Is it okay to go over my calorie goal if I’m trying to gain weight

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RileyHimmelright
RileyHimmelright Posts: 1 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Is it okay to go over my calorie goal if I’m trying to gain weight? I’m trying to gain weight for the gym and to be a healthy weight but should I go over my calorie and macro limits if I can or will this have a negative effect?

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,085 Member
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    It should help you gain weight faster, but if your calorie surplus is consistently very high, probably more of the gain will be body fat vs. lean tissue. In that sense, how much over, and how often - that would matter.

    I'm assuming you're strength training and getting adequate protein when I say that, and assuming that your preference would be to add lean mass, i.e. muscle.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,509 Member
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    What's your calorie goal?

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  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,508 Member
    edited November 2023
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    How are you defining your calorie goal? You should want to be slightly above maintenance calories, about 250 over is a decent amount, and getting sufficient protein and doing progressive overload lifting assuming you're seeking to gain muscle. Your maintenance calories can be estimated by an online calculator, but aren't necessarily accurate. You need to log your calorie inputs and weight change over time to get a better estimate. If you're gaining too much fat, cut back on the calories a bit for a while. If you aren't gaining fast enough, add a bit.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 9,008 Member
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    It's the same deal as somebody trying to lose weight: hitting your target calories/macro exactly every day is NOT a requirement. Some days will be over; some days will be under. It's just the way food works, it's almost impossible to be EXACTLY on target every single day. Look at your weekly totals/average instead.

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