'saving' calories for the weekend/a certain day

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  • karensoxfan
    karensoxfan Posts: 902 Member
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    Weight Watchers allows this to a limited extent. It used to be when they assigned a points range, you had to eat at least your minimum # of points, but then you could save some (within the same week) for another day. So if you eat fewer calories one day than another, it all balanced out over the course of a week.

    Then they switched to a single Points target, with a weekly points allowance. Same idea, different labels. You had to eat your target every day, but your weekly points could be spread evenly or all on one day or whatever you wanted/needed to do with them, at your option. Again, over the course of a week, it all balanced out.

    I believe PointsPlus has the same concept of a weekly points allowance. Back when Points were based on calories, it was approx. 50 calories/point, and the limit on "banking" was 5 points/day. Translated to calories, you could save 250 calories/day to use later that week.

    In MFP, I'm not sure how that would work if your daily target calories is your BMR, because you shouldn't eat below that, but I think as long as you eat your BMR every day, then saving the "extra" for another day should not affect your long-term weight loss.
  • Tash_Bgosh
    Tash_Bgosh Posts: 46 Member
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    I think as long as you watch what you eat, you can treat yourself once a week.

    ps: I miss pizza express :( they dont have them in the states
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
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    I appreciate the banter that has gone on here but just wanted to point out what seemed obvious to me;
    [I’m at] -90 net calories because of the long walk to university and back already today. My daily intake is 1200 calories)

    Therefore you have 1200+ calories left over for the day, you CAN in fact eat that dinner. It's not actually cheating or even a treat since at the end of the day you'll still be within your goal.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    But the thing is, this is not what the OP is talking about. Nor is it what I was talking about. This is something different. Nor did I mean to imply you use zig zagging.

    Again, glad this works for you, and basically, you're just using a different method than MFP, which is fine, but it confuses the issue when one concept from one plan is associated with another.

    Your plan seems to give a higher amount of daily calories just so you can use them (or that's what it seems like) for other things. This isn't really what MFP does, and that's where someone who isn't very well versed in calorie deficits might become confused.
    Just for the record, would you mind giving your maintenance calories? It might help to explain things a little better.

    The diet club (Rosemary Conley) calculation for my maintenance calories was probably 500 more than my daily allowance, based on my height, weight & age.

    MFP calculated a similar amount when I first joined - give or take 20 or so calories.

    But based on the stats in my KiFit (Bodymedia Fit), I can see that my body actually burns more than that when I do no exercise (mooching around the house)..... so I would say it's 2800.....

    right ok, so basically, you're just skimming a little off the top (or the bottom as the case may be) with calories, but she was talking about having NET 0 calories on some days, and very low calorie amounts on others, that's very different. That's all I'm saying, could you skim 100 cals off your total? Probably, assuming you chose a moderate deficit goal to begin with, but you can't really choose an extreme goal, then go under that goal and then eat it all (or most) back all in one day. Your body just wouldn't be able to use that much energy, you'd end up storing a lot of fat that way.
  • amoffatt
    amoffatt Posts: 674 Member
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    Very good question. Some people might be able to some not. I have always thought through nutrition classes its how much we eat a day versus what we exercise that same day. If it were me, I would just exercise harder and longer just to be sure, although I gain weight like no tomorrow...Good luck
  • amoffatt
    amoffatt Posts: 674 Member
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    gosh i don't think i could eat an extra 7000 if i tried! i'm thinking more going over my intake on sat fat by about 15g or my calories by up to 500 just for today.


    stuff it, to the curry house i go!


    Enjoy yourself girl and work it off later in the gym! Don't let calories control your whole life 100% of the time, this could be a good "treat" day!
  • jennw912
    jennw912 Posts: 11 Member
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    I think one day never kills you to go " a little crazy." I will say though, that not eating all day is hurting your body more than its helping. Your body will recognize its being "starved" and start to store the fat you already have so it has something to "feed" off of. This will slow your metabolism down fast and all the exercising in the world wont help with that. The best thing to do is always have breakfast, no matter how small, and keep small snacks with you. If you dont care about carbs, then have an apple, maybe rice quakes, 100 cal snacks, if you are carb concious, maybe grab some nuts or string cheese. Hope this helps!
  • Helena4
    Helena4 Posts: 124
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    Wow - just read back over all these comments.

    I went to the curry house

    I ate all my curry and very much enjoyed it

    But what I will say is that after hardlyt eating last week because of all my exams etc - I stored every bit of fat and put on 1.5lbs.

    I will NOT be doing this again, at least I guess I'm living proof to people that eating very little and exercising/working very hard is not a healthy thing to do!

    Thanks for all the input - just don't get too het up over things guys - my question probably didn't need to arguing answers - keep it friendly :)
  • marianne_s
    marianne_s Posts: 986 Member
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    Wow - just read back over all these comments.

    I went to the curry house

    I ate all my curry and very much enjoyed it

    But what I will say is that after hardlyt eating last week because of all my exams etc - I stored every bit of fat and put on 1.5lbs.

    I will NOT be doing this again, at least I guess I'm living proof to people that eating very little and exercising/working very hard is not a healthy thing to do!

    Thanks for all the input - just don't get too het up over things guys - my question probably didn't need to arguing answers - keep it friendly :)


    You probably put on for one of two reasons:

    - you didn't eat enough calories each day, so your body held on to the little amount that you did eat

    or

    - the daily/weekly sodium count was too high for your body too handle, so you retained water
  • rachwils
    rachwils Posts: 2 Member
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    Please read my article on why saving calories DOESNT work.
    http://nutritionalbiochem.blogspot.com/2011/08/03-saving-calories-why-this-doesnt-work.html
  • joclougherty
    joclougherty Posts: 59 Member
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    Just wanted to say that I've been working on my weekly calorie intake rather than my daily intake since the beginning of May and I've lost 27lbs. I eat more at the weekend and run as much as I can (4 or 5 times per week) and usually at least once or twice a week I'm over my calorie goal but most days I'm under it due to the running. This works for me and I don't feel like I'm on a diet if I can have some wine on a Friday and eat a pizza on a Saturday. As long as I'm within my weekly calorie goal, that's what I go by and it's working so far.

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