Going over calorie recommendation

cola4surf

I have been dedicated to recording my calorie intake every day since the beginning. I have lost around 10 lbs since and I know I have been consuming less than I used to (I was a big snacker) . I still have difficulty, however, staying within the 1200 calorie goal. I almost always exceed 1200 by at least another 200-300 calories. I do exercise at least 4 times a week and I definitely eat back my calories.

In general I am a healthy eater. I eat fish (no meat, no poultry), salads, drink a lot of water (never soda, ever) and organic fruits. My biggest problem before beginning MFP was snacking and eating much too much bread.

So, I am wondering, if I continue to eat over my 1200 calorie allowance, will I eventual sabotage my weight loss goal?

Thank you.

kalmf

No. !!! you're addressing the main issue which is unconscious or emotional eating. You'll lose weight perhaps more slowly, but more safely and more permanently. It sounds sane.

durbanski

Truth be told that the best way to do it

bacallmarie

1200 calories is the bare minimum a woman should be eating per day is what I heard from my doctor so I don't think going over the bare minimum a little is that bad. And Ive always heard you should eat 6 times a day so a few snacks can't be too bad as long as they are healthy and not a ton of calories. Im trying to stay around 1200 but within 200 of that is great to me = )

sassydot

you'll still lose, just slower.

Go to Home-Goals and look at this bit on the right top:

Calories Burned
From Normal Daily Activity 2,180 calories/day

(that's my total, yours will differ)

You'll see what your normal daily maintenance lvel of calories is, which will see neither a loss NOR a gain - then you effectively can eat between 1200 and your maintenance level, and still have an overall defecit, albeit not the largest one possible, but still any defecit will eventually be a loss.

hope that helps.

I think MFP needs to make this range of defecit more clear.

mommyhof3

If you go to your home page and then to goals ( I think) you can reset your goals. I am not saying to do this but I was playing with it last week and when I changed to losing 1 lb a week it upped my daily calories to 1570. Saying that I would say that if you go over a little bit then it just means you will lose slower but its not a bad thing

cola4surf

Thank you for your replies. I don't mind loosing the weight more slowly at all. I did this to change my eating habits (eat less bread and more fruits and veggies) plus I needed to cut down on wine consumption. Of course, I wanted to loose the weight too and new I had to cut out the bad stuff.

I think I understand now. I know I am eating less but I was reading other peoples' posts and some comment that they have trouble eating even 1200 calories. I am trying really hard to not eat more than 1200 so I thought maybe that I wasn't eating like other people. The great thing about MFP is I am becoming more aware of my hunger. Because I am tracking my calories I don't eat if I am not hungry. That known, I am hungry enough to eat all those calories...I must have been consuming close to 3000 calories before I started MFP. I guess that is what alarmed me: most people here seem to have trouble eating the 1200 so I thought I was not the norm.

Thanks for the advice!

balance9

You are absolutely doing it right. I can never identify with people who say "I still have to eat another xx calories to get to 1200 and I'm not hungry". Wow -- seriously? I could eat that much at breakfast:drinker: I tend to feel better when I eat between 1400-1600 calories, and I have stayed at about 125 pounds for over 2 years. I eat clean, healthy food 90% of the time, and I think it would be difficult to get all of the nutrition that you need, especially as active we are, in 1200 calories a day. It's like holding your breath under water... you try to do it for as long as you can, then you come up gasping for food.

I agree with the other posters ... you will lose it more slowly, but it will stay off. And you are making changes you can live with (literally).

cola4surf

balance9- thanks! I was going to PM you but I thought I would open it up to see what others were thinking or had experienced. Your metaphor, "... gasping for food. " is perfect. It is so true. If I always felt starved I would never be able to last and this has to be a life-long change.

Slow and steady wins the race...so that's what I hear

kalmf

Somebody - and I wish I could name them and give them credit - started a thread back in January about entering a typical day's eating - before you started MFP - into the food diary just to get a sense of what you were consuming.

Most of us who did it were flabbergasted. Mine was over 4000!!! It was a real eye opener.

kwardklinck

Thank you for your replies. I don't mind loosing the weight more slowly at all. I did this to change my eating habits (eat less bread and more fruits and veggies) plus I needed to cut down on wine consumption. Of course, I wanted to loose the weight too and new I had to cut out the bad stuff.

I think I understand now. I know I am eating less but I was reading other peoples' posts and some comment that they have trouble eating even 1200 calories. I am trying really hard to not eat more than 1200 so I thought maybe that I wasn't eating like other people. The great thing about MFP is I am becoming more aware of my hunger. Because I am tracking my calories I don't eat if I am not hungry. That known, I am hungry enough to eat all those calories...I must have been consuming close to 3000 calories before I started MFP. I guess that is what alarmed me: most people here seem to have trouble eating the 1200 so I thought I was not the norm.

Thanks for the advice!

Nope it's not the norm. I eat about 1500-1600 a day but I work out 5 days a week. I'm still losing about a pound a week even though my goal is only 1/2 a pound a week.