Remaining calories

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sureshchidrewar
sureshchidrewar Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys can anyone help me understand what does the remaining calories mean at the end of the day? Is it good or bad?

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  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,086 Member
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    MFP has given you a goal for weight loss. The importance of eating them all depends on: how low the daily calorie allowance is and how quickly you have asked to lose weight (3 lb week, half lb week, etc). The general rule of thumb is to eat all the calories you are allotted. You earn “back” more calories when you exercise because the goal is to NET at the end of the day a specific amount for body function.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,930 Member
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    sureshchidrewar wrote: »
    Hey guys can anyone help me understand what does the remaining calories mean at the end of the day? Is it good or bad?

    Can be either one.

    If your logging, exercise calorie estimates, and your calorie needs estimate are quite accurate, leaving calories remaining will tend to make you lose weight faster.

    That's not always a good thing. Losing too fast increases he.alth risks, can result in fatigue that subtly leads to lower calorie burn from daily life stuff, may tank energy level, can result in unnecessarily much loss of lean mass (like muscles) alongside fat loss, may limit ability to get adequate nutrition, can trigger deprivation-related overeating or even giving up altogether.

    If you are shooting for an aggressive weight loss rate to start with (like more than 0.5 percent of your current weight per week), then leaving lots of calories remaining, you're seriously flirting with bad consequences. Is it guaranteed that bad things will happen? No, but you'd be increasing those risks.

    If you're shooting for slow loss, and leaving a few calories remaining, probably not a big deal to lose a little faster.

    In between those extremes: Depends on your personal risk tolerance. I'd argue for moderate-pace loss, personally.

    What matters, though, is your actual loss rate (averaged over 4-6 weeks, whole menstrual periods if that applies to you). Before you get that personal experiential multi-week data, it's all estimates.

    Best wishes!

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