How Close Do you Go on Allowed Calories?

trisH_7183
trisH_7183 Posts: 1,486 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Just curious.
Do you try to get very close without going over,or think if you're within... ? ...calories,call it good enough?

The closest I got was 26 calories left over.Am usually closer to a hundred under.
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Replies

  • harleygroomer
    harleygroomer Posts: 373 Member
    I am never but NEVER close to my stated calories. I also never eat BACK the exercise calories. What is the point--you are doing this to lose weight!
  • mabelbabel1
    mabelbabel1 Posts: 391 Member
    I have my goal set to the minimum amount I should eat on a non exercise day. I know I can go several hundred calories over if I feel I need to without worrying.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I'm almost never under. Or if I am, it's by a handful. Unless I worked out a lot-and then I might be under by 100 (but usually not). Anything less than 200-300 over is good with me. I'm aiming for a 250-500 cal/day deficit. My target is a 500 cal deficit. But I've never been terribly worried about a couple hundred here and there.
  • jynxxxed
    jynxxxed Posts: 1,010 Member
    I am never but NEVER close to my stated calories. I also never eat BACK the exercise calories. What is the point--you are doing this to lose weight!
    If you're already eating at a deficit and then not eating back the exercise calories it can put you at an even larger (and potentially unhealthy) deficit. Enjoy the extra food!

    Personally it just depends on the day for me. Some days I'm a little over, some days a little under. It all averages out at the ends of the week.
  • Crazy4Healthy
    Crazy4Healthy Posts: 626 Member
    I get as close as I can to net and actually prefer just a bit over to way under. Your body needs the fuel even when trying to lose weight. If you don't feed it enough, it won't stop at fat to get fuel, it will also eat much needed muscle and ultimately slow down your body's ability to burn (since muscle burns more),
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    +/- 50 is what I aim for. Results may vary, up to thousands over.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    I am never but NEVER close to my stated calories. I also never eat BACK the exercise calories. What is the point--you are doing this to lose weight!

    Hmmm. I'm doing this to be healthy and as something I can sustain forever and ever. Eating like a rabbit doesn't fit that plan. More power to you of course, but I'm already at a deficit when I hit my target (and actually I'm still in a deficit for a fair bit over my target). Eating too little makes me very grouchy. I hope you have better luck sustaining.
  • tootchute
    tootchute Posts: 392 Member
    I try to leave 100 calories or so, just in case of any kind of error.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    I'm never very close. I shoot for 200 calories on either side of my target, but I'm not too worried about it so long as I'm on target for the week overall.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    I am never but NEVER close to my stated calories. I also never eat BACK the exercise calories. What is the point--you are doing this to lose weight!

    Yet on your next post you comment on the dangers of yo-yo dieting. MFP, you're doing it wrong :flowerforyou:
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    It's a calorie GOAL, it's what you SHOULD be aiming for, not aim to be under that
  • weightedfootsteps
    weightedfootsteps Posts: 4,349 Member
    I usually hit anywhere from 400 under to 300 over...it really depends on what all I've done that day...if I was busy all day exercise and work, plus going out with kids or something...I may end up way under...It averages out. I will say that I aim to be within 100 of the cals that I should net for the day. But my cals are set at 1750 a day..Got a lot to lose and I'm not planning to starve myself to get there.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    It's a calorie GOAL, it's what you SHOULD be aiming for, not aim to be under that

    Well put. I generally end the week there or thereabouts but don't worry too much if I go a little over on non-exercise days. Some people seem to think they are beating the system by aiming way under, but really all you are doing is compromising your own health, which is stupid when you're here to get fit and well!
  • susanhiding
    susanhiding Posts: 88 Member
    It's a calorie GOAL, it's what you SHOULD be aiming for, not aim to be under that

    :flowerforyou:
    Yes!
  • Mguilmot
    Mguilmot Posts: 232 Member
    Try to stay 100 calories around my goal. Over or under, doesn't matter.
    I never ate my exercise calories either. I don't care how much I burn, My goal is my goal without exercise.
    Lots of people talk **** about not eating exercise calories, but as you can see it never hold me back, and I'm not unhealthy at all :-)
  • shannonmparker
    shannonmparker Posts: 1
    I had one day in the last 30 where I went over, I was wayyyy under at first, but I found that I lost more weight by eating to within 200 cal of goal and using exercise calories but i rarely eat over 2200 calories total. I've lost just over 16 lbs in the last month. I feel really good and feel like the loss is sustainable.
  • Shan790
    Shan790 Posts: 280 Member
    I aim to hit my goals but usually go a bit over. Sometimes only by 20 cals sometimes more like 50. I don't like to be under.
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    I like my weekly average to come within 500 calories one way or another, but I don't stress day to day. And you better believe I eat my exercise calories back. I bought a Bodymedia Fit so I know what I am burning and I burn and eat plenty. We're not on the Biggest Loser here, its not a contest, but a lifestyle, no need to deprive yourself.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Just curious.
    Do you try to get very close without going over,or think if you're within... ? ...calories,call it good enough?

