Every last calorie

glasshalffull713

I've been seeing that a lot of people on here seem to overestimate food and underestimate exercise calories. I want to start doing this because I am not seeing the progress I would like. I have a lot of trouble mentally though, because I love eating and I want to eat every last calorie I am allowed even if I am not hungry. I don't know where this deprivation mentality is coming from, or if it's even deprivation, but just curious if anyone can share tips on how to avoid this behavior.

Kegha

Actually it is that people think they eat less than they really do and burn more calories than they actually did. I do not know what is you weight loss goal. big, small, etc or what is the amount of calories you consume. But if you are not loosing weight you might want to exercise a little more to see if it helps, I wont tell you to reduce your calories since I dont have a clue what your amount is.

As far as having to eat the total amount of calories, try to set your plate and leave a little untouched, just a bit so you get use to that feeling and be made to realise that you dont have to eat it all.

If you think that having to eat every single calories is a big problem you could consult someone so they can help you deal with this issue.

cwolfman13

why not just be as accurate as possible with both? Ultimately that is going to be the key to being able to rock your fitness and eat appropriately to fuel your body and your activity.

I never went out of my way to try to overestimate this or that and underestimate this or that...I was just as accurate as I possibly could be with everything and I pretty easily dropped 40 Lbs.

Being as accurate as possible involves weighing most things and measuring everything else. In RE to calorie burn you're going to have to do a bit more than just rely on this or some other database or counter. You're going to have to do a bit of self study and research on calorie burn for given activities...you will ultimately find that we just don't burn as many calories with exercise, etc as we think we do.

Beyond the above you're just going to have to use some common sense...which happens to not be all that common.

SLLRunner

I've been seeing that a lot of people on here seem to overestimate food and underestimate exercise calories. I want to start doing this because I am not seeing the progress I would like. I have a lot of trouble mentally though, because I love eating and I want to eat every last calorie I am allowed even if I am not hungry. I don't know where this deprivation mentality is coming from, or if it's even deprivation, but just curious if anyone can share tips on how to avoid this behavior.

No, the general consensus is to strive for accurate logging of calories in and calories out. If you are not losing weight, you need to make sure you are weighing your solids and measuring your liquids, using correct food entries, logging all food, logging exercise calories, and eating back a portion of your exercise calories. Finally, you ensure that you stay within your calorie goals each week, which might mean some days you eat more and other days you eat less. It's totally up to you how you portion your weekly calories.

That's how you get results.

glasshalffull713

Thanks for the input guys. I actually am measuring and tracking all my food pretty accurately. I am not going to lie and say I am perfect, but I am confident that I am within 100. I exercise 5-6 days a week and log all that too. What I meant in my post is that I have read that when people log, they might log their portion as being a little MORE calories than it actually is to make room for error, or logging a few less exercise minutes that they actually did because they believe MFP overestimates calorie burn. But none of that is what I am actually looking to fix.

I am actually interested in changing my mentality. On days when I don't exercise, it is telling me to eat 1370 to reach a 500 cal. deficit. Well, I am always eating right up to 1370-1400. I don't really like eating that little, so that motivates me to exercise more, which is awesome. But even on those exercise days, say if I add an extra 300 calories, now MFP tells me I can eat 1670. Well I think it would be fine if I ate 1500 or 1600 rather than the full 1670, because there will likely be a day when I mess up or eat more than 1370 for whatever reason or measure wrong, or eat something that is hard to accurately track. My issue is that mentally, I find it very challenging NOT to keep eating up to that 1670 (or whatever the number is for that day). It is hard for me to let that go because I love eating! Just wondering if anyone can share techniques or tricks or self talk to get out of this habit

gelar93

Well not that I think this mindset is healthy, but as long as your within your calorie range, why does it matter if you use it all? If you have chosen the right amount of calories to consume daily, you will lose weight regardless

glasshalffull713

As far as having to eat the total amount of calories, try to set your plate and leave a little untouched, just a bit so you get use to that feeling and be made to realise that you dont have to eat it all.

^^^that's a good idea. i used to do this. this is exactly the type of tip I was looking for. thanks!

glasshalffull713

Well not that I think this mindset is healthy, but as long as your within your calorie range, why does it matter if you use it all? If you have chosen the right amount of calories to consume daily, you will lose weight regardless

That's true, but I think I want to lose the mentality. It kind of feels like addiction or compulsion or something.

glasshalffull713

Being as accurate as possible involves weighing most things and measuring everything else. In RE to calorie burn you're going to have to do a bit more than just rely on this or some other database or counter. You're going to have to do a bit of self study and research on calorie burn for given activities...you will ultimately find that we just don't burn as many calories with exercise, etc as we think we do.

Can you elaborate on how to do this self study and find out actual calorie burn? Or direct me to a thread or site that explains it?

That is exactly why I was just thinking I would log that I exercise a bit less than I really did, because I log pretty accurately and am not losing at the rate that I am supposed to so I think maybe MFP is overestimating my exercise calories. Is that a bad plan?

MaggieLoo79

As far as having to eat the total amount of calories, try to set your plate and leave a little untouched, just a bit so you get use to that feeling and be made to realize that you don't have to eat it all.

I read somewhere (but can't find it) that this was Jackie Kennedy Onasis' way of maintaining her figure. She said something like, eat everything on your plate, but only eat half of it.

I also read the success story of a woman in a magazine, and her advice was similar. I try to follow that whenever I'm at a restaurant.

At home, I've made a "rule" to eat all the veggies on my plate before I can have the protein.

MaggieLoo79

That is exactly why I was just thinking I would log that I exercise a bit less than I really did, because I log pretty accurately and am not losing at the rate that I am supposed to so I think maybe MFP is overestimating my exercise calories. Is that a bad plan?

I log my exercise minutes accurately, but I know that MFP over estimates the calorie burn. IF I eat back my exercise calories, I only eat back half of them. That has worked for me.

You'd need a heart rate monitor to find out your accurate calories burned. I think a lot of people use a fit bit.

JesterMFP

Well not that I think this mindset is healthy, but as long as your within your calorie range, why does it matter if you use it all? If you have chosen the right amount of calories to consume daily, you will lose weight regardless

That's true, but I think I want to lose the mentality. It kind of feels like addiction or compulsion or something.

That deprivation mentality is actually pretty common in people who are dieting or restricting their intake in any way.