Didn't know this was a THING? 8,400 cals a week
catsbfit
Posts: 41 Member
Hi Guys, was reading through some threads tonight and came across a cheat meal thread and in this came up,
If you eat less for 5 days and then on the 6th day you can have a cheat meal , this is what i mean, im Currently 5.4 and i weigh 11 stone 9lbs my daily calories is 1200 , so thats 8,400 a week, some days i eat 100 or 200 calories less than 1200 , so ive calculated the less calories day and ive eaten 7,835 in a week so it actually means i have 565 calories still to eat? Is this true? Because today ive gone over my calories by 60 cals and i was freaking out so i wanted to know if this is true? Ive probably got a lot of calories to eat as i dont eat back my exercise calories and i dont really log it in. So is this the magic behind a cheat meal and that people still lose? because they still dont go over their cals?
Thanks
If you eat less for 5 days and then on the 6th day you can have a cheat meal , this is what i mean, im Currently 5.4 and i weigh 11 stone 9lbs my daily calories is 1200 , so thats 8,400 a week, some days i eat 100 or 200 calories less than 1200 , so ive calculated the less calories day and ive eaten 7,835 in a week so it actually means i have 565 calories still to eat? Is this true? Because today ive gone over my calories by 60 cals and i was freaking out so i wanted to know if this is true? Ive probably got a lot of calories to eat as i dont eat back my exercise calories and i dont really log it in. So is this the magic behind a cheat meal and that people still lose? because they still dont go over their cals?
Thanks
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Replies
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Correct as far as I'm aware. You would find it easier if you logged everything including exercise. I don't usually go over my calories and if I have done loads of exercise I try and save some of the calories for the end of the week for my Chinese takeaway treat meal.4
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Well, I wouldn't call it a cheat meal, because a) that's a horrible term, and b) it's within your calorie allowance, but...
Yes, many people look at their calorie allowance on a weekly basis, rather than a daily basis. So long as you are at an overall deficit, you will lose weight. Also, think about the logic of freaking out over 60 calories for a moment - 3500 calories in a lb of fat, 60 calories wouldn't even make a noticeable slowdown in your weight loss.
And you need to eat at least half of your exercise calories back, otherwise you are underfuelling your body. Eventually that will catch up with you.14 -
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You're correct, but 1200 is a super duper low number for a daily calorie goal.5
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Yes, look at your weekly goal.
I would also question whether 1200 is appropriate in the first place.6 -
I'll probably get wooed etc for this but since Sunday is my most high calorie day I've started saving the majority of my exercise calories and eating them in one day 2 Sunday's ago I ate almost 6k calories and still lost 1.8lb that week this Sunday I ate over 3k I haven't weighed yet this week though3
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Absolutely correct. While I would not advocate it, you could water fast two days a week that weren't back to back and have 1640 the other days. The main reason not to do that is it's crazy hard. I did 5:2 IF where the 2 days have a much lower calories goal and even that was really hard. Fasting or having a really low calorie day isn't unhealthy when you aren't doing multiple back to back (even then, there is some disagreement about how many). There is even some evidence it might be more healthy than eating every day. No thank you; I would rather eat every day. But my point is it's the average across days/weeks that matters. Your body doesn't care when it's midnight. Three meals that roughly divide the day and roughly the same total every day is just conventional human behavior, not a biological requirement. Biology is more flexible than that; just don't push it to extremes.5
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Ive been ok on 1200 cals a few hunger pain here and there but they dont bother me as the hunger usually goes away in till its time for my dinner think my body is getting used to it now since ive been doing it for a week and a half on plan aswell which is a massive thing for me as before i cdnt resist some foods.5
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catzzm9768 wrote: »Ive been ok on 1200 cals a few hunger pain here and there but they dont bother me as the hunger usually goes away in till its time for my dinner think my body is getting used to it now since ive been doing it for a week and a half on plan aswell which is a massive thing for me as before i cdnt resist some foods.
Given your stats, eating so little is completely unneccessary, but if you want to carry on suffering!11 -
Cheating to me means eating over your calorie goal or not tracking calories at all.
Looking at your weekly calorie is something you can do and having a lower calorie day and applying those unused calories to another day is not cheating. It is still the same calorie deficit over the week.
You could eat your 1,200 calories each day and eat at maintenance level one day a week.
With MFP you are supposed to log exercise beyond your normal daily activity and eat more. If you are not pretty sedentary and exercise at all you should be able to eat more.1 -
catzzm9768 wrote: »Ive been ok on 1200 cals a few hunger pain here and there but they dont bother me as the hunger usually goes away in till its time for my dinner think my body is getting used to it now since ive been doing it for a week and a half on plan aswell which is a massive thing for me as before i cdnt resist some foods.
Just because you feel fine now doesn't mean that will continue. What is your daily activity like (job, etc)? What are you doing for exercise, how often and for how long? Faster isn't better when it comes to weight loss.1 -
If you are using the app, at least on Iphone, there is an option to look at Weekly View of Calories so you can have this already calculated for you. Many of us do follow a similar approach to what you're describing - where we look at the net calories over the week (I say Net calories so you understand that you should be eating back exercise cals) and maybe have some days which are lower and others that are higher - whether it is purposely saved up or just happens sort of naturally. Either way it shouldn't derail your progress, unless the extremes are very extreme and it sets off some sort of binge/restrict cycle.
