Silly question about uneaten calories

FatMoojor
FatMoojor Posts: 483 Member
edited November 27 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Firstly, I never thought that gaining weight would be harder than losing weight, turns out I was wrong.

So on to the question, when losing weight it was all about the deficit over say a week, so long as my weekly deficit was equal to the amount needed to lose 1lb, it didn't really matter if you were doing 5:2 style, or average over the week. If the total deficit was around 3500 you would probably lose around a 1lb.

But when gaining, does the reverse work in regards to strength gains along with how much muscle and fat you put on.

Take this week for example.

Target daily calories - 2740 calories

Monday - 66 uneaten
Tuesday - 262 uneaten
Wednesday - 150 uneaten

So in those 3 days I'm 478 calories down on my target so far, that's almost a wholes days worth of gain. The question is, would the best plan be for me to just put the whole lot on to Thursday (which I have currently done) and try to re-hit my target or would it be better to spread those out over the next 4 days and just increase my daily amount by 120 for the next 4 days.

Is one way going to be better for keeping fat gain at a minimum while lifting or does it just not really matter and the numbers we are talking about at insignificant in the long run.

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    Let me preface this with, I haven't seen studies, but the majority of the knowledgeable people in the fitness industry advocate for consistency and not trying to "catch up". I believe it is along the lines with your body can only develop some much muscle in a given day, so backloading calories can cause for an increase in new body fat on those days.


    But would be curious to see if anyone has science.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    As an aside if you are struggling to meet your weekly calorie goal eating in a 5:2 style maybe consider switching to 6:1?
    I found maintaining on 5:2 started to have a negative impact on my diet as I was finding it hard to compensate enough on the 5 "normal" days to make up for the two fasting days.

    Eating at a small surplus on the six days actually gave me quite a natural feeling calorie allowance.
  • joeshorette
    joeshorette Posts: 7 Member
    On your 2 fasting days, are you fasting the whole day or doing a 16:8 type method?
  • FatMoojor
    FatMoojor Posts: 483 Member
    Sorry, probably not clear enough, I'm not trying to gain on a 5:2 style or anything like that. I'm aiming for a straight 2740 calories a day, 7 days a week.

    It is just that since Monday I haven't hit that number. So I was wondering if I should just eat back the missed calories tonight, or spread them out over the rest of the week to make my weekly total equal what it should be if I had eaten the correct amount each day.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Try 2240 instead.
  • holm6677
    holm6677 Posts: 9 Member
    With excess calories, you risk storing them as fat. It's better to err on the side of fewer calories, even though it could mean you gain nothing, or even lose a little. Don't play catch up, just try to get closer to your goal the other days. Also, you shouldn't be consuming the same number of calories on days you aren't working out as the days when you are... That will also lead to fat storage.
  • FatMoojor
    FatMoojor Posts: 483 Member
    Holm, any info to go with the eating different amounts on non-lifting days. Haven't seen that recommended in any of the bulking guides link in the beginners guide to bulking sticked on this forum
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    There are some notional benefits of eating more, especially carbs on lifting days. Many of the fitness gurus would suggest that. Unfortunately, I can't access my google drive at work, but I do have some articles on it.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    I am for consistency with feeding the body calories it needs through out the day and for gaining I need to hit the target or adjust it... If I do not eat them that day, they are gone for ever for me..

    Unless you are calorie cycling....

    Do I have times where I eat a lot more (say on the weekends) yep.. but I just over eat that day.. My progress seems to not like the weekly bank of calories...


  • holm6677
    holm6677 Posts: 9 Member
    edited December 2015
    FatMoojor,
    I personally go by the method of increasing my total calories, for days i work out, by the amount of calories that I burn during an average workout. For me, at my current weight, that is about 350 calories. So, that means I eat 350 fewer calories on my off days. This generally is accomplished by skipping my recovery shake and lightening my afternoon meal a touch. Of course, you will want to adjust the number of calories for your own weight.

    This method seems to work for me, so far. I'm averaging between a 1.5 to 2 pound gain per week.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    holm6677 wrote: »
    FatMoojor,
    I personally go by the method of increasing my total calories, for days i work out, by the amount of calories that I burn during an average workout. For me, at my current weight, that is about 350 calories. So, that means I eat 350 fewer calories on my off days. This generally is accomplished by skipping my recovery shake and lightening my afternoon meal a touch. Of course, you will want to adjust the number of calories for your own weight.

    This method seems to work for me, so far. I'm averaging between a 1.5 to 2 pound gain per week.

    That is some quick gaining... which means a lot of fat. You realize that right?
  • holm6677
    holm6677 Posts: 9 Member
    edited December 2015
    I'd agree with you, if it weren't for my crazy metabolism and the considerably noticable difference in the size of and firmness of my quads, chest, abs, triceps, and biceps. I've only been at this for about three weeks now, but I've always been able to build fairly rapidly. And, I'm following several lean mass progams to the letter. I personally prefer to think that my progress is testament to the effectiveness of following directions properly and staying focused. Check out Brendan Meyers on YouTube. He's a good start. 6 weeks with awesome results.

    Not meaning to beat my point to death, but there are many programs out there where gaining 2, or even 3, pounds of "lean" muscle a week isn't unheard of. I'm 5'-10", and I weigh 140 pounds - up from about 135. I'm 36, and this is the most I have ever weighed. True, that some of it may be fat, but not very much of it. And, the fat that i am gaining is completely intentional, because I looked similar to a straight line before I started working out.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    edited December 2015
    holm6677 wrote: »
    I'd agree with you, if it weren't for my crazy metabolism and the considerably noticable difference in the size of and firmness of my quads, chest, abs, triceps, and biceps. I've only been at this for about three weeks now, but I've always been able to build fairly rapidly. And, I'm following several lean mass progams to the letter. I personally prefer to think that my progress is testament to the effectiveness of following directions properly and staying focused. Check out Brendan Meyers on YouTube. He's a good start. 6 weeks with awesome results.

    Not meaning to beat my point to death, but there are many programs out there where gaining 2, or even 3, pounds of "lean" muscle a week isn't unheard of. I'm 5'-10", and I weigh 140 pounds - up from about 135. I'm 36, and this is the most I have ever weighed. True, that some of it may be fat, but not very much of it. And, the fat that i am gaining is completely intentional, because I looked similar to a straight line before I started working out.

    There are all kinds of crazy claims on the internet, but doesn't its necessarily true. Our bodies have genetic limitations in terms of growth and what you are claiming is rather unheard of.

    One thing to note, fast gain in the beginning can be fairly common due to additional glycogen storage, water weight from sodium and additional food in the GI track.

    But hey if you are liking the results more power to you.
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