What do you do about going over your daily calories

Josyurtos23
Josyurtos23 Posts: 63 Member
edited November 11 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi I'm slowly starting over again and right now I'm trying to get into the habit of measuring and logging in every day. I've went over my daily calorie range for the past couple of days which I'm ok with because I want to develop the habit first. I just wanted to know what your thoughts were about when you go over your limits, what do you do to keep yourself from getting discouraged? Or better, what do you tell yourself when you see that red number? Yes excercise will be in the future (sooner rather than later) but what do you do when you have done your workout already?

On the average I think I went over 200ish calories a day.

Replies

  • clambert1273
    clambert1273 Posts: 840 Member
    I move on and log again the next day :)
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    clambert1273 wrote: »
    I move on and log again the next day :)

    This^^^
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    Personally, I might maneuver and move around my calories a bit. If I have extra from the day before, I might move some calories there, or borrow calories from the next day (though this I only do if I'm really hungry and it's almost the next day anyway).
    If it's just a little over, like less than 100 calories, I just log it and move on.
  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
    I go over it pretty much everyday. If it's still lower than what it would take to maintain I'm ok with it. I've already made up my mind this will probably be a long journey but that's ok because every time I've lost the weight fast it always came back on the minute I stopped logging calories.
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    I shake it off and try to do better the next day.
  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
    I'm terrible at even reaching my calorie goal so I don't sweat it if I go over once in a while.
  • sherbear702
    sherbear702 Posts: 650 Member
    I rethink what I eat/drink for the next few days
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2015
    I don't worry about it, except if it starts happening more I might look at when and why and try to learn from it (as you are doing in easing into this).

    Sometimes I do think in terms of a weekly deficit, and then I might add in a workout on a later day or eat a bit less on a later day that week, but I don't think it's good to think you have to make up overages. Just move on. If it's like 200 calories and your deficit is 500, you are still adding to the overall loss, just a bit less.
  • Josyurtos23
    Josyurtos23 Posts: 63 Member
    Barbs2222 wrote: »
    I go over it pretty much everyday. If it's still lower than what it would take to maintain I'm ok with it. I've already made up my mind this will probably be a long journey but that's ok because every time I've lost the weight fast it always came back on the minute I stopped logging calories.

    Yes I'm trying to look at this as a journey/lifestyle rather than a "diet". Sadly, my portions were large the first couple of days I started logging just to see how many calories I was eating so I'm trying to take this as baby steps. Eventually I'd like to "bank" calories but for now I don't want to give up. I just want to be aware of my intake and meet my goal as best as I can.

    I hope soon the hunger goes away
  • Josyurtos23
    Josyurtos23 Posts: 63 Member
    :)
  • clambert1273
    clambert1273 Posts: 840 Member
    maybe your "goal" is set too low for you.... I know when I first tried this in like 2009 - I tried that whole 1200 calorie thing... I would laugh at that now lol It didn't do me any good to try and eat that low and I felt horrible... I prefer to give myself something reasonable and keep moving up in how much I can eat :)
  • sandicat6
    sandicat6 Posts: 61 Member
    if you can enter during the day so you can keep better track of how many you have left and make your choices from there. but there will be days when you go over, try to up your PA.
  • ashdawg8790
    ashdawg8790 Posts: 819 Member
    I consider my food in terms of a week, rather than a day. It helps on those days when I'm STARVING or just not that hungry to see how it all evens out at the end. It's also beneficial for tracking with working out, since often days I work out a lot I'm not that hungry... until the next day, when I need to eat ALL THE FOOD. Good luck on your journey! :) You seem to be going about this properly so far!!
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    I do nothing. I know what my maintenance is and I understand anything under that is a loss of some kind. As long as at the end of the week I have a negative number that is all that matters to me. Most of the time, i'm over my goal but weekly I still have a loss of 0.2 or 0.8lbs number wise. Scale wise it comes pretty close to being that too.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    onefatgurl wrote: »
    Barbs2222 wrote: »
    I go over it pretty much everyday. If it's still lower than what it would take to maintain I'm ok with it. I've already made up my mind this will probably be a long journey but that's ok because every time I've lost the weight fast it always came back on the minute I stopped logging calories.

    Yes I'm trying to look at this as a journey/lifestyle rather than a "diet". Sadly, my portions were large the first couple of days I started logging just to see how many calories I was eating so I'm trying to take this as baby steps. Eventually I'd like to "bank" calories but for now I don't want to give up. I just want to be aware of my intake and meet my goal as best as I can.

