do I need the same number every day??

If I am short 188 calories but I know I am going to eat dessert and bad food tommorrow, is it ok If i skip those 188 calories since I will be eating those same calories tommorrow?, Also If I went over 2 days in a row, (which i did) by 139 calories, is it ok to not eat those 139 calories the next day? Like today I wasn't hungry for 1900 so I ate 1750, but i went over twice this week. so i was thinking it makes up for it somehow? anyways i was just wondering~erica

in a strict sense...no, you do not need the same number daily because it will all balance out but i wouldn't ever recommend compensating for eating to satisfy your hunger by restricting in subsequent days. so if you find that you're more hungry on one day, and eat maybe a larger salad, chicken breast, or a bit more pasta and that puts you over your maintenance amount then it's quite possible that you simply moved more and were more hungry and there's no need to try to force it to balance out. But to answer your question, if you overate by 139 calories 2 days in a row and you were under by 150 on one day...then you'd technically be over by 89 calories...so .03 pounds...haha which is like gaining 1/2 ounce. that's if we were assuming that 1900 is your exact maintenance amount. we don't gain weight by the clock so in any instant you are gaining or losing...it is constant...we can choose when to measure those gains and losses but the day that you underate you lost weight...the day that you overate you gained and we do this ALL the time but it all balanced out to be negligible since those gains and losses are so minor on a daily basis. i hope that made at least a teensy bit of sense.

oh ok, if I was hungry I would have eaten more, but I just know I am going to eat alot tommorrow, thats why I don't want to eat more, haha cause I know how much I am going to eat tommorrow I ate alot on saturday!!

as long as you WOULD honor your hunger despite knowing what you MIGHT eat tomorrow if that makes sense. if you are truly hungry then you should eat!! inquiring minds would love to know..what's the occasion tomorrow? what are the good eats?

i think you will be fine, its not that exact of a science, as long as you aren't going under and feeling really hungry, or going over by a lot, or over filling yourself! Its my understanding that mixing it up a little can keep away the plateaus as well...

Original Post by chrissy1988:

as long as you WOULD honor your hunger despite knowing what you MIGHT eat tomorrow if that makes sense. if you are truly hungry then you should eat!! inquiring minds would love to know..what's the occasion tomorrow? what are the good eats?

 I am going to a military ball, so theres going to be a cotail thing before, then dinner, then dessert, and me and my bf are gonna party after, so yeah i better watch myself lol. and I would have definetly eaten more if I was hungry I just was not hungry, so I didn't see the point. well thankyou~erica