Question about cutting calories and daily calories (reps)

[johnissocoolio]

Say my maintenance calories is 3200 cals per day. That brings it to 22400 cals per week.

Would it be more beneficial to cut 500 cals per day (18900), or eat 3000 on the weekend and 2500 on the weekdays after a long morning/afternoon fast, which is less calories than daily -500 cals (18500 cals). I guess my question is, for fat loss do I need to be in a good deficit everyday, or as long as my calories throughout the week are low enough together to burn fat, will it work? I'm asking because I have much higher volume training on the weekends, so I want to eat more, and then during the weekdays I'm in class all morning and work all night, with only 2 training sessions (Tuesday and Thursday) that are very short, also I have a very short eating window, so I just jam 2500 calories into that 1-2 hour window (almost like IF).

Also I want to start adding in a session of cardio for just 30 minutes. Does it matter when I add it? Would I burn more fat if I did 30 minutes of cardio on a day I ate 2500, or it wouldn't matter if I did it on my 3k day.

Thanks, sorry if my question is confusing

[ZRJacques]

As long as your in a deficit for the entire week, you can mix and choose your calories how you want. Also, the cardio timing is irrelevant because it'll only add to your weekly deficit, thus creating a larger deficit. I'm sure with your post count, you already knew this. You only wanted clarification from others. Good luck with your cut!

[MrM27]

Looking at it in 7 day accumulations is good. I don't see anything wrong with your plan especially knowing you would benefit with having more weekend calories due to your training.

As far as cardio goes if you really want to do it then I would either add it in after weight training or on separate days. Doing it or weight training you may lose out on a couple reps out there.

[beastlymandude]

Like the others said, you can do either. It makes more sense to look at your calorie intake based on a 7-day period anyway, because the body doesn't work on a 24-hour clock. Body composition is independant of meal timing, so the same caloric deficit will cause you to lose the same amount of fat, regardless of when you ate your calories. It's personal preference.

As for the cardio, do it when you want. You will lose the same amount of fat (presuming your caloric deficit is the same) if you did it on a 2500 calorie day or a 3000 calorie day. Also remember that the cardio will create a greater caloric deficit, so account for that so you aren't losing too much weight too fast. Good luck.

[johnissocoolio]

Thank you for the replies. I actually did Eat stop eat last summer where I ate 3500, daily and fasted for 24 hours twice a week and lost 2 pounds a week, totaling about 18-20 pounds with minimal strength lost. I knew it worked for me but I was just curious how others felt about caloric timing.