Do any of you "bank" your calories?

2

Replies

  • tannibal_lecter
    tannibal_lecter Posts: 83 Member
    No, I eat my exercise calories after I exercise because that's when my body needs the extra nutrients(or I will eat a portion of those calories as carbs before my workout since I have a really good idea what 50% of my workout calories will be).

    Eating those calories when you aren't exercising is kinda counter to the process in my opinion. But to each their own.
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 810 Member
    Not unless I'm going out for dinner the next night. Otherwise if I have more than 250 left I have a snack and let the rest go.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
    edited July 2015
    Yes. Especially in maintenance. I find that in a deficit I can get a little crazy with it so I have to watch myself and try not to save for a 2,500 calorie day when really I should save for something closer to maintenance. I don't do cardio so unfortunately don't have exercise calories to bank.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,048 Member
    Yes! I bank a glass of wine every weekday & drink them all on weekends.
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Who says calories have to be counted on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis? Of course it's easier to count daily, so why not eat under your calories during the week so that you can eat more on your Saturday night date? As long as you're losing weight, all is well.
  • fitchlets
    fitchlets Posts: 58 Member
    Who says calories have to be counted on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis? Of course it's easier to count daily, so why not eat under your calories during the week so that you can eat more on your Saturday night date? As long as you're losing weight, all is well.

    Yes!!!! Thanks :)
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    fitchlets wrote: »
    I balance my calories by the week too. It definitely makes parties, holidays, and other things easier to plan for.

    YES! I feel like every weekend there is something going on so if I workout really hard and bank my calories I don't have to stress about treating myself. Are you consistently losing this way?

    My average weight loss is what I would expect with my average intake. Hormones, sodium and such cause scale weight to fluctuate, so I focus more on what averages of 4+ weeks show.
    I was able to get through the holidays last year and still lose weight.
    If my average intake gets close to 2200, I lose about 0.6 lbs per week on average.
    If my average intake is in the 1800 - 2000 calorie range, I lose about 1 - 1.3 lbs per week on average.
    I guess you could consider it consistent in that it always comes out to what I should expect based on my deficit. My deficit isn't always consistent though (it changes based on what I find manageable any particular month).

    I don't necessarily save all my exercise calories (that would be a lot, since I use adjustments from an activity tracker instead of logged exercise), but I will some days be under by 200 - 300 calories so that I can have a day or two that's at maintenance or slightly higher and still be at my desired deficit for the week. I've tried sticking to the same amount everyday, but it doesn't work that well for me since some days I'm ravenous and others not so much. My intake never gets very low though unless I'm sick.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    Banking calories is how I've been maintaining my weight for the past couple of years. Deficit during the week, surplus on the weekends. It all balances out in the end.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Yep. I have more structured meals during the week when I'm at work and packing my own lunches. Then at weekends I have a higher calorie allowance, nearer maintenance, so I can enjoy takeout, celebratory meals, etc. without impacting on losses.
  • catt952
    catt952 Posts: 190 Member
    omg imagine all the big macs :open_mouth:
  • THE_CLOCK
    THE_CLOCK Posts: 10 Member
    I try to maintain a 500-700 calorie deficit a day. But thats until I am finished fat busting. Then I need to figure out how to do maintenace.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
    Yes. I try to stay in the "green" most of the week days to balance out weekends. I don't always do this, but many days it works out this way. My week days are very predictable between work and kids, so it's not like I'll have the opportunity for a fun splurge during the week. But weekends are far less structured and when all the fun activities are happening.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
    No, I eat my exercise calories after I exercise because that's when my body needs the extra nutrients(or I will eat a portion of those calories as carbs before my workout since I have a really good idea what 50% of my workout calories will be).

    Eating those calories when you aren't exercising is kinda counter to the process in my opinion. But to each their own.

    Meal timing is irrelevant. If you're saying you FEEL you need the extra calories when you're working out-that makes sense. But you don't have to exercise the same day you eat more.

    OP-I always bank calories! Even when I was prepping for a fitness show. Some people do better with structure, I like having the extra food to look forward to.
  • mrsf15h
    mrsf15h Posts: 43 Member
    edited July 2015
    Not really thought about it. I just always aim for the average calories to be around the recommended allowance.
  • HikeCyclist
    HikeCyclist Posts: 153 Member
    That doesn't really work for me. I'd have to only cut 50-100 extra cals/day if I wanted some leftovers for a splurge or cheat on a Saturday or something....

    If I cut more than that I'd feel too hungry & put myself at risk of going over my cals.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
    No. It would be too easy for me to head into a restrict-binge cycle.
  • xLoveLikeWinterx
    xLoveLikeWinterx Posts: 408 Member
    I never did, but lately I'm exercising more and slowly sliding into maintenance, so I do now on occasion. This week I have a bank of 1100 cals, which is weird, I just wasn't hungry despite exercising more, so I'm having some Sbux this weekend and a couple other things. I'm not sure if I'll make it a regular thing, but I like knowing I have it as a "buffer", so I can stop worrying and counting so excessively on weekends.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    a lot of people do this...my one word of caution would be that if you're training hard, banking calories can be a detriment to your fitness and recovery...but this really depends on your training and how much you're banking.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    No. It would be too easy for me to head into a restrict-binge cycle.

    I found that to be the case when I went from maintenance back to a deficit. I was still trying to eat 2500 calories on Saturday and I went nuts banking too much during the week. Some girls can eat 1300 calories daily. Not me.