Not hitting target calories

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Jacl01
Jacl01 Posts: 8 Member
in Getting Started
I am trying to stick with 1500 calories a day. Previously I tried 1200 and I was just so tired at the end of the day I didn't want to do anything. For last three days I have been so worried about eating over my caloric limit that by the end of the day I have anywhere from 250-400 calories left. Add in exercise (I'm choosing not to eat them back), I'm left with even more. Each of the past three days I have seen how many I have left and I proceed to snack like crazy just because I can. Is there a chance this will negatively affect my weight loss? I'm worried that if I eat less than 1200 to 1500 calories then my body will go into starvation mode. But then i'm worried that if I eat all of my 1500 calories, with a bunch eaten at night, I won't lose anything at all.

I hope this makes sense! I am finally trying to eat healthier and more consistently, versus just doing fad diets for a week here or there.
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Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    You're not going to do any damage short term, so take a few weeks to get the feel for how calories add up. Snacking at night will have no bearing on weight loss. I eat almost all my cals between 5 and 8pm and I'm losing steadily.
  • lucan07
    lucan07 Posts: 509
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    I do not worry about eating them back, eating for the sake of eating cannot be correct, you upped your calories because you were tired, now your not and you struggle to eat them. To eat for the sake of it is silly in my opinion and I eat when I am hungry if I have a surplus tough you can save them for a day you feel you need them later in the week. To me you are describing binge eating because you think you should or because you can sorry but that makes no sense what so ever on so many levels.

    I would read this and think.

    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    I do not worry about eating them back, eating for the sake of eating cannot be correct, you upped your calories because you were tired, now your not and you struggle to eat them. To eat for the sake of it is silly in my opinion and I eat when I am hungry if I have a surplus tough you can save them for a day you feel you need them later in the week. To me you are describing binge eating because you think you should or because you can sorry but that makes no sense what so ever on so many levels.

    I would read this and think.

    http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

    That's all well and good, but that can be horrible advice to give on a website full of people with poor eating habits and unhealthy relationships with food.

    If I only ate when I was hungry, I'd almost never stop eating, and I'd probably be dead by now.
  • Jacl01
    Jacl01 Posts: 8 Member
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    Thank you for the responses. I should have expanded on my post a little bit better- I don't feel that I am binge eating because I am somewhat hungry. I am just not necessary making the right food choices because I have the calories available. For example- instead of having some string cheese I chose to have a serving of some pumpkin candy things we had in the house because I had the calories available. I will continue on trying to stick with the limit I have set for myself and if there are extras at the end of the day i will only eat if I am hungry.
  • nlewis22
    nlewis22 Posts: 107 Member
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    If you're going to eat the calories back, which I always do, make sure you're fueling your body, not just eating cake because the ticker here says you can. Easier said than done, but we all come on this site to rewire our eating. The string cheese was a good approach, the pumpkin candies, maybe no so much. Keep in mind the body you want to have and think about what those people probably eat. Besides, if a complaint was feeling tired, the sugar in those sweets are just going to make you bottom out that much quicker where something with protein or complex carbs will make you keep an even blood sugar level which means a more level energy.
  • EveryGuyDiet
    EveryGuyDiet Posts: 7
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    You know how many calories you are aiming for. You have an app that will allow you to preplan everything.

    1500 calories would best be broken up like this to keep your metabolism soaring...

    350 calorie Breakfast
    250 calorie Snack
    350 calorie Lunch
    200 calorie Snack
    350 Calorie Dinner

    You can split the calories up however you like, but I have found that the more smaller meals I eat, the less likely I am to over eat and the more satisfied I am throughout the day because I know I can snack in a few hours.

    If you are getting your 8 hours of sleep... You are awake for 16 hours, divide that by 5 or 6 (depending on if you want 3 snacks and 3 meals or 2 snacks and 3 meals) and you can eat roughly every 2.5-3 hours. Also be careful of the quality of your food, not just the quantity. Yes, you can lose weight eating highly processed refined sugars, but that doesn't mean you should. I am def not perfect about not eating processed foods, but I have slowly started including as many veggies and fresh meat as I can (and as much as I can afford...that stuff gets expensive).

    The worst thing I have found you can do is eat out. Even on the "healthy menus" at most places you are going to get high Sugar, Sodium, or Fat...it stinks!! They even make steamed broccoli unhealthy with sodium! That brings me to my next point...don't become a slave to the scale. It's ok to weight, but remember that depending on what you eat, you are going to have fluid retention and release. Especially if you lift weights are do lots of cardio. Your muscles will absorb a ton of water on top of the sodium you already have. Just realize, that even if you do things what seems perfect today, and the scale says different, you are looking for an average weight over time.
  • marisbowen
    marisbowen Posts: 15
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    I think I understand what your saying. At first I wasn't eating back my exercise calories because I thought the whole point was to cut back and exercise. But the end of last week and this Mon/Tues, I noticed I barely got through it and all weekend I just wanted to sleep. PLUS I actually gained 2 lbs back.

