Carry calories over

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reachingforarainbow
reachingforarainbow Posts: 224 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I am wondering if what I am doing is okay.
Basically if I go over my 1200 calories, I move the calories over to the next day to burn them off through excercise/ eat less. A lot of the time its a significant amount of calories as well. I do find it pretty difficult to actually burn it all off/ not eat as much. Is there a point in doing this. I just feel like if I don't bring them over, I won't make up for my overeating and I'll never lose weight.

Btw, I believe I may have lost one pant size though, so I dunno. Currently at size 8 and would like to reach size 4 by the end of October.

Replies

  • CupcakeCrusoe
    CupcakeCrusoe Posts: 1,379 Member
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    Your goal is a little unreasonable, and what you're doing is not healthy. Google "if it fits your macros." Eat to fuel your body, and it will do wonderous things for you.

    Edited for typos
  • ubermofish
    ubermofish Posts: 102 Member
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    It sounds more like you need to prevent overeating in the first place, or you need to revise your macros. 1200 is pretty low for just about anyone.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,950 Member
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    Try setting your calorie goal a bit higher. But I also "carry mine over" but I do it throughout the week. That is, I aim for a daily average of my daily calorie goal... So if my goal is 1400 per day, I'm looking at 9800 cals a week. I aim for the weekly goal, however it may be split. You're essentially doing intermittent fasting.
  • cdogthegreat0702
    cdogthegreat0702 Posts: 12 Member
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    Though this quote is specific to bingeing, it can be applied to your situation:
    "A tendency after a binge is to restrict meals and food the next day. This strategy is counter productive and may lead to yet another binge. Eating regular meals will keep you from getting excessively hungry. This will decrease the desire and tendency to binge." - Dr. Annette Colby

    (Also, 1200 calories is definitely not enough, no matter what MFP says. Calculate your BMR to see how many calories you need to consume to stay alive. That may heighten your metabolism once your body knows it's not struggling to work on 1200 calories a day.)
  • pepperpat64
    pepperpat64 Posts: 423 Member
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    I suggest this calculator to determine what your maintenance intake (TDEE) should be per day. Then you can take off a percentage to lose weight, and that will be your daily goal intake. If you search TDEE in the forums you will find some really good explanations about this, particularly by a user named SideSteel.

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
  • reachingforarainbow
    reachingforarainbow Posts: 224 Member
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    Your goal is a little unreasonable, and what you're doing is not healthy. Google "if it fits your macros." Eat to fuel your body, and it will do wonderous things for you.

    Edited for typos

    Do you just mean the time wise its unreasonable. Still 3 months to lose 2 sizes. I'm curious about iifym. I have no idea what my macros should be plus I'm training for a half marathon, so even though most of the time it suggest doing low carb, that is definitely not gonna work in my situation.
  • CupcakeCrusoe
    CupcakeCrusoe Posts: 1,379 Member
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    Your goal is a little unreasonable, and what you're doing is not healthy. Google "if it fits your macros." Eat to fuel your body, and it will do wonderous things for you.

    Edited for typos

    Do you just mean the time wise its unreasonable. Still 3 months to lose 2 sizes. I'm curious about iifym. I have no idea what my macros should be plus I'm training for a half marathon, so even though most of the time it suggest doing low carb, that is definitely not gonna work in my situation.

    I did just mean time-wise, yes. And I am also training for a half. I would still suggest you try out the macro ratio that iifym gives you for a week or two, see if your performance suffers. If it doesn't, higher protein is a good way to stay full and not lose muscle.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    I log my food the day I eat it and don't play around with carryover confusion. Last week I went over by 500 calories one day but still had my 3500 calorie deficit for the week. Don't play mind games with yourself because it could lead to very bad habits. If you eat it log it the day you eat it.
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,124 Member
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    If you're finding that you're having an "overage" ALL the time... I would say you're probably restricting too much... which leads to failure 99% of the time. Maybe try upping your calories by a 100cal or so and just increase your workout to make up the difference. However, to answer your question... you lose weight after you hit a deficit of 3600 calories.... no matter how long that takes. So, if you just go for an average of a 3600 calorie deficit/week... its the same as getting a 500cal deficit/day.

    ETA: I looked at your diary and you seem to be having a problem with the whole "moderation" thing. You can still eat the things you like... in small quantities. Like today you ate 500cal worth of some kind of cracker for breakfast?? You could have made a few eggs and a slice of toast for breakfast for about 250calories and saved yourself 250cal... and you would have gotten some protein out of the meal instead of empty calories. You are getting a lot of empty calories which is why you're going over... because I bet you're always hungry. You need to think of food as fuel... giving your body what it needs to function. That's not to say you can't have some of those things (I love Goldfish... have them almost everyday... but I have 1 serving and that's it). You have to exercise self control or you'll never meet your goals.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
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    Commentary regarding your daily goal aside (you've already got some good advice there) -

    A lot of people take a more weekly approach to their net calories. Some people purposefully under-eat by a little during the week so they can splurge a little on the weekends. Others just prefer to be more flexible. Some people employ intermittent fasting, whereby (in one form, there are several) they eat a very restricted number of calories 1-2 days per week (say, 500-600), and then eat much closer to maintenance the other days. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that approach, as long as over that time period you're hitting your goals (neither under- nor over-eating). Log it however you like.
  • xxval21xx
    xxval21xx Posts: 74 Member
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    Commentary regarding your daily goal aside (you've already got some good advice there) -

    A lot of people take a more weekly approach to their net calories. Some people purposefully under-eat by a little during the week so they can splurge a little on the weekends. Others just prefer to be more flexible. Some people employ intermittent fasting, whereby (in one form, there are several) they eat a very restricted number of calories 1-2 days per week (say, 500-600), and then eat much closer to maintenance the other days. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that approach, as long as over that time period you're hitting your goals (neither under- nor over-eating). Log it however you like.

