I think I figured out something ?

here's my proposal for you:

Look at your maintenance at your goal weight/lifestlye. i don't know your details, so i'm gonna pretend it's 1600 calories/day.

That is MORE than your current goal (1590) to lose 1/2 per week.

train yourself to be content eating at around 1600 calories per day, and to have a healthy relationship with food at this level. That means that you can also occasionally indulge, and make up for it by eating healthy, or perhaps "banking" a few calories in the days before and after the indulgence. All without the toxic notion of a "cheat" day.

When i calculated my "healthy TDEE" for maintenance, i was surprised to learn it was right at my loss goal. Once i figured that out, i decided to quit planning my loss by x lbs per week, and instead just start eating healthy now. The weight is slowly coming off; i know it'll come off even more slowly as i approach my goal. but just as i didn't get fat in a meal, or a day, or a week, i won't lose weight that quickly. What i will do, though, is build eating habits that balance around a healthy lifestyle.

DanaDark wrote: »

I often look at my week rather than my day. Some days I am 300 under goal, some days I am 300 over. Looking at the week instead of day, allows me to feel better about the whole picture and also plan for future special events.

I do this too. Not always, but I like thinking about it as a week vs. just each day and when I have something coming up I might move calories around.

WinoGelato wrote: »

Yes it will work. Many people (myself included) bank calories during the week for a weekend indulgence. I don't call it a cheat day, to me that implies throwing all caution to the wind, and mine is still planned and logged. I save 100/200 cals during the week which gives me an extra 500-1000 cals on Friday or Saturday.

Something to be aware of, you might see a jump on the scale the day after, from water retention.

Why aren't you eating back any exercise cals?

Are you losing at 0.5 lb/wk now?

chelseyperry735 wrote: »

Thank you ! And I just prefer not to , and yes I am

If you are consistently losing at no more than your intended rate of 0.5 lb/wk while not eating any exercise calories, which is not how MFP is designed to be used, you are probably eating more than you think. Not picking on you - studies show this is common.

chelseyperry735 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

Yes it will work. Many people (myself included) bank calories during the week for a weekend indulgence. I don't call it a cheat day, to me that implies throwing all caution to the wind, and mine is still planned and logged. I save 100/200 cals during the week which gives me an extra 500-1000 cals on Friday or Saturday.

Something to be aware of, you might see a jump on the scale the day after, from water retention.

Why aren't you eating back any exercise cals?

Are you losing at 0.5 lb/wk now?

chelseyperry735 wrote: »

Thank you ! And I just prefer not to , and yes I am

If you are consistently losing at no more than your intended rate of 0.5 lb/wk while not eating any exercise calories, which is not how MFP is designed to be used, you are probably eating more than you think. Not picking on you - studies show this is common.

Thank you for the help , but I don't understand what you mean ? Are you saying that I should eat back some of my exercise calories ? How can I be eating more if I'm not eating the extra calories given from exercise ?

The way that MFP is designed to work is that it gives you a calorie deficit to achieve your weight loss goal with no exercise factored in. Then if you do exercise, you should be eating back a portion of those calories.

You said you calculated your maintenance calories, was that factoring in an estimate of exercise burn too (your TDEE) or was it a number MFP gave you?

What @kshama2001 was suggesting was that if you were eating at your projected 250 cal deficit, the 1590 cals, and were losing weight at 0.5 lb/week then you either had the exercise figured into your maintenance cals, or you might have logging errors. Because if you are eating 1590 but burning off another 200-300 in exercise then you should be losing 1 lb/week not 0.5.

Happymelz wrote: »

I'd like to chime in that this works. As others have said, it is calorie cycling. NOT "cheating". It is banking calories for the days you would normally go over.
I have successfully lost weight this way in the past and am successfully losing (slowly, by choice) this way now.

It is also a good way to maintain. It is foolish to think that a person needs to eat exactly at maintenance every single day. If you have days where you are a rock star at will power then why not save up for the days you have a harder time so that you can "allow" a treat. NOT a cheat day, a savings account.

I also "save" exercise calories up for the weekend instead of eating them back every day.
*****I DO NOT ever net below 1200. YES, I know that is bad.******

It is science. We don't lose/gain on a daily basis, so if you are still within your weekly goals you will lose or maintain depending on your goals.

Wishing you tons of success!

I totaly agree with the calorie banking. I do my best when I eat frequent small meals and snacks then have one large semi indulgent meal. if I keep the small meals small enough, I can stay in the calorie limit and have enough to blow on the big meal of the day or week. i try to make my indulgent ones something healthy, like a large salad, or fish. but sometimes its pizza I seem to do worse when I try and keep everything even, I end up hungrier and less satiated. I feel less weighed down with the small meals when I am busy and then can enjoy the feeling of a good hearty meal when I real have worke dup an apetite from eating light. I dont feel deprived this way either for me.

They way I see it, it seems much more normal to eat in a cycle of fasts and endulgences. if you think about how most other life forms eat and our ancestors it was this way. Food resources are not always plentiful at a steady rate. People have always had their times of lean and of harvest. I think we are made for this. its natures way. and why perhaps there is such a problem with obessity in the modern world is all the food we want is readibly obtainable with out nessisarily having to expend calories to gather it, farm it or hunt it (aside from jobs)

there is one thing to consider though, if someone has an eating disorder and is prone to binging on certain things Im not sure if this is good or bad, if it woudl encourage binging in a bad way or mabee help it by all owing it and directing onto healthy food choices and planning instead of deprivation?

chelseyperry735 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

Yes it will work. Many people (myself included) bank calories during the week for a weekend indulgence. I don't call it a cheat day, to me that implies throwing all caution to the wind, and mine is still planned and logged. I save 100/200 cals during the week which gives me an extra 500-1000 cals on Friday or Saturday.

Something to be aware of, you might see a jump on the scale the day after, from water retention.

Why aren't you eating back any exercise cals?

Are you losing at 0.5 lb/wk now?

chelseyperry735 wrote: »

Thank you ! And I just prefer not to , and yes I am

If you are consistently losing at no more than your intended rate of 0.5 lb/wk while not eating any exercise calories, which is not how MFP is designed to be used, you are probably eating more than you think. Not picking on you - studies show this is common.

Thank you for the help , but I don't understand what you mean ? Are you saying that I should eat back some of my exercise calories ? How can I be eating more if I'm not eating the extra calories given from exercise ?

MFP is designed to allow you to eat back the calories you burn in your exercise sessions. It becomes a problem when people/gym machines overestimate the calories burned in a particular exercise, like giving you 500 calories for 20 minutes on the elliptical. Seems like most of the successful MFP people eat back 50% or so of those overestimated exercise calories.

You can easily be overestimating the number of calories you eat on a daily basis by inaccurate weighing and measuring or just plain forgetting to log ALL you calories. Happens to practically everybody.