    This is what I've gathered from other threads here:

    Eat back all or atleast half of your exercise calories. Pay attention to your Net, that tells your total overall.

    Your Journal here is set already to what you need during a normal day. Mine is 1480. Thats NOT counting the jogging. That is just what my body needs to function.

    For me, I noticed that my Net total would be just under/over 1000. It was almost a wake up call, I wasn't giving my body what it needed to function on a normal day AND exercise on top of that. So my body was rebelling by the tiredness and gaining of weight.

    Last few days I upped my calorie intake, at first it was hard because my thought process was still - eat less, exercise more to lose wieght. BUT - my jogging actually felt GOOD. I had the energy, today was the actual first time I jogged a full mile without having to stop and walk for a bit.

    If your deficient in your calorie intake, than eat if your hungry. But choose healthier options. A bag of candy won't give you the nutrients you actually need since your eating under to begin with.

    Hope that helps.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    Thank you for the responses. I should have expanded on my post a little bit better- I don't feel that I am binge eating because I am somewhat hungry. I am just not necessary making the right food choices because I have the calories available. For example- instead of having some string cheese I chose to have a serving of some pumpkin candy things we had in the house because I had the calories available. I will continue on trying to stick with the limit I have set for myself and if there are extras at the end of the day i will only eat if I am hungry.

    In terms of weight loss, it does not matter if you use those last few calories to eat a caesar salad or a bag of m&ms, as long as you are within your calorie goal. I do agree with the comment somebody said about not eating just because you have to fill your calories. Save them for a day you're really craving something high in calories.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    I know how you feel. At first, I didn't want to eat back any exercise calories at all even though I was hungry, but I noticed I was a little tired when working out. Once I started eating back a portion of them back, I noticed my strength training and running improved dramatically.

    As for the snacking, you won't gain if you are within your calorie limit. You said you feel good, so if you're not hungry don't force yourself to eat. 99 percent of the time I have 100 or more exercise calories left at the end of the day because I simply am not hungry. Since I have so little left to lose, my calorie goal is 1,540 and then the exercise calories. Well, my exercise does not burn all that much I don't think, but t me 1,540 is an awful lot of calories, so sometimes I'm expected to eat 1,800 to 2,000 calories. Gosh, I try but I can't, my stomach says no.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    You're not going to do any damage short term, so take a few weeks to get the feel for how calories add up. Snacking at night will have no bearing on weight loss. I eat almost all my cals between 5 and 8pm and I'm losing steadily.

    ^ ^ That.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I am trying to stick with 1500 calories a day. Previously I tried 1200 and I was just so tired at the end of the day I didn't want to do anything. For last three days I have been so worried about eating over my caloric limit that by the end of the day I have anywhere from 250-400 calories left. Add in exercise (I'm choosing not to eat them back), I'm left with even more. Each of the past three days I have seen how many I have left and I proceed to snack like crazy just because I can. Is there a chance this will negatively affect my weight loss? I'm worried that if I eat less than 1200 to 1500 calories then my body will go into starvation mode. But then i'm worried that if I eat all of my 1500 calories, with a bunch eaten at night, I won't lose anything at all.

    I hope this makes sense! I am finally trying to eat healthier and more consistently, versus just doing fad diets for a week here or there.

    You didn't get into this position because your instincts and feelings concerning food are healthy and correct.

    So part of this process is learning to change your instincts and feelings concerning food. You clearly know intellectually that ending the day with hundreds or thousands of calories left over is not good. The next step is allowing your intellect to overcome your emotion concerning eating.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    You know how many calories you are aiming for. You have an app that will allow you to preplan everything.

    1500 calories would best be broken up like this to keep your metabolism soaring...

    350 calorie Breakfast
    250 calorie Snack
    350 calorie Lunch
    200 calorie Snack
    350 Calorie Dinner

    That's absolute total nonsense. Many small meals doesn't "keep your metabolism soaring." That's 100% nonsense broscience, and you should never say that ever again.

    The worst thing I have found you can do is eat out

    This is also absolute unproductive nonsense.
  • fcordingley
    fcordingley Posts: 25 Member
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    I found that I had to completely change what I was eating, and how I cooked it to be able to have a low calorie goal, not feel hungry or tired and to not crave things i shouldn't have too often! -Its all about finding out what works best for you.

    I find that if I eat a big breakfast I just get hungrier earlier in the day and end up wanting to eat much, much more. As I sit at a desk all day I now have a banana or egg for breakfast- relatively low in calories and then have two main meals for lunch and dinner, both with carbs and vegetables (generally with protein too but not always).

    I cook an extra portion of my dinner each night to microwave at work to have for lunch the next day so that I am not constantly cooking and I make sure I weigh all the ingredients. I generally don't eat my exercise calories as it is hard to estimate correctly what your output is and I don't want to over eat because of it. I have upped my water intake massively since before I started to diet and will now have a cup of tea or similar when I am hungry before turning to food. This works especially well when I am at work as it can keep me going at 10.30/ 3.00 when I have a dip- just long enough to wait until lunch!

