Maintenance on weekends?
LauraSrock18
Posts: 125 Member
So lately I’ve been out of control hungry and insane cravings! Tempted to binge and not track! My plan was to eat at maintenance one day or 2 on the weekends! Has anyone done this & still lost?
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Replies
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Yes I have done this. On days where I might have a social event or go out to eat, I eat at maintenance.0
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Sure, lots of people, myself included, balance calories throughout the week and have successfully lost weight and maintained it.
Often when people describe a situation like you are, it’s because they have too aggressive of a goal, lower calorie target than needed. Are you being too restrictive with your calorie target, or the foods you’re eating, so that it tempts you to binge?
How much weight are you trying to lose, what rate of loss did you choose, and what calorie target did MFP provide? Do you exercise, and do you log and eat back some of those calories burned?4 -
I try to run a 100 calorie daily deficit M-F. That way I have "banked" a 500 calorie deficit by the weekend. I generally have a "cheat meal" or couple of beers on the weekend. Either way, I usually "overeat" by 200-300 calories on the weekend. See how my math works out?!
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WinoGelato wrote: »Sure, lots of people, myself included, balance calories throughout the week and have successfully lost weight and maintained it.
Often when people describe a situation like you are, it’s because they have too aggressive of a goal, lower calorie target than needed. Are you being too restrictive with your calorie target, or the foods you’re eating, so that it tempts you to binge?
How much weight are you trying to lose, what rate of loss did you choose, and what calorie target did MFP provide? Do you exercise, and do you log and eat back some of those calories burned?
I’m 175 & my first goal is 160lbs, I’m going to see how I feel there & then decide how much more to lose
I set my goals to 1.5lbs a week (1,750 cals)
I usually exercise 3-4 times a week & don’t typically eat back exercise calories. I try to eat around 1,500 cals during the week so I can splurge on the weekend & eat more calories for my weekly calorie goal!
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In my experience, it's totally acceptable to have a cheat day once in a while, like for a party or a holiday. But, I'm not sure how it would turn out if you ate maintenance *every* weekend--it seems like you'd be eating back an amount of your hard work during the week. I also found that one regular overbudget day leads to two, then another...0
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LauraSrock18 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Sure, lots of people, myself included, balance calories throughout the week and have successfully lost weight and maintained it.
Often when people describe a situation like you are, it’s because they have too aggressive of a goal, lower calorie target than needed. Are you being too restrictive with your calorie target, or the foods you’re eating, so that it tempts you to binge?
How much weight are you trying to lose, what rate of loss did you choose, and what calorie target did MFP provide? Do you exercise, and do you log and eat back some of those calories burned?
I’m 175 & my first goal is 160lbs, I’m going to see how I feel there & then decide how much more to lose I set my goals to 1.5lbs a week (1,750 cals)
I usually exercise 3-4 times a week & don’t typically eat back exercise calories. I try to eat around 1,500 cals during the week so I can splurge on the weekend & eat more calories for my weekly calorie goal!
How tall are you? 1.5 lbs/week is an appropriate goal for someone with 50-75 lbs to lose.
Not eating back exercise cals is likely why you feel so restricted. MFP is designed so that you do eat back those cals to keep your deficit at a reasonable amount.6 -
WinoGelato wrote: »LauraSrock18 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Sure, lots of people, myself included, balance calories throughout the week and have successfully lost weight and maintained it.
Often when people describe a situation like you are, it’s because they have too aggressive of a goal, lower calorie target than needed. Are you being too restrictive with your calorie target, or the foods you’re eating, so that it tempts you to binge?
How much weight are you trying to lose, what rate of loss did you choose, and what calorie target did MFP provide? Do you exercise, and do you log and eat back some of those calories burned?
I’m 175 & my first goal is 160lbs, I’m going to see how I feel there & then decide how much more to lose I set my goals to 1.5lbs a week (1,750 cals)
I usually exercise 3-4 times a week & don’t typically eat back exercise calories. I try to eat around 1,500 cals during the week so I can splurge on the weekend & eat more calories for my weekly calorie goal!
How tall are you? 1.5 lbs/week is an appropriate goal for someone with 50-75 lbs to lose.
Not eating back exercise cals is likely why you feel so restricted. MFP is designed so that you do eat back those cals to keep your deficit at a reasonable amount.
I’m 5’6! I was working with a coach at 1,400 calories so I’m nervous to eat the full allowed calorie amount!
my weight has been stalled for almost a month and I was wondering if it was from the sudden increase in calories. I’m finally starting to lose again so hopefully my body has adjusted to the new calorie amount!
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Maintenance isn't overbudget. Maintenance is eating the amount of calories that would keep you at your current weight.I'm not sure how it would turn out if you ate maintenance *every* weekend--it seems like you'd be eating back an amount of your hard work during the week. I also found that one regular overbudget day leads to two, then another...
