Daily or weekly deficit?

Does it matter what your daily net calories are or is it more what they average out to be (over a week day) that matters?

e.g. this week I have the following calorie balance at the end of the day:

Mon -103
Tues +8
Wed +32
Thurs -57
Fri -892 (too much of a good night :()
Sat +564 (morning after shame looking at the pizza box)
Sun +300 (planned today)

This nets out to be 150 calories over my goal for the week which isnt bad but I have had no loss?

I completely appreciate how awful Fri looks - I don't normally binge but had a big unplanned night out. It happens, still got to have a life right?

As some background I am 5ft8, 178lbs and have about 30lbs to lose.

I do crossfit 4 times a week (5 times this week) which involves intense heavy weight training and a 15 minute killer circuit which makes you want to die. However this is hard to measure calorie burn wise and some days are harder than others e.g. Friday I learnt a new weight lifting tecnique then my circuit was a core one, planks etc so probably didnt burn as much as Tuesday (deadlifts and primal conditioning circuit with box jumps). I just let myself eat a bit more on gym days and dont worry if I go over a little.

I weigh and measure everything. Only thing I don't count is the tiny bit of milk I take in my coffee once a day.

Appologies for the loooong post but basically not seeing much if any weight loss. I don't know if it can be muscle gain seeing as I have quite a bit of fat to burn.

Also feeling prett constipated - sorry had to let it out :blush:

Replies

  • Sorry what I meant to say is that I don't log my workouts so I don't eat back those calories.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Log your workouts and eat them back if you're following MFP ...otherwise you will be netting too few

    And I keep an eye on daily but follow a weekly plan using the MFP app to judge average net calories over the last 7 days and how many under I am ...I will never go over calories if I don't already have them banked in the previous 7 days though
  • It is very difficult to log weight training though. I have heard the HRM don't do a very good job for crossfit. I also don't want to eat back all my burnt calories, maybe half but if they are all sitting there I won't have the restrain to not eat them. On top of that I don't think a crossfit class actually burns that much in comparison to going for a run or doing some sort of generic gym class like body attack but obviously we know that weight training has long term benefits of higher fat burn - just think it is hard to measure.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited January 2015
    I'm 5'8 and 168lbs and have 3-10lbs maximum to go roughly ...I'm looking away from the scales though and at how I look in clothes / naked and fitness goals

    This is my last 7 days, including today, if it helps. I always go over / under and log workouts

    z1r94by5of4l.jpg
    ..

  • Wow - that is good to see. Thanks for sharing!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited January 2015
    It is very difficult to log weight training though. I have heard the HRM don't do a very good job for crossfit. I also don't want to eat back all my burnt calories, maybe half but if they are all sitting there I won't have the restrain to not eat them. On top of that I don't think a crossfit class actually burns that much in comparison to going for a run or doing some sort of generic gym class like body attack but obviously we know that weight training has long term benefits of higher fat burn - just think it is hard to measure.

    You can enter an activity and click on the calories and change them, so log the activity at 50% of the MFP estimated calorie burn and you won't have to do any more maths or have any more restraint

    You can also log weight training at 1 cal to have a record if you want
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    When starting a new exercise program, its normal to retain water. A lot of people use the weekly deficit, think its a matter of preference .