    Also- don't stress if you go over a bit one day or are under another day. It all works out in the end!

    Hope that helps!
  • judyde
    judyde Posts: 401 Member
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    I am a big fan of pre-logging what I'm going to eat. That way you know if you have too many calories left and can add some in. I find it also makes me look forward to my day. I can always change it as needed, but I start with a plan.

    If you are under calories, add in some healthy food - yogurt or nuts for example. One Greek yogurt is about 150 calories, and 1/4 c of nuts is about 170.
  • happysherri
    happysherri Posts: 1,360 Member
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    Some individuals have already gave you some good advice. I reset my goal to only lose 0.5 lbs a week and am at about 1600 calories a day and feel much better. I eat back at least half my calories on heavy workout days only because if I don't I feel like I can't push myself (I hit a wall half way through).

    As long as you don't go too low on actual calories your consuming and you try eating healthy snacks then I think you're doing just fine.
  • bajoyba
    bajoyba Posts: 1,153 Member
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    You didn't get into this position because your instincts and feelings concerning food are healthy and correct.

    So part of this process is learning to change your instincts and feelings concerning food. You clearly know intellectually that ending the day with hundreds or thousands of calories left over is not good. The next step is allowing your intellect to overcome your emotion concerning eating.

    I agree with this. I think a lot of us come into this process with emotions attached to how/what we eat and the way we view food. How did you decide that 1500 calories was right for you? Did you choose it randomly, or did you adjust your MFP goals to get that number? Have you researched your TDEE? I think it would be best to find out how many calories you body actually requires to lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way and then do that.

    It does take awhile to change your mentality toward food, but it's definitely part of the process of becoming healthier and more fit. I still enjoy eating (and I'm very good at it!), but once I started looking at food as fuel, in terms of what it can do for my body and how it can help me reach my goals, my relationship with food changed.

    So my advice is to figure out what calorie goal your body needs and work toward eating that goal. Work toward eliminating any guilt or worry you might have associated with eating an adequate amount of food. Snacking won't affect your weight loss, and neither will eating a large portion of your calories at night. As long as you're eating at a deficit, you will lose weight. I often snack, and I almost always eat a big dinner. I also always ate back most or all of my exercise calories, and it worked out just fine. :smile:
  • EveryGuyDiet
    EveryGuyDiet Posts: 7
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    Really? Seemed to work for me.
    You know how many calories you are aiming for. You have an app that will allow you to preplan everything.

    1500 calories would best be broken up like this to keep your metabolism soaring...

    350 calorie Breakfast
    250 calorie Snack
    350 calorie Lunch
    200 calorie Snack
    350 Calorie Dinner

    That's absolute total nonsense. Many small meals doesn't "keep your metabolism soaring." That's 100% nonsense broscience, and you should never say that ever again.

    The worst thing I have found you can do is eat out

    This is also absolute unproductive nonsense.
  • BuzzardMarinePumper
    BuzzardMarinePumper Posts: 42
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    I am trying to stick with 1500 calories a day. Previously I tried 1200 and I was just so tired at the end of the day I didn't want to do anything. For last three days I have been so worried about eating over my caloric limit that by the end of the day I have anywhere from 250-400 calories left. Add in exercise (I'm choosing not to eat them back), I'm left with even more. Each of the past three days I have seen how many I have left and I proceed to snack like crazy just because I can. Is there a chance this will negatively affect my weight loss? I'm worried that if I eat less than 1200 to 1500 calories then my body will go into starvation mode. But then i'm worried that if I eat all of my 1500 calories, with a bunch eaten at night, I won't lose anything at all.

    I hope this makes sense! I am finally trying to eat healthier and more consistently, versus just doing fad diets for a week here or there.

    What The Heck ! When are people going to understand that loosing fat is not about calories ! It is proper macros and proper healthy food intake ! I am loosing weigh and my goal is 3000 calories a day and I am 54 years old loosing weight is not a healthy goal your goal should be lose fat and keep lean tissue and eat enough so that you do not burn muscle in your quest to loose fat !

    Can I geyt jusy 1 AMEN ?
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Can I geyt jusy 1 AMEN ?


    No. Because losing weight IS about calories.
  • BuzzardMarinePumper
    BuzzardMarinePumper Posts: 42
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    You're not going to do any damage short term, so take a few weeks to get the feel for how calories add up. Snacking at night will have no bearing on weight loss. I eat almost all my cals between 5 and 8pm and I'm losing steadily.


    I am a new member and you are a seasoned member are you telling me that is a pic of you in your avatar and you are trying to loose weight ? Come on man you sound intellegent even more so than me it is not a game of loosing weight it is all about shrinking fat cells and healthy eating habits that target fat loose ! I am courious how many calories you eat a day I eat about 3000 and have to stuff myself to eat that much eating 7 times a day and I loose a steady 5 lbs a mth and add muscle at the same time ! Come on people change the way you have been thinking weight loose id a sickness and fat loose is a healthy life style with exercise !

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