Do you roll over calories?

elphie754
elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi. I was just wondering if anyone used a roll over type method and how it worked for them in terms of long term success. Whag I mean is, my calorie goal per day (with out exercise calories) is 1300. I use a fitbit to calculate calories burned through out the day to add calories as needed. My goal is to have a 1000 calorie deficit per day (I am 100+ lbs overweight, so this is doable for me). Somedays I find I do not eat all the calories I am allotted (I find it silly to eat if I am not hungry), and wind up with 100 -200 calories left in my allowance. Other days I find I accidentally go over my allowance. By roll over, I mean use tha calories left from the day before and add them to your allotment the next day, or if you go over, decrease the alottment over the next day or so so that you meet your weekly targets.

I hope that makes sense. If not, please ask me to clarify. (Half asleep so it may just come across as a ramble).

Replies

  • PrizePopple
    PrizePopple Posts: 3,133 Member
    I get the idea, but I'm too lazy to execute such a thing. Also I wouldn't want to get myself into some sort of habit where I'm like "Oh well, I'll just not eat 500 calories today and tomorrow I can get a little crazy" ... I would totally do that, and then I'd end up screwing myself over. :tongue:
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    If I am under my calories all week and I have to go somewhere on the weekend where I need extra calories then I will add up all the calories I was under and use those (not exercise calories though).
  • Unknown
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  • myrtille87
    myrtille87 Posts: 122 Member
    I like to look at the weekly average bar on the chart for the week.

    If I've had a day or two of going over on my calories, I check that and so far it's still always been under my target intake. So whilst I'm over some days, it's averaging out OK.

    For example, this week I went slightly over on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. But yesterday I was under (ate about 1450 calories, nothing drastic, but swam a mile as well) and on the other days I was a little bit under too. So my average is about right.

    I'm not going to worry about one day being over my calorie goal, but if I saw my average was in the red I might try to cancel it out by eating less/exercising more another day.
  • carters1970
    carters1970 Posts: 1 Member
    Nope
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Your body won't tell that you've eaten more one day vs the next when overall you're still in a deficit.

    But honestly, at 100lbs overweight,I do not see how you can be comfortable eating 1300 net unless you log a lot of exercise. Even with 100lbs to lose, I would not be willing to eat that little. You might want to reconsider changing your goals to at LEAST 1.5lb/week, if not 1lb/week. Slower weight loss will yield a much better physique in the long run when paired with adequate diet and ideally some strength training.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    Your body won't tell that you've eaten more one day vs the next when overall you're still in a deficit.

    But honestly, at 100lbs overweight,I do not see how you can be comfortable eating 1300 net unless you log a lot of exercise. Even with 100lbs to lose, I would not be willing to eat that little. You might want to reconsider changing your goals to at LEAST 1.5lb/week, if not 1lb/week. Slower weight loss will yield a much better physique in the long run when paired with adequate diet and ideally some strength training.

    I asked about roing over calories, not what you thought of my target intake. You may not be happy with 1300, but I am. It is also the target number that my doctor wants me to aim for. At my weight, 2lbs a week is reasonable and what my doctor would like me to aim for.
  • TRD66
    TRD66 Posts: 310 Member
    Yeah, I use a similar idea, basically because I don't exercise the same one day to the next or because (primarily) my family dinners vary in calorie amounts from day to day. Some days I'm over and some I can be under, sometimes significantly (although this tends to be exercise heavy days). I've done it since the start and it's worked for me.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    It's what I do. I find it's more realistic as like you said, some days I don't eat as much and others I'm a bottomless pit. It helps even things out better. As well, if I want to have an extra special treat or deluxe meal, it helps me "budget" the calories better.
    If you use the mobile app, under the Nutrition tab there is a Weekly selection that lets you see a graph of your calorie numbers and how much you consume on a weekly basis.

    This, for 479 days (my streak) and counting! Watch me jinx my streak now :laugh:

    I love that Weekly Nutrition bar graph on the app. I don't want to look this week though. Things won't be right almost until the last minute - BIG workout on Saturday!
  • kellehbeans
    kellehbeans Posts: 838 Member
    A lot of people do and find it useful. A lot of people go by the 'weekly' nutrition guide and make sure they eat correctly throughout the week. Personally, I see every day as a new day, and will just fit that days macros - otherwise I'd go insane! That, and I have bad days where I binge. I'd be having days where I eat nothing at all! Just do what you feel is right for you, and you'll surely lose the weight you are aiming to lose!
  • GatorDeb1
    GatorDeb1 Posts: 245 Member
    I go back and forth. The best way I figured it to get my BMR (1500), subtract the deficit I want per day (i.e. a lb per week, 500 per day) and set my daily limit to that (so my daily goal is 1000 right now) and I just add exercise, so this week I'll be running 21 miles, doing 1 spin, and 3 weight sessions, so 2538 in exercise / 7 or 362 per day so my goal goes up to 1362 per day. Then as you go through the week use the mobile app (I pre-fill-in my exercise for the week so before I start logging it would show up the 1000 per day or 7000 + the 2538 or 9538 calories for the week / 7 = 1362) to see how many calories you have left over for the week. If I eat 1350 each day for the first six days, that would be 9538-(1350*6) or 1438 left over for Sunday. So I just do it like that so it's both roll-over and daily. I look at the week as a whole.

    tl;dr:

    (((BMR - desired deficit) * 7) + exercise)) / 7

    :)
  • EmpressZhark
    EmpressZhark Posts: 26 Member
    I’ve tried it, had some moderate success with it, but I found my biggest problem with the method was I would eat a ton one day, with the idea that I’d eat less the next day. That wasn’t good, because then I’d either starve for a day to make the calories, or just eat to my goal calories and end up not losing.

    Also, if I had an unplanned “sod this I’ve had enough” type binge, I’d then have to factor those calories in over the next couple of days and really restrict my diet. That lowered my motivation a lot, I couldn’t just wipe the slate clean and start again tomorrow, I had to make up for the calories I’d binged. I didn’t like that at all.

    Now, I don’t prescribe to a particular system, but I am sensible about it. If one day I only eat 1100 calories, I don’t automatically add 300 calories to the next day’s calorie allowance, but at the same time I don’t freak out if I eat a couple of hundred calories over the next day as long as the week balances out.

    The only exception to that is when I’m training for half marathons/marathons, and my long runs will burn off 1000+ calories in one session. I’d find it difficult to eat 1000+ extra calories in a day without splurging on junk food, and so will spread out those calories over the next 2-3 days, mentally adding an extra 300-500 calories per day to my calorie allowance.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    The only exception to that is when I’m training for half marathons/marathons, and my long runs will burn off 1000+ calories in one session. I’d find it difficult to eat 1000+ extra calories in a day without splurging on junk food, and so will spread out those calories over the next 2-3 days, mentally adding an extra 300-500 calories per day to my calorie allowance.

    Yup. Now imagine if you did the long run once a week, and the once a week happened to be Monday or Saturday. Also, in the app, there's a setting to vary which day your week "starts". And you can select any day that works well with your diet and exercise schedule, not just Sunday or Monday.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Love the phone app for showing your weekly deficit!

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