Banking calories
turn4035
Posts: 11 Member
Does anyone save up either exercise calories and daily calories for the weekend. Or keep calorieson the table one day and eat them the next? Just wondering how this approach works for people?
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sure sometimes...If I have extra on the weekend I will use them but ensure I stay in my overall goal and it hasn't stopped me from losing, maintaining etc.
It's not just about "daily" calories it's about long term trends etc.
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Going by a weekly goal rather than a daily goal is very common. It's basically the premise behind intermittent fasting.0
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I do that in a sense. I do what is my version of a zigzag diet (calorie cycling).
I do a low-medium-low-medium-low-medium-high(Saturdays). Same amount of calories as if I ate at a set level. This gives me extra calories for eating out or ordering pizza on the weekend.
When I say low...I don't mean very low...I have minimum of 1200-1300 calories. Medium days are around 1550 and my high day gets all the extra calories. How much of those extra calories I eat depends on whether I want that extra slice of pizza!0 -
Thank you for the responses! I figured it would be ok to do. Wish mfp gave you a way to bank them weekly. Unless they do and I don't know how?;)0
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Yes I do this and have lost 12lbs since the beginning of March. I just go by my weekly average rather than daily
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I don't because I don't want to get into the habit of overeating one day and undereating the next just to make up for it. If I go over or under the day before, I let it go and move on the next day.0
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ruggedshutter wrote: »I don't because I don't want to get into the habit of overeating one day and undereating the next just to make up for it. If I go over or under the day before, I let it go and move on the next day.
This is me too. It seems to work for people who are able to save up for something a few days in the future. It doesn't work as well for people who (like me) have a tendency to eat too much and need to make up for it. YMMV
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During the week I cycle from home and back to the train station and walk to the office from the other side. I rest on the weekend but carry on eating as much which balances things out overall. Have lost 12lbs since Feb and down a good few inches on the belly!0
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For the most part, I do this almost every week. Though not "officially". Basically, I eat 1300 cals a day and add in maybe an extra 100-150 depending on how much I moved that day. This usually leaves me with about 200 unused exercise calories each day. Then on the weekends I bump up my daily calories to about 1600. I get a lot more activity in on the weekends and usually weekends are the hardest for me because of family gatherings, eating out, etc. So, I need those extra calories.0
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I do this. It's very easy for me to log accurately and hit my calorie goals during the week, but on the weekends I don't always eat in a way that's easy to log accurately, nor do I want to. I essentially eat at a 500 cal deficit during the week, and then to maintenance or a little below during the weekend, plus I'm naturally more active at the weekend so I end up with a little deficit there to. I've been doing this for about 6 months, and I once calculated the numbers to see if I really was eating that way, and I was happy that I was. I found that about 85% of my weight loss could be attributed to the weekday deficits, which means I am not only maintaining during the weekend, but I continue to lose a little as well 0
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A little over a year ago, I started consciously banking my calories for the weekend. I net 300-500 calories under my daily goal Monday - Thursday. This gives me 1200-2000 calories "extra" for the weekend. ("Beer AND a slice of cheesecake? Don't mind if I do!") This strategy has worked very well for me. (I'm essentially in maintenance mode.)
Note: This kind of calorie management will result in *much* larger than usual daily weight fluctuations. (I weigh daily, and watch my 7-day, 15-day, and 31-day rolling averages.) *IF* you only weigh yourself weekly, switching to a weekly banking strategy could result in quite a shock to your trend, depending on what day of the week you weigh-in.0 -
It's all about weekly deficit for me. I keep a lower goal than I should on purpose because I know that some days I will end up going over... it all balances out.0
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Ok! I'm going to be the outsider here. I think it's awesome that this works successfully for so many.
I've tried banking calories and for me, it backfires. When I've tried to bank, I end up hungrier when I go back to my daily goal. Also, I lift and banking makes it harder for me to hit my protein goals. So when I go out, I just try to keep my day pretty nutrient dense (i.e. eating things like grilled fish/chicken and veggies before going out) and try not to eat massively over my goal. That's actually worked much better for me. I end up with a healthier mindset with food than I do when I've tried banking or intermittent fasting.
Just something to think about. IF and banking doesn't work for everyone and you have to find what works for you!
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I sort of do that. If I'm under a few days during the week I don't go out of my way to eat more because I know it's difficult not to go a bit into the red on the weekend.0
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Way to throw a wrench in the whole way I think about this haha!! I had no idea you could bank calories...that doesn't even make sense to me. (that doesn't mean it's wrong) At what point does our body know when to gain weight from too many calories? One day doesn't matter then if we eat under enough days in a row to make up for it? I have been wondering about how does our body know when we ate under or over our calories and when does that register or kick in?0
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So, say in a week span, your calorie allotment is 1500 daily. On Monday, you eat 1300, Tuesday, 1500, Wednesday 1300 giving you about 400 calories that you didn't eat. On Thursday you decide to eat 1900, rest of the week 1500. If your loss was set to 1 lb, you should still expect to lose a lb for the week.
