Moving Excersise calories!

adambirkett · February 2011

Hi Folks

I've not posted here before, but I'm going to make sure I do more frequently! I think the site's great, and I've lost 6lb in my first 2 weeks so I'm pretty happy!

I wanted to ask a question - if I do exercise on a day, but don't consume the 'extra' calories that it buys, is it ok to use those calories on another day?

In short, I tend to exercise during the week whilst also being very good - would it be ok to use up those earned calories at the weekend when I don't tend to exercise?

Thanks in advance!!

Adam

strandedeyes · February 2011

sadly calories don't roll over....

scagneti · February 2011

I'm sure some people do it, but I can't see how it could work. I think food is more like sleep than it is like money. Money you can horde extra of until you need it, but not so much with sleep.

kimmerroze · February 2011

I agree! you would be safer eating those extra calories during the week, grab that snickers if you want it, if you have the calorie room and were going to do it on the weekend you may as well do it now.

I don't think calories roll over very well.

scagneti · February 2011

Is there any reason you don't exercise on the weekend? I have way more time to work out on the weekend, so I try to do a rest day during the week when I need the calories less and am less likely to give it 100%.

ErrataCorrige · February 2011

I do this too. I tend to watch my calories and exercise during the week. Then on the weekend I don't exercise as much, and eat more. So far, it has led me to a big 3 month plateau of non-weight loss.

sharonuk10 · February 2011

I have done this and it did not seem to matter to my weight loss for the week. I don't do it all the time. But sometimes. For the simple reason I am usually hungrier on my days of rest. And if my body is hungry I am feeding it. I kinda figure that all those days I had extra leftover that it will work out in the end. My opinion!!

aagaag · February 2011

I do not get it. Why shouldn't calories roll over? If your goal is to lose 100g every day, and you lose 200g on one day but 0g on another, it stands to reason that you will still be on track, no? According to the law of conservation of mass, "the mass of a closed system will remain constant over time".

jacquejl · February 2011

It doesn't work well to save up for the weekend. I work in an office all week and work out every morning M-F. My diet is great all week long. I work weekends at a steakhouse. I tend to sleep in, not work out, and then have dinner at work. It sabatoges my entire week's hard work!

raising2ells · February 2011

I've wondered about this as well.........but nope, calories do not roll over. If you have exercise calories left over from the week and you eat them over the course of 2 days, you're still going to go over calories on those 2 days. Also, I figure your metabolism won't be as high those two days since you didn't exercise and that food will sit there and turn to fat instead of being burned on a continual basis each day.
Of course, I have no education in nutrition or medical training...this is just my opinion.

jrueckert · February 2011

I didn't think calories rolled over either but burning 3500 calories = 1 pound. So technically, if you want to burn 1 pound a week and you're under on calories one day, you could eat those calories the next day and it would balance out in the long run.

Spinmedry · February 2011

My understanding is that your body metabolizes the calories while your body is at rest - overnight for most people.

xfire2149 · February 2011

Hi Adam,

It really depends how you are going about this. If you are cutting it close and "eating back" the calories you earned it's trouble.

If you are doing really well and really crushing tons of calories during the week you can use the weekend as a reward.

I went trhough a period where I worked out very hard and was very disciplined with my diet. On Sundays I ate what I wanted; Pizza, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, whatever.... but I had to get back on the pony every Monday. I lost about 8lbs a month and was in very good physical condition. I don't recommend doing this though unless you have the time to exercise diligently and control what you eat.

aagaag · February 2011

Ok, I think we are mixing issues here. Technically, calories DO roll over, no problem at all. It would be physically impossible for them NOT to roll over!

The underlying issue here, however, is a subtly different one. What many posters are saying, is that it's a bad idea to be disciplined 5 days/week and lose all discipline over the weekend, or vice versa - even if the total caloric balance remains constant. And I totally agree!

The same applies to alcohol by the way: one wine glass every day may not be bad (although this also can be discussed), but binge-drinking 7 glasses every Saturday is definitely going to burn away quite a number of brain cells....

nomex · February 2011

check out zig zag dieting... I think the concept might apply here... Where you consume higher amount of calories on some days and lower on others. I don't think the intention is to do it two days in a row.... but the idea is that over the week you show a caloric deficiet.

kimmerroze · February 2011

If you can roll over calories, like some people believe, and IF there is NOTHING wrong with that, and you SHOULD eat 1200 calories per day or 8400 calories a week, then how come MFP doesn't do roll over on calories? if that is the way it SHOULD be done for your body to not go into starvation mode, then I think MFP should initiate a roll over calories bank...

No matter the opinions tho, I still think it is a better option to eat well balanced every day of the week. WHen you binge and then diet and then binge and then diet, it swings your metabolism out of whack. Sure you can have a candy bar, or a dessert every now and then, but Splurging the whole weekend isn't good for you no matter what.

Moving Excersise calories!

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