What to do when you gone over your daily calories?

BosFitlife

I just want to give some tips here, feel free to share yours as well to help each other stay on track and not discouraged through the process of weight loss journey.
Ok, let's get right to it.

If you only track calories, not macros (crab, protein, fat) then it's actually easy, your weekly calories is just as important as your daily, so let's say you're on a 2000 calories per day diet, and it's Friday you've been good for the last 4 days, you happen to go over by 500 calories today, simply reduce your next 2 days by 250 each, so your weekly still remain the same, or you can reduce next 4 days by 120, the goal is not to go into a punish mood where you take away 500 the very next day, because that will affect your metabolism more than if you just make small adjustments, and the whole point of been consistent is to build up your metabolism, not to make your body guess how it should burn off the energy/calories you put in each day.

Now I don't recommend to do calories track only diet, it works but not the most effective way, better way is to track macros within the calories counts, and when it comes to macros, you will have a good idea of how much carb, protein and fat you're eating each day, so if you went over on carb, you can borrow macros from protein/fat which 1 carb = 4 cal, 1 protein = 4 cal, so it's easy to replace protein with carb or vice versa, however, 1g fat = 9cal, so i'd go with a 2 to 1 rations if you went over on fat, that way your daily goal calories is still the same, and next day get back on track.
You can also consider increase your daily activity if you know you going to a party/event when there's food you want to eat but still want to be responsible to your own diet, by walking more, do 1 or 2 extra cardio sessions in the gym, nothing crazy just increase your activity a bit higher than normal, that's more of a mental thing than anything else thou, and try to control it not just use that as an excuse to over eat.

At the end of the day, don't let it bother you, it's normal when life happens we go over our calories counts, just use those method above and get back on track as soon as possible, remember you're in this for the long run not just 90 days.

janejellyroll

I can think of good reasons not to drop your calories by 500 following a day when you go over (because you'll probably be hungry and it's not necessary to punish yourself, etc), but I don't think there is any good evidence that going 500 below your goal calories *within a single day* is going to affect your metabolism negatively.

kbmnurse1

I move on and get over it. Life is to short to sweat the small stuff.

Go_Deskercise

Best way I have found is pre-logging food.

If I am going to go over my calories for the day, I will know before I eat the food I'm about to eat.
Then I can decide if I'm ok with going over by the amount I'm logging or if I need to scale my meal back a bit.

quiksylver296

I realize that my maintenance calories are about 2700. So, if my goal is 2000, and I overeat by 500, I'm still in a 200 calorie deficit and don't sweat it.

funjen1972

I incorporate more excercise the next day or two to offset the excess calories. Simple, easy and let's me have that extra beer out with friends which is worth it!

lorrpb

I make sure I stay on track the next day. I know I won't die or instantly regain if I go over one day.

HoneyBadger302

I'll allow myself a maintenance day here and there if I'm really that hungry. I may not lose as much overall that week, but it's not going to undo any progress, either.

If I know I'm going out and I don't want to worry about my calories, I will trim back the rest of the day and eat very little so I can have my fill at my meal out.

Extra activity and workouts also are a great way to give some extra wiggle room!

AnnPT77

I may eat a little less for a few days before a scheduled event when I'd like to eat a little extra, but I don't try to "catch up" after an unplanned over-goal day, at least not when losing weight.

Usually, the overage is less than my daily deficit, so I've literally only delayed reaching goal weight by a few hours. Even a more extreme over day just means a small number of days delay in reaching goal.

I log it, think about why it happened, decide whether it was worth it, learn from it, and go on with my weight loss plan. As long as I don't go over by very much very often. it's no big deal - not worth stressing over.

For me, catching up by cutting calories after the fact risks setting up a restrict/binge cycle. If I plan ahead & bank some calories, then the special day stands in for a binge, and evens the scorecard. The only time I'd maybe eat less after the event is if I truly didn't feel hungry. Similarly, I might do an extra workout if the overage left me feeling high energy. That's about it.

Maintenance is a little different, but I still look at it as balancing the calorie books over the long haul, not doing a meticulous job of paying for an over day by immediately restricting. That just feels too much like the sin and expiation model of eating, for me.

Different methods for different personalities!

VUA21

I have one or two days a year that I go WAY over: also known as the Southern New Mexico wine festival. I probably have 10,000 calories on those days. As long as I'm in a 500 calorie deficit for the other 363 days a year, it's not going to hurt me in the long run. And it is a day of pure fun and mental relaxation.

rachel780mpg

If I go over my calories, I like to look at what my maintenance calories are. I'm trying to lose 2lbs a week, so maintenance is 1000 calories more than my usual. Usually, I end up still being at a deficit.