    This^
    I think you need to focus on whats working for you. What you feel comfortable in doing and what gets you through the day without feeling discourage or feeling like you cant keep it up. i, like mentioned in the quote, view my caloric intake as a whole week instead of going day by day. Sure i pay attention to make sure i stay within my range on a daily basis but if i find i go over which does happen i will admit, i dont beat myself up over it. I realize that i went over my goal and from there there is two possible outcomes. Either i try to exercise to at least burn half the amount that i over ate or if there is no time for exercise i will leave it at that and try to balance it out throughout the week so my net weekly calories are either around my weekly intake goal or under. One thing though is to make sure that if you do go over, lets say about 400 calories on tuesday than i would take off about 100 each day for the remainder of the week. instead of taking off the full 400 on wednesday i would split it between the other days. That way you are not restricting yourself and it gives your body the chance to get the nutrients it needs.

    Each person is different and whatever you do needs to feel good and comfortable for you, not what anyone else think is right or wrong. Best of luck
  • mistymeadows2005
    mistymeadows2005 Posts: 3,737 Member
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    Commentary regarding your daily goal aside (you've already got some good advice there) -

    A lot of people take a more weekly approach to their net calories. Some people purposefully under-eat by a little during the week so they can splurge a little on the weekends. Others just prefer to be more flexible. Some people employ intermittent fasting, whereby (in one form, there are several) they eat a very restricted number of calories 1-2 days per week (say, 500-600), and then eat much closer to maintenance the other days. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that approach, as long as over that time period you're hitting your goals (neither under- nor over-eating). Log it however you like.

    This^
    I think you need to focus on whats working for you. What you feel comfortable in doing and what gets you through the day without feeling discourage or feeling like you cant keep it up. i, like mentioned in the quote, view my caloric intake as a whole week instead of going day by day. Sure i pay attention to make sure i stay within my range on a daily basis but if i find i go over which does happen i will admit, i dont beat myself up over it. I realize that i went over my goal and from there there is two possible outcomes. Either i try to exercise to at least burn half the amount that i over ate or if there is no time for exercise i will leave it at that and try to balance it out throughout the week so my net weekly calories are either around my weekly intake goal or under. One thing though is to make sure that if you do go over, lets say about 400 calories on tuesday than i would take off about 100 each day for the remainder of the week. instead of taking off the full 400 on wednesday i would split it between the other days. That way you are not restricting yourself and it gives your body the chance to get the nutrients it needs.

    Each person is different and whatever you do needs to feel good and comfortable for you, not what anyone else think is right or wrong. Best of luck



    Yes to all of this! I calculate weekly - If I got over, I know I'll have to hit crunch time later in the week. I'm a BIG fan of intermittant fasting (which is SORTA what youre doing) and I find it reduces my cravings and keeps my hunger at bay. However, it's not for everyone. My best friend would go NUTS doing it- so if it's working for ya GO FOR IT!
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
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    Going from a size 8 to a size 4 means you have lot less weight to lose than some other people. Stop trying to be so aggressive with your weight loss and adjust your desired weight loss to 0.5 or 1 pound per week; this is a more sustainable approach for your needs.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
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    1200 is low. I'm 4'11", currently 110 lbs and I lose weight almost too fast eating about 1400 calories a day. I'm not that active either.

    But to answer your question, yes, I generally try to eat a bit less the next day or so after I go over in calories. It really depends though. If it's only a few hundred over, I just forget about it and get back on track. If it's 1000 over, I make a goal to eat a bit less for the next day or two.

    If you're going over often, then your goal of 1200 is definitely too low. Find out your BMR and TDEE and eat somewhere between those two for awhile to see how quickly you're losing.
  • reachingforarainbow
    reachingforarainbow Posts: 224 Member
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    ETA: I looked at your diary and you seem to be having a problem with the whole "moderation" thing. You can still eat the things you like... in small quantities. Like today you ate 500cal worth of some kind of cracker for breakfast?? You could have made a few eggs and a slice of toast for breakfast for about 250calories and saved yourself 250cal... and you would have gotten some protein out of the meal instead of empty calories. You are getting a lot of empty calories which is why you're going over... because I bet you're always hungry. You need to think of food as fuel... giving your body what it needs to function. That's not to say you can't have some of those things (I love Goldfish... have them almost everyday... but I have 1 serving and that's it). You have to exercise self control or you'll never meet your goals.

    Yea I don't like to buy things like crackers and coookies that don't come in single size servings. and yea I moved the crackers over from last night, after I worked out and was ridiculously hungry. Definitely not a wise choice... whoops.
    I am trying to figure out how to do eat more nutritionally. I understand that everyone is trying to make this all make sense. But kind of difficult. You know when you just get frusterated and want to drop the weight. Thats where I am at. But I raised it from the 800 net calories I was eating like a month ago ... so :smile:
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
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    As was said - yes, you can carry over calories so long as it doesn't become a constant cycle.

    If you're in a situation where you go over on Monday, so you try to eat under on Tuesday but go over your lower goal on Tuesday, so then you try to eat even less on Wednesday, etc etc etc, you need to reevaluate your caloric goal and/or the foods you're eating each day. 1200 calories of buttered toast is going to be way, way less total food than grilled chicken and broccoli, heh.

    And there's no shame in eating a little less throughout the week and saving up calories for a special dinner or something on the weekend either - it could go both ways. (before someone takes what I just said to try to justify eating 500 calories / day so they can eat 4000 calories on Saturday, let me state that this is in no way what I meant by this statement)

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