Extra Calories At The End Of The Day -- What To Do?

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  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    Did you cut out all calorie dense foods? Cook with a little oil, butter and mayo. Eat some peanut butter.

    Not all. I eat peanut butter a couple of times a week for lunch. I also cook with oil and use butter and mayo from time to time. Not a daily occurrence though. Even when I do use those things I don't use very much....except butter...i might as well be paula deen.
  • Daveysgirl2014
    Daveysgirl2014 Posts: 41 Member
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    lol I'm sure you guys are correct. I'm pretty new to all this myself. That's just the note I got the other day when I didn't eat enough, that I should get at least between 1000-1200 per day.
  • tyismc
    tyismc Posts: 75 Member
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    Daveysgirl2014 wrote: »
    As long as you're getting, at the very, very least 1000 per day you should be fine.
    That is not a healthy amount. That is almost to the point of starvation. Only eating that may calories also lowers your metabolism

  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    Daveysgirl2014 wrote: »
    lol I'm sure you guys are correct. I'm pretty new to all this myself. That's just the note I got the other day when I didn't eat enough, that I should get at least between 1000-1200 per day.

    That's entirely dependent on height and weight. I know for a fact that 1000 calories is way too low for a 5'8'', 237lb, man.
  • Daveysgirl2014
    Daveysgirl2014 Posts: 41 Member
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    Oh, sorry. I obviously have a lot to learn. I am 5ft and 147 lbs.
  • tyismc
    tyismc Posts: 75 Member
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    abetterluke wrote: »
    So here's my situation -- I have my calories set at 1800 per day. A lot of the time I end up only eating 1200-1400 and 8pm or so rolls around and I have 400-600 left.

    Late night snacking is a problem I've always struggled with so I'm very hesitant to eat 600 calories in one sitting 2 hours after I've eaten dinner.

    Is it ok to have that large of a deficit several days per week? The impatient person in me wants to do that every single day and drop a lot of weight quickly but the logical person in me wants me to do whatever is going to equal out to a permanent lifestyle change and not a "diet"
    Try to incorporate more snacks in there. You don't necessarily have to have fruit all the time due to it being high in sugar levels. You can use nuts which it does say high in fat but depending on which type of nut you choose; it can be healthy fats. All natural peanut butter is good too.

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    I have calories left over most of the time. I'm shooting to not go over my fat grams. (I set my macros at 40 g carbs, 35 g fat, 35 g protein.) I do get a lot of extra calories from exercise.
  • tyismc
    tyismc Posts: 75 Member
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    abetterluke wrote: »
    So here's my situation -- I have my calories set at 1800 per day. A lot of the time I end up only eating 1200-1400 and 8pm or so rolls around and I have 400-600 left.

    Late night snacking is a problem I've always struggled with so I'm very hesitant to eat 600 calories in one sitting 2 hours after I've eaten dinner.

    Is it ok to have that large of a deficit several days per week? The impatient person in me wants to do that every single day and drop a lot of weight quickly but the logical person in me wants me to do whatever is going to equal out to a permanent lifestyle change and not a "diet"
    You definitely don't want to eat 600 calories in one sitting late at night because your metabolism rate actually slows down later at night because your less active. It is also can be hard to digest properly that amount of food if your going to bed right after.

  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    tyismc wrote: »
    abetterluke wrote: »
    So here's my situation -- I have my calories set at 1800 per day. A lot of the time I end up only eating 1200-1400 and 8pm or so rolls around and I have 400-600 left.

    Late night snacking is a problem I've always struggled with so I'm very hesitant to eat 600 calories in one sitting 2 hours after I've eaten dinner.

    Is it ok to have that large of a deficit several days per week? The impatient person in me wants to do that every single day and drop a lot of weight quickly but the logical person in me wants me to do whatever is going to equal out to a permanent lifestyle change and not a "diet"
    You definitely don't want to eat 600 calories in one sitting late at night because your metabolism rate actually slows down later at night because your less active. It is also can be hard to digest properly that amount of food if your going to bed right after.

    No, it doesn't matter when you eat your calories. The only reason not to eat close to bedtime is if it makes it difficult for you to sleep.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
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    this is crazy to me. Your meals already seem big? I'm a chick, in maintenance, and I eat around 2400 a day, I cannot imagine feeling full or satisfied on half of that....>I agree with PP that said make you meals bigger, or maybe choose more calorie dense foods. Eating too low of calories won't do you any favors.
  • PeachyPlum
    PeachyPlum Posts: 1,243 Member
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    Extra calories? What are those?

    Is this one of those imaginary things, like leftover wine?
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    PeachyPlum wrote: »
    Extra calories? What are those?

    Is this one of those imaginary things, like leftover wine?

