fit it in your daily calories!?

Jessicaruby

i see this statement alot. people saying you can eat what you want as long as it fits into your daily calories. moderation is key, ect, ect. HOWEVER i dont get it. i understand you can fit, say some ice cream or a candy bar into your daily calories. but say you want a cheeseburger and fries. that is NOT going to fit into your daily calories unless you are super restrictive the rest of the day or exercises like mad so you have alot of extra calories to eat. and to me this doesnt seem normal or healthy. most people dont say, well im going to dinner tonight so i better only eat 2 eggs and a salad for breakfeast and lunch. or do they? i know this needs to be a lifestyle change so how do you incorporate the things you love into your diet?

owl92

you can fit them in your calories especially if you zigzag calories everyday. if you crave it then eat it because the scale might reward you for this. if your lifestyle change is to get healthy then dont eat it , you cant, its for life. But if your lifestyle change is to become healthier,lose some weight, then you can eat your craving once a day and fit it into calories.

maylene1853

i actually do tend to eat a very high protein low calorie breakfast and lunch so i do have leeway around dinner time to eat out or have something sweet. i do however try to eat less of that rich food, and get it healthier if i can.
for example i knew my hubby wanted to go to the indian buffet for lunch so my breakfast was a high protein smoothie and at the buffet i restricted myself to vegetable dishes, and two pieces only of the chicken tikka masala without grabbing extra sauce of it, i also ate no rice. and dinner was beefstew and white rice for the family, and i had only some of the beef chunks with a cup of broccoli and cup of carrots, again no rice.....
around 8 pm i had enough calories left to eat a handful of salt n vinegar chips for snack!

Shrinking_Moody

I don't have a problem fitting things I just want into my daily calories. I do workout a little longer to make things fit too - but I don't see it as being unhealthy since it's not an every day occurrence. On most days I still do a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner - and a couple of snacks (pretzels, peaches, apples, etc) - and if there is room and I want it I have some fro yo at night - but I'm really not someone that needs something sweet everyday. It's really just a matter of what works for you.

drusso1491

if you end up overeating your calories/macros one day just cut back the next. long term energy balance is the key so throughout the week try to reach the same weekly defeciet of calories ( or surplus depending on your goal ) and you'll still be able to go out and enjoy that dinner with friends or family and still be seeing progress.

samntha14

I refuse to deprive myself. It keeps me from binging later. Besides if I'm not enjoying life, then why would I want it to be longer. However, I'm now taking it one step further and trying to keep my goodies within my macro settings. Besides a cheeseburger isn't evil, but you may want to skip the fries. White potatoes ARE evil LOL

paulaviki

I think portion size plays a big part too, for example in the UK someone might previously have had a Burger King any gone for a bacon double cheeseburger XL with fries and a coke. Now that is something like 1500 calories so not that's not going to fit into most peoples calories, but if they are craving a Burger King they could have a cheeseburger kids meal with diet coke for just 520 calories.

I think if you crave junk food then have it, but just have a smaller portion and don't have it too often!

Jessicaruby

i know you can choose smaller portions, ect but say im going out to dinner and want a say spaghetti with meatballs and a peice of garlic toast. now i probably wouldnt be able to eat the whole meal (maybe i could now because i am so restrictive i tend to over indulge when i allow it ) but its still going to be a substantial amount of calories. and say we want wine or to share a dessert that adds even more and unless i starved all day knowing i was going out to dinner i will most likely go over. yes i could eat less the rest of the week to even it out but i dont think this seems "normal" i never did that before this site and i was fine.

tmauck4472

I do...if I know I'm going out that night I will exercise more or have less during the day so that I can enjoy my night out. Even with the night out doesn't mean I have to eat ALL of the food on my plate. Just half would give you that what you crave.

therealangd

The situation dictates what method I will use to "fit it in my daily calories"

Right now it's camping season and I eat and drink A LOT! 3000-4000 calories per day with little to no exercise. So from Monday to Thursday I cut my calories by a couple hundred to make up for it. Except for one week a few weeks ago, I have been consistently losing. But only .5 lb here and there. My goal is to not gain this summer.

The other situation is that if I have a craving for something, I'll wait until a day that it's a heavy workout day or my long run days. My long runs can be up to half marathon distance, so easily 1300 calories. I eat whatever the hell I want on those days.

