Anybody round up their calories? Staying in a calorie rang?

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Losingthedamnweight
Losingthedamnweight Posts: 535 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Well. Maybe that's not the right word for it. What I mean is like...my calories is 1770 a day (for now) so my main goal in my mind is "just hit the 1700's and stay there" meaning if I ate 1670 calories already and I want to eat a 120 calorie nutri grain bar, that would put me at 1790. But the way I see it is...20 calories doesn't matter a whole lot. I could probably burp and burn that many.

Does anybody else do this? Or are always under? I know some people have anxiety if they're even 1 calorie over like they just ruined their day

Replies

  • StaceyJ2008
    StaceyJ2008 Posts: 411 Member
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    I think whatever works best for you is what you should do. :)
  • odddrums
    odddrums Posts: 342 Member
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    Yes. I never really get too attached to the exact numbers because every day I burn less, and there's also no possible way for all of my food to be exactly the same amount of calories, so I figure ±100 calories each day is a good acceptable range.

    I also never weigh my food, it's all just guesses. Still lost weight so I think it works. StaceyJ is right, whatever works for you!
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    It probably depends on personality type. The more Type A you are, the more it's probably gonna bother you to see that red bar. I don't have any problem with it, personally, except when I'm way over.
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
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    It's all an estimate. From calories burned exercising to the nutritional info on labels, I recently found out are allowed to be inaccurate. Therefore I just like to be within 100 calories of my goal in either direction. I understand that as I get closer to my goal and my progress slows I will need to tighten it up.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    I hate the red bar, so when it looks like I might trigger it I don't log.
  • sybrix
    sybrix Posts: 134 Member
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    I always try to stay under, but occasionally I'll go slightly into the red. If I go more than 200 over I try to burn it off somehow. For the days that I'm over by a little I don't sweat it because I walk a lot every day just to get around (no car) but I rarely log that, I only log intentional exercise. I figure those calories would balance things out in the long run, and so far going over some days hasn't had a big negative impact. So I guess I fluctuate around my goal... I never hit it exactly.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,087 Member
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    I hate the red bar, so when it looks like I might trigger it I don't log.

    Now that's the best answer so far.
  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK0P1Bk8Cx4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
  • 1Lightstep
    1Lightstep Posts: 64 Member
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    Hello

    I think if you are aware of your food intake, that is the important serious step in weight control and if you on infrequent occasions go over then, this is not an issue. 1770 calories is a low calorie allowance to begin with anyway. A healthy diet makes for a healthy body but a life without treats would be a little grey, so if we do on infrequent occasions go over our calorie allowance, we should take it into account when planning our meals and snacks and try to balance it out for that week and move on.

    I am quite new to this website, but I have found that there are some days when I want to treat myself and some says when I can do without and the website food diary helps. I add in to the diary the treats I want to eat, before I eat them (when I can) and work the day around it, working out my meals for that day and entering them in the diary and removing or reducing items until I get the calorie result I want, and adjusting after I have eaten when needed. I round up the calories per item, so if an item was 121 calories I call it 125. I round down the exercises, so if I burned 104 calories I call it 100.

    I try to allow only little treats as I know the quality of the nutrition is more important than the calories taken in. E.g. a day of eating crisps below my calorie allowance is more harmful than a day of healthy food above my calorie allowance.

    I am also experimenting with portion sizes and finding that I can have small treats occasionally and stay within my calorie allowance. The scales is my friend and I now put my plate on the scales and add the food to the plate, which automatically tells me portion weights so I know I am not subconsciously cheating. I do this with meals and with treats that are not pre-weighed.

    I am finding that sometimes, having a taste of something and knowing that I have not taken up too many calories that could have been used for healthy food is enough for me. I add my food by gram weights in the food diary, so I can adjust my food according to the portion size. So if I cut a treat in half for example, and I know the treat is 60 grams and the half portion in 30 grams that I accurately add the amount I had. I can still have the other part of the treat later on, but when I do it will be in place of another whole treat, which I think is kind of like the dieters version of having your cake and eating it too.

    Being in the honeymoon period of the food diary I am keeping within my calorie allowance, sustaining it will be harder on some days to come but on those days, they will not do any harm as I know that a healthy lifestyle is more important than a single day or single snack as long as they remain single.

    I know that one blip makes some people feel that they have broken their diet and sends them off the rails, but it means that they are conscious of what they are eating, which is a good thing and that they are more aware for the next time. I think that as long as we keep our eye on the big healthy eating picture then a little over an allowance on infrequent occasions will do no harm.
  • Losingthedamnweight
    Losingthedamnweight Posts: 535 Member
    Options
    Hello

    I think if you are aware of your food intake, that is the important serious step in weight control and if you on infrequent occasions go over then, this is not an issue. 1770 calories is a low calorie allowance to begin with anyway. A healthy diet makes for a healthy body but a life without treats would be a little grey, so if we do on infrequent occasions go over our calorie allowance, we should take it into account when planning our meals and snacks and try to balance it out for that week and move on.

