What would you do???

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bethinagain
bethinagain Posts: 282 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
MFP says that I should consume about 1,500 calories per day. My diet is so under control that after all my meals and healthy snacks I still have over 400 calories every night. Should I eat something healthy to meet the calories or is it worse to eat before bed? I always hear that you shouldn't eat before bed time and then I also hear that if you don't consume enough calories per day that you could be slowing your metabolism down and stop the weight loss or even gain weight back!

What should I do....eat the calories that I'm suppose to right before bed or go to bed under calories and risk slowing my metabolism down?

Replies

  • mvl1014
    mvl1014 Posts: 531
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    If you are consistently under by 400, just eat more often or slightly bigger snacks. An ounce of nuts goes a long way!
  • mvl1014
    mvl1014 Posts: 531
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    edit: double post
  • omid990
    omid990 Posts: 785 Member
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    i would agree with mvl1014. try putting incorporating these calories throughout the day so you're not left with a big chunk in the end.

    Add cheese to your sandwich
    have a glass of milk to breakfast
    eat peanut butter

    eating all of those calories right before you go to bed probably isn't the best idea and depending on where the calories go, it probably won't make you feel very good either.

    Best of luck
    :heart: aisha
  • lisanewe
    lisanewe Posts: 6
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    Am I wrong thinking the fewer calories you eat the more weight you lose? I'm told to lose weight and keep your metabolism up, you should eat fewer calories, but eat them in small meals more often through the day. That way your blood sugar and metabolism stay up at healthy active levels through the day.
  • gadgetgizzmo
    gadgetgizzmo Posts: 53
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    I was just in a class with my dietician at work and she actually said that it is not bad to eat a small healthy snack before bed. My mom always ate a small snack and she is skinny. The bad thing is if you eat a whole lot of calories right before bed. But if you've been exercising you should still be burning calories for a bit after you sleep.
  • tattoodfreek
    tattoodfreek Posts: 520 Member
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    I often find myself with this problem as well. I try to eat more throughout the day, starting with an apple first thing out of bed. This uses up 80 or so calories, and increases my hunger at breakfast and lunch, so I have less trouble getting my calories in throughout the day. That said, though, I still often have 100-200 calories left at the end of the day. I DO eat them, regardless of the fact that it is close to my bedtime. I try to eat something like fruit though, that will be easily burned off by my body. It has not slowed my weight loss as far as I can tell :).
  • tres1967
    tres1967 Posts: 177
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    I have found that when I post my exercise for the day it "gives" me all those calories in my food!! At that rate I wouldn't lose an ounce. That is a "flaw" in the system. After I completed all my food for the day I was over just a bit, but then I entered my exercise and went back to food and it said I had 600+ calories yet to use up. It depends on your goals. If you are 400 short on food with no exercise you are on track to lose a tad under a pound a week (500 cals a day = 1 lb a week). If you add exercise you could be up to 1000 calories a day "short" but the weight loss would be 2 pounds a week.
  • iRun4wine
    iRun4wine Posts: 5,126
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    I have found that when I post my exercise for the day it "gives" me all those calories in my food!! At that rate I wouldn't lose an ounce. That is a "flaw" in the system. After I completed all my food for the day I was over just a bit, but then I entered my exercise and went back to food and it said I had 600+ calories yet to use up. It depends on your goals. If you are 400 short on food with no exercise you are on track to lose a tad under a pound a week (500 cals a day = 1 lb a week). If you add exercise you could be up to 1000 calories a day "short" but the weight loss would be 2 pounds a week.

    It's not a flaw in the system. When you enter your information and goals, MFP calculates a deficit for you. Any exercise you do (aka calories burned) makes that deficit larger. Your daily deficit should not be higher than 500 if you want to lose weight that will stay off long term. Take a closer look at your settings and your goals page and you'll see what I mean. :flowerforyou:
  • bethinagain
    bethinagain Posts: 282 Member
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    I have found that when I post my exercise for the day it "gives" me all those calories in my food!! At that rate I wouldn't lose an ounce. That is a "flaw" in the system. After I completed all my food for the day I was over just a bit, but then I entered my exercise and went back to food and it said I had 600+ calories yet to use up. It depends on your goals. If you are 400 short on food with no exercise you are on track to lose a tad under a pound a week (500 cals a day = 1 lb a week). If you add exercise you could be up to 1000 calories a day "short" but the weight loss would be 2 pounds a week.

    It's not a flaw in the system. When you enter your information and goals, MFP calculates a deficit for you. Any exercise you do (aka calories burned) makes that deficit larger. Your daily deficit should not be higher than 500 if you want to lose weight that will stay off long term. Take a closer look at your settings and your goals page and you'll see what I mean. :flowerforyou:

    tres1967: I agree about the flaw in this system. I stopped entering my excercise. It was telling me to consume 3,300 per day!!! I do work out 3 days a week, but I feel that most of my workouts are at home. If you look at my profile you'll understand why. Carrying my babies on my hips all day long, 8 loads of laundry, sweeping, mopping, vaccuuming, climbing my stairs 20 times a day with kids in my arms, dish's, I can go on and on! I entered all that work and it told me 3,300 calories.....I don't think sooooo! I keep with my 1,200 calorie diet, it's been doing good for me so far!

    Kelynn: I have checked my settings and my goals and everything is right. What should I be looking for? I wore a body bug one day and said I burned 3,600 calories and I didn't even work out that day! That's how much I'm on my feet and running after my kids all day long. I never EVER sit down all day. Maybe it is right!
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
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    You should plan our your meals so you don't have to eat right before bed. The key to this site is planning...it works! :)
  • tres1967
    tres1967 Posts: 177
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    [/quote]

    I do work out 3 days a week, but I feel that most of my workouts are at home. If you look at my profile you'll understand why. Carrying my babies on my hips all day long, 8 loads of laundry, sweeping, mopping, vaccuuming, climbing my stairs 20 times a day with kids in my arms, dish's, I can go on and on! I wore a body bug one day and said I burned 3,600 calories and I didn't even work out that day! That's how much I'm on my feet and running after my kids all day long. I never EVER sit down all day. Maybe it is right!
    [/quote]

    Never mind my previous question (shoulda looked at the profile first LOL) WOW - and I thought having 2 boys 22 months apart was tough!!

    T
  • nolachick
    nolachick Posts: 3,278 Member
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    hmm sounds like u are up and down a lot but since u do it everyday perhaps you should change ur settings from sedentary lifestyle to active (someone like a nurse who's usually on their feet) perhaps that will up ur cals a reasonable amount.

    if not I would say go with 1200 + exercise cals (not 3000 that might be a bit much) but if u are not working out then overall I would go more in the range of 1400-1500. good luck!

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