Why would you want to be under your calorie goal

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  • bkjk997
    bkjk997 Posts: 106 Member
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    Well technically, under your goal might only mean 5 calories. I think everyone's focus is to not eat OVER their goal so the opposite would be well... under.

    Yes, and what I find dumb about MFP is that if you hit your goal exactly, it doesn't recognize that.

    I think of it like "The Price Is Right"... Consistently get as close as you can, without going over, and you win!
  • kim3278
    kim3278 Posts: 4
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    OK...so the goal is then to be about 100-200 under your goal to account for inaccuracies. I will try that. Thank you :) I'm not eating to eat but eating to fuel but do find that at the end of the night, my glass of water isn't cutting it anymore :) Thanks for your transparency, all!!
  • fast_eddie_72
    fast_eddie_72 Posts: 719 Member
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    Probably different from person to person, but I stopped losing weight when I ate back even some of my exercise calories. So I stopped doing that again this week and lost two pounds. At the end of the day, if your goal is to lose weight, the scale will tell you what's working and what isn't. If it isn't moving, somehow, there's not calorie deficit.
  • Cakewalk25
    Cakewalk25 Posts: 71 Member
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    I try to aim for about 100 calories under because I've read most people underestimate the amount of food they're eating when they enter it into the food log.
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
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    I'm set for a very small weekly loss (couldn't last on the fewer calories allowed for a greater loss) So in reality I'm pleased if my overall calories are between the 2 figures. I also do not eat back all my exercise calories.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I see so many of my friends status " so and so just completed their diary and is under their calorie goal". Why would you want to be under? Is it going to make you lose faster?

    honestly, a lot of people are pretty damned ignorant about how this tool actually works and they think their calorie goal is a maintenance one and they have to be under it to lose weight. i have to say that since joining MFP I have lost a great deal of faith in humanity as a whole...a lot of people are just kinda stupid.
  • sbarella
    sbarella Posts: 713 Member
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    The whole process is full of inaccuracies and estimates. That is 100% true. BMR, TDEE, daily activity, food intake, exercise calories, they're all estimates and you can't be 100% sure.
    Hence, it's a good idea to have some margin of error.

    BUT

    If you set your activity level to sedentary AND round up when guesstimating/weighing portions AND aim to stay 100-200 calories under your goal AND not eat back your exercise calories because you want to be on the safe side, you're probably doing it wrong. Choose your fix but don't ham it up :)
  • RelevantKnowledge
    RelevantKnowledge Posts: 41 Member
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    I personally try to stay a little under my goal because I'm currently maintaining on a goal in which I should be losing .25-.5lbs a week.
  • lharri0209
    lharri0209 Posts: 128 Member
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    I always try to be a little bit under in case I miscalculated some food.

    This is true for me as well. I ususlly leave a little extra in case I get hungry at night since I'm a night owl and/or in case of miscalculations.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
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    Well technically, under your goal might only mean 5 calories. I think everyone's focus is to not eat OVER their goal so the opposite would be well... under.

    This. I always aim for being within 100 over or under. In the end it evens out.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    I try to stay under to account for any over-estimates. But then I'm not set for some ridiculously low amount either.
  • awtume9
    awtume9 Posts: 423 Member
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    I have my calories set to my TDEE and I eat -20% of that, so it always says I'm under, although I am hitting my goal.
  • shoc369
    shoc369 Posts: 21
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    I was wondering the same thing. I look at diaries and I see people CONSISTENTLY 500-1000 (even up to 1300) calories UNDER PER DAY. (No these numbers are not typos).

    I just don't get it. It seems so unhealthy and unsustainable for the long term.

    Also, most of these people are newbies, but some aren't.

    Won't this eventually hinder their progress in the long run?

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