How faithfully do you stick to your daily calorie allowance?

pianoplaya94

For example, if your calorie goal is 1200, must you always eat exactly 1200 (or within a 10-20 cal range) or do you stay within a larger range (e.g 100-150 cals)?

Also, I have hit my goal for the day... but really craving an evening snack. How do I resist these cravings?

nishatay

I never hit my calorie goal exactly. I'm always a few calories over or under. I think it's okay to have an evening snack as long as it's low in calories like a piece of fruit or something small.

lolymommy

Evening cravings with no calories to spare? I go for a long walk, then have a healthy snack like a banana. If you go over by a few calories (not every day) it shouldn't derrail your goals.

Also, I am very relaxed about logging, so I try to stay under the goal by 300-400, to compensate for the little things like licking a mixing spoon or eating the last bite off the kids plates.

jemhh

If my goal was 1200 I wouldn't go to bed without eating every single one. But I've never gone that low so I tend to stay within 50 or so of my goal.

mom2kpr

I'm horrible at staying within my goal. That's why it's taken me 3 yrs to lose 40lb. I'm trying to get better. I really want to lose 40 - 60 in by the end of next summer.

arditarose

I work within a weekly goal. So some days I'm hundred or so under, one day I'm usually like 500 over, a few days right on target.

shadowfax_c11

I am usually under by several hundred calories. But I have a 2300 calorie allowance before exercise on an average work day and generally earn a lot of exercise calories on top of that. I eat back most of my excises calories from walking and about 1/4-1/2 of the ones I get from hoof trimming and martial arts.

I think if I were stuck with a small allowance like 1200 I would eat every single calorie allowed to me... scratch that. I would set my weight loss goal to a smaller number per week.

JudithNYC

My goal is 1300 calories a day. Sometimes I eat 900 and sometimes I eat 1400, or even 1500, most days around 1200. I am old (oldish?) and I am no going to suffer. I gave tried that route and it has taken me nowhere. My diets have usually lasted about a month, when I gave up because I would be going crazy with hunger. Today is my 64th day this time and I have lost about two pounds a week. My goal is one pound a week.

The only thing that I am strict about is asking myself whether I am eating those extra calories because I am truly hungry. I tend to eat to deal with anxiety, so for me that's the biggest challenge.

vixtris

My goal is 1,400. Sometimes I eat a bit more, sometimes a bit less. I don't try to pinpoint it down to that exact number, I just try to get somewhere around it.

afatpersonwholikesfood

I have my stats set up to lose 1/2 pound per week. Knowing that, I tend to eat about 500 below my target on most days and right on target on days when I feel like I need more food.

deceived1

My goal is 2130 to lose 1 pound a week. However, so long as I'm at maintenance calories or lower I'm fine with the day. So I can eat up to 2630 calories with no problems. I try to limit the days I hit my maintenance to keep my weight loss up to a fast enough pace.

I am in no rush in getting to my target weight (24.2/50 pounds through so far), and I'm treating this as a long term lifestyle change rather than "OMG need to lose these pounds NOW/diet" that always seems to fail for me. So far so good!

Liftng4Lis

You have a a 1200 calorie goal, but that is your base. Earn more through exercise. I try to stay within my allotment, (including exercise calories), but sometimes, life chocolate happens.

Kalikel

Not much. I go over and under. I've begun logging later, after I'm done eating. This way, I'm eating without having to be directed by numbers. Eat when hungry, don't eat when not. That's where I am now.

I really only log now to see how I'm doing with all my vitamins and minerals, to see if can quit the multivitamins and to track weight when I do other things and compare.

ohmscheeks

I stick to it about 46% of time at the moment; working on that...

R1rainbows

I do my best to stick to my 1400 religiously, and 95% of the time I am 1400-1550... but there are times when I haven't... Like today was my sister's baby shower and I probably ate nearly 2k... BUT I know it was a once in a rare while thing, and when I get hungry for extra snacks, I either drink water, or munch some celery! But water and celery are only for if I met my calorie goal already! Hope this helps you out

cindyangotti

If you want to go over by a couple hundred tonight and you are out of calories I would just be sure to burn a couple hundred extra tomorrow.

lukos05

My calorie allowance is 1400, set to 1lb loss per week. On days I work (13hr shifts), I pack my meals and snacks and pre-log, trying to keep it 150-250 under because I know I won't be able to get in an additional workout, my measurements might not be exact, and because I usually want to sneak in an additional low-calorie snack when I get home which may take me to about 100 under;). On my off-days I will usually stay closer to goal but I try to stay around 100-50 from it; I will workout but usually skip logging it so I am not tempted to eat-back my calories. If I log my workout it's because I know I have gone over a smidge (up to around 1550) and I just really want the subconscious boost that I did, indeed, maintain my limits, lol. I give myself a day a week where I will 'splurge' on 1800ish calories, but even then I try to keep it clean.

My meals tend to be 400-300 cals with two <200ish snacks in between. My go-to 'etc' snacks -when I just need to fill that oral fixation/boredom/stress-eating craving- have become skinny pop (78 cals for 2 cups), a mini Dove dark chocolate square (42 cals), or mini cucumbers (10 cals). I will also try to drink a nice amount of water first to make sure I'm just not thirsty.

Probably more info than you wanted, but that is me in a nutshell.

