calories left over

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dawn66
dawn66 Posts: 166
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a question, if someone could help me out. It is almost 9pm and I still have 168 calories left for the day. Is it a big deal if I eat less than the recommended calories for the day? :huh: :huh:

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  • dawn66
    dawn66 Posts: 166
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    I have a question, if someone could help me out. It is almost 9pm and I still have 168 calories left for the day. Is it a big deal if I eat less than the recommended calories for the day? :huh: :huh:
  • brunion
    brunion Posts: 60 Member
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    no its a good thing good luck
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    Are you trying to lose body fat? If so, you should be eating 500 calories less than you burnt today. If you are trying to maintain, you should eat the same amount of calories you burnt. Also, it doesn't matter at what time of day you eat. You will not gain fat unless you have eaten an excess of calories.:smile:
  • dncr8707
    dncr8707 Posts: 74
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    Are you trying to lose body fat? If so, you should be eating 500 calories less than you burnt today. If you are trying to maintain, you should eat the same amount of calories you burnt. Also, it doesn't matter at what time of day you eat. You will not gain fat unless you have eaten an excess of calories.:smile:

    ok, so wait, if i need to eat lets say 1600 cal/day then i need to burn off 2100 cal? what happens on the days where you take a break from the gym? i ttake 2 days off a week. i'm probly interpreting this wrong....but just wondering......
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    Are you trying to lose body fat? If so, you should be eating 500 calories less than you burnt today. If you are trying to maintain, you should eat the same amount of calories you burnt. Also, it doesn't matter at what time of day you eat. You will not gain fat unless you have eaten an excess of calories.:smile:

    ok, so wait, if i need to eat lets say 1600 cal/day then i need to burn off 2100 cal? what happens on the days where you take a break from the gym? i ttake 2 days off a week. i'm probly interpreting this wrong....but just wondering......

    You should think of it the other way around...if you burn 2100 calories, then you need to eat 1600. It's easier to eat for what you did rather than eat as much as you like and have to 'burn it off'. On your days off, you can just eat what you average during the week. I eat 1700 cals a day every day because I almost always burn 2200 cals a day. I take one day of just cardio, and one day off entirely. I still eat 1700 calories because my body needs them to repair itsself; when you're resting, you're repairing. If you like, you can do a smaller deficit, like 300 calories. Or, if you've been in a deficit for a long time, it's a good idea to eat maintenance, or what you burnt for the day. Every 2-4 weeks I do that on my cardio day...my BMR is about 1400, and with cleaning and cardio, my calories can get up to 17-1800. So I eat that amount even though I haven't worked as hard as during the week.
  • dawn66
    dawn66 Posts: 166
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    ok, now I have just logged off for the evening,and it says that I have eaten too few calories, that I could be putting my body into starvation mode.... Now im confused again.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    ok, now I have just logged off for the evening,and it says that I have eaten too few calories, that I could be putting my body into starvation mode.... Now im confused again.

    How many calories have you eaten today?
  • erawli07
    erawli07 Posts: 6 Member
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    Thats the nice thing about this web site, it tells you exactly how many calories you can have, when you exercise it adjusts(gives you more calories that you can eat in the day) When you filled out your profile you entered in how much weight you wanted to lose. The computer then takes into account how much you weigh your height, ect and tells you how many calories you can have to lose that weight. So if you can have 1800 cal to maintain, the computer takes it down to 1300, thats what you see every day when you log in, then if you work out and burn, say 450 cal, the computer adjusts giving you 1750 cal for the day. so its very easy just log in what you eat and your exercise and it shouldnt be a problem. as for the starvation mode- if it happens every once in a while I would say BONUS:smile: Just don't let it happen too often, if your still hungry after 9pm I would suggest having a big glass of H2O and going to bed. Hope this helps
  • erawli07
    erawli07 Posts: 6 Member
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    also if click on the goals tab on your home page it explains it there on the right
  • rockymtnguy
    rockymtnguy Posts: 140
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    I don't really believe that you are burning 2100 calories a day each day, the numbers are staggering. And no it is okay to have not consumed 100 or so calories from your target intake calories.
  • cherakie67
    cherakie67 Posts: 5
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    Doesn't the program take the number of calories needed to do nothing but sit the entire day and use that as a base for the calories needed for the day? Therefore, any extra activity, like cleaning, shopping, walking, etc will be even more calories burned? Mine said I needed 1530 calories to sit all day and do nothing, and now that is the amount of calories I need for the day. So if I eat less than that and do a little exercising, I should definitely lose weight.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    I don't really believe that you are burning 2100 calories a day each day, the numbers are staggering. And no it is okay to have not consumed 100 or so calories from your target intake calories.

    Hehe...I promise you, that's not staggering. When my dad was in basic training, they ate upwards of 10,000 cals a day and didn't gain. The Marathon Man eats that too--while he's running! 2100 calories is actually very normal for someone who's fairly active during the day and works out. Don't forget that your BMR is well about 1000 calories already, and anything else you do--from sitting up to walking to the restroom--burns calories.

