Going over calorie recommendation

cola4surf
cola4surf Posts: 15 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
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.

Replies

  • kalmf
    kalmf Posts: 351 Member
    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
    durbanski Posts: 183 Member
    Truth be told that the best way to do it :)
  • bacallmarie
    bacallmarie Posts: 25
    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
    sassydot Posts: 141
    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
    mommyhof3 Posts: 551 Member
    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 :smile:
  • cola4surf
    cola4surf Posts: 15 Member
    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
    balance9 Posts: 160
    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
    cola4surf Posts: 15 Member
    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 :wink:
  • kalmf
    kalmf Posts: 351 Member
    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
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
    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.
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