Compensating for being under calorie limit?

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melaniebester
melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Quick question- I've been under my calorie limit all week, and now I'm desperately craving something desserty to treat myself as I haven't had anything of the sort for three weeks- can I sort of "compensate" for the days where I was under my goal by going slightly over my calorie limit today? Thanks :)
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Replies

  • jspicer1
    jspicer1 Posts: 3 Member
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    Yes! Sometimes you need to do that. If you want to go over, but keep loosing weight, make sure you put whatever you eat and total your calories for the day. If your final weight for the day is less than you are now, you will still be loosing weight. You NEED to do that occasionally!!!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Yes you can. However your intake is way too low in general. Eat more food. You could easily eat double what you are eating now and still lose weight. Your protein and fat are both abysmally low. You should be aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and .35 grams of fat per pound of weight.

    Your profile quote makes it sound as if you are 17. Is that right? MFP is for users who are over 18.
  • melaniebester
    melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
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    Yes you can. However your intake is way too low in general. Eat more food. You could easily eat double what you are eating now and still lose weight. Your protein and fat are both abysmally low. You should be aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and .35 grams of fat per pound of weight.

    Your profile quote makes it sound as if you are 17. Is that right? MFP is for users who are over 18.

    Hey, I'm 19 in just a few days- I did start using the app at 17, but never the forums. I should probably update that. I know my intake is too low, this is something I'm currently working on improving. It's not so much that I mean to eat under, it's that I work full time, study full time, and also do volunteering and I either skip meals or am too busy to think about eating much. This time around I'm working on upping my calorie intake. I also have limited cooking facilities so again, working on that (see my "quick meals" thread here).

    So because my intake has been pretty low the last week or so, I'm okay to go over today and it'll average out? :) (I'm eyeing off a piece of cheesecake in the corner of this cafe...)
  • tiggerGlasgow
    tiggerGlasgow Posts: 12 Member
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    The short answer - yes.

    The long answe - yes as long as you're still creating an overall calorie deficit over the course of the week. Going over one day (unless you're going WAY over, won't make you put on weight.

    Think of calories out - calories in as a budget. Going slightly over one day isn't going to derail you totally, it might influence this weks progress depending on how much you go over by and how much under you've been recently. Allow yourself a planned indulgence. If possible get something that's pre-portioned and only get one of them (or as many people who are in your household and will be eating said treat), that way you won't be tempted to eat more. Put the treat on you diary before anything else and see if you can shave a little slack out of the budget (it's why I like stregnth training as it means I have a higher starting base for my calories and thus more slack for planned treats) here or there so you're meeting you weekly planned deficit it will balance out.

    It is a good idea to have planned treats every so often as this stops the "all or nothing" mentality that means falling off of the wagon for longer periods of time.

    I second what the first reponder said about eating more. There are a lot of quick easy meals you can make for not much money in limited facilites. If you keep your calorie intake too low you can damage your metabolism to the point where losing weight is VERY difficult.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Yes you can. However your intake is way too low in general. Eat more food. You could easily eat double what you are eating now and still lose weight. Your protein and fat are both abysmally low. You should be aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and .35 grams of fat per pound of weight.

    Your profile quote makes it sound as if you are 17. Is that right? MFP is for users who are over 18.

    Hey, I'm 19 in just a few days- I did start using the app at 17, but never the forums. I should probably update that. I know my intake is too low, this is something I'm currently working on improving. It's not so much that I mean to eat under, it's that I work full time, study full time, and also do volunteering and I either skip meals or am too busy to think about eating much. This time around I'm working on upping my calorie intake. I also have limited cooking facilities so again, working on that (see my "quick meals" thread here).

    So because my intake has been pretty low the last week or so, I'm okay to go over today and it'll average out? :) (I'm eyeing off a piece of cheesecake in the corner of this cafe...)

    Yes, please eat a piece of cheesecake.


    Planning is your friend here. Keep some bread and peanut butter and pack yourself a sandwich. That could easily run you 300-400 calories if you get good bread and you can get one of those sandwich shaped tupperware containers to slip into your purse or backpack. Cheese sticks are portable, as are packages of nuts or those cheese crackers that come in packs of 8.

