Weekly Calorie Limit...Good or bad?

RainbowsandWeed26
RainbowsandWeed26 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone, I was wondering what your thoughts are on practicing a weekly calorie limit versus a traditional daily calorie limit. What are positive things about it versus negative things about it? Personal experiences with experimenting with daily versus weekly calorie limits?

Replies

  • magster4isu
    magster4isu Posts: 632 Member
    I think it depends on the person. For me it's easier to juggle one day at a time.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    I went 5:2 IF in the beginning of October and am having so much more weight loss success than I did on a daily restriction of calories. Funny thing is, my weekly calories from October til now are pretty much identical to the previous 5 months.

    I think a lot of it is mental and personality. I know I will restrict my calories extremely on Tues and Thurs so if a treat presents itself on Saturday - say a piece of butterscotch pie - I feel free to enjoy it. But I never could make room for it on 1200 a day. So as I look beyond weight loss I'm going to work calories on a weekly basis. - bank calories for weekends and social occasions.

    For me, looking at calories on a weekly basis - well it is a game changer all to the positive. But my husband watches me and says he'd never want to eat with a week allowance in mind, for him it would sap much of his eating pleasure.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Both will work if some properly. It's easier for me to think about today than the whole week, so I have daily goals.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,989 Member
    I'm in maintenance and a weekly goal works better for me and my lifestyle.

    I eat at a deficit on days that I work. I'm too busy those days to worry about eating too much anyways.

    I eat at a surplus on days that I am off of work to make up for it.

    It evens out in the end for me.

    But, it's totally personal preference.
  • sheltrk
    sheltrk Posts: 111 Member
    I've been at or near-maintenance for 2-3 years now. I eat at a deficit on weekdays, and splurge a little bit on the weekends. My net weekly calorie total stays right in line with my maintenance goal. It works great for me. Weekends are typically "fancier" meals for me. My weekday meals are fairly spartan, predictable affairs, but I'm really OK with that.

    I started out with the "weekly goal" while I was still in weight-loss mode (but close to my goal). I had to be a bit more restrictive on my consumption, but looking forward to dessert and/or cocktails on the weekends gave me some added motivation to "stick to the plan"
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
    It works well for me - I use beeminder to keep track of it so I'm not allowed to get into a calorie debt!
  • Stockholm_Andy
    Stockholm_Andy Posts: 803 Member
    It's the same thing essentially. As is a monthly and annual calorie intake.

    You don't lose or gain weight significantly in 24hs. It's done over weeks, months and years.

    The longer term view of things people take, generally, the better they'll do.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    I take things a day at a time but I balance weekly. So if say on Monday I’m just not very hungry or I ate low calorie high volume food, and I’m 200 calories short I just let it go and “Bank” those calories. Then if I’m extra hungry on Thursday I can eat an extra 200 calories and it all balances out. But I never think to myself “I’ll play it fast and loose today and worry about it later in the week.” I always try to be close to target day by day, I just don’t freak out if I’m not.

    This has also really helped me recognize a super hungry day vs a very low hunger day, and that both come very regularly for me, so I will balance out. So now if I’m super hungry in the AM I dont freak out and try to ignore it for fear of “falling off the wagon”, I’ll eat a huge breakfast and just see how my body feels later in the day.

    Looking at the week view helps remind me that every food choice isn’t do or die and to remember the big picture.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I look at both daily and weekly calories.
    I think weekly is useful if you are going to have high and low days in a week. If you eat about the same most days just looking at daily calorie intake is probably fine. Both methods of looking at calories with get you there in the end if you are sticking to your goal.
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  • kieranar
    kieranar Posts: 57 Member
    I just keep,within my BMR basal metabolic rate range for Calabria per day , works well for me for maintaining my weight
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    I'm very much a "tomorrow is another day" kind of girl. I track my food today and rarely look at it after the end of the day. The only exception is that I often do a lot of physical activity on Saturday and will carry some of the calories to Sunday when I tend to veg more.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    kieranar wrote: »
    I just keep,within my BMR basal metabolic rate range for Calabria per day , works well for me for maintaining my weight

    You just lie there all day and don't move?
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    I'm a week;y tracker, fits in my weekend meals out and drinks.
  • Chrissykriz7
    Chrissykriz7 Posts: 3 Member
    Is there a way to set weekly calorie targets vs daily calorie target on the app? I would love to try this
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Chrissykriz7 wrote: »
    Is there a way to set weekly calorie targets vs daily calorie target on the app? I would love to try this

    Not really. You set them daily but can look at weekly reports on the app (not the web version). I do a rolling 7 day and try to hit a bit less than my target. But I've got MFP set to 1 lb loss and am using exercise to increase that to 1.5, so I'm kinda using it different.
  • g_poleman
    g_poleman Posts: 36 Member
    I manage by the day but in the end I am only interested what it looks like at the end of the week.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    I think for a lot of people, it's a natural next step in calorie counting. They start with a by-the-day approach. Once they get a feel for that, for portion sizes and all the rest, it's a natural next step giving them a bit more flexibility and leniency with the numbers.

