Meet Daily Calorie Goal or Go Under?

For more effective weight loss is it better to meet the daily Calorie *GOAL* that MFP calculates or have DAILY NET calories go under this?

Replies

  • kiwitechgirl
    kiwitechgirl Posts: 145 Member
    Meet it. Your loss might be a little slower but it will be more sustainable. The number MFP gives you already takes a deficit into account so you should eat to that number.
  • HK38
    HK38 Posts: 14
    Thank you. I will have a go at it.

    I have eating under by about 500 calories a day ... im just not hungry since i stopped eating sugar laden foods..

    I have stopped losing weight so perhaps my body is in revolt!
  • arrseegee
    arrseegee Posts: 575 Member
    Agree with kiwitechgirl (I'm also a Kiwi)

    HK38 - Don't go 500 below, that's way too extreme and you'll risk losing muscle if you do that consistently. I'm sure your appetite will come back, but to start with perhaps try to replace the sugars you were eating with some complex carbohydrates, e.g. whole grains, and also protein. Take a look at how you are going on your macros, e.g. macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrate) and if there is one section that you are a bit low on then focus on trying to fill those remaining 500 calories with foods that will contribute to wherever you are lacking. You may have other thoughts about carbohydrates but if you stick to the 'good' ones you can get some good sustained energy, fiber and other vitamins from them, which are things that can often end up lacking in a diet when you are trying to lose weight.
  • Psysix
    Psysix Posts: 53 Member
    It really depends on how you balence your weight loss plan. There are all kinds of diet plans that work with the way your body functions to lose weight and/or gain muscle. Gaining lean muscle mass will increase your metabolism, and although you wont see the effects on the scale right away, you will feel the difference. Those taking this route will need more protien in their diet, perferably directly after a workout. They would take in more caliories than those not focused on building muscle. However, you can have a protien based diet to lose weight and maintian muscle. You could be under the daily calorie limit doing this. However, it is always best to take a multivitmin and balence your foods well when dieting. Good luck.
  • HK38
    HK38 Posts: 14
    Agree with kiwitechgirl (I'm also a Kiwi)

    HK38 - Don't go 500 below, that's way too extreme and you'll risk losing muscle if you do that consistently.

    Thanks very much for yoir help. It's very kind of you.

    I try to get my protein intake as close to the daily goal as possible but Fats, Carbs and Sugars as low as i can. I only eat complex carbs / low glycaemic index such as whole rye brrad, brown rice and sweet potatoes.

    My daily exercise produces a surplus of 500 to 800+ extra calories to eat but there is no way im going to give that up - i think im addicted. L.... (Strangely enough i could have said the same for my chocolate intake 3 months ago!!)..
  • HK38
    HK38 Posts: 14
    It really depends on how you balence your weight loss plan. There are all kinds of diet plans that work with the way your body functions to lose weight and/or gain muscle. Gaining lean muscle mass will increase your metabolism, and although you wont see the effects on the scale right away, you will feel the difference. Good luck.

    Totally agree about building muscle to rev up metabolism ... but i have been avoiding the gym / weights as i regularly put my back out overdoing it.... so now im walking / jogging instead. I can easily go 5 or 7 miles a day so perhaps my leg muscles are building up and thats why my weight is stabilising?

    I do get enough vitamins and minerals from food and supplement - although potassium is a killer to meet.

    I just have to be patient i suppose. Rome wasnt built in a day.
  • naariel
    naariel Posts: 37
    MFP set a very low protein goal. If it's the only macro you aim to meet and use the MFP goal, you should definitely up that. For me, without fiddling with the settings, it set a 60g protein goal if I recall correctly. That would be for a 60lbs lean body mass, which is totally ridiculous for my weight and height, unless I'm nearly 50% body fat and I'm really not. I had to manually up that to a 90g goal, so 50% more than what it set me up with initially.

    You need fat, too. Don't antagonise fat, fat's good when you know which/how much to have. Essential fatty acids are not called essential for nothing. You need it. About 0.35g/lb. If you really want to go "good fat" then you can watch and avoid saturated fat as much as possible, avoid trans fat like it's poison (it basically is) and have a good balance omega-3 vs omega-6 and 9. That usually mean more 3, less 6. But that's going in micro detail, if you respect your fat macro it's enough for a healthy lifestyle.

    Carbs is only the macro you can skip easily without screwing your body, if you have the adequate calorie intake via the other macros. But even then I'm personally not a big fan of too low carb diet and Keto diet.