    Another thing you might consider is meal prep. Basically you'd invest one day per week to cooking meals for the entire week. Most will be a protein and two veggies (like salmon (maybe tofu or vegetarian protein source for you) with a couple of different marinades and then sweet potatoes and broccoli). There are tons of online tutorials for it.

    eta: went and looked at your other thread. Exactly what cooking facilities do you have available? Microwave? Stovetop? Oven? Also I'd eat the pasta/potatoes over not eating anything and ending up with 600 calorie days.
  • melaniebester
    melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
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    Yes you can. However your intake is way too low in general. Eat more food. You could easily eat double what you are eating now and still lose weight. Your protein and fat are both abysmally low. You should be aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and .35 grams of fat per pound of weight.

    Your profile quote makes it sound as if you are 17. Is that right? MFP is for users who are over 18.

    Hey, I'm 19 in just a few days- I did start using the app at 17, but never the forums. I should probably update that. I know my intake is too low, this is something I'm currently working on improving. It's not so much that I mean to eat under, it's that I work full time, study full time, and also do volunteering and I either skip meals or am too busy to think about eating much. This time around I'm working on upping my calorie intake. I also have limited cooking facilities so again, working on that (see my "quick meals" thread here).

    So because my intake has been pretty low the last week or so, I'm okay to go over today and it'll average out? :) (I'm eyeing off a piece of cheesecake in the corner of this cafe...)

    Yes, please eat a piece of cheesecake.


    Planning is your friend here. Keep some bread and peanut butter and pack yourself a sandwich. That could easily run you 300-400 calories if you get good bread and you can get one of those sandwich shaped tupperware containers to slip into your purse or backpack. Cheese sticks are portable, as are packages of nuts or those cheese crackers that come in packs of 8.

    Another thing you might consider is meal prep. Basically you'd invest one day per week to cooking meals for the entire week. Most will be a protein and two veggies (like salmon (maybe tofu or vegetarian protein source for you) with a couple of different marinades and then sweet potatoes and broccoli). There are tons of online tutorials for it.

    eta: went and looked at your other thread. Exactly what cooking facilities do you have available? Microwave? Stovetop? Oven?

    I really want to do some food prep, but as mentioned in the other post, I only have a microwave and a kettle, that's the extent of my facilities. I'm going to go and buy an electric frying pan very soon so I can make some curries and stir fries etc to freeze :) I'm definitely working on it... I'm also a vegetarian, so fat and protein are very difficult for me especially considering the kettle and microwave situation. I'm moving on the 22nd of November, and when I do, I'll be doing the weekly meal prep definitely. It's just making it through this in-between time right now that I'm focusing and working on.

    Thank you so much for your advice, it's really nice to talk to non-judgemental people. Everyone I've tried to speak to about these sort of things is completely unhelpful, judgemental and rather horrible :)
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Options
    Yes you can. However your intake is way too low in general. Eat more food. You could easily eat double what you are eating now and still lose weight. Your protein and fat are both abysmally low. You should be aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and .35 grams of fat per pound of weight.

    Your profile quote makes it sound as if you are 17. Is that right? MFP is for users who are over 18.

    Hey, I'm 19 in just a few days- I did start using the app at 17, but never the forums. I should probably update that. I know my intake is too low, this is something I'm currently working on improving. It's not so much that I mean to eat under, it's that I work full time, study full time, and also do volunteering and I either skip meals or am too busy to think about eating much. This time around I'm working on upping my calorie intake. I also have limited cooking facilities so again, working on that (see my "quick meals" thread here).

    So because my intake has been pretty low the last week or so, I'm okay to go over today and it'll average out? :) (I'm eyeing off a piece of cheesecake in the corner of this cafe...)

    Yes, please eat a piece of cheesecake.


    Planning is your friend here. Keep some bread and peanut butter and pack yourself a sandwich. That could easily run you 300-400 calories if you get good bread and you can get one of those sandwich shaped tupperware containers to slip into your purse or backpack. Cheese sticks are portable, as are packages of nuts or those cheese crackers that come in packs of 8.

    Another thing you might consider is meal prep. Basically you'd invest one day per week to cooking meals for the entire week. Most will be a protein and two veggies (like salmon (maybe tofu or vegetarian protein source for you) with a couple of different marinades and then sweet potatoes and broccoli). There are tons of online tutorials for it.

    eta: went and looked at your other thread. Exactly what cooking facilities do you have available? Microwave? Stovetop? Oven?