Does that make sense?
Sometimes I'll "hoard" calories too for a weekend event, so eat like 50-100 calories less so that on Saturday, I can indulge a bit. I might be in red for the day, but the week, I'll see I'm in the green and hitting my weekly goal
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Kimberly_Harper wrote: »Way to throw a wrench in the whole way I think about this haha!! I had no idea you could bank calories...that doesn't even make sense to me. (that doesn't mean it's wrong) At what point does our body know when to gain weight from too many calories? One day doesn't matter then if we eat under enough days in a row to make up for it? I have been wondering about how does our body know when we ate under or over our calories and when does that register or kick in?
Our bodies are constantly burning calories. There's nothing magical about accounting for calories on a daily basis v. a weekly basis. Weight gain and loss is a continuous process. Most people burn 1800-2200 calories per day just being alive and going about our day. Exercise burns even more calories. Because we need energy from food (calories) to live, our bodies are remarkably good at storing excess food calories as fuel. When you eat more calories than your body can use right away, your body will store that excess fuel--typically as some combination of glycogen, fat, and muscle. When you eat fewer calories than you burn over a period of time, your body will tap into it's storage tank of glycogen and fat (and muscle if need be).
So, if you do decide to account for your calorie burn and consumption on a weekly basis (weekday excess deficit and weekend surplus) you *will* lose body mass during the week, and gain (some of) it back on the weekend. How much you gain and lose depends on how much energy debt you incur and replenish, just like when you account for your calories on a daily basis. It may be hard to measure, though, because of other, non-calorie-induced weight fluctuations (like water retention/dehydration).0 -
I bank calories for the weekend all the time. I'll also eat a little less one day to account for an overage on another day. It works great for me -- during the week I'm so busy I'm not too fussed about eating, whereas on Saturdays I have nothing to do but eat and drink. Being flexible lets me work with my lifestyle, enjoy my otherwise mundane weekends more, and still lose consistently.0
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Kimberly_Harper wrote: »Way to throw a wrench in the whole way I think about this haha!! I had no idea you could bank calories...that doesn't even make sense to me. (that doesn't mean it's wrong) At what point does our body know when to gain weight from too many calories? One day doesn't matter then if we eat under enough days in a row to make up for it? I have been wondering about how does our body know when we ate under or over our calories and when does that register or kick in?
It's not so much that your body 'knows' when you've eaten under... if it hasn't got enough food to run off of, it'll just use another energy source instead. It's like fuel in a car. Say the tank is half full (representing the existing fat in our bodies), and you put in enough fuel for the journeys you make (representing the food we eat). If over a few days you drive more than the amount of fuel you put in, you'll end up with less than half a tank. Doesn't matter if all that driving was in one day or split over the days, and doesn't matter if you put lots of fuel in on the first day that took you over half a tank, then did more diving the next few days to take you under.0 -
For weight loss, this can be a habit some find easy to get into. However, be cautious, because once you move into maintenance, it's much more difficult to maintain when you are yo-yoing calories up and down. you'll do better by learning to keep everything in a moderate level. Enjoy what you like and keep it at a constant, without binge levels or deficit levels.0
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For weight loss, this can be a habit some find easy to get into. However, be cautious, because once you move into maintenance, it's much more difficult to maintain when you are yo-yoing calories up and down. you'll do better by learning to keep everything in a moderate level. Enjoy what you like and keep it at a constant, without binge levels or deficit levels.
Why would it be more difficult during maintenance?
If I maintain on 1800...maybe one day I eat 1500...one day 1800...one day 2100...I still have averaged 1800 for those 3 days.
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I guess it depends on what you're doing exactly for your fitness. If you're working hard, your body needs calories and nutrients to recover and rebuild what has been broken down...it needs those calories now, not in five days. Failure to properly fuel your fitness can lead to recovery issues not to mention performance issues and fitness gains.
I hit the weight room pretty hard and ride a lot...I would have major recovery issues if I banked all that nutrition for 5 days or whatever.0 -
For weight loss, this can be a habit some find easy to get into. However, be cautious, because once you move into maintenance, it's much more difficult to maintain when you are yo-yoing calories up and down. you'll do better by learning to keep everything in a moderate level. Enjoy what you like and keep it at a constant, without binge levels or deficit levels.
Why would it be more difficult during maintenance?
If I maintain on 1800...maybe one day I eat 1500...one day 1800...one day 2100...I still have averaged 1800 for those 3 days.
