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

RileyHimmelright

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?

AnnPT77

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

What's your calorie goal?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Retroguy2000

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

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.