    I really want to do some food prep, but as mentioned in the other post, I only have a microwave and a kettle, that's the extent of my facilities. I'm going to go and buy an electric frying pan very soon so I can make some curries and stir fries etc to freeze :) I'm definitely working on it... I'm also a vegetarian, so fat and protein are very difficult for me especially considering the kettle and microwave situation. I'm moving on the 22nd of November, and when I do, I'll be doing the weekly meal prep definitely. It's just making it through this in-between time right now that I'm focusing and working on.

    Thank you so much for your advice, it's really nice to talk to non-judgemental people. Everyone I've tried to speak to about these sort of things is completely unhelpful, judgemental and rather horrible :)

    Microwave and kettle does make things difficult but you should be able to make rice and potatoes/sweet potatoes with that. I admittedly know very little about vegetarian protein options that would work with your restrictions.

    I did find this:

    http://greatist.com/health/surprising-healthy-microwave-recipes

    And while it has some non-vegetarian meals it might give you some ideas. Some of them are vegetarian-friendly. There are probably more where that came from. Google "vegetarian microwave meals."

    Good luck. I just hate to see people not eating enough food. :laugh:
  • melaniebester
    melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
    Options
    Yes you can. However your intake is way too low in general. Eat more food. You could easily eat double what you are eating now and still lose weight. Your protein and fat are both abysmally low. You should be aiming for about 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and .35 grams of fat per pound of weight.

    Your profile quote makes it sound as if you are 17. Is that right? MFP is for users who are over 18.

    Hey, I'm 19 in just a few days- I did start using the app at 17, but never the forums. I should probably update that. I know my intake is too low, this is something I'm currently working on improving. It's not so much that I mean to eat under, it's that I work full time, study full time, and also do volunteering and I either skip meals or am too busy to think about eating much. This time around I'm working on upping my calorie intake. I also have limited cooking facilities so again, working on that (see my "quick meals" thread here).

    So because my intake has been pretty low the last week or so, I'm okay to go over today and it'll average out? :) (I'm eyeing off a piece of cheesecake in the corner of this cafe...)

    Yes, please eat a piece of cheesecake.


    Planning is your friend here. Keep some bread and peanut butter and pack yourself a sandwich. That could easily run you 300-400 calories if you get good bread and you can get one of those sandwich shaped tupperware containers to slip into your purse or backpack. Cheese sticks are portable, as are packages of nuts or those cheese crackers that come in packs of 8.

    Another thing you might consider is meal prep. Basically you'd invest one day per week to cooking meals for the entire week. Most will be a protein and two veggies (like salmon (maybe tofu or vegetarian protein source for you) with a couple of different marinades and then sweet potatoes and broccoli). There are tons of online tutorials for it.

    eta: went and looked at your other thread. Exactly what cooking facilities do you have available? Microwave? Stovetop? Oven?

    I really want to do some food prep, but as mentioned in the other post, I only have a microwave and a kettle, that's the extent of my facilities. I'm going to go and buy an electric frying pan very soon so I can make some curries and stir fries etc to freeze :) I'm definitely working on it... I'm also a vegetarian, so fat and protein are very difficult for me especially considering the kettle and microwave situation. I'm moving on the 22nd of November, and when I do, I'll be doing the weekly meal prep definitely. It's just making it through this in-between time right now that I'm focusing and working on.

    Thank you so much for your advice, it's really nice to talk to non-judgemental people. Everyone I've tried to speak to about these sort of things is completely unhelpful, judgemental and rather horrible :)

    Microwave and kettle does make things difficult but you should be able to make rice and potatoes/sweet potatoes with that. I admittedly know very little about vegetarian protein options that would work with your restrictions.

    I did find this:

    http://greatist.com/health/surprising-healthy-microwave-recipes

    And while it has some non-vegetarian meals it might give you some ideas. Some of them are vegetarian-friendly. There are probably more where that came from. Google "vegetarian microwave meals."

