Sorry if this sounds stupid but I'm new to maintaining. When I'd have a few off days when I was eating 1200-1500 I wouldn't worry since I was in a deficit before/after and I thought it would all balance out. My maintenance is 1600-1750 or so and I've hit 2300 yesterday and just over 2000 today due to not really tracking/planning(Impulse chocolate cake!). Should I eat a hundred or two less for awhile to in essence "make up" for it or just carry on because my weekly average is just a hair above maintenance now(1867)?
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One caution I have found is to avoid reducing caories on subsequent days too much. I found myself cutting too much on the days after, which then set up a situation where I let myself become overly hungry and then overrate again. Your plan of reducing by 100-200 for a bit is what I do now and that is working well.
Presumably you've established a maintenance weight range (i.e., not a single number). If you creep up then over the upper limit and stay there more than a day or two, start eating a little less until you're down a bit in the range.
You can manage by weekly total, too, if you like. If you're only averaging 67 daily calories over for the week, I wouldn't sweat it. I can't recommend shooting for some precision make-up balancing thing based on calorie counts: The whole process really isn't quite that precise anyway.
But, in my opinion you should not "make it up". You should accept that you deviated from your plan and you should get back on track. A very useful diet book I read puts it this way, if you "make it up" you are I'm essence opening a line of credit and this makes it easier for you to go off track in the future.
What do you think? What did you decide to do?
Edit: my mistake. You're not losing. You're in maintenance. I think the same idea applies though.
Looking back over my week I realized a few days I ate a few hundred under because I was feeling a little sick and didn't have a appetite for awhile and I think my body was in fact evening out that deficit by being a little hungrier the last few days now that I think about it.
Thanks everyone for the reassurance though
Avoid a binge and restrict cycle - just make small adjustments. Don't fret over a couple of high calorie days. Just get back on track and watch your weight trends.