Saving calories

I've done it successfully just about every week since I started with my fitness pal. I generally come in slightly under my goal during the week, and then go slightly over on weekends. I like to use the "weekly" bar graph on the homepage of the mobile app; as long as the bar representing my average intake for the week ends up at my goal, I'm happy.

Lots of people will say that eating only 1000 each day isn't that great for you, and I tend to agree. However, if you count exercise calories, I'd suggest doing a few exercise sessions and saving extra calories for the weekend, sticking to your 1200 each day.

I've done a mini-version of this if one day is far over or far under; I personally don't think a few days of 800-100 calories are that harmful, but if you have anything important to do (i.e. a job or family time) make sure you realize that only that many calories will drastically impact your energy level.

I view my calories on a weekly basis. I'm aiming for 2lb per week loss, so over the course of a week, I want to have eaten 7,000 calories less than I use up through normal daily activity (sitting on my backside in front of a PC!) and exercise. That means, if I eat a little more than I should one day, I either do a few more minutes on the treadmill, or eat less for the rest of the week. And if I want to "bank" some calories I factor it in to the week's plan. The requirement to stick religiously to 1,200 net calories every day doesn't suit me - I don't exercise every day, which would mean having 1200 calories on the days I don't exercise, and up to 2200 on the days I do exercise - makes much more sense, to me, to even it out and eat, say, 1700 on both days.

So I factor in my weekend treats as part of the overall weekly position - just making sure that my net deficit is in the region of 7,000.