Spreading calories out during the week

raegan724
raegan724 Posts: 14 Member
in Food and Nutrition
If I over-eat on a deficit on Monday by 580 calories, can I under-eat by 290 calories on Wednesday and Friday to have the same weight loss results at the end of the week since technically the net amount will be the same?

I tend to use this method when unplanned treats/social events come up but I’m curious if anyone else does or knows if it works as well.

Replies

  • Sara3veg
    Sara3veg Posts: 48 Member
    edited June 2021
    Calorie 'zig-zagging' is a thing and some people find it helpful, especially if you know that you have a special event coming up and want to have a buffer of calories available. Just make sure you're not undereating to a point where you're not getting enough calories to fuel your body. If you start out at say 1,200 calories and are cutting 290 off, then you're most likely not eating enough.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    edited June 2021
    My weightloss strategy for a while now is 'calories set to maintain, eat between 1200 (net) and that maintenance number'. Sometimes I go over one or two days. Sometimes I don't quit hit 1200(NET - as in after exercise).

    My goal, over a week, is to have a deficit. I no longer care how much that deficit is, but averaging over a week and flexibility in how I eat and when is important to me. Some days I'm super hungry. Somedays I eat 1200 calories in the most calorie dense foods I can find to make that minimum goal. As long as it averages out to some deficit in a week, I'm okay.

    (This is, by the way, psychological. My brain HATES that red 'you ate too much' notice on MFP. Cannot hack, so I have my cals set to maintain to limit how often I have to see it.)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Yes, just look at your weekly goal instead of your daily.
    I had almost routine high and low days so logged my exercise cals for the week, I was very structured at the time, then worked from that number.

    Try not to do it so much as an ‘I have to make up’ more a calculated adjustment to fit your lifestyle. The odd who hoo night out happens, account for some, forgive the rest.

    It’s good to know what your maintenance cals are too then the extravagant days don’t look too bad, your loss is just a little less that week.

    Cheers, h.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    Yeah, the math is the same.

    For me, while losing, it was always a better plan to eat a bit less in the days ahead of a planned splurge, rather than trying to "make up for" afterward with a big extra deficit, or extra workouts. For me, the "make up for" approach tended to leave me hungry or feeling deprived, and risk compensatory overeating as a result. If I prepared for it in advance, the planned splurge sort of took care of that, left me feeling more even-up rather than deprived.

    If there was an unplanned splurge - maybe out-of-town friends unexpectedly arriving, taking me out to dinner - I'd just go back to my regular calorie deficit, treat it as a small delay in reaching goal weight, rather than "making up for it".

    Even now, in maintenance (year 5+) I eat *a little* under maintenance calories most days (100-150, maybe), to allow for occasional splurges, because that's what works best for me.

    Individuals differ in what works best, though.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,881 Member
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    (This is, by the way, psychological. My brain HATES that red 'you ate too much' notice on MFP. Cannot hack, so I have my cals set to maintain to limit how often I have to see it.)

    Off-topic but in the updated app (Android) it's no longer red, it's black 🙂
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,662 Member
    I aim for 2200 per day, but a weekly average of 2500 per day. That way I have room for anything that pops up during the week- a restaurant meal, a special treat etc.

    If I’ve somehow managed to keep it at 2200 for a couple weeks, it’s usually time for chips and cheese dip.

    It balances out nicely, and I’ve maintained for months this way.

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