whats better, to be a little over or under the net calories?

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usasoccerbabe38
usasoccerbabe38 Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi so I understand that i should be eating back the calories i gain by exercising, and i should be eating at least 1200 net calories afterwards. Now it is hard to reach that exact number , so my question is is it better to be a little under my calorie goal, or is it better to be a little over? and if i can go under how much can i go without it being bad for my body?

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  • sjkcarter
    sjkcarter Posts: 417 Member
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    I would like to know that answer as well.
  • littlebethann
    littlebethann Posts: 6
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    Seems like it makes more sense to be a little over. Especially if you take into account the incidental "exercise" you do throughout the day that you probably don't even track like walking up and down stairs with baskets of laundry, children, groceries, etc.; walking to your car; cleaning bathrooms; etc. I don't know how much over is o.k. though.
  • Nomomush
    Nomomush Posts: 582 Member
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    Eating back your calories is an excuse to eat...that's what my trainer and nutritionist tells me. Fuel your body the right way and you will have all the energy you need from the clean foods.
  • Dahlface13
    Dahlface13 Posts: 65 Member
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    I don't know the official answer but I know I got stuck at the same weight one week when I was staying a bit under a 1200 calorie goal several days and exercising regularly. The next week I made a conscious effort to always be at least 1200 net and was always a little over and magically lost 3 lbs. Just some anecdotal evidence to consider :-)
  • RaeN81
    RaeN81 Posts: 534 Member
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    It depends. If you have your weekly goal set to more than a pound a week then going over is preferable. If you have it set to half a pound a week or less, a little under would be better. This is because the caloric deficit is lower when you are attempting to lose less weight and you'll not want to eat into this deficit. Also, the less that you have to lose (or the closer to goal) the more likely you'll want to stay slightly under your calorie goal.
  • Morglem
    Morglem Posts: 377 Member
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    I have a 1200 cal daily goal too. Lets say I earned 500 for exercising. That gives me 1700 cal for the day. I'm trying not to go over 1300-1400 anyways, because I don't now how accurate that number is (500 earned) and because usually i'm satisfied having the 1300-1400 cal. That's just the way I'm doing, but I'm new here. Feel free to add me. :)

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