can i bank calories?

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alib510
alib510 Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i've got a very busy pre-christmas period full of parties with non-diet friendly food. would it work to eat very consevatively, minimum 1200 calories though, for the rest of the week to potentially bank around 1000-1500 a week to allow me a little more freedom at the parties? i don't intend to go crazy and would be happy just to maintain my weight until the new year, but would prefer not to gain any.

any thoughts?
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Replies

  • NikkiConroy
    NikkiConroy Posts: 22
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    I have been wondering the same thing FOREVER! I know they let you "bank" points on Weight Watchers. I spoke with a trainer at my gym today and she says yes, but I'd like to hear what everyone else has to say.
  • moriaht
    moriaht Posts: 251 Member
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    I totally do that! Everyone has their own opinions though. You will get a lot of mixed responses..
  • Mygypsysoul
    Mygypsysoul Posts: 113 Member
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    Bump. I want to know too!
  • Angel1066
    Angel1066 Posts: 816 Member
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    bump
  • HeelsAndBoxingGloves
    HeelsAndBoxingGloves Posts: 916 Member
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    I do that! I judge how I'm doing based on my weekly average... that way if you're way over or way under on a day or 2 it all evens out :happy:
  • Marig0ld
    Marig0ld Posts: 671 Member
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    I do it all the time. It's completely possible. Our body doesn't know the difference between a Point and a calorie, and it doesn't have a magical "reset" clock. Have at it, just make sure you get your 1200 a day! :)
  • ka_bateman
    ka_bateman Posts: 230 Member
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    I think the way it is set up is that to lose 1 pound a week, you eat 3500 less calories. I don't think it matters when you cut back...although personally I'd eat a little more the day after weigh in instead of the day before.
  • knittygirl52
    knittygirl52 Posts: 432 Member
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    Unfortunately, MFP is not set up for you to do this, but that is seriously the way "thin people" live. My mother used to go out to lunch and then make dinner for all of us, and just sit at the table with a cup of coffee. She would say, "Oh, I'm far too full from lunch to eat anything." (Why don't I ever feel that way?) She was also the queen of taking the tiniest piece of cake ever and saying, "It tastes so much better when it is sliced thin." Sigh. No wonder she never had an ounce of extra weight on her!

    I say, do it! It's not good to undereat over the long haul, but you are talking about a limited time frame and I don't think it will hurt you.
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    I called my 2nd grade math teacher, she said it was ok.
  • tageekly
    tageekly Posts: 3,755 Member
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    I do it all the time. It's completely possible. Our body doesn't know the difference between a Point and a calorie, and it doesn't have a magical "reset" clock. Have at it, just make sure you get your 1200 a day! :)

    This!

    I save calories for a splurge day. I tend to track my calories more as a net weekly than daily. I try to maintain a limit daily so I don't collapse at the gym, but if I have a few hundred left I'll save them.
  • AmythistRae
    AmythistRae Posts: 107
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    sorry i do not mean to sound stupid here but how can we do that??? your body knows energy in and energy out...if you don't give it the energy in it needs then it goes after storage and when you give it more it stores in case....once you are full your body does not need anymore energy and stores it for later.....so how to we bank calories??
  • cbu23
    cbu23 Posts: 280 Member
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    I also so go for it, just don't overdo it. Sounds like you don't intend to go overboard...just want some wiggle room!
  • puggleperson
    puggleperson Posts: 740 Member
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    So how would I do this if I am already eating 1200 calories a day? I have two parties coming up and I want to stay on track like no other. I can't cancel my parties (because what kind of life is that) but I am really stressing over the eating /drinking portion! Help!
  • ShaSimone
    ShaSimone Posts: 276
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    Absolutely. People do a cheat meal once a week, same thing. Others restrict thier calories for a period of time and then do a shock with a higher (not excessive) calorie intake on a particular day and then go back down. I would also try to get lots of exercise calories to have a little more freedom, that's what I did on thanksgiving by doing our local turkey trot 5K. But the way I think you are going about it while there isn't anything wrong with it, when you have those 1200 calorie days the scale will say one thing and then on a splurge weekend you will see that weight (mostly water) come back on. So if you are prepared mentally to see that up and down that we all hate during the time of splurge then do what will work best for you during this holiday season.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    I agree with the above posters. Many call that a cheat day, WW calls it "banking calories". Thin people do this all the time. Intermittent fasting is similar. These particular holidays are no different than the many others throughout the year, and you have to allow some leeway. Just go back to your healthy eating immediately after the party, and don't use it as a springboard to eating everything in the break room the next day.
  • HeelsAndBoxingGloves
    HeelsAndBoxingGloves Posts: 916 Member
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    So how would I do this if I am already eating 1200 calories a day? I have two parties coming up and I want to stay on track like no other. I can't cancel my parties (because what kind of life is that) but I am really stressing over the eating /drinking portion! Help!

    Don't stress!!! Exercise more if you can and earn some extra calories otherwise just remember that it took more that 1 day of going over for you to be unhappy with how you look so if you go over 1 or 2 days just get back on track the next day! :flowerforyou:
  • chrisdunford7
    chrisdunford7 Posts: 3 Member
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    Yeah, I do it sometimes, especially if there's a day that I know I'm going to want to splurge.

    For example, my friend is taking me to LegoLand Florida this Friday for my birthday, and so I'm trying to take in fewer calories up until then so I wont feel as bad if I splurge on over-priced park food. I did the same thing for Thanksgiving and I'll probably do the same for Christmas.

    As long as I'm at least 3,500 calories under my weekly average, I'll still lose that pound.
  • javajunki
    javajunki Posts: 32
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    My opinion, I would say yes, within reason. Fasting for 3 days and then going for the All-you-can-eat buffet record is probably not a good idea. But silliness aside, reducing calories for a couple of days prior to a family dinner or public function where you don't want to "be on a diet" makes sense. My guideline would be no more than 30% reduction, and try to stay under a 100% increase the one day. That said, sometimes a short shakeup like that can also be helpful in breaking a plateau period.
  • sarahvive
    sarahvive Posts: 11
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    sorry i do not mean to sound stupid here but how can we do that??? your body knows energy in and energy out...if you don't give it the energy in it needs then it goes after storage and when you give it more it stores in case....once you are full your body does not need anymore energy and stores it for later.....so how to we bank calories??

    This is how I would do it. For example, if you want to have a splurge on Saturday, take a look at your food diary at the end of each day M-F. If you ate less than you were allowed, that number will be in green. So, if I had 100 calories left at the end of each weekday, I could allow myself to have a 500 calorie treat on Saturday.

    It's just a way of eating an average number of calories throughout the week, some days will be higher, some days will be lower. Overall, you should get the same result as eating the exactly same number of calories per day. Actually, some people think that varying your calories from day to day helps you lose quicker.
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
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    I do this. I zig zag calories and concentrate on my weekly total. On the mfp app you can look at the weekly average and as long as I end up not in the red, I am happy. I had a terrible day Monday (over by 1000 calories) but by the end of the week it should average out for me.

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