    I am quite new to this website, but I have found that there are some days when I want to treat myself and some says when I can do without and the website food diary helps. I add in to the diary the treats I want to eat, before I eat them (when I can) and work the day around it, working out my meals for that day and entering them in the diary and removing or reducing items until I get the calorie result I want, and adjusting after I have eaten when needed. I round up the calories per item, so if an item was 121 calories I call it 125. I round down the exercises, so if I burned 104 calories I call it 100.

    I try to allow only little treats as I know the quality of the nutrition is more important than the calories taken in. E.g. a day of eating crisps below my calorie allowance is more harmful than a day of healthy food above my calorie allowance.

    I am also experimenting with portion sizes and finding that I can have small treats occasionally and stay within my calorie allowance. The scales is my friend and I now put my plate on the scales and add the food to the plate, which automatically tells me portion weights so I know I am not subconsciously cheating. I do this with meals and with treats that are not pre-weighed.

    I am finding that sometimes, having a taste of something and knowing that I have not taken up too many calories that could have been used for healthy food is enough for me. I add my food by gram weights in the food diary, so I can adjust my food according to the portion size. So if I cut a treat in half for example, and I know the treat is 60 grams and the half portion in 30 grams that I accurately add the amount I had. I can still have the other part of the treat later on, but when I do it will be in place of another whole treat, which I think is kind of like the dieters version of having your cake and eating it too.

    Being in the honeymoon period of the food diary I am keeping within my calorie allowance, sustaining it will be harder on some days to come but on those days, they will not do any harm as I know that a healthy lifestyle is more important than a single day or single snack as long as they remain single.

    I know that one blip makes some people feel that they have broken their diet and sends them off the rails, but it means that they are conscious of what they are eating, which is a good thing and that they are more aware for the next time. I think that as long as we keep our eye on the big healthy eating picture then a little over an allowance on infrequent occasions will do no harm.

    That is one hell of a reply for a newbie. Welcome to fitness pal. I look forward to seeing more of you around here
  • chantalscott1
    chantalscott1 Posts: 25 Member
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    Hello

    I think if you are aware of your food intake, that is the important serious step in weight control and if you on infrequent occasions go over then, this is not an issue. 1770 calories is a low calorie allowance to begin with anyway. A healthy diet makes for a healthy body but a life without treats would be a little grey, so if we do on infrequent occasions go over our calorie allowance, we should take it into account when planning our meals and snacks and try to balance it out for that week and move on.

    I am quite new to this website, but I have found that there are some days when I want to treat myself and some says when I can do without and the website food diary helps. I add in to the diary the treats I want to eat, before I eat them (when I can) and work the day around it, working out my meals for that day and entering them in the diary and removing or reducing items until I get the calorie result I want, and adjusting after I have eaten when needed. I round up the calories per item, so if an item was 121 calories I call it 125. I round down the exercises, so if I burned 104 calories I call it 100.

    I try to allow only little treats as I know the quality of the nutrition is more important than the calories taken in. E.g. a day of eating crisps below my calorie allowance is more harmful than a day of healthy food above my calorie allowance.

    I am also experimenting with portion sizes and finding that I can have small treats occasionally and stay within my calorie allowance. The scales is my friend and I now put my plate on the scales and add the food to the plate, which automatically tells me portion weights so I know I am not subconsciously cheating. I do this with meals and with treats that are not pre-weighed.

    I am finding that sometimes, having a taste of something and knowing that I have not taken up too many calories that could have been used for healthy food is enough for me. I add my food by gram weights in the food diary, so I can adjust my food according to the portion size. So if I cut a treat in half for example, and I know the treat is 60 grams and the half portion in 30 grams that I accurately add the amount I had. I can still have the other part of the treat later on, but when I do it will be in place of another whole treat, which I think is kind of like the dieters version of having your cake and eating it too.

    Being in the honeymoon period of the food diary I am keeping within my calorie allowance, sustaining it will be harder on some days to come but on those days, they will not do any harm as I know that a healthy lifestyle is more important than a single day or single snack as long as they remain single.

    I know that one blip makes some people feel that they have broken their diet and sends them off the rails, but it means that they are conscious of what they are eating, which is a good thing and that they are more aware for the next time. I think that as long as we keep our eye on the big healthy eating picture then a little over an allowance on infrequent occasions will do no harm.

    That is one hell of a reply for a newbie. Welcome to fitness pal. I look forward to seeing more of you around here


    I agree! Wow, very impressive. Good on you!
  • taiyola
    taiyola Posts: 964 Member
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    I look at my weekly net and log it on a Word document. As long as my net on a Sunday is between my BMR (1395) and maintenance (1700-sedentary) then I don't care.

    My goal is set to maintenance if I'm sedentary, and if I exercise or eat slightly less, I should lose. This last week I've been recovering from surgery and have barely got off the sofa or out of bed! Still maintained my weight by some days being over, some days being under.

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