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Spike days...questions

lilsassymom
lilsassymom Posts: 407 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I have a few questions about spike days:

Do you 'bank' your exercise calories all week and then use them on your spike day and only go over by as many exercise calories you banked? OR do you eat your exercise calories all week AND have a spike day? Spike for the whole day or spike for just one meal?

How do you calculate the number you are allowed to eat on a spike day? Is is BMR x 2 or TDEE x 2 or your allotted calories a day x 2? I have no idea what number to go by... According to MFP my BMR is 1229 and calories burned from normal daily activity (TDEE) is 1660.

Do you log it? I am worried about going too much over. My hubby and I are going out to dinner on Saturday and I am just worried with dinner/drinks/dessert plus breakfast and lunch that day how easy would it be to go too far over on a spike day? Is it easy to go over on a spike day and gain?

I asked this on another board a few days ago and didn't get any answers so that's why I am asking again. I am just curious how this whole spike day works? Thanks for the helpful advice :smile: :flowerforyou: .

Replies

  • bigplayclay34
    bigplayclay34 Posts: 22 Member
    I have read this both ways. I have read that your spike day should be about 2x what your normal calorie intake has been. I have also read about people who have a complete cheat day and eat anything they want. Which is better? That I don't know for sure.

    My best guess would be that your spike day would be twice your normal daily intake.
  • lilsassymom
    lilsassymom Posts: 407 Member
    Also one more question---do you rest on spike days or do you still workout?
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    your profile says you are happy with your weight loss success....why mess around with it now? wait till you stall (if you do) before trying a spike day
  • lilsassymom
    lilsassymom Posts: 407 Member
    your profile says you are happy with your weight loss success....why mess around with it now? wait till you stall (if you do) before trying a spike day
    Well, I meant I am happy with my weight loss success---so far. I still have a few more pounds I want to lose and I want to tone up some as well. I am happy that I am in the best shape I have been in a long time but I have stalled. I still want to lose more and I don't know how to go about it since I stalled. So, I was wondering about this spike day idea...oh and I am still constantly hungry so I was thinking this refeed thing might be good for me...

    Before anyone asks---Yes, I always eat over 1200 calories. I am set to 1540 a day and that is what I eat + exercise calories. I just don't understand how eating at a deficit all week and then having a spike day---wouldn't that be maintaining weight:huh: ?
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    2 things....

    the basic concept is calories in/calories out. if you do a spike day, it needs to be factored into the weekly equation. So, let's say that you would normally eat 1500 calories a day to maintain your deficit. On that week, that amounts to 10,500 calories. If you choose to eat 2,500 calories on your spike day, that leaves 8000 for the other 6 days, or 1333 per day. If you eat 3,000 calories on your spike day, that leaves you 7,500 for the other 6 days or 1250 per day.

    One thing you might want to try...that is supposed to be amazing physiologically....spike day followed by 24 hour fast. do that combo once a week and see if it makes a difference.

    Another thing you might try, if you aren't already doing it, is sprint interval or other HIIT training. since you want to tone, you could combine the cardio and resistance training into one 20-30 minute excellent workout. Something I like to do is this: all out, pushing from my *kitten*, 15 second sprint...followed by a bodyweight exercise...followed by a rest period to get your heartrate down to the 120s. Repeat that for 8-12 intervals, changing up the bodyweight exercise each time. Do compound exercises for maximum benefit. for example, decline push-ups from a stability ball....spiderman push-ups...mountain climbers...lunge with twist...jump squats....ape step....the kong....the breakdancer...among tons of other compound exercises. If you do HIIT training 3x a week for a few weeks, I bet you'll notice changes.
  • mjbrenner
    mjbrenner Posts: 222 Member
    Using a mixture of exercise and calorie restriction, I try to average 500 calories below my MFP goal six days per week. This give me one day where I can "spike" with up to an extra 3000 calories. I log everything I eat on my cheat days, and I remain under my calorie goal for the week. You can look at my diary for last week if you want a good example of how I do this.
  • lilsassymom
    lilsassymom Posts: 407 Member
    Thanks everyone for your help and advice:smile: .
  • linzirussell
    linzirussell Posts: 116 Member
    I dont really do that much exercise, only ever burn off maybe 300 cals a day from exercise and i always try to stay abit under mfp calorie goals to make an allowance for my spike day when i go anywhere up to 4000ish cals:) i know it seems like a lot of cals but ive managed to go from 282 to about 170, need to lost another 20 pounds till my goal:) but iv never plateaud and ive been dieting for over a year now, just steady weightloss. i gained about 7 pounds over the christmas period, but im back to my pre-holiday weight once again! good luck! :D
  • lilsassymom
    lilsassymom Posts: 407 Member
    Thanks for the replies. So I am planning on spiking tomorrow. I have also 'banked' some exercise calories for tomorrow. I saved up around an additional 500 calories---from exercise calories this week. So, should I eat my allotted calorie daily deficit to lose .5 lb a week (1530) + my additional 500 exercise calories? Or should I eat TDEE (1780) + my additional 500 exercise calories?
  • lilsassymom
    lilsassymom Posts: 407 Member
    BUMP:smile:
This discussion has been closed.

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