Calorie Deficit

I wouldn't eat right up to your exercise calories, because if you eat right up to the total, you will only be maintaining your weight, as opposed to losing.

Having said that, eat your full daily calories, and if you go a little over, don't beat yourself up over it if you're exercising. A little treat, or extra, once in a while is okay.

Ooooh... this is a tough one. Honestly, I would treat each day as a clean slate. Look at it as when you wake up you have an empty glass. Your glass can only hold so much (the limit of calories you are shooting for each day). If you go over, it has to go somewhere (i.e. stored as fat).

So, in my opinion, if you have an excess of 500 calories today, you shouldn't over eat by 500 the next.

I agree. Every day is a clean slate. I don't believe we get roll over calories all though it would be nice lol!

It all depends on how long you're willing to wait to lose that next pound. It's, for the most part, a numbers game.

3500 calories = one pound of body fat.
If you eat a deficit of 500 calories a day, seven days a week, then you'll lose one pound in a week.
How many calories you're "allowed" depends upon how you set up your diet profile on this site. Hopefully, not more than 1.5 pounds a week (unless you've got considerable weight to lose).

If you have a 500 calorie deficit one day, then you're all that much closer to losing that next pound. If you eat that 500 calories the next day, then you'll be that much further away from it. That's pretty much up to you.

My other other caveat is that if you have a few low calorie days (1200 calories or less, for example), then having a slightly "bigger" day occasionally does tend to fend off your body's urge to slow it's metabolism down.

I'm sorry I'm not more precise. I'd have to know so many more details than you'd want to share here, but generally as long as you're eating enough calories each day (e.g., about 1200, depending ...) then I'd stick to the allowance this program gives you for your daily calories and not eat the extra 500 the next day.

Hope that's at least a LITTLE helpful.



TrainerRobin

I wouldn't eat right up to your exercise calories, because if you eat right up to the total, you will only be maintaining your weight, as opposed to losing.

Having said that, eat your full daily calories, and if you go a little over, don't beat yourself up over it if you're exercising. A little treat, or extra, once in a while is okay.

Actually if you told the site you want to lose X number of lbs a week your total reflects that number. For example I have it set to lose 2lbs a week. So my daily total is 2000 calories. If eat exactly that amount I'll lose the 2lbs. If eating your total kept you at the same weight you'd have to of told the system you didn't want to lose any weight each week.

The second part of this is correct.

peales, this is especially true for the original post because she only has FIVE pounds to lose! You may get away with NOTeating exercise calories IF you are obese, or very over weight. With five pounds to lose she is already at her maintenance weight. Every pound of loss will be very hard-fought.

Please read the sticky threads in the beginning of the General Diet and Weight Loss Help section of MFP.

peales, this is especially true for the original post because she only has FIVE pounds to lose! You may get away with NOTeating exercise calories IF you are obese, or very over weight. With five pounds to lose she is already at her maintenance weight. Every pound of loss will be very hard-fought.

With five pounds to lose I would recommend about 250-300 Kcal deficit a day to lose it from fat. That is a range that athletes (Who don't have much to lose) use to minimize muscle loss.

Exactly. The point is that if she has set her goals correctly, and is entering her exercise calories as close as possible, Myfitnesspal will compute those cals automagically.

250-300 calories is a small number to play with, and she will need to tweak her food and exercise a bit to find the balance.

That ain't easy, I tell ya!
I'm nearing my goal weight and have been doing just that tweaking and easing closer to maintenance calories for a while now. It can be a real pain in the butt trying to get rid of the last kilos.

I'd love an HRM to track my training but those are just so darn expensive

Yep, I hear ya. The body wants that little padding of fat for some perceived emergency. You can try to go up agoinst it, but expect a fight. Getting to that ideal weight is sometimes not going to happen. It's more about how we feel, and the fact that we are healthy.

The HRM - if you keep watching online, there are occasional deals - like for $20 or so. The F6 Polar is about $100. That's a month of no Starbucks. I think it's the best piece of exercise equipment I've bought.