Exercise Points and Cheat days

jessreed0 · January 2015

Hello!

I am new to Fitness Pal. In the past, I have used Weight Watchers, but decided to give Fitness Pal a try since it is free. On weight watchers, your exercise points accumulated in a bank that you could use at anytime throughout the week. There was also a bank of "weekly points" that you could use any day throughout the week. I think the goal was so you could have your cheat day, but still be held accountable for the number of calories you consume - i.e. don't eat 6 BigMacs in one day. I am wondering how to use this method within Fitness Pal. I notice that I am accumulating a lot of extra calories each day based on my exercise classes and my fitbit, but I would like to "save" them for a cheat day on the weekend. Has anyone tried this? Has anyone gone from Weight Watchers to Fitness Pal and know what I am talking about?

Would love to hear any helpful and positive advice!

Jessica

IsaackGMOON · January 2015

I've seen an extension for Chrome, or it might be Mozilla which adds the weight watchers points to the MFP food section. It seems like a nice transition, but switching over will be ok.

StaciMarie1974 · January 2015

Figure out what works for you and go with it.

Personally when I was losing I'd occasionally have a day where I ate at maintenance. That +500 calories (when I was aiming for 1 pound a week) opened up a lot of possibilities for me.

If you want to 'bank' exercise calories you could always log them on certain days of the week. Like fast forward to Sat/Sun and log them there. If you want them to show on the day you intend to use them.

MaryCS62 · January 2015

There's a place in the program (under nutrition on the app and in reports on the computer) that shows your daily and weekly calories. I've had days where I've gone over my daily calories, but because other days I'm under them , my weekly average is still within my goal.
Don't know if I explained that properly, but it does help me when I've gone over on special occasions.

Francl27 · January 2015

Just log your exercise, don't eat back the exercise calories, then eat them all up on your cheat day. Yeah, the number will be red that day, but it really doesn't matter... it's all about averages.

angelinhell · January 2015

As long as you don't have your cheat day the night before weigh in, it shouldn't really make much difference. If I eat my exercise calories every day or if I save them and use all at once, I'm still only consuming the same number of calories. In the long term, this should heed the same results.

snaapz · January 2015

Welcome to MFP! My wife uses WW P+ and she wishes she could do MFP. One thing you will love is the database and using your phone to scan barcodes, easily add almost any food into your diary!

I match what my wife eats, but I lose out because I cannot bank exercise and I cannot use weekly points so when I do "cheat" it looks like I'm exceeding my goal.

I can't think of a real solution other than not counting cheat food, just be aware of how many points it is... or like Francl27 said, count them and go red. Or add 200 additional calories per day and consider that your weekly points distributed daily...

jpaulie · January 2015

Here is something that makes sense along with what I feel, he just writes it better than me, worth thinking about. My wife bank's hours and it doesn't work for her for some of the reasons listed.

If you skip meals or eat less earlier in the day to bank calories for a big feast at night, you are thinking only in terms of calories, but you’re depriving yourself of the valuable nutrition you need all day long in terms of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that come from healthy food, as well as the small frequent meals required to stoke the furnace of your metabolism.

Not only that, but eating less early in the day in anticipation for overeating later is more likely to increase your appetite, causing you to binge or eat much more than you thought you would at night when the banquet does arrive.

bwogilvie · January 2015

jpaulie wrote: »

If you skip meals or eat less earlier in the day to bank calories for a big feast at night, you are thinking only in terms of calories, but you’re depriving yourself of the valuable nutrition you need all day long in terms of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that come from healthy food, as well as the small frequent meals required to stoke the furnace of your metabolism.

You don't need to eat all day long, and your metabolism doesn't need to be "stoked." It's not a fire that will go out without fuel!

Some people find it easier to stick to their calorie deficit if they have a snack with protein every few hours, because it keeps them from getting ravenously hungry. But if you can tolerate hunger pangs, there is no reason not to eat little during the day and have your main meal in the evening.

TimothyFish · January 2015

Francl27 wrote: »

Just log your exercise, don't eat back the exercise calories, then eat them all up on your cheat day. Yeah, the number will be red that day, but it really doesn't matter... it's all about averages.

Or, she could just log her exercises on the cheat day rather than the current day, so when she reaches that day, she will have a bank of calories sitting there waiting for her.

But it seems like a bad idea to me, because you should be fueling your workouts, so that the calories are available to you when you need them. The calories on cheat days end up being stored as fat and the fat has to be converted into a usable form before the energy is available for exercise.

mobri1130 · January 2015

I keep an eye on my weekly calorie total so I can tell how many calories I'm 'banking' for a splurge. But I'm careful not to use up all of them at once...just some here and there.

Exercise Points and Cheat days

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