Weekly Caloric Intake, not just daily.

My opinion is yes, You can go over one day and make up for it the next, or vice versa. I think for health's sake you should eat 1200 calories every day minimum.

Quick question guys.. does anyone here not only count their DAILY caloric intake, but weekly also? Say.. you mess up one night and maybe had some pizza, and went over by 300 or so calories. Can you make that up during your week so that your " weekly caloric intake" still sits even? Or would this be unhealthy to put your body through? I feel like if it evens out It SHOULD be alright, but I am still learning every day.

Opinions?:flowerforyou:

For me weekly calories, protein, carbs, etc is far more important. I try to get a 3500 a week deficit (i.e. 1 pound fat a week) or less to maintain as much muscle as possible.

I read dangerous to mean what I was referring to earlier when I said it can be a slippery slope. Careful planning of days with different amounts is not unhealthy. The danger is when it becomes too easy to say "I will eat light tomorrow to make up for this" and then tomorrow comes and you change that to "as long as the week totals out okay" and go over again and then... you know where that is headed. I think "banking calories", where the lower days come first, is safer not from a physiological standpoint but just because it keeps me honest.

I try to do extra exersize the day before when I know I'm going to go over the daily count. Doesn't always work but I think the weekly is what's working for me- trying to keep daily variations within 25% although weekends are often very low or negitive net if I'm doing alot of exersize (tennis, walking, golf, yard work). Been a little over a month and seems to work for me.

I use an Excel spreadsheet to log daily calories in/out, compute total weekly calories, compute a daily average over the week, and log weekly weight. This gives me a pretty good grip on what works for me and what does not. I tend to go over my goal intake calories on rest days, break even on lower intensity workout days, and come in under on big burn days. As long as it all averages out over the week I hit my goals as reflected in weight, body fat, and muscle mass.

My good friend(who is training for next fitness model competition) , has a cheat day on Sunday only where she eats whatever she wants and during week has pre-planned, 1300 cal diet. Works for her.

I zig zag my calories on purpose on a daily basis and only look at my total calories for the week (and average daily calories).
I purposely allow for more calories on Fridays because I weigh Friday morning, and we go out to eat on Friday nights. Saturday, I eat at my regular calorie goal, then Sunday is somewhere between Friday and Saturday's number. Monday, I eat at a low number, then I basicaly look at how many calories I have left for the week and divide them between Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I will tend to eat more of them on Tues/Wed, and then the remaining calories I eat on Thursday (which end up being to the lower side/below my daily goal number). In the end, as long as my weekly number is where it should be, I'm happy, and this has been working consistently, I've lost almost 45 lbs doing this.

I don't like eating the same number of calories every day because every day is completely different from the next. Sometimes we are more hungry then other days, sometimes we need to eat a meal outside the home or splurge a little bit, etc.. we need to allow for those daily changes. If I try to eat the same number every day, I end up being hungrier some days and then I go over my weekly goal. I've also hit a plateau doing that - I believe the body gets used to the same pattern and it is good to switch it up to try to "trick" your body, at least that's what I've read.

*Edit* I've also found that if I have a really bad day/higher than where I wanted to be on that high day, and then I try to "make up" for it too much throughout the week, I actually end up eating more, because them I'm way too hungry on the rest of the those days. So instead, I just treat the week as normal, and if those extra calories on that one day end up not meaning a loss for that week - no big deal. I'd rather no loss than a huge gain.

Oh and if you are using 1200 calories as your goal and working out on top of that, I'd pretty much guarantee you are eating at way too low of a goal number. But that is a whole separate issue.

You should be fine. After all, when it comes to your body, we're talking about things you do over long expanses of time. If, over time, you maintain a defecit, you will lose weight.

I think the benefit of "worrying" (but not too much) about your daily calories is that it then makes sure you've kept your weekly calories in line. As the saying goes "take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves" (substitute "pounds" for "Dollars" if you want the British version). If I keep my daily levels in control, my weekly levels automatically fall in line.

There is the risk in shifting your mindset to one where you can "make up for it later" in that you might keep repeating it. You over-eat on Monday, planning to make up for it on Tuesday. You don't make up for it on Tuesday, so you say you'll do it Wednesday. Keep repeating that, and you end up never making up for it. But that's entirely dependant on your ability to properly control your zig-zagging. Some people have no problem, some people have big problems.

Myself, I keep track of my calories on a daily level, but i also have a running spreadsheet where I monitor my calorie balance on a monthly level so that I can see if I'm averaging out to the right kind of defecit.