    But ultimately, as others have said... it's just another method that may or may not work for you. Biggest pros are a bigger picture view, cons are the "in debt" feeling (IMO).
  • teagirlmedium
    teagirlmedium Posts: 679 Member
    For me I usually go by how many calories I can have in a day. If I know there is an event coming up a particular week, like a birthday or a holiday I will switch to a weekly calorie limit. I find this helps me have a little fun while I hit my goals. Also this changes up the diet a bit so that I don't get bored or feel like I am trapped into doing it the same way everyday for the rest of my life.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Although I mostly look at daily calories it always heartens me to see when I look at the weekly average that despite usually having 2 days a week where I'm over my TDEE I actually have a total slight deficit which is what I want. Its like looking at the bigger picture and knowing that I'm am maintaining just fine.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    edited November 2017
    My daily calorie "goal" can range from anywhere to 2300 calories (rest day) to over 5000 calories (running an ultramarathon), so yeah, I do weekly goal. I do somewhat of a hybrid between TDEE and daily goals. My gross calorie intake is usually lower on a rest day, but my net is higher, and vice versa on a long run day. To support my training, I have to eat over my goal on certain days to support the next day's workout. Trying to eat to a daily goal would be difficult and negatively impact my ability to hit the workout goals.

    Weekly goals also let me plan for higher intake days where I'm going to go out for a nice dinner or go to events with lower days in other parts of the week.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited November 2017
    In principle it will result in the same overall result if followed. In principle I imagine it is quite possible that on day 6 of tracking you realize you have accumulated a large debt or a large surplus that it will be difficult to overcome on day 7. Not that that is the end of the world but the concern would be only worrying about the end of the week total can give one a mental excuse to dismiss excesses earlier in the week because you can always just make up for it later. Could result in a pattern of overeating in the beginning of the week then undereating at the end of the week which won't really allow you to build up those healthy eating habits that will allow you to smoothly transition into maintenance. If you focus instead on making sure your intake is fairly regular throughout the week then you'd basically be doing the daily tracking anyways.

    I wouldn't go as far as to say it is "good" or "bad". It is an approach that likely would work better for some and worse for others. If i was to diet again I probably would stick with daily tracking because I know that works for me. But up to you to determine what works for you.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    In principle it will result in the same overall result if followed. In principle I imagine it is quite possible that on day 6 of tracking you realize you have accumulated a large debt or a large surplus that it will be difficult to overcome on day 7. Not that that is the end of the world but the concern would be only worrying about the end of the week total can give one a mental excuse to dismiss excesses earlier in the week because you can always just make up for it later. Could result in a pattern of overeating in the beginning of the week then undereating at the end of the week which won't really allow you to build up those healthy eating habits that will allow you to smoothly transition into maintenance. If you focus instead on making sure your intake is fairly regular throughout the week then you'd basically be doing the daily tracking anyways.

    I wouldn't go as far as to say it is "good" or "bad". It is an approach that likely would work better for some and worse for others. If i was to diet again I probably would stick with daily tracking because I know that works for me. But up to you to determine what works for you.

    Interesting perspective. If I am going to over eat, it is most likely going to be on a Friday or a Saturday. Therefore weekly tracking works so well for me because I generally want to have some extra calories in the bank for Friday and Saturday.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Yeah, weekly works for me, but it's also always been in the context of banking calories for the end of the week.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    Tried both approaches ... looking at each day vs looking at the week ... both work if you stay within your limits, however, for me, if I had a big calorie day it threw off my weight a couple of days later and I always added weight quicker than I was able to take it off again ... so it was a lot of yo-yoing back and forth over the same 2-5 pounds.

    Now I give myself a range of calories a day to strive towards and average the calories throughout the week with a target for that average as my weekly goal. The target average is what I have MFP calories set at.
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