Do you actually hold yourself to your caloric goal, or ...

distinctlybeautiful

... do you just consider it a maximum that you try not to exceed?

I'm not looking for advice! I'm just super curious because based on my newsfeed it seems like people are super excited about not reaching their goals. But the deficit should already be factored into the goal...

Machka9

My maximum calories include the calories MFP gives me for existing + my exercise calories.

I aim to be relatively close to, but not over, my maximum calories.

CoffeeNCardio

I eat what mfp gives me, and what my fitbit adds to that. Some people find that eating under the mfp calorie goal is the only way they lose weight. It's probably not that they aren't set to the right goal, and more likely that they are logging inaccurately so they need the buffer of not meeting that number, but as long as they are maintaining weight loss and not feeling deprived, good on them. I'm excited when I'm under goal, and upset when I'm over. I try not to concern myself much with the in between scenarios.

paulandrachelk

Yes

arditarose

I eat every delicious calorie I can, and then some.

kissedbythesunshine

I eat every one of my allowed calories lol.

QueenofHearts023

I noticed that I tend to go by my appetite. My goal is 1370, and I exercise daily on top of that so about 1670 total that I should eat. If I'm hungry enough I eat all of them. When I'm not that hungry I just eat the minimum 1200.

afatpersonwholikesfood

I consider my estimated maintenance to be my absolute maximum. I eat more on days that I need to eat more. I'm generally under my goal (MFP + Fitbit) by quite a bit, though. It's not that I think I can only lose weight on less; I know my TDEE must not be too far from what Fitbit calculates. I just eat what I need to eat to feel satisfied that day. I have days where there are a lot of fruits and veggies creating volume, and I'm not going to eat a few tbsp of peanut butter for no reason other than "YOU MUST EAT YOUR GOAL OR ELSE." I know when I don't eat enough. Your body likes to let you know!

srecupid

I aim for close but not over. That being said if I have 119 left and want something at 120 I'm eating it

mcg899

I do not pay attention to what myfitnesspal has set for me. I go on macronutientcalculator.com enter my weight, height and goals and it lets me know how many calories I should be taking in and how much protein carbs and fats. I am always more focused on staying within my caloric goal but hitting my macronutrients (aka carbs fats and protein)

erinc5

I am set up to lose 1 lb per week, which is 1400 per day sedentary for me. Lately I have been under my calorie goal by 300 calories or so per day once I add in Fitbit calories, and actually eating around 1300 or so. I am only 10 lbs away from my first goal of "normal" BMI and am anxious to get there, so I like being under. Once I reach normal BMI in 10 lbs I will probably set my goal to .5 lbs per week and eat all my calories.

VintageFeline

People seem to really hate those red numbers! And there's a lot of back patting when someone closes with calories left. I actually think it's a bit of a flaw and encourages under-eating.

Personally, I eat every last morsel allowed and generally a little bit more. Weekly average is usually anything from spot on to 50 calories per day over.

callsitlikeiseeit

are you kidding, i eat all my calories.

id eat all yours too, if i could.

LOLOLOL

oolou

I aim for close to the goal and if I am under by a couple hundred, it tends to get banked and put forward/back to another day when I go/went over my goal. As long as it all balances out in the end, I'm happy.

The number turning red is discouraging, and may be it would be better if there was an amber zone for the first 50 cals over and under, with red also being used if someone goes far under too?

mrtastybutt

I try to reach my goal as close as possible. If I go over a bit it doesn't phase me because I know that overall I'll still be in a deficit.

makaryan11

I go over by 15-60 almost every day, it doesn't bother me c since I know I could eat more but I didn't, still hungry some days, as long as I am honest with myself and been losing 1.5 lb every week

veganbaum

oolou wrote: »

I aim for close to the goal and if I am under by a couple hundred, it tends to get banked and put forward/back to another day when I go/went over my goal. As long as it all balances out in the end, I'm happy.

The number turning red is discouraging, and may be it would be better if there was an amber zone for the first 50 cals over and under, with red also being used if someone goes far under too?

That's not a bad idea (the color thing).

I try to be 100-200 below my goal (which includes fitbit adjustments) and then I eat those extras on Saturdays. So, I eat to my goal as a weekly average. I don't have a very active feed; especially since the whole annoying "like" thing was implemented. Despite the fact that has been around for a while now, it still annoys me. It's actually made me far, far less active on my feed. I almost never look at it. But I digress.

I do see people in the forums post about always trying to be under their goal, and it seems to be like they are excited about it (or desperate because they "always" eat under their goal and aren't losing weight - usually a logging issue). I think a lot of people don't really understand how their goal relates to their deficit and maintenance calories.

cbelc2

I try hard not to use my exercise calories. I stick with my goal. If I should go over by a few, I work on not stressing over it.

kettiecat

I eat over my base goal of 1200 but I don't always eat my exercise calories back, mostly because I'm not hungry and don't trust those are the actual calories burned.

