law of averages in terms of cals eaten?

focuseddiva
focuseddiva Posts: 174 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This is all about math, right? So if I am looking at the 8 days I have been logging, should I take my avg daily cals eaten as the main metric? I ask because I see a pattern. I stick to 1400 or so cals eaten, 300 or so burned through exercise, but then seem to eat extras every 3-4 days, so that I eat 2200 cals on those days. Not planned but it happens. At the end of a week, I theoretically should still be at a deficit I think. Or does having higher cal days throw everything off? How consistent do you have to be? My diary is public. Would love to hear your thoughts. I am 41, female, 5'8 & 180. Looking to lose 25 at a moderate pace. Thx.

Replies

  • brown46545
    brown46545 Posts: 81 Member
    I don't know the answer to that, but have thought about it as well. I know, in the past, when I have done Weight Watchers it seemed to be based on weekly numbers (since you were given weekly "cheat" allowances to use).
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
    I don't know the 'official' answer. But I also prefer to look at the whole week. My calorie goals are set at 1450 per day. I have a very active job and I work out 3 out of 5 week days. I usually end up a bit below goal Monday through Friday. On the weekends, I am much more sedentary (er, um, lazy) but I'll do a much longer workout to try to balance that. And I know that I will be going to a restaurant at least once on the weekend, and probably eating movie theater popcorn one day. These are my weekend rituals and I love them, I accept them. And I know that because of them, I'll be going a bit 'over' on the weekend. But...with having stayed 'under' Monday through Friday, I still almost always end up below my weekly goal. The phone app shows the entire week's totals, have you seen that little feature? It's wonderful.


    Anyway, yeah, I'm with you. Try to stay close to goal every day. But it's really the big picture that matters most. And keeps us happiest and sane.
  • wildeyezz
    wildeyezz Posts: 84 Member
    Weekly is the way I go also. It's just a little bit more flexible that way.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Over the long haul it is about consumption versus energy burned. But eight days probably isn't enough time for the law of averages to work out. I did Jenny Craig in 2002 and lost all my weight. However, once I got tired of paying for that food, I gained it all back and then some over the next three years. I didn't learn much about food selection and planning.

    This time, I have made all my own food, food so delicious that I am rarely tempted to go over my calories. One reason I sometimes went over on the JC stuff was that it was mostly so boring that I felt deprived. You might want to at least get some more vegetables besides salad and add in more varieties of fruit.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Our bodies run on averages, not daily totals. A lot of of people find that they actually lose better with varying intakes rather than keeping to a tiny, strict range every day. Plus you're practicing listening to your body's hunger signals, and honoring them. When we force a strict intake value, regardless of if we're full or famished, it just tells your body, "Can it with the signals, I'm not paying any attention." And later when you want to learn to manage your intake in a more natural fashion than counting each bite, it's just harder than if you'd been practicing paying attention to the signals all along.
  • focuseddiva
    focuseddiva Posts: 174 Member
    Thank u. This board is awesome. Someone mentioned the weekly feature on the phone. Where is that? I have a windows phone. I feel better about last nights extras (Ritz crackers, pudding, trail mix). I just ran 5 miles then walked an extreme. I feel better now and I had the energy to do it. Must have been the carbs.
    to the poster about jc. I hear u. I'm not tired of the food. I like it actually. It just sometimes leaves me not that satisfied. Just hungry and craving fat and protein. Something. Maybe because of all the cardio I do.
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
    Thank u. This board is awesome. Someone mentioned the weekly feature on the phone. Where is that? I have a windows phone. I feel better about last nights extras (Ritz crackers, pudding, trail mix). I just ran 5 miles then walked an extreme. I feel better now and I had the energy to do it. Must have been the carbs.
    to the poster about jc. I hear u. I'm not tired of the food. I like it actually. It just sometimes leaves me not that satisfied. Just hungry and craving fat and protein. Something. Maybe because of all the cardio I do.

    That was me. Click the very top on the Fitness Pal logo. It will give you a long menu. Scroll to the bottom and hit 'sync'. You may not need to, but I always do, it doesn't seem to catch up on it's own. Click the logo again. You might want to click 'diary' to check and make sure it's up to date. Then click the logo again (I know, back and forth!) and click 'nutrition.' Now you have several choices. You can view a pie chart to show your protein, carb, fat for the day or for the week. And you can see a bar graph for the week. That's where it will show you your weekly average, and how much you have left for the entire week. It goes from Monday morning to Sunday night. It's a handy little feature and I wish they'd add it to the website.
  • MissMormie
    MissMormie Posts: 359 Member
    Fat cells are like batteries. If you eat to much the fat batteries load up, if you eat to little the energy from your fat cells is released. It doesn't care about 24 hour periods, 48 hours, weeks, or even months. You got to be the weight you are now by keeping charging and uncharging your fatcells, regardless of timing. And that might include months of dieting, years of overeating. A week is nothing ;)

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