But I know that on the other days I have to buckle down.

You have to have a plan.

PayneAS

Instead of looking at daily intake I look at it weekly. So yes, I can restrict calories a little here and there throughout the week without feeling hungry/deprived to have room for splurges.

Your cheeseburger & fries example... no one said you had to eat the whole cheeseburger. If I go out and eat and that is what I choose, I'll cut it in half, take the rest home for lunch the following day. I do avoid the fries though. They just aren't worth it to me. I order brown rice or steamed vegetables as a side instead.

My mother in law comes over once a week and she likes to eat out. So every week I have to do this.

wohwy

It's funny that I ate a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese earlier and I came across your post. Anyway, I agree with owl92 and PayneAS. I look more into my weekly calorie total than my daily total. For instance, I pretty much allotted calories for the quarter pounder (that I've been craving for over week already) when I did my circuit training last night.

For me it's more of a lifestyle change than a highly restrictive diet of eliminating certain foods. I eat what I want as long as it fits into my weekly goal. Otherwise, I'd be miserable if I didn't appease some of my cravings as I found out with my short stint on some fad diets.

vim_n_vigor

Well, I look at my calories for the week, not one day. Even still, if I go over my calories one day (yesterday for example), I am still under maintenance. I was over by 200+ yesterday, but my deficit was still 600. So, I won't magically turn into a pumpkin today because I was over yesterday, and I enjoyed the potato chips, sorbet, and macaroni and cheese. I even had a loss today. Now I am eating my eggs and oatmeal like normal today.

stefanieceleste0530

most people dont say, well im going to dinner tonight so i better only eat 2 eggs and a salad for breakfeast and lunch. or do they?

Actually....YES....this is exactly what I do. Plus I will add a good cardio workout into the day, if i can. I'm not going to do this every day, but if I want to have something that's going to be a little bit out of the normal, I plan for it. Last night we got Chinese take out, so I adjusted my breakfast and my lunch to account for it - and,as it turned out, I still had calories left at the end of the day (and I didn't even get to add a workout because of the time crunch for the day).

I can't say it enough - this is a change I'm planning to stick to - if I don't let myself enjoy life and enjoy the foods that I like, I'm not going to be able to stick with it, so i'm finding ways to make the things I like fit into my life. But, everyone is different - just because it works for me, doesn't mean it will work for everyone.

Good luck!

ATOLLIT

I don't actually eat that much for a usual breakfast or lunch anyway - some cereal and a cup of tea, then a sandwich and an apple. Which usually leaves me around 900 calories for dinner, so there's not much I can't fit into there. And if I want more than that, I'll do some exercise to earn it.

If I couldn't earn extra calories by exercise and cut down on what I eat for other meals to make up for it, I would never be able to stick to losing weight because I crave "naughty" foods just too often for that.

GetFitE

I give myself one day a week where I don't worry about logging my calories. I try to save all my cravings for that day and eat clean 6 days a week. Weight training consistently has helped me to not gain weight back when I do go off a little.

I don't necessairly agree with eating back exercise calories-I feel like you're just canceling each other out, so I eat a certain amount of calories each day whether I workout or not.

But with adjusting my diet (as in the things that I eat to live) to eating cleaner: fresh produce, whole grains, and lean protein, I find myself feeling better at the end of the day and prefer it over the stuff I eat on "cheat days".

TammyW18

Reward ur self, go over....one day wont hurt u....many times I have done this and the scale reflected a loss the next day...

Articeluvsmemphis

for me, i can "fit" what i want by exercise(eating exercise calories), or i have what i want in a smaller version. something to that effect

invisibubble

If you're careful you can fit a cheeseburger and fries into your daily macros. If not, who cares? Like everyone else says, one day ain't a killer. Does depend what your calorie and macronutrient goals are though. If they're really low, you're screwed as soon as you take a friggin' bite. :laugh:

Bobby_Clerici

Here's the deal.
For mere weight loss, eat whatever but create a deficit.
For optimal health, clean eating is best.
And that's lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies.
Simple.
I eat clean 75% of the time. That's as good as it gets.
Life is to be lived :drinker:

LorinaLynn

It depends on your daily calorie goal. I'm usually around 2000 a day after exercise, and I pretty much always budget about 1000 calories for dinner and an evening snack. So a cheeseburger and fries or half a pizza or pretty much anything else is going to fit.