do calories "roll over"?

speckle
speckle Posts: 40 Member
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
I usually have between 50-150 calories left uneaten at the end of the day.

Does that make it ok to be a couple hundred calories over once or twice a week? In theory, it averages out, right?

Replies

  • speckle
    speckle Posts: 40 Member
    I usually have between 50-150 calories left uneaten at the end of the day.

    Does that make it ok to be a couple hundred calories over once or twice a week? In theory, it averages out, right?
  • VballLeash
    VballLeash Posts: 2,456 Member
    Just remember it takes 3500 hundred calories to gain or lose a pound but don't just overeat one day and then not eat a lot another day, thats not healthy. If your over once in awhile though you'll be fine just try to get back on track the day after if happens! Good luck!

    ~Leash
  • willem
    willem Posts: 26
    yeah, mine do, anyway.:laugh:

    just remember that the ultimate goal is behavior modification and not an elaborate system of rewards and atonement (i already tried that). the way that it seems to work best for me is when I know that I'll have an, um, trying weekend--like Superbowl Sunday--I try to shave off 50-100 calories a day to save up for a little treat without all the guilt that comes with falling off the wagon.

    it's a thin line between this and "rewards and atonement," but I think the distinction is found in controlled moderation as opposed to drastic swings in behavior.

    hope this helps.
  • iamjeffb
    iamjeffb Posts: 22 Member
    I’ve actually read on numerous occasions that your metabolism has a 48 hour window for caloric intake. Simplified that if you are on goal to take in 2000 cal a day, and yesterday you ate 1500 technically you could eat 2500 today. There is some nutritional information out there that this is a good thing to do on occasion as it causes the metabolism’s equivalent of “muscle confusion”. If you eat 2000 a day for extended periods your body will get used to that and slows down.

    I’ve read one day every week or two go over your intake by up to 1000 calories depending on how hard you normally work out to avoid plateaus or break out of one. The more you normally burn during workouts the more you can/should go over. Now this doesn’t, unfortunately, mean go woof down 4 cheese burgers and eight orders of fries (or 2 lbs of my beloved bacon). But an extra chicken breast and double veggies is fine.

    Thoughts? You may talk amongst yourselves….
  • hmo4
    hmo4 Posts: 1,673 Member
    Make sense to me-just make sure you are for sure getting 1200 cals.
  • speckle
    speckle Posts: 40 Member
    sounds good guys, thanks.

    that 48 hours window thing makes a lot sense. So maybe instead of thinking of it as 1200 net cals a day, I could think of it as 2400 calories for every two days.

    and willem you are totally right about this not being about "rewards." It just helps me to not feel bad about myself when I can't help but go over my calories on somedays.
  • kristineh86
    kristineh86 Posts: 134
    my mom told me that at weight watchers they say that exercise earned "points" rollover too. I am not sure if this is true or not. Maybe I will post a topic!
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    I'm not a supporter of this myself. I know some of the WW plans do this (or used to when my wife did WW at least), but I don't believe it is true.

    In fact, in reality, even separating your calories into a day is a little too broad if you really want to be honest. I'll explain.

    Your body doesn't work on a 24 hour clock, it is a constant pereptual motion machine, think of it like a gas generator that runs something that can't ever stop running (granted, there are times when it needs less or more fuel). The goal is to get it running at peak performance, and keep it there. To do that you have to give it fuel, give it too much, and it will run off into a side tank for storage (FAT), give it too little and it will sputter, and eventually shut down completely. The idea is to give it a steady stream of fuel throughout the day, enough to keep it running, but little enough to keep it dipping into it's extra storage tank and burning some of the extra (fat). If you save up or "bank" your calories (as WW called it), you aren't really banking them, you're really just adding extra calories to the amount you should be consuming. If you eat too little one day, IMHO, the best thing to do is to wipe the slate clean and start fresh then next day.

    Does this make sense?
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