Is staying under my calories M - F so I can have big Sat & Sun a bad idea?

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saraesuarez
saraesuarez Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My daily calorie goal is 1,800 or 12,600 per week. Mon - Fri I am only using 1,600. So by Saturday I have "rolled over" 1,000. I then use those "rolled over" calories on Saturday and Sunday. I am still not going over my 12,600 allotment per week. However, I am not losing weight. Should I assume that since I am having large days on Saturday and Sunday (but still within my weekly goal) that I am sabotaging my calorie deficit?

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,574 Member
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    Well no. If you're weighing daily, you may see a difference, but if you're tracking week per week loss, it shouldn't matter much. You're still completing your goal calories in a weeks time for calorie deficit, so you should continue to keep losing.

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  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,435 Member
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    No it doesn't matter. You might see a jump on the scale on Sunday and Monday morning, but that is because there's more waste in your intestines and possibly some more water weight due to eating more carbs than on other days, or more salt. But that's all just waste and water and not bodyfat. Thus if that happens then just stay calm, relax, enjoy the meals. Another option is of course to only use the scale on for example Friday or Saturday morning, before the special meals.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 980 Member
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    To answer your question as asked, no it's not a bad idea. You'll find that plenty of us on here do just that. If you look at the weekly view on the app, it'll tell you what your average for the week is. If your average is in line with your calorie target, you're not sabotaging anything.

    What could be the issue is either accuracy of logging or impatience.

    Do you log absolutely everything including oils, condiments etc? Do you weigh everything solid, in grams? Do you use measuring spoons, in ml, for every liquid? Cups, ounces, 1 piece, going by what the package says etc are all likely to be inaccurate.

    Do you check the entry you choose for each item against the packaging? Lots of entries in the database are wrong, either because they were entered wrongly or because the item has changed in the meantime.

    Also, how long have you been in a deficit / not lost anything? If it's less than 6 weeks, keep going, be diligent and see how you after after you've actually given things a bit of time.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
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    How long have you been trying to lose weight?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    saraesuarez wrote: »
    Should I assume that since I am having large days on Saturday and Sunday (but still within my weekly goal) that I am sabotaging my calorie deficit?

    No, working to a weekly goal is perfectly fine.

    I'd assume that either your weekly calorie goal is wrong or more likely you are eating more (over the course of the week) than you believe. Making your diary public would help.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    I do it all the time:-)
  • Thoin
    Thoin Posts: 942 Member
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    saraesuarez wrote: »
    My daily calorie goal is 1,800 or 12,600 per week. Mon - Fri I am only using 1,600. So by Saturday I have "rolled over" 1,000. I then use those "rolled over" calories on Saturday and Sunday. I am still not going over my 12,600 allotment per week. However, I am not losing weight. Should I assume that since I am having large days on Saturday and Sunday (but still within my weekly goal) that I am sabotaging my calorie deficit?

    That's called calorie cycling and it works rather well.
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 630 Member
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    This is called ‘zig zag’. You decide certain days you eat fewer calories and others you eat more and so long as over time you have an overall deficit, you will lose weight.

    If you’ve been doing this for awhile and haven’t lost weight, then you might want to revisit your inputs, adjust your overall calorie target, weigh and measure all your food, reevaluate your exercise calorie burn. We are not machines, our bodies are constantly changing and processing and how many calories you burn on an average day is going to vary day to day, is going to vary from the average.

    Take care

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