Is your metabolism consistent?

autumnsholokhov
autumnsholokhov Posts: 21 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been doing a daily 40 minutes of running for the past six months. I also have followed the same weekly amount of activity since then as well. When I fill out a caloric expenditure calculator, it tells me I'm burning 2300ish calories a day. Assuming the calculations are correct, does that mean this is an everyday thing? Or does it change depending on my activity?

For example, I haven't missed a day of exercise since I started (I'm very OCD about it), but some days I don't move as much aside from my working out. I'd say 5 days a week my average steps are anywhere from 9,500-12,000 total. But 2 days of the week I'm down at about 6,000-8,000 total. On those two days that I'm lower, is my metabolism slower too? Or has it become consistently sped up? Obviously, it could be off by a little bit each day, but is it anything drastic?

I always do 500 calories less a day in order to be losing 1lb a week, so now I'm wondering if I should be adjusting how much I eat each day depending on my activity. Should I be eating 1800 on the 5 days that I do a lot of steps but 1500 on days I don't? Is it safe to keep it at 1800 even if I don't get as many steps?

Thank you.

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    The 2300 calories is averaged over the week. Some days you may burn more, some you'll burn less. You should see a steady loss eating 1800 a day, provided your logging is accurate.
  • thewildair
    thewildair Posts: 31 Member
    edited April 2016
    Metabolism is the rate at which your body consumes energy. It does fluctuate a little, but not very much (unless you have a significant health condition like a thyroid disorder, etc). Whether you workout or not one day versus the next will not wildly affect your metabolism. On days that you are less active, your body is expending less energy and therefore consuming fewer calories. Your metabolism hasn't changed, the amount of energy that you expend has changed.

    You don't need to adjust your calories for incremental changes in your activity level. If your calories have been calculated at a deficit for your general or typical activity level, you will continue to lose weight. However, eating more calories on workout days and fewer calories on resting days is a perfectly healthy decision that a lot of people have success with.
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