    Actually, Martha Stewart says to put leftover wine in an ice tray and add it to sauces. Huh?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    But you like evening snacking? So snack in the evening

    I tend to have an icecream / crisps

    Or save them for a good meal at the weekend

    But over 7 days you should try to hit your goal calories
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    tyismc wrote: »
    abetterluke wrote: »
    So here's my situation -- I have my calories set at 1800 per day. A lot of the time I end up only eating 1200-1400 and 8pm or so rolls around and I have 400-600 left.

    Late night snacking is a problem I've always struggled with so I'm very hesitant to eat 600 calories in one sitting 2 hours after I've eaten dinner.

    Is it ok to have that large of a deficit several days per week? The impatient person in me wants to do that every single day and drop a lot of weight quickly but the logical person in me wants me to do whatever is going to equal out to a permanent lifestyle change and not a "diet"
    You definitely don't want to eat 600 calories in one sitting late at night because your metabolism rate actually slows down later at night because your less active. It is also can be hard to digest properly that amount of food if your going to bed right after.

    Sorry that's not true, it's media hype and dieting industry garbage ...also known as bro-science

    Half the trick with MFP I've found is divesting oneself of all the "dieting knowledge" which actually boils down to mainly rubbish and focusing on the important things

    Earpt less than you burn
    Move more
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    tyismc wrote: »
    abetterluke wrote: »
    So here's my situation -- I have my calories set at 1800 per day. A lot of the time I end up only eating 1200-1400 and 8pm or so rolls around and I have 400-600 left.

    Late night snacking is a problem I've always struggled with so I'm very hesitant to eat 600 calories in one sitting 2 hours after I've eaten dinner.

    Is it ok to have that large of a deficit several days per week? The impatient person in me wants to do that every single day and drop a lot of weight quickly but the logical person in me wants me to do whatever is going to equal out to a permanent lifestyle change and not a "diet"
    You definitely don't want to eat 600 calories in one sitting late at night because your metabolism rate actually slows down later at night because your less active. It is also can be hard to digest properly that amount of food if your going to bed right after.

    strictly from a math stand point this doesn't make sense. If my metabolism slows down it night then it slows down at night regardless of when I eat.

    So if I eat 2000 calories before 8pm I will still burn the exact same amount of calories as if I eat 1500 before 8pm and 500 at 9pm.

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Your body is like a 24/7 factory. It is always working. It might not be burning calories so you can walk or run but it is burning them to keep you alive and breathing and recovering from whatever activity you did during the day. It's night like "day's over, power down and flip your off switch 'cuz it's bedtime."
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    Jennloella wrote: »
    this is crazy to me. Your meals already seem big? I'm a chick, in maintenance, and I eat around 2400 a day, I cannot imagine feeling full or satisfied on half of that....>I agree with PP that said make you meals bigger, or maybe choose more calorie dense foods. Eating too low of calories won't do you any favors.

    2400 seems like so much to me. I could certainly eat 2400 if I was eating unhealthy foods all the time but my meals mostly consist of meat and vegetables. I get full pretty quickly.
  • DevilsFan1
    DevilsFan1 Posts: 342 Member
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    I looked at your diary. It looks like you aren't weighing your food. I see things like 1.5 cups of cereal which makes me question whether you are accurately tracking your calories. I suspect not. I think you're eating much more than you think you are.
  • abetterluke
    abetterluke Posts: 625 Member
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    DevilsFan1 wrote: »
    I looked at your diary. It looks like you aren't weighing your food. I see things like 1.5 cups of cereal which makes me question whether you are accurately tracking your calories. I suspect not. I think you're eating much more than you think you are.

    I don't weigh my food...the cereal was my best guess. I didn't even measure. The last few days I haven't been very healthy and have been logging things without worrying about accuracy too much. It was easier to put that though than "a sh**load of cereal"

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    abetterluke wrote: »
    Jennloella wrote: »
    this is crazy to me. Your meals already seem big? I'm a chick, in maintenance, and I eat around 2400 a day, I cannot imagine feeling full or satisfied on half of that....>I agree with PP that said make you meals bigger, or maybe choose more calorie dense foods. Eating too low of calories won't do you any favors.

    2400 seems like so much to me. I could certainly eat 2400 if I was eating unhealthy foods all the time but my meals mostly consist of meat and vegetables. I get full pretty quickly.

    2400 is pretty easy to hit in my experience. I maintain between 2400 and 2500. Don't focus on healthy versus unhealthy. I'm not saying to eat your weight in cupcakes smeared with butter but don't think that you can only eat plain veggies and fruit. An ounce of cheese, a yogurt, a serving of nuts, etc. It's all okay. Even the cupcakes are okay in moderation.

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