Can I save some cals for a night out

Stripple
Stripple Posts: 62 Member
edited December 18 in Health and Weight Loss
If I've got a big night out coming up can I save some of my exercise calories for it, or should they be eaten on the day they are earned??
Thanks

Replies

  • lmfbs
    lmfbs Posts: 69 Member
    This is actually a really good question I'd like to know the answer to. My view is that your body doesn't gain or lose weight overnight, so saving calories over a week or something shouldn't be an issue. On Weight Watchers you can save 'points' for a week and that seems to work awesome for people, so I don't know why it would be any different for calories.
  • ccnjc4e
    ccnjc4e Posts: 142 Member
    I don't officially know the answer. However I think you can kind of save up for a week. If you save an extra 100 a day.

    If not. MFP allows for a deficiet anyway. Just go to you maintain calories(which is 500 OVER goal if you have it set to lose 1lb a week)

    One night won't completly mess you up. I would say have fun and don't worry too much about it.
  • tami101
    tami101 Posts: 617 Member
    I do. As long as you're at your weekly calorie goal there is no problem as far as I can tell. =)
  • hazelsmrf
    hazelsmrf Posts: 96 Member
    It really shouldn't be a problem. I hate feeling like I'm on a diet, so I restrict my calorie intake one day and put them all on the 2nd day, (so I do 500 calories on day A, and 2300 on day B... instead of 1400 a day). Been doing this since January and have lost at least 2 pounds a week doing that.
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
    holy ish! how do you get by on 500 calories!??!?
    It really shouldn't be a problem. I hate feeling like I'm on a diet, so I restrict my calorie intake one day and put them all on the 2nd day, (so I do 500 calories on day A, and 2300 on day B... instead of 1400 a day). Been doing this since January and have lost at least 2 pounds a week doing that.
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    I do. As long as you're at your weekly calorie goal there is no problem as far as I can tell. =)

    This....I never eat back my calories the same day because I enjoy to drink them on the weekend =)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    I do this every eating holiday with family. Proud to say that all these years the weight hasn't gone out of control. For example on Thanksgiving, I will workout and then later run for an hour prior to gorging in the evening.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • bytemeeeeee
    bytemeeeeee Posts: 173 Member
    I do this every eating holiday with family. Proud to say that all these years the weight hasn't gone out of control. For example on Thanksgiving, I will workout and then later run for an hour prior to gorging in the evening.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    Same here...Works well for me too...On holidays my gym has a early morning 2 hour spin class... :smile:
  • hazelsmrf
    hazelsmrf Posts: 96 Member
    holy ish! how do you get by on 500 calories!??!?

    Well I wouldn't be able to if I did it every day :) I get by on 500 calories on alternate days because I'd much rather eat a large amount of food on alternate days than be stuck restricting myself EVERY day. I'd rather restrict only half the time. And since I've been intermittent fasting for so long, it's no big deal for me to only eat one meal on my 500 cal day. And one 500 cal meal really isn't that bad, yesterday I hate a plate full of chicken, tomato, cucumber. It was really a huge plate. And less than 500 cals. And the next day, I can have a few cookies if I want because with 2300 calories, I can more than afford it.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    I do. As long as you're at your weekly calorie goal there is no problem as far as I can tell. =)

    Yep. I've gone by my weekly goal since I started and down 104 lbs so far :)
  • iuew
    iuew Posts: 624 Member
    i save calories for upcoming events all of the time.

    i would advise, however, to not eat too little. i generally start the night before and continue the day of. usually, it means a slightly reduced dinner, a light breakfast, and a reduced lunch to get me through the afternoon. my concern is that cutting calories too severely might be counterproductive.

    hope that you have a good time.
  • jjelizalde
    jjelizalde Posts: 377 Member
    Get in a really good workout the day of so you have a deficit to use up.
  • Stripple
    Stripple Posts: 62 Member
    Thanks for the replies guys, will save a couple hundred cals a day, have a few beers on my night out
  • littleengine74
    littleengine74 Posts: 37
    Quick question.. where on MFP do you go to see your running calorie totals for the week? I see the graph under Reports, but is there something hidden somewhere that makes it easy to see if you're going over in your weekly calorie totals, sort of like the running total of exercise minutes? Or do you guys just manually track it?
  • doorki
    doorki Posts: 2,576 Member
    Quick question.. where on MFP do you go to see your running calorie totals for the week? I see the graph under Reports, but is there something hidden somewhere that makes it easy to see if you're going over in your weekly calorie totals, sort of like the running total of exercise minutes? Or do you guys just manually track it?

    I use it on the phone/ipad apps. Can find it on the site.
  • laurahalford
    laurahalford Posts: 11
    I have the same question as i would love to see this information. I think it would help me alot!
    Quick question.. where on MFP do you go to see your running calorie totals for the week? I see the graph under Reports, but is there something hidden somewhere that makes it easy to see if you're going over in your weekly calorie totals, sort of like the running total of exercise minutes? Or do you guys just manually track it?
  • littleengine74
    littleengine74 Posts: 37
    Hmm... I just checked my Blackberry App and don't see it on there either. I really wish all the same features were available on all the platforms... BB, iPhone, iPad, website, etc. :(
  • quixoteQ
    quixoteQ Posts: 484
    If I've got a big night out coming up can I save some of my exercise calories for it, or should they be eaten on the day they are earned??
    Thanks

    Not to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty sure your body doesn't know its metabolism is supposed to work according to a weekly schedule. It doesn't take you one week to digest food, build muscle, or create fat. It doesn't tally up your calories for a week, and then allot them for use during the next week.

    Your body has daily caloric needs for basic operation, and then it has needs to compensate for special expenditures like exercise and emergencies. Your body doesn't understand that you're planning on giving it the feed five days from now--if you starve it today, it's going to start hording your energy as best as it can, as soon as it can.

    BUT: if you slightly, carefully, increase your calorie deficit without pushing it too far, you won't be doing yourself any damage. The key is to make sure you're getting everything your body needs, every day. If you have a special night out on the town once or twice a week, that's cool. Go ahead and tally up what your weekly intake will be, including binge day. Just make sure you don't compensate by punishing yourself six days of the week to score one binge day. That plan results in seven days of failed diet, not just one.
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