When to stop eating

keengkong

How close should I be to my daily calorie goal before stopping? Sometimes my desire to have almost no deficit has led me to eat another which food which then causes me to exceed my goal.

Adrenaline_Queen

Have you tried eating different things??? I do know what you mean though... xx

MikeInAZ

Try not to go over by more than 50-100 calories. If you feel like you need to eat more, than go out and get some exercise for 20 minutes. I try to get close without going over, but don't worry if I do a little bit. There is no real answer to your question unfortunately.

It's more about your activity during the day than the food!

- Mike

yeabby

Going over your goal, by a few calories, isn't terrible. Going over by hundreds daily can be. The goal calories is your target in my opinion get as close to it as possible. If that means you go over by 20 no big deal. If you're set at 1lb/week loss, MFP gives you a 500 calorie deficit daily. If you're way under goal daily you probably aren't getting the nutrients your body needs and you won't lose weight as fast as you'd like.

Jakerbaker

I am not too sure what the "correct" answer is... I too try keep my intake as close to the daily goal . However, I do know from personal experience that I sometimes come to the end of the day for me and I still have calories left over and I am not even hungry. Typically, if it is like 80 cals or less and I truly am not hungry... I just decide to not stress out about it and close out for the day. I have lost 28 lbs so far since last May

Hopefully that was helpful?

licensing_princess

At the end of the day, if I haven't eaten enough, I usually make a flavored protein shake. That helps me a lot.

kelsully

I am pretty happy within a 100 either way although I do have to admit that 100 over makes a little itchy while a 100 under does not have that same effect. I figure that I am really good at logging every stinking thing that goes in my mouth but I do some estimations so I figure that 100-150 calorie pad protects me a bit from incorrect estimations....when I am more than 100-150 under I eat more...well usually.

How is that for an exact answer?

mark03264

If I am within about 150 calories under I'm happy. I'm usually within 100 under. If I'm within 50-100 over I don't worry about it.

How far are you going over? If you have MFP set up to lose 1 pound per week, the recommended level, than the calorie deficit built in is 500. That said, as long as you are not over your goal by as much as 500 calories you will still be below maintenance level and won't gain because of it.

misterscott

Having a deficit is really fine - if you're not actually hungry, don't eat.