If you eat at 500 calories below maintenance 5 days per week and then maintenance 2 days, you'll have a total deficit of 2500 calories for the week. That's not as much of a weekly deficit as if you ate 500 below maintenance all 7 days but may be a more sustainable plan in the long term.6 -
I think I gave you a similar answer in your relaxed weekends thread, but basically I eat less during the week and bank extra calories for the weekend and essentially eat at maintenance or even a bit of surplus at times. I don't overdo it and wipe out my deficit for the week. Works very fantastic for me especially with the last 10lbs.
However for some people over restriction during the week can lead to going crazy on the weekend, like a tiger out of it's cage. So this may not work for you if you tend to do that.4 -
Yes. I have to lower my goal a bit during the week but I have been successful with that method.1
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I think I'm going to do this for the rest of the summer. This time of year is just too hard with all of the social activities going on during the summer season. Too many pool parties and cookouts and vacationing.1
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Sometimes I bank calories through the week saving 100-200 a day so I can splurge in a social meal. Sometimes I eat at maintenance for a day. One day I did both and ate over 2900 calories ( maintenance plus banked calories!)
Worst case scenario eating at maintenance for a day means you’ve moved your goal back by 1 day, but made the likelihood of adhering to your plan make higher (well for me that’s the case)
I’ve been losing steadily doing this and it’s been much easier mentally being able to indulge and enjoy at theses times rather than avoid or restrict. These type of habits and flexibility are what I need to make this sustainable for the future and in to maintenance.2 -
[quote="oocdc2;c-42353858" But, I'm not sure how it would turn out if you ate maintenance *every* weekend--it seems like you'd be eating back an amount of your hard work during the week. I also found that one regular overbudget day leads to two, then another... [/quote]
It would probably work not as well as the 5:2 diet where 2 days each week are at 25% of maintenance, and the other 5 days are all at maintenance.
That resulted in a 22% average deficit, great adherence, and great maintenance, in the study.
As further studies have shown, likely because having a refeed day or days is very beneficial to keeping hormone levels for further success right where they need to be.
Still in a deficit, still will lose weight, and might just help make it only fat weight.
Of course the idea of 2 weekend days at maintenance can always be undone by a foolish aggressive deficit the other 5 days of the week.2 -
LauraSrock18 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Sure, lots of people, myself included, balance calories throughout the week and have successfully lost weight and maintained it.
Often when people describe a situation like you are, it’s because they have too aggressive of a goal, lower calorie target than needed. Are you being too restrictive with your calorie target, or the foods you’re eating, so that it tempts you to binge?
How much weight are you trying to lose, what rate of loss did you choose, and what calorie target did MFP provide? Do you exercise, and do you log and eat back some of those calories burned?
I’m 175 & my first goal is 160lbs, I’m going to see how I feel there & then decide how much more to lose I set my goals to 1.5lbs a week (1,750 cals)
I usually exercise 3-4 times a week & don’t typically eat back exercise calories. I try to eat around 1,500 cals during the week so I can splurge on the weekend & eat more calories for my weekly calorie goal!
Ok, you've made two common mistakes:
1. Setting a weekly weight loss goal that is too aggressive for the amount you need to lose
2. Not eating back at least some of your exercise calories
MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1LauraSrock18 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »LauraSrock18 wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Sure, lots of people, myself included, balance calories throughout the week and have successfully lost weight and maintained it.
Often when people describe a situation like you are, it’s because they have too aggressive of a goal, lower calorie target than needed. Are you being too restrictive with your calorie target, or the foods you’re eating, so that it tempts you to binge?
How much weight are you trying to lose, what rate of loss did you choose, and what calorie target did MFP provide? Do you exercise, and do you log and eat back some of those calories burned?
I’m 175 & my first goal is 160lbs, I’m going to see how I feel there & then decide how much more to lose I set my goals to 1.5lbs a week (1,750 cals)
I usually exercise 3-4 times a week & don’t typically eat back exercise calories. I try to eat around 1,500 cals during the week so I can splurge on the weekend & eat more calories for my weekly calorie goal!
How tall are you? 1.5 lbs/week is an appropriate goal for someone with 50-75 lbs to lose.
Not eating back exercise cals is likely why you feel so restricted. MFP is designed so that you do eat back those cals to keep your deficit at a reasonable amount.
I’m 5’6! I was working with a coach at 1,400 calories so I’m nervous to eat the full allowed calorie amount! my weight has been stalled for almost a month and I was wondering if it was from the sudden increase in calories. I’m finally starting to lose again so hopefully my body has adjusted to the new calorie amount!
Is the exercise new? The stall was likely due to water retention. My own scale went up 7 pounds when I started working out again.1
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