Is it good or bad to be under your weekly calories?

georgia98_98

Just wondering if it's good or bad to b under your weekly calories? This week I am 538 net calories under my weekly goal... I just didn't wanna stall out.. ANYONE know? I try to eat my excrise cal. back but somedays that is hard enough... thanks...

mybeach27

I am usually about 300 calories under my goal every day, and it tells me that's bad but I haven't noticed any bad results but try to no go to far under because your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down

Bikini27

I have the same issue most days, posted about it, and all the feed back is that so long as you feel full and your body is happy with the cals you're providing it, you should be fine. And, that's what cheat days are for

But, I function without a HRM to tell me what *my* body is doing and I have heard many people say that the calories burned in various excercises on MFP are a bit high. So, if you are in doubt, maybe invest in a HRM. I have also heard that the Polar line is the most reliable.

:flowerforyou:

MaximalLife

It's best to be right on target.
The real question is this.
Are you reaching your goals doing what you are doing?

Sometimes we find our own zone in strange ways.

MikeG2

I've found that the key to this whole thing is to re-define what "being full" feels like, to your brain. Secondly, if you have mastered this, then the calorie count should only be a confirmation of what you are learning.

I sometimes have a more active day than usual and can feel that I need a little more food. Strangely though, if I have a huge workout, there is no way I can eat the calories I've expended.

Another key I think is that you need to be true to yourself, and trying to fool yourself by not entering some items to get a good "number' is just no going to help you, because the weight will be the true result of all of it anyway.

georgia98_98

It's best to be right on target.
The real question is this.
Are you reaching your goals doing what you are doing?

Sometimes we find our own zone in strange ways.

I have been on this rd. for 3 months & all but the last two weeks I have been losing 1.5 to 2 pds. a week.. The last two weeks has been 2.4pds a week.. I like that number better, BUT I don't wanna stall either.. Thank you!

georgia98_98

I am usually about 300 calories under my goal every day, and it tells me that's bad but I haven't noticed any bad results but try to no go to far under because your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down

I try not to worry about my daily unless I am under 1200 cal.. But my weekly has been under the last two weeks!! Great lose numbers, but I don't wanna stall either..

snkoyle15

where on here does it have your weekly calorie goal? all i can find is individual days. but it sounds like there is somewhere that tells you what your week should be like with the exercise but i cant find anything like that. am i looking in the wrong place or is there not one?

georgia98_98

where on here does it have your weekly calorie goal? all i can find is individual days. but it sounds like there is somewhere that tells you what your week should be like with the exercise but i cant find anything like that. am i looking in the wrong place or is there not one?

I found it on my smartphone app... IDK if it's on the website...

mjok31

U can figure it out on website by adding your remaining calories for each day of a mfp week....monday thru sunday.

Troy67

Since April I had been exercising a ton and was constantly negative on net calories. Most of those days I was usually somewhere between 800 and 1200 actual calories. We are talking 2,000-3,000 neagtive on the net calories. I was losing 2 - 2 1/2 pounds per week and having no trouble.
However.......recently I got to within 3 pounds of my ultimate goal of 168 pounds (I was 336 at my heaviest and wanted to lose half my body weight) and started getting really irritable, mood swings, shakes, insomnia, etc. Just basically felt crappy. Thought I was going to have to seek psychiatric care. lol
Posted a topic about anger and received an answer from helloitsdan (MFP user name) that really made a lot of sense. The whole time I was losing, I got away with those low cals and low carbs because as my body was burning fat it was turning it into Seretonin. This kept my mood up, etc. When I got down to my 171, I had basically depleted my fat reserves. This cause my Seretonin levels to drop way low which caused all of the symptoms.
He helped me tweek my macro settings, raise the amounts of carbs, cals, protein I should be eating. I now try to eat somewhere between 1600-2000 calories actual food each day and have started the stronglifts 5 x 5 weight-lifting pland to build lean muscle mass and have went to mostly low intensity cardio instead of the crazy burns I used to get.
I have felt great since I made this latest adjustment. I have maintained my weight and have actually noticed some toning up of my sides, abdomen, etc. I am raising my goal up to the 171, since my body feels comfortable there and I know that as I build more mass and tone up I might actually put on a little weight, but that is fine. I am so over the BMI scale. I am just going to go by body fat %. I mean I can wear a medium shirt and 34 pants now, but the stupid BMI says I am overweight. Heck with that.
I guess I have rambled long enough. Try the various approaches to net cals, eating back cals, etc and just keep what works for you. Just remember my story where it might be great for months or even years, but one day you might have to switch it up when something unexpected happens. Good luck with your efforts.
Troy

getalife9353

Keep in mind almost everything on this site is an estimate. The BMR that MFP calculates is just that a calculation. MFP doesn’t really know how much of your weight is from muscle, fat, bone, water, etc. When you enter your activity level, you are estimating it. When you enter the calories expanded on exercise it is just an estimate, even if you use a HR monitor.

You may not really have as large of a deficit as you think. If your goal is to loss 1 lb per week and that is what you are losing then you’re good. If you're losing more than your goal then you could consume a few more calories daily or weekly if that is how you chose to track them. Just don’t get carried away with trying to lose weight too quickly.