    Good luck. I just hate to see people not eating enough food. :laugh:

    I totally understand, and I do want to hit my 1200 daily target every day, or get very close. Hence why I'm not doing much exercise at the moment. My job involves 8 hours of standing/general moseying about every day so I think that's enough for now.
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member
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    great.todays. cheat thread disguised as compensation!
    knock yourself out.
  • GingerLolita
    GingerLolita Posts: 738 Member
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    Plenty of people go by weekly, not daily, calories, so I don't see anything wrong with this! Although if you are limited to 1200 calories/day, that's truly a minimum and you should consume this.
  • melaniebester
    melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
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    great.todays. cheat thread disguised as compensation!
    knock yourself out.

    Go have a look at my diary and then talk to me about cheating, buddy. I don't do cheating. What I do do, is ask questions I genuinely don't know the answers to, like this one, asking about whether calories are more suited to weekly averages or daily ones. Please take the negativity elsewhere.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    I'd recommend you take an emotional step back and look up what a "cheat day" is before jumping down somebody's throat.

    After looking at your diary, there are about three days of near healthy caloric intake levels since late July (that is just looking at the calories, not assessing if you've accurately logged or hit macros worth a damn). There are many more days of sub-500 calorie total intakes than there are 1100+ days. The under 300 calories consumed, over 600 logged as burn day really jumps out at me.

    You are undereating. It is not as though you are even close most days or weeks. Looking back, this is a trend for at least the past year ... there are simply too many under 500 calorie consumed, negative net calorie days logged in that time frame for me to change the report to look any further back in history.

    You now have a choice ... either continue your current method which is unhealthy or start giving your body what it needs to function properly and begin down a healthy path. I recommend the latter of the two options.
  • melaniebester
    melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
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    It's fine. I didn't eat the cheesecake anyway. Felt too guilty after realising it was classed as cheating my diet. Did some zumba instead.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    don't wait too long or that one thing you are craving will be a lot more. I eat any and everything I just watch my quantity.

    29509743.png
  • melaniebester
    melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
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    don't wait too long or that one thing you are craving will be a lot more. I eat any and everything I just watch my quantity.

    29509743.png

    I'm not craving it any more, I had a cup of tea and I'm fine now. Thanks for your kindness and concern :)
  • juliet3455
    juliet3455 Posts: 3,015 Member
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    When you pick up your new Kitchen appliance add a small kitchen scale and a small crock pot/rice cooker to your list.

    Throw in some veggies, beans, ( or alternate protein source ) etc and a little rice and you have a meal ready to serve.
    Can also be used to make small chilli's which are decent.
    We use them when we go on ski trips to grab a quick snack in the Hotel rather than the $20.00 dollar Fat Burger they serve.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    It's fine. I didn't eat the cheesecake anyway. Felt too guilty after realising it was classed as cheating my diet. Did some zumba instead.

    It would be much healthier in this context to eat the cheesecake than to not eat it. Think of eating 600-700 calories as cheating your body out of the nutrition it needs. At least cheesecake has some protein and fat.
  • 365andstillalive
    365andstillalive Posts: 663 Member
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    It's fine. I didn't eat the cheesecake anyway. Felt too guilty after realising it was classed as cheating my diet. Did some zumba instead.

    No food is inherently bad for you -- are some foods high in sugar? Sure. Are some foods high in fat? Yeah. But they all have calories, which you need, and dietary fat is actually good for you. Your body needs it to properly function. You need to form a healthy relationship with all food -- not just the leafy greens.

    I really want to encourage you to speak to a doctor because if you're already eating too low and writing off high caloric options because you feel like it would be "cheating" and instead, decided to compensate by burning MORE calories when you were already not eating enough these are pretty classic signs of disordered eating. If you don't reach out to a medical professional now, I worry that 6 months from now I'll be seeing posts from you wondering why you're losing your hair, why your toenail fell off, why it feels like your heart is beating out of your chest...
  • melaniebester
    melaniebester Posts: 33 Member
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    I'm confused because I have some people telling me that eating these foods would be "Cheating" and others telling me I should be. I am working towards that 1200, that's becoming more visible in my diary, the totals are slowly going up.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I'm confused because I have some people telling me that eating these foods would be "Cheating" and others telling me I should be. I am working towards that 1200, that's becoming more visible in my diary, the totals are slowly going up.

    I think you are getting hung up on the word and not understanding the context. Many people use the term "cheat day" or "cheat meal" for the practice of having one planned higher calorie day or meal per week. It can also be called a spike day. It's not meant to be a bad thing.

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