Silly Question

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marix27
marix27 Posts: 28
in Health and Weight Loss
After logging for a few days, I caught myself thinking about calories... How does the body know if you've had to many or too few?
More importantly, does the body have a reset everyday?
This may seem silly, but if someone were to eat under their allotted amount of 1200, could they eat the deficit the next day and not gain a thing? Same goes the other way, if someone eats too much one day, could they balance it out by eating less the day after?

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  • PaulaJKelly
    PaulaJKelly Posts: 96
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    I would say no and no to your questions. There is a book with a lot of information by Dr. Oz - "You on a Diet" that goes into great detail about how our body works. I am only into the first 30 pages. Check it out from the library. I think you want to "own" the days you eat too much and try to get to the 1200 calories making sure you get enough protein and 10+ glasses (8 oz) of water a day. Good luck :)
  • erikatred
    erikatred Posts: 3 Member
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    Yes you can balance it out that way. You need to be careful not to starve yourself on the days that you eat less but as long as there is a deficit in your overall caloric intake you will lose weight. It is best to try to keep your numbers close to your set goals. Its all about balance and moderation.
  • lclarkjr
    lclarkjr Posts: 359 Member
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    MFP calculates your daily calories based on your weekly weight loss goal and then adds in the deficit needed to achieve that goal. Assuming your weekly net calories are at or under your goal you should still reach your weight loss goal for the week. It doesn't matter if you were over calories one day and under calories another as long as you aren't over your weekly net calories.
  • Mastray
    Mastray Posts: 10
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    A really good book for you to understand all of that would be Winning By Losing by Jillian Michaels. She goes into great detail as to the math and science behind your AMR (Active Metabolic Rate)... Also your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, Daily Activity Level, Exercise Expenditure... and so on to find out your "magic number" (AMR).

    "The number of calories you burn in a day is known as your active metabolic rate (AMR). Rates vary from person to person, so it is crucial that you take the time to figure yours out - if you don't, you run the risk of consuming too many calories or even consuming too few. Both of these extremes are harmful: you don't want to take in energy that you don't use because it will be stored as fat, but you also don't want to take in too little energy or your body will start holding on to fat. Once you know your AMR, you will be able to balance caloric intake and expenditure in the way that's best for your weight-loss goals."

    "... your BMR is how many calories your body would burn just to maintain basic activities such as heartbeat, digestion, respiration, and tissue repair."

    I found this book incredibly helpful in understanding "how it all works". She also talks about how it's better to set a caloric intake for the week versus the same amount daily so that your body doesn't adjust to taking in the same amount everyday. Example:

    Monday: 1200
    Tuesday: 1500
    Wednesday:1200
    Thursday: 1600
    Friday: 1200
    Saturday: 1400
    Sunday:1700
    Total weekly caloric intake: 9800

    Which she shows you how to figure out as well. I definitely recommend the book. I've learned SO MUCH from it. I definitely don't think it's a silly question. I've read as well that everyone needs a different amount of water intake. One of the best ways of doing that is to take your weight... divide it by 2 and that number is how many ounces you should be drinking a day. I'm sure more wouldn't hurt but at least.

    Good luck on your weight-loss journey... sometimes it gets hard but just stay with it... it'll be well worth it! =)
  • registers
    registers Posts: 782 Member
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    After logging for a few days, I caught myself thinking about calories... How does the body know if you've had to many or too few?
    More importantly, does the body have a reset everyday?
    This may seem silly, but if someone were to eat under their allotted amount of 1200, could they eat the deficit the next day and not gain a thing? Same goes the other way, if someone eats too much one day, could they balance it out by eating less the day after?

    Marix, those are not dumb questions, they're absolutely brilliant.

    1.How does your body know if you had too many or too few calories?
    This depends on the person, and the calories that where eaten. Eating 300 calories of candy will make you feel hungry, compared to eating 300 calories of spinach. You know? You will feel a lot fuller on the spinach. Most over weight people, really don't pay attention to their body, they "think" they're hungry when they're not. It's just out of habit they eat more. Sorry if I offend anyone, but that's just my opinion on it. How does your body know if you ate too little calories or too much? really simple, are you hungry?(you didn't eat enough) are you full??? (you ate too much). It's really that simple, but people ignore those signals.

    2.Does your body reset everyday?
    The answer is NO it does not. Time is an illusion, it's just a measurement of change. There is a point of change in the human body. I Mean for example, you can't go out and run a marathon and be fit for the rest of your life. A good thing is to think of your weekly caloric goal, and work off that. That will work, Actually my diet is a lot like that, I don't eat muc one day, and i eat much 2 days after. It's for a biochemical reason, but this method doesn't mean I am going to gain weight on the days I eat a lot, since I have been in a caloric deficit the other days.

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