Weekday vs Weekend eating patterns?

kirstyandmychihuahua · August 2019

I'm thinking of eating low calorie during the week (maybe 1200-1400 calories) and maintenance calories on weekends. Has anyone had success with this sort of calorie balance?

tinkerbellang83 · August 2019

A lot of people bank calories for the weekend and have success with that.

If it makes your calorie deficit easier to stick to, then get yourself on with it, without knowing your stats I am not sure how much lower the 1200-1400 cals is, so just bear in mind if it's a lot lower you might still end up overeating on weekends out of hunger. Only one way to find out though.

NovusDies · August 2019

My normal plan is to eat maintenance each Sunday. Here is the thread I created to detail how I do it:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10735146/the-six-day-calorie-deficit-aka-banking-calories/p1

Trying to eat maintenance both days and banking enough calories to do it may be a struggle for you though. That is a lot of banking which means you may have problems with maintaining a good level of energy. It is important to remember that when you feel energized you typically move more which burns more calories.

cbihatt · August 2019

I sort of do that naturally. My goal is set for 1700 calories. I tend to eat below that most days and typically go over it at least one day. My average weekly calories work out to be 1500-1700, depending on the week. My current rate of loss is about 1.4 pounds per week, though my settings are set up for 1 pound per week (lightly active).

Just keep in mind that you may see a bump up in weight after a high calorie day. My losses tend to go down 2 pounds, up one pound, down tenths of a pound before settling into a new lower range. But my trend is downward, so it works for me. I have also found that weighing daily is extremely helpful in this case.

kirstyandmychihuahua · August 2019

Thanks all. Will definitely tweak the numbers for the next couple of weeks to see how I get on. I started off pretty hard on exercise to burn extra calories for weekends but quickly got over tired in the first few weeks. Thinking eating a little less during the week (I spend most of the day at my desk) will be a good start!

SarahBa89 · August 2019

I eat mainly vegetables on weekdays and eat meat on the weekends.
I usually stay at a deficit, as I'm not usually hungry after work or after taking long walks on the weekend.

nuzziek · August 2019

I pretty much do that. Most of the time, I eat 1400 calories during the work week (and also run 4 miles on 3-4 of those days, so I'm in a pretty big deficit.. I think my TDDE is around 1700). On the weekend, I don't log at all. I go hiking and eat as much as I want, whatever I want. That being said, "whatever I want" is within a plant-based and vegan diet, so I rarely eat junk food. It's not very scientific but it's been working for me. I've lost 45 pounds in 6 months. Honestly, I found banking calories to be a successful strategy because I simply couldn't control myself on the weekends.

NorthCascades · August 2019

I send my weekends hiking, going on long bike rides, etc. I get to eat a lot more on weekends. 😀

Weekday vs Weekend eating patterns?

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