    And careful with potassium, a lot of food infos don't say anything about potassium, doesn't mean they don't contain it at all. And too much potassium is as deadly as too little. Both lead to muscle going crazy (spasms) and that include your cardiac muscle. Unless you have a very unbalanced diet or have a medical condition/treatment, usually the potassium is fine without being watch over. (There would be a lot less humans on this planet if you needed to be careful and track potassium.)
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Always try to get the closest to your goal as possible. Load up on the protein and you're good to go! One or two days under your goal won't hurt, just don't make it a habit. :) Good luck!
  • HK38
    HK38 Posts: 14
    Thanks guys for all your help and encouragement.
  • pjowkar
    pjowkar Posts: 36 Member
    I personally have trouble meeting my goal. I teach and therefore am often to busy to have breakfast in the morning and work through my lunch. I supplement with a green smoothie for each. I'll also have almonds and/or half an avocado for a snack. With workout cals lost and dinner cals gained, I'm usually still several hundred under for my net.
  • HK38
    HK38 Posts: 14
    MFP set a very low protein goal. If it's the only macro you aim to meet and use the MFP goal, you should definitely up that. For me, without fiddling with the settings, it set a 60g protein goal if I recall correctly. That would be for a 60lbs lean body mass, which is totally ridiculous for my weight and height, unless I'm nearly 50% body fat and I'm really not. I had to manually up that to a 90g goal, so 50% more than what it set me up with initially.

    I have been following the MFP figure for protein. As i do exercise throughout the day the suggested value goes up ,, from about 70g to 120.

    This is quite hard for me to reach as i dont eat meat.. i eat fish and soya products though.

    Points taken about fats, carbs and potassium. Transfats are always zero for me as i dont eat processed foods ...

    I was concerned about potassium but as you say so many foods contain enough already.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    Meet it. That's why they call it a goal.
  • HK38
    HK38 Posts: 14
    I personally have trouble meeting my goal. I teach and therefore am often to busy to have breakfast in the morning and work through my lunch. I supplement with a green smoothie for each. I'll also have almonds and/or half an avocado for a snack. With workout cals lost and dinner cals gained, I'm usually still several hundred under for my net.

    Are you continuing to lose weight?

    I met my goal for two days running and, amazingly, lost 1lb!
  • I would be 500-600 under net for two weeks didn't lose a pound, decided to eat within 100-200 under net, within a week I dropped 2.5 lbs.. You really need to eat your goal net calories.. or you can be stuck like I was
  • HK38
    HK38 Posts: 14
    I would be 500-600 under net for two weeks didn't lose a pound, decided to eat within 100-200 under net, within a week I dropped 2.5 lbs.. You really need to eat your goal net calories.. or you can be stuck like I was

    Thank you! I have been reaching my goals for the last couple of days and, miraculously, I dropped 2 lb. What an amazing machine our bodies are!

    I reduced my weight loss goal to 1 lb per week and that upped my Calorie Allowance to 1600. I'm finding it hard to stuff so much food into myself … I do about 800-900 calories worth of exercise a day so it works out to a lot of food
  • rjdunn87
    rjdunn87 Posts: 385 Member
    I would be 500-600 under net for two weeks didn't lose a pound, decided to eat within 100-200 under net, within a week I dropped 2.5 lbs.. You really need to eat your goal net calories.. or you can be stuck like I was

    Thank you! I have been reaching my goals for the last couple of days and, miraculously, I dropped 2 lb. What an amazing machine our bodies are!

    I reduced my weight loss goal to 1 lb per week and that upped my Calorie Allowance to 1600. I'm finding it hard to stuff so much food into myself … I do about 800-900 calories worth of exercise a day so it works out to a lot of food

    I'm currently having the same problem. My goal is 1650, but I burn around 600 calories a day from exercise which puts me well over 2000 to eat, and I'm having a hard time eating that much! I also don't eat meat so I'm really trying to focus on hitting my protein goal. Going to really try to eat as close to my net goal as possible and see if that helps break the stall on the scale.
  • alimaeden
    alimaeden Posts: 10 Member
    hi Ya!

    meeting your goal for the day is a lot easier if you eat breakfast (you can kill like 400 cals right there) and snack throughout the day. your body likes tiny bits of food all day long, it's insecure and needs to know that if it gives you everything it's got during your workout, you're going to give it what it needs to take care of the behind the scenes stuff like your brain (which LOVES fat by the way) and your cardiovascular system!!! if you're not eating enough your body will shut you right down, starting with your metabolism and moving on to digesting your muscles and cutting out things it deems unnecessary, like hair, pretty skin, reproductive function, all sorts of weird stuff starts to go south. so EAT! your body loves to have lots of fuel and then use it up, and replenish.

    i eat oatmeal and a piece of fruit for breakfast, have one or two snacks in the morning, have tuna and yogurt for lunch with sliced raw veggies, try to have a mid afternoon snack (that's hard, i just am not hungry by then), then have a medium sized dinner full of protein. i always come in around my net goal, sometimes over sometimes under. i'm still learning all about this too, but one thing i do know is that for speedy lasting weight loss, you've got to work WITH your body, not against it, cos your body will win every time.
  • pjowkar
    pjowkar Posts: 36 Member
    I'm trying to add more protein and healthy fats. I started adding coconut oil to my morning coffee and eating a piece of bread with natural nut butter as well. I am still losing, but I want to make sure my metabolism doesn't slow down. I used to have a egg and cheese breakfast sandwich from Tim Horton's, hash brown, and large coffee w/cream and sugar. It just didn't seem healthy and I would drag all day. Sunday is my next weigh in, so we shall see what happens!