    I go for plus/minus 100 calories. At a daily goal of 2300, that's less than 5% margin, which is plenty good enough IMO.
  • EMPulseKC
    EMPulseKC Posts: 14 Member
    I usually shoot for 2000 calories a day (my goal used to be 2530, but now it's down to 2310), and I'm usually good about coming in under the goal by about 200-500 kcal/day. I don't worry about it if I'm a few hundred over on occasion though.
  • Ldbg289
    Ldbg289 Posts: 236 Member
    I try to be as close to my calorie goal as possible, try no to be too far under it because my calorie goal is low anyway and I don't wanna do more harm than good by having too few calories(by the way my calorie goal is 1200).
  • PhoenixStrikes
    PhoenixStrikes Posts: 587 Member
    I don't go off of what MFP says because I use a bodymedia armband that tells me exactly how many calories I burned vs consumed. This way I always know to stay 250-500 calories under to continue to lose weight at a steady pace. S basically i just use this site to keep a detailed account of my food intake. On days where I am more active I *obviously* get to eat more and some days, like break days, I eat less to maintain the deficit. It can be confusing to my friends on here because it looks like I ate too little but on the bodymedia readout I'm usually right within target. My problem is finding calorie heavy foods with out resorting to eating multiple avocados and mounds of almonds. Haha!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I don't go off of what MFP says because I use a bodymedia armband that tells me exactly how many calories I burned vs consumed.

    The bodymedia is doing guesstimate calculations, just like MFP.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I've been over twice by like 20-40, I'm usually under by 50-100. After that, it just depends. Today I wasn't very hungry so I am under by 250, two days ago I was starving and counting how many crackers I could eat to stay under my goal, lol (and one day I just went over).
  • Arnegard
    Arnegard Posts: 22 Member
    I always eat all of my calories and usually eat back at least half of my exercise calories. I love to eat!
  • sg992
    sg992 Posts: 60 Member
    These days I'm always extremely close to my net goal, I just add on a few grams of veg here and there to creep up to the number if needs be. I find it satisfying to see I'm within 1 or 2 calories (don't like seeing that number turn red though!). Must be a psychological thing.
  • susanb573
    susanb573 Posts: 111 Member
    I tend to have a few hundred left at the end of the day. I do not weigh my food though and I know the tendency is to underestimate portions so I figure I'm actually pretty close to my goal. Plus I pump breastmilk for a milk bank and MFP says you burn 500 calories a day doing that and I would imagine that your body adjusts to the pumping and actually burns less than that over time. Better safe than sorry.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    +/- 50 is what I aim for. Results may vary, up to thousands over.

    This on a day that I don't exercise - like today because I have caught my husband's cold and it's hard to even walk the dog when your throat hurts and you can't breathe. On a day that I do exercise I aim for about 100 calories under and on a day that I hike (every other weekend) I end up 750-1000 calories under. I just can't eat that much because my husband and I go a LONG way on technical trails. In October, I am going as an adult leader with Boy Scouts doing a 1000 ft elevation change 10 mile hike for a merit badge. God knows what I'll take in my pack to eat...but I'll figure it out.
  • sandifield
    sandifield Posts: 22 Member
    I am on `1200 calories a day.. I find it hard to eat my 1200, I don't eat pre-made foods, I cook from scratch and can control the calories in dishes better, I have been finding myself eating in the evening just to bring my intake to 1200... And I rarely eat back my exercise calories.. some days that would be an extra 900 plus calories, I would burst if I ate any more.. so i try to get with-in 50 of the 1200, and if i do go over 1200 its usually under 25 over... I have been loosing roughly 2- 2.4 pounds a week.. I was on another program but switched to MFP a bit over 2 weeks ago.. more friends on this site... If anyone needs more friends I am on daily fell free to add me
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    I am on `1200 calories a day.. I find it hard to eat my 1200, I don't eat pre-made foods, I cook from scratch and can control the calories in dishes better, I have been finding myself eating in the evening just to bring my intake to 1200... And I rarely eat back my exercise calories.. some days that would be an extra 900 plus calories, I would burst if I ate any more.. so i try to get with-in 50 of the 1200, and if i do go over 1200 its usually under 25 over... I have been loosing roughly 2- 2.4 pounds a week.. I was on another program but switched to MFP a bit over 2 weeks ago.. more friends on this site... If anyone needs more friends I am on daily fell free to add me

    You might need to check that you're eating enough good fats. Avocado and nuts will bring you nearer goal on days that you're struggling. The 1200 bare minimum is there to help prevent malnutrition and if you are exercising a lot you're using up nutrients that your body actually needs.

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