Overeat one day, undereat the next?

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1/31/13 12:47 P

I have the same calorie range and I started calorie cycling so I always have 1 day a week where I eat 1650 cals, 1 day I eat 1530, 1 day I eat 1100, 1 day I eat 1250 and 3 days I eat 1400 cals. To equal a 1 lb calorie deficit at the end of the week. I had hit a plateau before starting this for about a month but my first and second week of calorie cycling I lost 5 lbs even though my deficit is only set to lose 2 pounds in that time. I just started my 3rd week yesterday and woke up to another .5 lb down since yesterday.

Eating 1600-1800 isn't damaging to weight loss though, it's not even hitting your maintenance calorie needs (or barely). If anything it *may* prevent your metabolism from adapting to a low calorie intake. I always found it strange before I started calorie cycling that after days where I felt I over did it and was sure I'd see slow/stagnant weightloss, I actually ended up losing more weight that week than usual.

Edited by: JENNILACEY at: 1/31/2013 (12:57)

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1/31/13 7:53 A

if you want to balance out an overage, you don't just take it off the next day. that tends to lead to the following day being an over day at which point you need an under day.
the first thing to remember is that loss range calories are several hundred below your maintenance calories. they are 250 lower for half a pound loss per week, 500 for a pound loss per week, 750 for a 1.5lb loss per week and 1000 for a 2lb loss per week. when you're looking at only being over 175 cals, unless you're set to lose less than a third of a pound per week, you're eating in/under your maintenance ranges. and doing that one day a week means you should hit 6/7 of your goal for the week. sometimes doing that helps keep your body from thinking it's in a rut. and as long as you aren't eating in your maintenance ranges 6 days out of 7, then it's fine to do every now and again and not stress about it.
now if you really want to balance it out, take your overage and divide by six. in this case it would be 175/6=29. so then you take your ranges 1200-1550 and you subtract 29 from the top range number. 1550-29=1521. so for the next six days, you eat in the range of 1200-1521. this lets you balance out the calories without cutting so much one day you're depriving yourself of something or priming yourself to overeat. again, with only 175 cals it's not as big of a deal, but if you were looking at 1750 cals over that would divide out to 292 cals. and 1550-292=1259. so you would want to try sticking to the very bottom of your range. because when a sixth of your overage is more than your whole ranges, you're better off planning what you could do differently the next time you find yourself in that situation than cutting calories to balance it out.
another thing to look at is your average calories over seven days. so on that day you were over, average it out with the six days before it and see where you come in. if you're in your ranges, don't sweat it and call it good. again, that's providing you aren't eating 2400 cals one day and 200 the next [they average out to 1300].

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1/30/13 11:34 P

If I have an over eat day I try to get an extra workout in. I told myself if I were going to eat it I should be willing to burn it off. I would not eat below 1200.

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1/30/13 12:57 P

I totally agree with all the responders. I overeat some days too, but I try to stay within my range on other days and that takes care of the occasional oops.

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1/30/13 12:56 P

I would suggest eating at the lower end of your range. So, 1200-1280 let's say. That's plenty. You probably shouldn't eat under 1200 calories because you do need the nutrition. I don't believe that "starvation mode" can ever catch up with the actual caloric deficit (so while your weight loss might be slower, it will not stop as many seem to believe) but you do need the nutrition in the food, it's not just about calories.

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1/30/13 9:40 A

Honestly, the smartest thing to do is just forget a day when you overeat and move on. Remember, your BMR is still probably higher than 1675 -- so maybe you didn't lose anything, but you haven't set yourself back either. One day at a time. Punishing yourself for a bad day by undereating the next day just sets you up for being hungry and overeating again the day after.

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1/30/13 9:40 A

I agree with MELJONES3478. Your body needs a certain amount of calories and nutrients to function every day. Cutting back to compensate for going over the range the day before will only hurt.

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1/30/13 9:29 A

You should eat at least 1200 calories a day or your body will think that you are starving it and it will hold on to any fat / calories that it gets. You should just continue with your eating plan and try to stay on track. I think it is safe to say, everyone over does it every once in a while and it is okay...as long as you get right back on track. If you are really concerned about it stay on the lower end of your calorie range today (around 1200) - but you should never go lower than that. Good Luck!

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1/30/13 9:22 A

Let's say my calorie range is 1200 - 1550, but I end up eating, say, 1675 in a day. Can I "undo the damage" by eating 125 calories under my range the very next day? Obviously this is not something that ought to be done often, but sometimes we have oops moments.

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