Azurite27

I try to be just under my goal unless I'm saving a couple calories for a special occasion. If I'm just not hungry one day I'll make up for it by overeating another day. I think most people just don't understand how to lose healthy. I was one of these at first but learned from my mistakes. If I see this on my friends feeds I try to correct their misunderstanding and if they continue to eat at an unhealthy level I unfortunately usually have to remove them as I can't support that behavior.

veganbaum

cbelc2 wrote: »

I try hard not to use my exercise calories. I stick with my goal. If I should go over by a few, I work on not stressing over it.

But, your goal includes those calories. So, you're eating under your MFP goal.

Lounmoun

I eat all my calories. I usually eat some of my exercise calories.

jandw122912

I try to stay within 50 calories of my goal (up or down). I don't want to leave 150 calories sitting there! But I don't really worry if I have like 23 calories left...

BoaRestrictor

I have the grey area of "okayish". I consider a good day 50 cal over or under my calorie goal.

ilex70

That's not a bad idea (the color thing).

I like that too...maybe as a percentage, so within X percent amber, then over X percent red.

I try to at least get 1200, or close. Had to eat extra figs and popcorn last night.

OTOH, if I have a hungry day and I'm a little on the high side I don't sweat it too much, because I know I have the "not hungry" days too.

GillianSmith2

kettiecat wrote: »

I eat over my base goal of 1200 but I don't always eat my exercise calories back, mostly because I'm not hungry and don't trust those are the actual calories burned.

^^this^^
I eat my calorie goal and sometimes more, but because i exercise every day and I don't eat all my exercise calories it still says I have eaten under my goal. I am losing at a steady rate so I don't intend to eat them back unless I really feel the hunger.

VintageFeline

Damn right I eat my exercise calories too, it's how MFP is designed. I will never inderstand someone with a net goal of 1200, who doesn't eat their exercise and doesn't somehow pass out after a week. If I eat too low for a couple of days I feel it immediately. I want to feel in full on beast mode as often as possible when I workout and the only way to do that is to eat a good portion of my exercise calories (which I use an HRM and gym specific app on my smart watch to track so shouldn't be overly inflated).

I have though, manually changed my net calorie goal down from 1400 to 1300 to allow for overestimations of burns and underestimations of food intake. I've only recently done this so am tracking my data to make alterations in a month or so if needs be.

I also like the amber idea. So many people misunderstand how MFP works, why there's a minimum intake of 1200 and why it's really important to fuel your workouts if you are using the MFP method in its truest form. There should be compulsory reading or something when someone starts to address all of that.

chandanista

I eat over 2-3 times a week, under the other days. I love the weekly nutrition feature, to make sure everything's evening out.

StaciMarie1974

I do my own thing. Officially I'm set to maintenance, but I like a bit of a deficit (200-300) during the week. Then I tend to use them on the weekend.

And for many, when it comes to exercise calories, people err on the side of caution and don't eat them all. That is a way to try & avoid overestimating the burn as its hard to really know. So if exercise calories are added, its not unusual to see calories remaining I think.

But in general, it does become a mind set of trying to stay under I think.

nordlead2005

Over the course of the week I try to be within a few hundred calories of my goal. I tend to be under, but if I'm over, oh well. In the grand scheme of things, it means I might lose ~0.1lb more than planned per week, but some weeks I lose ~0.1lb less than planned.

According to my 34 weeks results I've actually eaten 41 calories per day more than planned. That is most likely due to errors in exercise estimation and food logging, not in intentionally eating over.

Honestly, if you aren't eating close to your planned amount, then your plan sucks. Fix it and do what you intended, instead of setting an arbitrary goal and then doing something else.

elaineamj

kettiecat wrote: »

I eat over my base goal of 1200 but I don't always eat my exercise calories back, mostly because I'm not hungry and don't trust those are the actual calories burned.

I worry about the exercise calorie estimation too. So I input that it burns half the calories of what MFP says. So if I do a 30 minute moderate walk for 111 calories, I log it as 55 calories burned.

Set at 1lb a week, I'm only allotted 1200 calories (very short here). I quickly found I was able to stay within it, but the whole "diet" mentality was so much better after I started eating half my exercise calories back. It allows for social meals and very occasional indulgences. Otherwise, 1200 calories is extremely strict. Now, I don't get too stressed if we have a staff lunch or if I have a larger dinner with friends. It blew my mind the first time I had a 1000 calorie dinner - and still stayed within my goal for the day. I had been so stressed before that meal. But planning for it, banking calories from the week before, and using my exercise calories all made a ton of difference.

I don't want to burn too much and then burn out. This is a permanent change for me!