what do u do?

Jessicaruby

i was just wondering what others do when eating calories? do you try to get to zero calories left, as close to ur target calories as possible or do you leave alot of extra calories at the end of the day?

kassied09

I usually have about 1000 calories left, but I work out quite a bit.

lawoods

I go for zero left. If I exercise most days I eat back what I worked off.

cdstadt

There are a ton of threads devoted to this already but I don't blame you for making a new one. The format of this forum isn't very user friendly.

But there is a lot of "debate" over whether or not to eat calories. As far as I've seen, the consensus is that you should try and get to zero because MFP already created a healthy weight loss deficit FOR you. Not positive on this, but NOT eating these workout calories could result in muscle loss, especially if you don't have a lot to lose.

I leave anywhere from 100 to even 500 calories left per day just because I don't have a heart rate monitor and can't really be sure my exercise machine is correct on the calories I've burned.

jessicajoy87

Depends on how I am feeling. Some days I eat pretty close to my goal, some days I eat a few hundred calories less and some days I go over a couple hundred. Listen to your body. It will tell you when it needs fuel, but don't mistake it for thirst or boredom or snacking.

BrewerGeorge

I have a 900 Cal deficit built in, so I don't stress if I'm plus or minus about 100 Cal. I tend to eat back about half of my exercise Cals.

wolfchild59

I very, very rarely go back to zero for two reasons:

1. You have to take into account the calories your body still would have burned whether you worked out or not since those are already factored into your daily calories.
2. Margin of error. Despite my best efforts to weight everything I can, check the package info vs. any MFP entry, etc. etc. etc. I know that not everything can ever be logged 100% perfectly so rather than eat back to exactly zero, I like to leave that buffer of safety since I'm only working on a 500 calorie deficit.

ukgirly01

I'm allowed 1280 cals a day I make sure I always eat those and sometimes eat the extra exercise ones but not often

ukgirly01

I'm allowed 1280 cals a day I make sure I always eat those and sometimes eat the extra exercise ones but not often

_Ben

I eat what I am hungry for normally

jellybaby84

6 days a week I eat between 900 and 995 (so I leave 205-300) and burn between about 200 and 850 in exercise. So I tend to net between 200 and 700.

1 day a week I eat between 1400-1800 burn around 850 to try and net about 550-1000.

kyle4jem

MFP has set me a target of 1320kc which is around a 1000kc deficit on BMR. I try and keep to around 1200kc consumed from food/drink. I don't freak if I'm under or over by ±200kc. I think it's good to jazz things up a bit and not get too much into a set routine. :happy:

I usually also try and do about 15mins moderate exercise a day (cycling or walking usually) but rarely eat back all of my exercise Cals and at the weekend I always try and do more exercise, becasue I like to enjoy a few jars in the pub and those are my drinking Calories :drinker:

Jessicaruby

6 days a week I eat between 900 and 995 (so I leave 205-300) and burn between about 200 and 850 in exercise. So I tend to net between 200 and 700.

1 day a week I eat between 1400-1800 burn around 850 to try and net about 550-1000.

u only net between 200 and 1000 clalories a day? that seems low

tigersword

That is low, dangerously low, actually. Keep that up for a few months and you lose muscle mass and kill your metabolism. Eat to your goal. Eat your exercise calories. I've lost 40 pounds netting between 1800-2200 calories a day.

Enforcer25

I don't plan to eat them back or not eat them back, most days I don't, but some days I do and I don't worry about it, I agree with the other posters, I thought you weren't suppose to go below 1200.

tigersword

For a male, you aren't supposed to go below 1800. 1200 is the minimum for a female.

TavistockToad

6 days a week I eat between 900 and 995 (so I leave 205-300) and burn between about 200 and 850 in exercise. So I tend to net between 200 and 700.

1 day a week I eat between 1400-1800 burn around 850 to try and net about 550-1000.

that is a very low amount to net. you will make ur body burn muscle and not fat if you're not fuelling it properly.

BrewerGeorge

For maintenance, maybe. I'm running 1710 right now by MFP recommendation.

cardbucfan

I very, very rarely go back to zero for two reasons:

1. You have to take into account the calories your body still would have burned whether you worked out or not since those are already factored into your daily calories.
2. Margin of error. Despite my best efforts to weight everything I can, check the package info vs. any MFP entry, etc. etc. etc. I know that not everything can ever be logged 100% perfectly so rather than eat back to exactly zero, I like to leave that buffer of safety since I'm only working on a 500 calorie deficit.

I do this too. I'm at a 250 calorie deficit so I eat most of my exercise calories but try and leave a 150-200 cushion. Some days it's more, some less.