Do you consume most of your calories?

sosmakeup

Hey all. Just wondering if everyone gets close to their daily caloric intake? I just joined yesterday but had over 600 calories to still consume when I completed my entry. I'm a jogger so I gained calories back from the exercise I did yesterday. I also left work late and got home late and didn't want to go to bed having just eaten, so I just had some fruit. I know better planning on my part will avoid this in the future. Should I get as close as possible to my daily calories so my body won't go in starvation mode? Help! Thoughts? Suggestions?

kathyvdh

I think that as long as you stay at least around 1200 calories per day, you shouldn't have to worry about starvation mode. If I have a really good exercise day, I don't go near the calories it says I could have. I think that is what gives me the most satisfaction from this site. I love it at the end of the day when I click to finish the day and it tells me that if every day were like today, in 5 weeks I would weigh XXX! That is what keeps me motivated.

Kathy

dragonfly183

You know, according to this calorie counter thing i can eat over 1800 calories a day since I exercise so much and still loose weight, but I never get anywhere near that. i just don't have a big appetite. yet the fat does not come off any faster .

insaneteabag

dragonfly183 wrote: »

You know, according to this calorie counter thing i can eat over 1800 calories a day since I exercise so much and still loose weight, but I never get anywhere near that. i just don't have a big appetite. yet the fat does not come off any faster .

I find this too - why is the fat not melting off quicker when I'm below my calories!
I started to wonder if maybe it was because I was actually under eating? I'm only hitting my BMR calories so I'm going to (reluctantly) try eating a bit extra for a week and see if that makes any difference. Hopefully I won't put on any weight

janejellyroll

"Starvation mode," as commonly used by dieters, is a myth. But you should try to hit your goal so that you properly fuel your body. Going too low can also cause you to lose more muscle, which I don't think any of us want.

One thing to be aware of: MFP calorie burns can be over-estimated. To counter that, many of us who eat exercise calories back only eat 50-75% of them back.

Sam_LJackson

I never do! Usually 50-200 under what MFP estimates and 400-600 under what MFP + Fitbit estimates.

I have a fitbit and it seems like it's overestimating my activity levels - like Kathy said above, as long as you're over 1200 & under what MFP is estimating you should probably still lose. I think the general consensus is that if you're entering exercise manually, MFP overestimates exercise calories, so you should only eat back half.

Sam_LJackson

* - also you should eat enough so that you don't feel like you're starving, very important!

r5d5

In regards to eating only at your BMR, yeah, in the long run that's not such a great idea...as I'm sure you know
Your lean muscle mass will decrease due to the lack of sufficient nutrients--hard to get those when you're eating only enough to exist, not moving at all--and your body fat percentage will increase. That's all that skinny fat talk. Your muscle mass lessens, but your fat stores increase, hence the higher fat.

Of course, to lose weight, you want to eat at a deficit, yes, but myfitnesspal builds that deficit for you! Regardless of your additional exercise. So I would suggest eating at the calories that put you at a reasonable enough deficit to lose weight, but not so extreme that you do damage to your body/hinder the progress you want to make.
Try eating higher calorie foods if you aren't able to eat more volume. Add peanut butter, avocados, nuts, cottage cheese...ice cream, what have you. Foods that are small but pack a calorie punch

zyxst

If I didn't eat all of my goal calories, I'd get a little stabby with people.

r5d5

zyxst wrote: »

If I didn't eat all of my goal calories, I'd get a little stabby with people.

haha same!!

Lounmoun

I eat my calories. I try to only eat half the exercise calories usually.

callsitlikeiseeit

every single one! LOL

kristydi

zyxst wrote: »

If I didn't eat all of my goal calories, I'd get a little stabby with people.

Yup.

ana3067

Nope, I don't consume most of them.... I consume all of them.

ndj1979

OP -are you using a food scale to weigh all your foods? You could be overestimating…

and i consume every single last one, or I would be a hungry pain in the *kitten*

suruda

I do consume most of my 1200 calories a day BUT I rarely eat back any exercise calories. I have occasionally if I'm hungry but if I'm not hungry, I don't.

lulucitron

Not bang on but usually pretty close.

livingleanlivingclean

kristydi wrote: »

zyxst wrote: »

If I didn't eat all of my goal calories, I'd get a little stabby with people.

Yup.

I don't understand people who don't want to eat more. Why would you not want to eat the most food you could whilst still achieving your goals?

CooCooPuff

I do TDEE and eat at least within 50 calories of my goal unless I'm trying to "bank" some cals for later.

I see no reason to avoid em'
Reevaluate your logging and estimated exercise if you aren't losing like you want to.

shadowfax_c11

I usually come in around 400 calories under what I am allowed on days when I don't work out and usually hit the number I am allowed on workout days or slightly under or over. I rarely eat back any workout calories unless it is a seminar weekend because those do require a great deal more energy than my usual work plus workout day. I have been finding that I feel pretty good eating around 17-1800 most days even though I am allowed 2400. I get a little hungry but not like I want to gnaw my arm off or anything.

Machka9

I consume most/all of my sedentary calories (1250).

And I consume some of my exercise calories. I think I've consume them all once or twice in 8 weeks. Most of the time I just consume a small portion of them.

AmyRhubarb

I'm usually about 100 on either side of goal (2000), no problem.

insaneteabag wrote: »

dragonfly183 wrote: »

You know, according to this calorie counter thing i can eat over 1800 calories a day since I exercise so much and still loose weight, but I never get anywhere near that. i just don't have a big appetite. yet the fat does not come off any faster .

I find this too - why is the fat not melting off quicker when I'm below my calories!
I started to wonder if maybe it was because I was actually under eating? I'm only hitting my BMR calories so I'm going to (reluctantly) try eating a bit extra for a week and see if that makes any difference. Hopefully I won't put on any weight

Best results I've had with fat loss has been while eating at a small calorie deficit, not a big one.

yesimpson

I definitely do. I'm greedy. Why would you not eat them?

kristydi

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

kristydi wrote: »

zyxst wrote: »

If I didn't eat all of my goal calories, I'd get a little stabby with people.

Yup.

I don't understand people who don't want to eat more. Why would you not want to eat the most food you could whilst still achieving your goals?

Exactly. I'm not in a race. I don't need to lose weight as fast as possible. I like food. I like eating food. A good half of my motivation for exercising is the extra calories. I mean yes, I want to improve my cardiovascular health and I enjoy riding the bike with my husband and kids. But also, ice cream and candy and pizza.

Need2Exerc1se

I'm not a consistent logger, but my slow rate of weight loss tells me that yes, yes I do eat most of my calories.