    Cherakie, if your BMR is 1530, and you burn 500 calories a day with activity, then 1530 is what you should eat. But if 1530 is your BMR, and you burn 700 calories a day with activity, then 1730 is what you should be eating, just as an example.
  • flachix
    flachix Posts: 256 Member
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    burning 2100 calories a day is pretty average. the 'average' person burns approx 2000 and the daily % values on everything are based on a 2000 calorie a day diet. weight trainers and others eat huge amounts of the RIGHT foods, and still lose fat. but it comes down to basic math for you.
    1#=3500 calories. if you burn 2000 average, to lose 1 pound a week you need to cut back your calories (or exercise to burn calories totalling) 500 a day. for 2 pounds a week, you need to cut back/burn 1000 a day. I am 213 pounds, I need approx 1850 cal a day sitting still. to lose 2 pounds a week with out exercising I have to omit 1000 a day from my food leaving me with just 850 a day. this is obviously not enough for a healthy diet long term. If I burn 500 a day exercising and cut my calories from 1850 to 1200 (average on a diet) then I can maintain my health and still lose the 2 pounds a week.
    the starvation mode is a basic human instinct of survival. if your body thinks it is being starved, it automatically shuts down the metabolism to burn fewer calories and that is very counter productive to what you need. there are lots of opinions of what it takes to send your body into starvation mode, but one day of being under a 1000 calories will not hurt you. but several days might. again, exercise is the key. if you eat 1200 calories, and burn 500 calories you are maintaining the necessary fuel needed for your body, as well as the necessary calorie deficit you need to lose weight. You would be surprised at just how much of the right food you can have. also, be sure to increase your water intake accordingly. well, hope you don't mind my jumping in. good luck
  • flachix
    flachix Posts: 256 Member
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    I don't really believe that you are burning 2100 calories a day each day, the numbers are staggering. And no it is okay to have not consumed 100 or so calories from your target intake calories.
    Rocky,
    if you don't believe that a person burns that many calories a day, PLEASE check with someone about your diet, you may be eating way way too few calories to remain healthy. :frown: Every fitness book, and many websites offer a chart on what you weigh, how much you burn just sitting, and body mass index, everything. in fact bodybuilding.com has a huge website that has dozens of fitness charts you can use without setting up an account or anything. Since Song didn't say she was exercising 2100 calories a day, I'm guessing a large part of that is probably her daily caloric needs.
  • rockymtnguy
    rockymtnguy Posts: 140
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    Very cool, I just was looking at my workout each day, I run the stair climber for 30 mins on level 16 and a 5 min cool down burning approx 485 calories each day, I ride a stationary bike after for 10 mins and a 3 min cool down burning another 100 calories. Exercises are performed on life fitness machines. I had not thought to take into account the calories the body burns from different foods and natural acts, minus your daily activity. However, even moving furniture each day, I don't feel that I am burning that many cals. I will do some research as suggested. Thanks for your input.
  • erawli07
    erawli07 Posts: 6 Member
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    A great web site to figure out the amount of calories you burn doing various activities is www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner, once there click on activity calorie counter, then it will ask you for your weight and duration of activity. This site is great because it gives you calories burned for everything from making your bed to running. hopes this helps all those who seem to be having questions:wink:
  • rockymtnguy
    rockymtnguy Posts: 140
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    Good looking out, I will check it out thank you.
  • dncr8707
    dncr8707 Posts: 74
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    wow ok, so not sure if i'm understanding 100% but i just got back from the gym and only burnt 200 cal on the eliptical (i did do strength stuff too)....i need 1200 cal/day so now i need to make sure to burn 1700 cal? so i need to do more at the gym then right? lol sorry for being so annoying! lol
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    wow ok, so not sure if i'm understanding 100% but i just got back from the gym and only burnt 200 cal on the eliptical (i did do strength stuff too)....i need 1200 cal/day so now i need to make sure to burn 1700 cal? so i need to do more at the gym then right? lol sorry for being so annoying! lol

    You should also find out how much you burnt during your lifting...that burns a lot of calories too. I usually lift for 60-80 minutes and end up burning about 250 cals more or less. If your BMR is 1200, and then you burnt 200 on the elliptical, and then another 100 lifting (hypothetically), that's 1500 total. However, I know your BMR is higher than 1200 because mine is 1300 and I'm shorter than you. You need to find your correct BMR first, and then add your activity to that. Just disregard any other numbers and use only your BMR and what activity you did. Then subtract the 500 from that to know what to eat.
  • erawli07
    erawli07 Posts: 6 Member
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    wow ok, so not sure if i'm understanding 100% but i just got back from the gym and only burnt 200 cal on the eliptical (i did do strength stuff too)....i need 1200 cal/day so now i need to make sure to burn 1700 cal? so i need to do more at the gym then right? lol sorry for being so annoying! lol
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    if "myfitnesspal" is telling you that you need 1200/day, thats 1200 hundred cals just to live, if you do anything on top of that your 1200 cal goes up. The great thing about "myfitnesspal" is that it will tell you how many extra cal you are going to get. for example: by burning an extra 200 cal on the eliptical ( plus whatever you burned from strength training) myfitnesspal will add 200 cal taking your total for the day to 1400 -you get to eat 1400 cals and you will still meet your weight loss goal. Just dont every go over what myfitness is telling you and you will be fine:smile:

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