    I hope soon the hunger goes away

    you shouldn't be hungry. I know in the beginning I let myself be hungry, but learned that isn't right. If you're hungry, try drinking water it could be that you're thirsty. If after water you still feel hungry, then eat a small snack. I balance out my meals and snacks so that each meal is around the same number of calories and each snack is high in protein and around 100-150 calories..prelog your day before you eat so that you know exactly what is going on and how you can better tweak it.
  • Josyurtos23
    Josyurtos23 Posts: 63 Member
    clambert1273 wrote: »
    maybe your "goal" is set too low for you.... I know when I first tried this in like 2009 - I tried that whole 1200 calorie thing... I would laugh at that now lol It didn't do me any good to try and eat that low and I felt horrible... I prefer to give myself something reasonable and keep moving up in how much I can eat :)

    Just for giggles I was averaging 4000 calories a day. I'm basically trying to maintain 1800 for now just until I get used to it again. I'm done with weight watchers because I need to learn how to eat power foods as well as other things with out feeling deprived plus I also want to get a better grasp on how I use my macronutrients.
  • Unknown
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  • Barbs2222
    Barbs2222 Posts: 433 Member
    After thinking about this I went in and changed my weight loss goal to 1 pound a week. It gave me a few extra calories. Maybe I can stay in the green now, it's still pretty low though.
  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    Takes me a few weeks to get back in the swing of counting every time I stop. I'm in about week 3 now, and I track all day and think about what I'm going to have for dinner, and in the end, usually don't count dinner or anything I eat at night (too much going on with kids) but overall, I'm eating less b/c I really watch the day and then am not gorging myself at night. So I don't get discouraged, as long as the scale is going down (even minimally - I think I've lost .5 lb or so in 2 weeks), and then I say - tomorrow is another day!
    -
  • Josyurtos23
    Josyurtos23 Posts: 63 Member
    higgins8283801 wrote: »
    onefatgurl wrote: »
    Barbs2222 wrote: »
    I go over it pretty much everyday. If it's still lower than what it would take to maintain I'm ok with it. I've already made up my mind this will probably be a long journey but that's ok because every time I've lost the weight fast it always came back on the minute I stopped logging calories.

    Yes I'm trying to look at this as a journey/lifestyle rather than a "diet". Sadly, my portions were large the first couple of days I started logging just to see how many calories I was eating so I'm trying to take this as baby steps. Eventually I'd like to "bank" calories but for now I don't want to give up. I just want to be aware of my intake and meet my goal as best as I can.

    I hope soon the hunger goes away

    you shouldn't be hungry. I know in the beginning I let myself be hungry, but learned that isn't right. If you're hungry, try drinking water it could be that you're thirsty. If after water you still feel hungry, then eat a small snack. I balance out my meals and snacks so that each meal is around the same number of calories and each snack is high in protein and around 100-150 calories..prelog your day before you eat so that you know exactly what is going on and how you can better tweak it.

    Thank you I will definitely try that
  • Fleetwoodly
    Fleetwoodly Posts: 9
    I plan beforehand. If I have a event in the near future, I take it in my weekly eating plan. If I indulge, I make sure I eat less on that day and exercise if possible. But, I am only in it for two weeks now and I am trying my best to make it a habit. For now it is working and slowly the weight is coming off.

    But don't beat yourself up, weight loss is very hard and you learn so much along the way. It is about forming habits and learning sticking to them. Don't expect total control and absolute super weight loss overnight. Just incorperate excersising slowly the next couple of weeks and I am sure your future healthy, less calorie habits will soon follow.
  • chouflour
    chouflour Posts: 193 Member
    I like to look at things I can tweak for next time, because feeling like I have a plan makes me more comfortable.

    So I might look at today's breakfast (2 sausages, an ounce of cheese, two corn tortillas and some coffee) and say "Was that the best use of 370 calories? Could I come up with something more satisfying or as satisfying with fewer calories?"

    Tomorrow I might plan to try one sausage/cheese wrap and an orange. Or swap it for a banana with peanut butter, or whatever.

    Hitting calorie targets is a learned skill, and I try to cut myself some slack while I'm learning.
  • Josyurtos23
    Josyurtos23 Posts: 63 Member
    Fleetwoodly wrote: »
    I plan beforehand. If I have a event in the near future, I take it in my weekly eating plan. If I indulge, I make sure I eat less on that day and exercise if possible. But, I am only in it for two weeks now and I am trying my best to make it a habit. For now it is working and slowly the weight is coming off.

    But don't beat yourself up, weight loss is very hard and you learn so much along the way. It is about forming habits and learning sticking to them. Don't expect total control and absolute super weight loss overnight. Just incorperate excersising slowly the next couple of weeks and I am sure your future healthy, less calorie habits will soon follow.

    Thank you the best of luck to you as well.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    onefatgurl wrote: »
    Hi I'm slowly starting over again and right now I'm trying to get into the habit of measuring and logging in every day. I've went over my daily calorie range for the past couple of days which I'm ok with because I want to develop the habit first. I just wanted to know what your thoughts were about when you go over your limits, what do you do to keep yourself from getting discouraged? Or better, what do you tell yourself when you see that red number? Yes excercise will be in the future (sooner rather than later) but what do you do when you have done your workout already?

    On the average I think I went over 200ish calories a day.

    I prelog my day in advance. When I do that I usually am over but I know I will exercise so I can also look at how much I am over and plan out my exercise for the day. I look up how much an exercise for so many minutes burns. I might decide to do more exercise that day or just change what I plan to eat so I don't need to do more than normal.
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