJRC
    d2footballJRC Posts: 2,684 Member
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    I know I am going to want to indulge this weekend as I am going out of town. I was thinking about maybe cutting back on calories for the next few days to "save up" some calories. Does anyone else do this? Does it work?

    It's not going to kill you if you take one weekend off. We didn't get fat over night, enjoy your weekend then get back on the horse next week. It might actually be a nice little spike in insulin levels if have been dieting hard lately. You might be shocked how much energy you have on your workout after coming back from the weekend. I spike dieted for awhile and that was the best thing after a spike day the workouts always felt awesome.
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
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    You can do that. It is about the average. Don't starve yourself for two days in a row or anything (though I have no scientific basis to say that's a bad idea; it just seems to have a negative effect on most people).
  • jetlag
    jetlag Posts: 800 Member
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    I know I am going to want to indulge this weekend as I am going out of town. I was thinking about maybe cutting back on calories for the next few days to "save up" some calories. Does anyone else do this? Does it work?

    Google "calorie shifting".
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    Yes I do this. At the end of the day on Friday you can figure out how many net calories you ate during the week and see how many you have left over for the weekend. Like the previous poster said, getting into the habit of eating really light during the week and binging on the weekends isn't a great idea, but eating a little less during the week because you know you want to treat yourself during the weekend is fine. It never hurt my progress.
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Google intermittant fasting - there are a lot of different approaches. Right now I'm working at netting an average of 600-1000 on Tues and Thurs, all so I can eat like mad on days I lift (1800-2300 calorie days three times a week, and around 1600-1800 on the other two rest days). You'll be fine. :)
  • Joe7178
    Joe7178 Posts: 105
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    Nothing wrong with that! think of it as hitting your weekly calories.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    I have been doing this since January! On a typical week I eat pretty clean Sunday - Thursday in addition to Intermittent Fasting (I still get all of my calories in during my eating window.)

    During the weekend I do not pig out, but I am more relaxed. For example last weekend on Friday night I had 3 slices of pizza, on Saturday I went out to my favorite restaurant and went to Dairy Queen and had a 650 calorie item I budgeted for and I also had a small slice of birthday cake on Sunday. I enjoyed every bite of my meals, but I ate regular during the rest of the days. Since I'm eating at a deficit Sunday - Thursday my calories balances out and i don't gain weight aside of temporary water weight gains from extra sodium which lasts 1 - 3 days.

    When I was actively losing weight/fat, I only had one day a week when I had a semi-relaxed day instead of two days.

    Doing this helps me to look forward to the weekend. At first I did binge a little but I have a different relationship with food now than before so it's not an issue for me any longer.

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