That said, 1200 is already the lowest recommended calorie alotment for women - so going significantly below that intentionally, on a regular basis, really isn't advisable. Why aren't you eating back exercise calories? Are you sure 1200 is the right goal for you? What are your current stats, goal weight, and what rate of loss did you choose?
Regarding cheat meals - I don't really prescribe to that philosophy as I think it also can set up negative connotations about food and diet. I don't specifically restrict certain foods, I fit all foods I enjoy in on a regular basis - whether that be a serving of ice cream every evening, or pizza once a week - but neither of those things would be what I would consider cheating or a cheat meal.
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You don't reset at midnight...and even if you were to go over 1200, you're still likely in a deficit...1200 is a pretty big deficit from maintenance. Given you profile picture, you don't look like you have much if any weight to lose...you certainly look to be at a healthy BMI...1200 is an aggressive weight loss target for someone that would be classified as obese. You might feel fine now, but the health risks associated with low calories and lack of body fat creep up...loss of period, hair falling out, etc.2
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cwolfman13 wrote: »You don't reset at midnight...and even if you were to go over 1200, you're still likely in a deficit...1200 is a pretty big deficit from maintenance. Given you profile picture, you don't look like you have much if any weight to lose...you certainly look to be at a healthy BMI...1200 is an aggressive weight loss target for someone that would be classified as obese. You might feel fine now, but the health risks associated with low calories and lack of body fat creep up...loss of period, hair falling out, etc.
OP has 20-30lbs to lose0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »If you are using the app, at least on Iphone, there is an option to look at Weekly View of Calories so you can have this already calculated for you. Many of us do follow a similar approach to what you're describing - where we look at the net calories over the week (I say Net calories so you understand that you should be eating back exercise cals) and maybe have some days which are lower and others that are higher - whether it is purposely saved up or just happens sort of naturally. Either way it shouldn't derail your progress, unless the extremes are very extreme and it sets off some sort of binge/restrict cycle.
..And it will also let you choose which day to start the week with (either 7 days ago or a specific day of the week) - a useful setting if you tend to eat heavier/lighter on specific days.1 -
1200 net might not be that aggressive (as long as they actually eat back exercise calories) if a shorter sedentary female at healthy-ish weight (it's possibly less than a 0.5 lb/wk deficit).1
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There's no magic, only math. Banking calories is definitely a thing. It enables you to keep you calorie goal so that you still lose weight.1
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..that being said, if you are not riding a desk all day and driving everywhere, then 1200 net most likely is too low.0
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Nony_Mouse wrote: »catzzm9768 wrote: »Ive been ok on 1200 cals a few hunger pain here and there but they dont bother me as the hunger usually goes away in till its time for my dinner think my body is getting used to it now since ive been doing it for a week and a half on plan aswell which is a massive thing for me as before i cdnt resist some foods.
Just because you feel fine now doesn't mean that will continue. What is your daily activity like (job, etc)? What are you doing for exercise, how often and for how long? Faster isn't better when it comes to weight loss.
I have an office job, and i try and do cardio 4 times a week for 1 hour but ive only done once this week. As ive had a cold.
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catzzm9768 wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »catzzm9768 wrote: »Ive been ok on 1200 cals a few hunger pain here and there but they dont bother me as the hunger usually goes away in till its time for my dinner think my body is getting used to it now since ive been doing it for a week and a half on plan aswell which is a massive thing for me as before i cdnt resist some foods.
Just because you feel fine now doesn't mean that will continue. What is your daily activity like (job, etc)? What are you doing for exercise, how often and for how long? Faster isn't better when it comes to weight loss.
I have an office job, and i try and do cardio 4 times a week for 1 hour but ive only done once this week. As ive had a cold.
What are you doing for cardio?0 -
Can i bank exercise calories? So at the end of the week i can enjoy a high calorific meal?0
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catzzm9768 wrote: »Can i bank exercise calories? So at the end of the week i can enjoy a high calorific meal?
I do that
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catzzm9768 wrote: »Can i bank exercise calories? So at the end of the week i can enjoy a high calorific meal?
Yes. That's really the same question; the total is the total on both sides of the ledger.4 -
catzzm9768 wrote: »Can i bank exercise calories? So at the end of the week i can enjoy a high calorific meal?
Yes. But we still need to establish whether you've set your calories at an appropriate level to start with. Sedentary for daily activity outside of exercise isn't always the right choice, even with an office job. It depends how much you are moving about during the day. Do you feel that you get less than 5000 steps a day outside of deliberate exercise (if you don't have a fitness tracker, you can use a step app on your phone to get an idea of this)? If you're above that, 'lightly active' would be a more appropriate setting.3 -
catzzm9768 wrote: »Ive been ok on 1200 cals a few hunger pain here and there but they dont bother me as the hunger usually goes away in till its time for my dinner think my body is getting used to it now since ive been doing it for a week and a half on plan aswell which is a massive thing for me as before i cdnt resist some foods.
The main issue is not hunger. The main issue is health risk.
This is a good read:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea1 -
Why the majority of women DON’T need a 1200 calorie diet to lose weight (and why it only causes problems): https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/1
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I had no idea that this is a thing but I'm very intrigued by it!!1
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