How Close Do you Go on Allowed Calories?

quicklabs

I always eat all of my calories and usually eat back at least half of my exercise calories. I love to eat!

This

floareaciprian

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!

You are risking to lose more muscle this way.

GingerLolita

I try to stay as close as possible, sometimes hitting it exactly! I usually determine my dessert portions based on the remaining calories.

snookumss

I stay within 50 calories of either direction whenever possible. This variance makes it SLIGHTLY more flexible, but you need to be consistent to REALLY see how these calorie numbers are affecting your body and if you need to change things up you have an educated CONSISTENT average to work with.

glin23

I generally try to keep a 200ish deficit from the stated goal. That said, the MFP calculator, while it's a bit improved from weeks/ months before is still a bit inaccurate if you were to tabulate the totals by hand. Add that on to measuring and nutrition fact error, that's worked for me.

PhoenixStrikes

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.

No, it doesn't guess at what calories you burn, that is false information. The whole point of it is that it counts your calories burn.

katorihanzo

The entire point of the MFP calculations are to put you at the amount of food you should be eating to lose the amount of weight you want at the rate you want. If you're already eating at a heavy deficit and then you're eating even less than that, you're putting yourself in danger.

For example, to lose 1.5lbs a week, (which I do) I have to eat 1320 calories a day. That is quite low (I'm tall and barely overweight) and therefore I try VERY hard not to eat below that. It might feel good to *see* those left over calories, but it is not good for my body and that is more important.

The closer I come to the number "0" without going over, the better I feel. I'll sometimes purposely eat some baby carrots to get to my exact goal.

That said, I suppose if your alloted calories is higher, like 1600-1800, you could live eating below that. Just remember that any more than 2 lbs of weight loss a week is dangerous and not as likely to stay off.

cwolfman13

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!

Ummmm...MFP gives you a calorie GOAL that includes a HUGE wieght loss deficit from maintenance built right in. If you set your activity level up properly, you did NOT include exercise in your daily activity...just your day to day hum drum...therefore exercise becomes extra activity that needs to be logged and then fueled.

I would sugges grabbing a dictionary and looking up the word GOAL for starters...then doing a little more research on how to properly use this tool. Would you use a hammer to drive screws? Huge calorie deficits combined with making them even bigger with a bunch of exercise can and ultimately are dangerous.

Achrya

+/- 150 most of the time. At the end of the week I'm usually damn near spot on, and try to never be more than 200 down or 300 over.

Those are arbitrary numbers I've chosen for my own comfort.

elainecroft

I try to stay -100/+300 because I set a reasonable goal, not a flaming limbo bar to go under.

Achrya

I try to stay -100/+300 because I set a reasonable goal, not a flaming limbo bar to go under.

I like you and I like this visual.

joyfuljoy65

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.

Me too - I just don't get the starvation brigade at all :ohwell:

SoDamnHungry

Once...I made it all the way down to the perfect zero. Not over. Not under. Perfection.

BelleVegan77

If you eat too few calories your body really does go into starvation mode and lock down. I know it sounds illogical but you have to eat to lose weight. When you excercise you burn calories and up your metabolisum. When you excercise and eat after your body is so pleased with itself that it continues to burn at that more efficent level for a longer time in general.

Just as if you do the opposite and excercise but do NOT eat after your body goes into panic mode and starts slowing down the amount of calories it uses to do that work out. Your metabolisum slows. You have to think of your body as a being with a seperate mind from your own. It has its own reasoning. It is trying to survive and is ever ready for a huge winter storm when you might need its stored fat to surive.

Look at it this way. If you have a ton of cash coming in and you have no worries about replacing something...you use it. You use as much as you want! You are just throwing stuff away! But if you suddenly find you have a new responsibilty and money won't come as freely...you are very careful where it goes, how fast, and on what.

Your body does the same thing with food.

Eatting doesn't make you fat. Eatting poorly does, empty calories, sugar, salt, artificle anything is all just junk.
If you fill your plate with healthy food, and live an active life style chances are you are going to lose weight .

Infact one of the weirdest tips I ever got LOL and I fought it. I just did NOT want to believe...was eat fat before you work out. Healthy fat mind you but FAT. Flax, was the suggested food...and it worked. I burned more calories. I felt better. I lost more weight.

I bet you are doing amazing! You must have some serious will power to resist eatting after excercise, but studies show a healthy snack is a good idea

Just my 2 cents. I am not a dietition. I am not a body builder. I work with a lot of both LOL but what I offer is hear say It just happens to have worked for me.

RockinTerri

Most days I'm within 100-200 calories over my target MFP goal, but generally am losing weight. (The last few days notwithstanding). I also do try to eat back my exercise calories, as I don't want to be in danger of going into starvation mode.

That said, it did take me a while to adjust my calories to a reasonable level for me. While I'd like to drop these 50+ pounds quickly - I don't want to ever gain any of them back. So if I'm losing 4-5 pounds per month, I'm happy.

And while it may seem odd that I usually have 100-200 calories over, I tend overestimate calories on items I don't know the exact calorie count on.

BelleVegan77

*Applause I hear that sister! LOL

norahwynn

If you eat too few calories your body really does go into starvation mode and lock down. I know it sounds illogical but you have to eat to lose weight. When you excercise you burn calories and up your metabolisum. When you excercise and eat after your body is so pleased with itself that it continues to burn at that more efficent level for a longer time in general.

Just as if you do the opposite and excercise but do NOT eat after your body goes into panic mode and starts slowing down the amount of calories it uses to do that work out. Your metabolisum slows. You have to think of your body as a being with a seperate mind from your own. It has its own reasoning. It is trying to survive and is ever ready for a huge winter storm when you might need its stored fat to surive.

Look at it this way. If you have a ton of cash coming in and you have no worries about replacing something...you use it. You use as much as you want! You are just throwing stuff away! But if you suddenly find you have a new responsibilty and money won't come as freely...you are very careful where it goes, how fast, and on what.

Your body does the same thing with food.

Eatting doesn't make you fat. Eatting poorly does, empty calories, sugar, salt, artificle anything is all just junk.
If you fill your plate with healthy food, and live an active life style chances are you are going to lose weight .

Infact one of the weirdest tips I ever got LOL and I fought it. I just did NOT want to believe...was eat fat before you work out. Healthy fat mind you but FAT. Flax, was the suggested food...and it worked. I burned more calories. I felt better. I lost more weight.

I bet you are doing amazing! You must have some serious will power to resist eatting after excercise, but studies show a healthy snack is a good idea

Just my 2 cents. I am not a dietition. I am not a body builder. I work with a lot of both LOL but what I offer is hear say It just happens to have worked for me.

Wrong.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/761810-the-starvation-mode-myth-again

AllonsYtotheTardis

I treat it like "The Price is Right" - closest without going over.