How do you manage your daily calorie goal?

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  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    I eat close to my goal, I usually leave a 50-75 calorie buffer to allow for small errors here or there and things like the shake of cinnamon I put in my tea that I don't log.

    As for my exercise calories, were my exercise consistent (it's not because my health isn't consistent), I'd do the TDEE method. So, I eat back about 1/4 my exercise calories. I don't really trust the burns, so try not to eat too much of what's reported.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Look up "goal" in the dictionary...
  • sixxpoint
    sixxpoint Posts: 3,529 Member
    edited May 2015
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    mwyvr wrote: »
    Do you use all the calories that MFP says you can eat? If you exercise, do you eat more on those days? Do you try to stay under?

    My work days are sedentary, but I do exercise most every day. I use 1,350 (I'm a 190 pound male) as my baseline calories to lose 1kg a week, up a bit from the 1,200 "sedentary" level as I'm working to be less sedentary at work.

    I'm quite prepared to intake enough food right up to my 1,350 limit if that's how the chips fall that day, but I assume I have some error in my logging and generally don't go right up to my limit.

    I don't do TDEE, for no particular reason. My exercise is quite variable ranging from a low of 300 calories to upwards of 1,500 or more burned if I am doing a 90 minute plus run. Some days I simply need to consume more, and differently. I don't find customizing each day is an effort.

    My rule on eating back exercise calories is as follows:
    • low exercise day (< 400 calories) I go by feel. If I am not feeling the need I don't push myself to eat more and go for the additional fat burn.
    • medium exercise day (> 400 < 1,000 calories) I generally at at least 1/2 back and then go by feel
    • high exercise day (> 1,000 calories) I ensure I eat a good percentage back and adjust by feel

    With the foregoing in mind I'm losing 1 kg a week fairly consistently.
    Right now, MFP is allotting me 1420 calories per day for a weight loss of 1.5 pounds per week. I am trying not to eat more than 1200 calories per day. I try to do cardio 4 days a week and do not increase my calorie intake on those days.

    IF you are logging accurately, you are under-nourishing yourself.

    Sorry to say, but if you are a 190 lb male eating only 1350 calories a day, then you have no clue about nutrition and are actually harming yourself.

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