Calorie "bank"

I frequently look at the weekly stats for calories to see my rolling average. Some days I go over and other days I am under. The weekly stats also help me plan for social events where I’d like to eat/drink more.

Yes if you’re using mobile app you can easily track weekly calories and how many are remaining.

I did this while losing and in maintenance since I tend to have social events that involve eating/drinking on weekends.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Sure. I'm going into year 4 of maintenance now, and routinely eat under my actual TDEE, so that I can have occasional very indulge-y days.

I sometimes joke that what I did for much of my life was multi-decade calorie banking, i.e., ate extra calories for about 30 years that I burned up during the weight loss period.

The kernel of truth in there is that you probably don't want such a long cycle (multi-weeks) that you're effectively yo-yo dieting, because longer cycles typically would mean storing body fat, and losing it later, in larger chunks.

But a few days to a week or so is not very extreme, IMO.

I'd also say it's a good plan to (1) make sure you eat enough pretty darned close to every day to avoid day-to-day undernutrition (adequate protein, fat, fiber, micros), and (2) pay attention to your energy level and don't bank so many exercise calories that noticeable fatigue results in the next day or so. But that's just common sense, right?

Best wishes!

I love this, lol.

I've found I can do a 3 day rolling average. When I try to bank for longer than that, it doesn't work for me. Good luck!

marialuna78 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

One further thought about banking: I'm only speaking for myself here, but - especially while I was actively in the weight loss process - it was much more successful for me to "bank" in the sense of a savings account, i.e., set aside some uneaten calorie allowance to spend later, and much less successful for me to emulate a credit card, i.e., eat extra calories and try to make up for it later.

Most often, when I intentionally ate less in order to eat later, I would be satisfied by the indulgence at the culmination of that. If I tried to pay back calories after the fact, I was much more likely just to set up another future over-eating experience because of over-restriction, and get into a stupid cycle.

As a consequence, I got into the routine of saving up calories for special events (when I could predict them), but pretty much just letting the rare unplanned event happen, and delay my reaching goal weight by a few hours or a day rather than trying to "pay back" the calories.

YMMV.

Thanks... It depends on the day for me. How do you estimate your TDEE? Do you have a tracker? I have apple watch and always eat below my TDEE.

I estimate my TDEE from my own food logging and weight change data, kept for 4+ years now. Most so-called TDEE/NEAT calculators (really statistical estimators), and my own good-quality fitness tracker, are very inaccurate for me, some of them by hundreds of calories daily. For some reason, I seem to be one of the rare outlier people.

For almost everyone who logs carefully for a while, one's own experiential data is going to be the best guide.

marialuna78 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

One further thought about banking: I'm only speaking for myself here, but - especially while I was actively in the weight loss process - it was much more successful for me to "bank" in the sense of a savings account, i.e., set aside some uneaten calorie allowance to spend later, and much less successful for me to emulate a credit card, i.e., eat extra calories and try to make up for it later.

Most often, when I intentionally ate less in order to eat later, I would be satisfied by the indulgence at the culmination of that. If I tried to pay back calories after the fact, I was much more likely just to set up another future over-eating experience because of over-restriction, and get into a stupid cycle.

As a consequence, I got into the routine of saving up calories for special events (when I could predict them), but pretty much just letting the rare unplanned event happen, and delay my reaching goal weight by a few hours or a day rather than trying to "pay back" the calories.

YMMV.

Thanks... It depends on the day for me. How do you estimate your TDEE? Do you have a tracker? I have apple watch and always eat below my TDEE.

I also bank calories and use TDEE. Unlike AnnPT the online TDEE calculator is relatively accurate for me ( www.tdeecalculator.net ) - not perfect but close enough.

I like to eat a bit less from Sunday to Friday and then on Friday/Saturday have a few more hundred calories to play with so that I can "afford" to, you know, have an ice cream with my daughter, or eat something with a friend or not have to say "no" to something if I go to someone's house.

I am also not good with a large deficit, I get too hungry and it leads to bingeing, so the longest I can really maintain a larger deficit (500 cals ish) is about 5 days anyway. When i'm on a mission to lose weight, the 2 "extra calorie" days are still at just below maintenance so that overall I'm still in a weekly deficit. So for example, my TDEE is ~2000. I'll eat 1500-1600 during the week, then allow myself to go up to 1800 or even 1900 for one or two days. But still under the 2000. If by some chance there was something like dinner with friends on, then I will eat 2000+ but I will then not have 2 days of extra calories, i'll bring one day back down to 1500. So it depends on situation.

But overall, it works for me.

And I don't need to worry or fuss about eating back exercise calories - those are entered as "1" in my log.

EDIT - and I forgot to add - my Fitbit tells me my TDEE is actually a bit higher than the online calculator, but I think it's wrong, because from experience when I do consistently eat 2200-2300 cals a day, I get fat. The online thingy is better than the Fitbit for me.

It takes some time for you to work out what is accurate(ish - none are perfetc) for you.

NorthCascades wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

Yes, lots of people do it this way... gives a bit more flexibility which some people really like.

Ultimately it's no different than a bank/savings account. Some days you spend a little more, others you save a little more. If, over time, the spending is greater than the saving, your balance will go down. If not, it'll go up. Same with your weight.

And this is why you don't have to think of it in a weekly basis any more than a daily. When there's a 3 day weekend, you can use some of that week's calories on Monday.

It also means you can go over your goal occasionally if you need to. Consistency is what gets you to the goal, but everything in moderation including moderation.

I agree. I do confine mine to a week that ends on Sunday but that is a matter of preference not necessity.

On a Monday holiday I might choose to eat at maintenance or half deficit that day depending on the day and what we have going on. I never stress about going over my calories as long as it remains occasional. I consider avoiding feeling deprived to be part of my sustainability.

Yes I bank calories, I normally eat at slight deficit during the week so I can eat at TDEE or slightly above on the weekends - this worked for me when losing and now in maintenance.

I don't bank calories. When I tried it, it led me to a bad place: excessively depriving myself of calories for days to "earn" a mega off meal/day. To me, it felt like my pre-diet mindset of arranging things so I could gorge, and left me hungrier than I wanted to be on the lead-up to the off-meal.

I found my comfort zone in the simplicity of having the same calorie target every day, and just taking a time-out for an occasional big meal or a snack when I want one. At those times, I go over the number for the day, and just knowing there's no compensation for it as far as fat-loss is concerned tends to make me keep it under control.

But everyone's different. Calorie banking is great for people who don't need the totalitarian structure that I seem to require. I wish I could operate under a looser structure, but as they say, "Know thyself."