What if i can't eat all my calories?

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JsGordita
JsGordita Posts: 70
in Fitness and Exercise
Sorry ahead of time if this has already been asked........I know your supposed to eat as close to your net calories as you can but what if i just don't feel like it that day, if i eat as many meals as i am supposed to but still haven't met my net calories is it ok, i can't imagine i am supposed to make myself eat more when i don't feel like it. I only ask because there are some days where i work out more than others and i burn more calories than usual but i just don't feel like eating them all. I went on the March Of dimes walk with a friend a few weeks ago and from the walk we burned like 800 calories and i still had a lot of calories left at the end of the day. Like 1x a week i have a day like this and i just don't know if i should make myself eat them all or just eat as much as i feel full with. Anyone have any advice?

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  • hwhittle
    hwhittle Posts: 8
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    dont look at your calories by the day, look at them by the week..everyone will have a day once in a while where they go over then may go under...if you are way under more than one or two days a week, try and drink some calories. chose a healthy drink, juice, milk or even a protien shake to keep your system in check. The biggest thing is dont stress :) that causes more of a system upset than needed. Good luck with your journey.
  • Thinwithin2010
    Thinwithin2010 Posts: 166 Member
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    IF YOU DON'T EAT THE CALORIES IT WILL CAUSE YOUR METABOLISM TO SLOW.. iT SOUNDS STRANGE BUT YOU MUST EAT TO LOSE.. LOL iF IT IS TO MUCH FOOD TRY MAKING SOME OF YOUR CHOICES HIGHER IN CALORIES.. THIS WOULD HELP.. SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS.. NOT SHOUTING.. GOOD LUCK!
  • red01angel
    red01angel Posts: 806 Member
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    IF YOU DON'T EAT THE CALORIES IT WILL CAUSE YOUR METABOLISM TO SLOW.. iT SOUNDS STRANGE BUT YOU MUST EAT TO LOSE.. LOL iF IT IS TO MUCH FOOD TRY MAKING SOME OF YOUR CHOICES HIGHER IN CALORIES.. THIS WOULD HELP.. SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS.. NOT SHOUTING.. GOOD LUCK!


    If you're consistently undereating, this is true...but a few days here and there are just par for the course. It's impossible to meet your numbers exactly every single day, and it's not a good idea to force yourself to eat if you're not hungry.

    BUT if you're really concerned, have a handful of almonds, some toast with peanut butter on it or something else that's nutritious and calorie dense. :)
  • lilchino4af
    lilchino4af Posts: 1,292 Member
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    I agree with red01angel; going under occassionally isn't going to hurt you. Take last week for me as an example; I had two days where I was just so hungry and overate by 500 calories each day. The third day, I just wasn't hungry and even after exercising I had 800 calories left. And because I wasn't hungry, I didn't force myself to eat. The outcome? Over those three days I only went over by 200 calories. It all comes out in the wash. Just listen to you body; if it's not hungry, don't force feed it because you can make yourself sick (I speak from experience on this one - it was NOT fun). But don't do it too often, or you will slow your metabolism by making your body think it's starving. Hope this helps!
  • lyndsloo
    lyndsloo Posts: 242
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    I agree with what hwittle said. You can calculate what you're supposed to eat on a weekly basis and then try to mix up your caloric intake on a daily basis. As long as you are near your weekly net calories, you will be fine. A day or two is nothing to worry about. Also, I feel like MFP is very generous with the calories burned from exercise so you may actually be closer to your daily allowance than you think. I am always a little under, just in case.

    Use this to help you...this may seem complicated, but I PROMISE it will make a HUGE difference. It has really answered a lot of my questions on why I should/should not eat something.

    Here is a formula you can use to calculate your weekly calorie allowance:

    First figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate using this formula:

    665 + (4.3 x body weight in lbs) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years) = Find the solution and keep in handy for the next part.

    Then, figure out your daily activity level. Determine your score by which of the following descriptions best fits you.

    A. Sedentary Physical Activity Level (desk job) - 1.1

    B. Light Physical Activity Level(stay-at-home mothers, doctors, salespeople) - 1.2

    C. Moderate Physical Activity Level (gardener, mail carrier) - 1.3

    D. High Physical Activity Level (construction worker, mover, farmer) - 1.4

    Then, lastly, calculate how many calories you burn during any exercise session on an average day. Then, use ALL of the infomation collected to calcuate your daily Active Metabolic Rate.


    BMR x Daily Activity Score + Calories burned from exercise = Active Metabolic Rate


    Here is mine: 655 + (4.3 x 229 = 984.7) + (4.7 x 300.8) - (4.7 x 23 = 108.1)

    655 + 984.7 +300.8 - 108.1 = 1832.4 is my Basal Metabolic Rate

    Daily Activity Score is 1.2

    Exercise Expenditure: 400

    My Active Metabolic Rate allowance is: 1832.4 x 1.2 + 400 = 2598.88

    Multiply your Active Metabolic Rate by 7 (7 days in a week) and get your WEEKLY AMR. Then, LASTLY, subtract 3500 per pound you want to lose from your weekly AMR.

    My weekly AMR is 2598.88 x 7 = 18192.16

    My goal is to lose 2lbs a week so I subracted 7000 calories from my AMR to get 11192.16, which I then eat over the course of a week.
  • JsGordita
    JsGordita Posts: 70
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    Ok thanks everyone and thanks lkuste1986 for the formula.

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