If I was at 1200...I would probably log every calorie and workout religiously to get each morsel I could!

WyshIKnew

I'm not too pedantic about it, but I have to be careful that the "oh well a little bit more today won't hurt" situation doesn't start happening every day.
I also concentrate on the calories and don't worry if the carbs, sugar, sodium etc are high on a particular day.

I do try to plan my main meal of the day ahead. That way if the meal is high in calories I know I need to squeeze in a little extra exercise.

hannahkingfitness

Cucumber is a really low calorie snack. You can eat an entire cucumber without it really mattering! If you're craving a snack, cut up cucumber and slowly eat it. It will stimulate your mind and put a little bit in your stomach to keep you satisfied. I always stay under or exactly on my goal apart from one day a week but as long as you're eating healthy whole foods I wouldn't worry too much about going a little over!

shortyanya

My goal is 1200. I tend to never go more than 10/20cals over, and sometimes end up under depending on exercise that day. I plan my meals the night before to make sure they fit within my goal. That way i don't get caught out by extra calories. I don't have a lot of weight to lose, just wanting to shed some lbs before holiday. If your gonna count calories you might as well do it properly.

DawnieB1977

My goal is 1660 and I exercise pretty much every day, and I don't tend to eat back exercise calories, so I always have spare calories. It gives me a margin of error for logging inaccuracies, and it means if I have the occasional day where I go over calories, it balances out.

I tend to leave calories for an evening snack too. Once I've got the kids to bed it's nice to sit down with a cup of tea and a snack.

Tahlia68

My goal is 1200 and I stick to it religiously every day. I never go over, I'm usually under. I seem to get really hungry around bedtime?

livingleanlivingclean

At the moment I'm prepping for a comp and have a meal plan I follow to the gram. When I'm not prepping I have macro goals which I follow... To the gram... That's just me.

Orphia

I earn myself extra calories through exercise, and don't eat many of those back in case they're overestimated, but they give me wiggle room.

PAV8888

Like someone else mentioned earlier, this is a new lifestyle for me, so it makes no sense to obsess about the occasional over or under as long as "in general" things move in the right direction.

It helps tremendously that part of my lifestyle change involved upping my activity level.

On the rare occasions that I revert to my previous sedentary lifestyle (and "earn" a substantial negative adjustment from my Fitbit), I do have trouble staying within my caloric allotment, and as a result I am painfully reminded that if I want to continue eating a decent quantity of food I have to get off my butt and move more!

Your problem, OP, is that you are 21 yo, and set to 1200 Cal a day.

If you are very short, there is not much you can do about it.

However, quite a few females who are set to 1200 calories are setup that way because they've set themselves as sedentary and with an aggressive caloric deficit to achieve rapid weight loss.

And a goodly percentage then goes on to not eat back exercise calories in (presumably) an attempt to create an even larger deficit.

With the inevitable result that eventually things come crashing down.

The solution being to eat at a more sustainable deficit, which presumably would include setting yourself at your true/correct activity level AND eating back a good % of your exercise calories.

Now, if you are 21 yo, are setup correctly as sedentary, and do not earn a few hundred exercise adjustment calories that you can (and should) eat back on each and every day, I will have to commiserate with you regarding the health concerns that are stopping you from being more active.

Glinda1971

afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »

I have my stats set up to lose 1/2 pound per week. Knowing that, I tend to eat about 500 below my target on most days and right on target on days when I feel like I need more food.

I do this as well and I'm losing, on average 1 to 1.5 lbs per week.

ETA - I always eat at least 1200, usually closer to 1500, and earn my extra deficit from my Fitbit.

dembly

As pav said.. framing this as a short term thng will cycle you through high motivation periods and them crashing points of defeat...

I average my calories over the week.. about 4/7 days I am under.. but I ate pizza this week and so that day was way over.. I used to struggle and feel I had failed every time I saw red.. now I realise that I lose weight even with red as long as it is under my base limit.. giving myself permission to go over when events or life happens has made it easier to keeo going the next day :-D

tedioustrainingap

pianoplaya94 wrote: »

For example, if your calorie goal is 1200, must you always eat exactly 1200 (or within a 10-20 cal range) or do you stay within a larger range (e.g 100-150 cals)?

Also, I have hit my goal for the day... but really craving an evening snack. How do I resist these cravings?

My daily allowance is 1200 or 1400 with exercise, five days out of seven. My calorie intake fluctuates from day to day (usually under allowance, sometimes over), so I look at my weekly total instead. Every week, I am slightly under my total allowance, so this allows me a stress free approach to eating. It all balances out. Zig zag dieting definitely works better for me

genki90

deceived1 wrote: »

My goal is 2130 to lose 1 pound a week. However, so long as I'm at maintenance calories or lower I'm fine with the day. So I can eat up to 2630 calories with no problems. I try to limit the days I hit my maintenance to keep my weight loss up to a fast enough pace.

I am in no rush in getting to my target weight (24.2/50 pounds through so far), and I'm treating this as a long term lifestyle change rather than "OMG need to lose these pounds NOW/diet" that always seems to fail for me. So far so good!

That's how I eat too, that way I don't get too stressed about eating and calories. I don't mind going over my goal (which is losing 0.5lbs per week) and maintaining for a while. I just try not to go over my TDEE calories.

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echmainfit619

I *never* go over my calorie allowance but I often end up 100-200 calories under it.