As I said, maintenance works much better if you learn before you get there how to eat in moderation and stay within calorie goals. Eating above goals one day and not the next is not staying within goals, and will eventually lead to a habit of more days of eating above goals.... and weight gain.0 -
Hmm... never really thought about "saving" underages for the weekend, but the premise makes sense. I tend to map out my whole day in the morning and if one of my meals is high cal, I eat less at the other two to make up for it. Like today - I'm having pasta and meatballs for dinner and my better half requested rice pudding for dessert (getting about half my days' calories in those two meals), so I ate my normal breakfast (which isn't very big to begin with) and a very small lunch and afternoon snack, to mitigate the large dinner and dessert. If it works on a meal-to-meal scale, I'm sure it would work over the course of a week. I just don't know if I have the patience to bother going back and tallying up the underages. The way I see it, if I eat less than what MFP suggested, I'll just lose weight faster. I can "make up" for weekend splurges by eating less at other meals that same day.0
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I do IIFYM and a weekly deficit. I get 2100 during the week, and 3750 during the weekend, so I can go out and be social and have fun (drink. I mean drink. ) 0
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tlflag1620 wrote: »Hmm... never really thought about "saving" underages for the weekend, but the premise makes sense. I tend to map out my whole day in the morning and if one of my meals is high cal, I eat less at the other two to make up for it. Like today - I'm having pasta and meatballs for dinner and my better half requested rice pudding for dessert (getting about half my days' calories in those two meals), so I ate my normal breakfast (which isn't very big to begin with) and a very small lunch and afternoon snack, to mitigate the large dinner and dessert. If it works on a meal-to-meal scale, I'm sure it would work over the course of a week. I just don't know if I have the patience to bother going back and tallying up the underages. The way I see it, if I eat less than what MFP suggested, I'll just lose weight faster. I can "make up" for weekend splurges by eating less at other meals that same day.
I don't really "save" any calories...I just eat at different levels based on what day it is.
Mondays I am never very hungry so I eat at a lower set calorie goal. Tuesday I will have an additional 250 calories. I continue alternating through the week and then on Saturdays (the day that I like to eat out...maybe have a larger than normal treat) I eat at a higher level. At the end of the week...I have consumed the same number of calories that I would have if I had of just eaten at the same number each day.
I don't however save any unused calories...that is just too much to keep track of. If I have 50 unused calories...then I just lose them.
Others might not agree with this method...but it works for me and while I am still in the weight loss mode I plan on living this way once I reach the maintenance mode.
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Kimberly_Harper wrote: »Way to throw a wrench in the whole way I think about this haha!! I had no idea you could bank calories...that doesn't even make sense to me. (that doesn't mean it's wrong) At what point does our body know when to gain weight from too many calories? One day doesn't matter then if we eat under enough days in a row to make up for it? I have been wondering about how does our body know when we ate under or over our calories and when does that register or kick in?
Our bodies are constantly burning calories. There's nothing magical about accounting for calories on a daily basis v. a weekly basis. Weight gain and loss is a continuous process. Most people burn 1800-2200 calories per day just being alive and going about our day. Exercise burns even more calories. Because we need energy from food (calories) to live, our bodies are remarkably good at storing excess food calories as fuel. When you eat more calories than your body can use right away, your body will store that excess fuel--typically as some combination of glycogen, fat, and muscle. When you eat fewer calories than you burn over a period of time, your body will tap into it's storage tank of glycogen and fat (and muscle if need be).
So, if you do decide to account for your calorie burn and consumption on a weekly basis (weekday excess deficit and weekend surplus) you *will* lose body mass during the week, and gain (some of) it back on the weekend. How much you gain and lose depends on how much energy debt you incur and replenish, just like when you account for your calories on a daily basis. It may be hard to measure, though, because of other, non-calorie-induced weight fluctuations (like water retention/dehydration).
This makes sense. Thanks.0 -
I don't really save calories, however, I do take a wholistic look at my diet. So Saturday night I may know I am going to eat out and have a drink, extra calories. I will be stricter during the week to allow for it.
The biggest problem with saving calories though is that it can make you feel like you are allowed to Binge. In otherwords, I can eat extra now and if I go over I can eat less tomorrow. This thinking does not work.
However, last week I had a stomach virus. Well my body not only didn't take in calories, it didn't absorb anything. I also didn't workout. From being locked in the house, once I felt better, I got active. Well since I hadn't had enough feul, I was still tired. I definitely ate way more than I normally would have. However, my weight is still down. My body finally completely recouped today. I am no longer starving or sluggish. Took a full week of eating again before my body was fueled back up. So sometimes you need to eat a little more, but you also don't want to say like i did Sat night "I can eat those fries" I should not have eaten the fries because i needed the right fuel.
All in all be careful with the banking mentality, but its ok to splurge and go over every now and again, just watch how far you go.0
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