Is there a temporal limit to caloric intake?

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LP_Std
LP_Std Posts: 41 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For example: If my Calorie goal is 1500/day and I eat 1200 cal on Monday and 1800 cal on Tuesday am I eating at my goal?
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  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    That works, yep. If you use the phone app, it lets you pull up the average for the week. That's how I keep up with mine.
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    Yep. Remember that your body doesn't reset at midnight and people actually cycle calories like this often. Or eat a bit less each day to save for a treat on one day - it's called calorie banking.

    The average is the same and that's what matters.
  • Jules_farmgirl
    Jules_farmgirl Posts: 225 Member
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    Yes. Many people do this. If you are looking at your calorie intake as a full week, you can adjust accordingly. I like to eat at my goal and not eat as many workout calories back during the week so that on the weekend I can have a few beer, or that pizza and not be limited to 1 slice.

    But just remember to still make it a plan and work it in. If you work your week like that and let's say you go Sunday-Saturday. On Sunday... your calories "reset" for the week.
  • LP_Std
    LP_Std Posts: 41 Member
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    If that works, is there a time limit? Taken to the extreme could you eat all your calories for the week on Monday and then fast for 6 days?
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    LP_Std wrote: »
    If that works, is there a time limit? Taken to the extreme could you eat all your calories for the week on Monday and then fast for 6 days?

    In theory, you could.. but ick.

    You may show some "gain" after that single day because your body can't void that much food in a day, plus you'd be holding water weight, but your weight is a continuum. You don't gain or lose the instant you hit over or under that magical 3500c. (3500 over TDEE for gain, under for loss)
  • Jules_farmgirl
    Jules_farmgirl Posts: 225 Member
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    serindipte wrote: »
    In theory, you could.. but ick.

    You may show some "gain" after that single day because your body can't void that much food in a day, plus you'd be holding water weight, but your weight is a continuum. You don't gain or lose the instant you hit over or under that magical 3500c. (3500 over TDEE for gain, under for loss)

    Agreed... I wouldn't want to do that... I would be a hangry mess....
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,953 Member
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    I agree that if it balances over the week it's fine. You just might see more weight fluctuation. Doesn't mean you aren't losing though.
  • LP_Std
    LP_Std Posts: 41 Member
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    I see, so the 24 hour caloric cycle is just a convention most people agree upon, but due to the bodies ability to process differing rates of calorie intake the "average calorie over time" method may not hold true under more extreme scenarios.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    LP_Std wrote: »
    I see, so the 24 hour caloric cycle is just a convention most people agree upon, but due to the bodies ability to process differing rates of calorie intake the "average calorie over time" method may not hold true under more extreme scenarios.

    No, due to the body's inability to .. crap enough if you eat 20k calories worth of food in one day, you'll still have some in your bowels and that will affect the number on the scale until you've visited the toilet enough to get rid of it.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    I do that all the time. I pay more attention to my weekly budget than I do to my daily budget. I know in general I tend to eat more on weekends, and less on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (why those days, I don't know!)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
    The human body has a calorie amount it uses to fuel itself and its burned over 24 hours however the body doesnt know what time it is. Outside of that you are ultimately responsible for feeding it the nutrients to keep going and while you COULD fast for 6 days and eat your entire calorie goal on day 7, why would you want to? you are going to feel sick and miserable half way through because the body isnt getting any source of energy other then your body fat and possibly some protein from it eating your lean muscle if it happens to need them. Just because the math can be done in multiple ways doesn't mean you can use all the solutions without consequences

    But OP's example was eating 1,200 one day and 1,800 the next (which is perfectly reasonable and sustainable). I don't know how you get from that to eating 0 for six days in a row and then 10,500 on the 7th day.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
    The human body has a calorie amount it uses to fuel itself and its burned over 24 hours however the body doesnt know what time it is. Outside of that you are ultimately responsible for feeding it the nutrients to keep going and while you COULD fast for 6 days and eat your entire calorie goal on day 7, why would you want to? you are going to feel sick and miserable half way through because the body isnt getting any source of energy other then your body fat and possibly some protein from it eating your lean muscle if it happens to need them. Just because the math can be done in multiple ways doesn't mean you can use all the solutions without consequences

    But OP's example was eating 1,200 one day and 1,800 the next (which is perfectly reasonable and sustainable). I don't know how you get from that to eating 0 for six days in a row and then 10,500 on the 7th day.

    I think that was in response to the LP STD post
  • sammyliftsandeats
    sammyliftsandeats Posts: 2,421 Member
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    serindipte wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
    The human body has a calorie amount it uses to fuel itself and its burned over 24 hours however the body doesnt know what time it is. Outside of that you are ultimately responsible for feeding it the nutrients to keep going and while you COULD fast for 6 days and eat your entire calorie goal on day 7, why would you want to? you are going to feel sick and miserable half way through because the body isnt getting any source of energy other then your body fat and possibly some protein from it eating your lean muscle if it happens to need them. Just because the math can be done in multiple ways doesn't mean you can use all the solutions without consequences

    But OP's example was eating 1,200 one day and 1,800 the next (which is perfectly reasonable and sustainable). I don't know how you get from that to eating 0 for six days in a row and then 10,500 on the 7th day.

    I think that was in response to the LP STD post

    LP STD is the OP.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Right now I aim for an average of 1800 over the course of the week. But I more or less average it in every three day rolling period. I tend to eat around 1400/1800/2200 during each three day period. I use a lower limit so that I don't go too super low on any one day and I err on the side of averaging a bit over 1800 rather than under it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    LP_Std wrote: »
    For example: If my Calorie goal is 1500/day and I eat 1200 cal on Monday and 1800 cal on Tuesday am I eating at my goal?

    Your body doesn't reset at midnight or any other time of day...energy balance is a continuum.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    The biggest "limit" is that realistically speaking, if you were to eat 4500 calories one day and nothing the next two, you'd still be within your goal but you'd probably be hungry, unhappy, and feeling unwell--let alone doing that over a week. It would be hard to resist overeating at that point. A thought exercise is one thing, but in the real world...I recommend not trying it.

    However, going a bit under your goal one day and a bit over the next is not a problem if it averages out. People try to average it out over no more than a week because beyond that, it's going to be tough to keep up with the math of how big your deficit is or isn't at any given time.
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
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    I've been doing that. Over, under, over, under, alternating days. My appetite isn't the same every single day. Some days I feel like I just *need* more (I'm not going to sit my Chemistry exams hungry).
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
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    sammyliftsandeats wrote: »
    serindipte wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »
    The human body has a calorie amount it uses to fuel itself and its burned over 24 hours however the body doesnt know what time it is. Outside of that you are ultimately responsible for feeding it the nutrients to keep going and while you COULD fast for 6 days and eat your entire calorie goal on day 7, why would you want to? you are going to feel sick and miserable half way through because the body isnt getting any source of energy other then your body fat and possibly some protein from it eating your lean muscle if it happens to need them. Just because the math can be done in multiple ways doesn't mean you can use all the solutions without consequences

    But OP's example was eating 1,200 one day and 1,800 the next (which is perfectly reasonable and sustainable). I don't know how you get from that to eating 0 for six days in a row and then 10,500 on the 7th day.

    I think that was in response to the LP STD post

    LP STD is the OP.

    QRSTUV...:P

    As others have stated, our metabolisms work 24/7 and the body doesn't know what time it is. The calorie deficit required to lose weight works on a continuum and is not dictated by the 24 hours it takes for the Earth to complete a rotation on its axis.

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