Do you worry about eating too many calories over your limit? How much is too much?
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xKoalaBearx
Posts: 181 Member
I see a lot of people worrying about eating too much over their calorie limit (100, 200, or 300 calories) for the day. I was exactly the same way, and I would over compensate by eating too little (100-200 calories UNDER my limit). This turned out to be detrimental to my overall progress, and for me, was completely unnecessary. I'll explain...
1. Eating too little (for me, under 1500 calories), put me in starvation mode. My metabolism slows down, I stop losing weight and even gain weight. So that's no good.
2. In order to gain a pound (a real pound, not just temporary water weight), we need to eat an EXTRA 3500 calories. And even that would take a few days for the body to fully convert. So, when I see the scale go up by 2 pounds in a day... if it was a true 2 pound weight gain, that would mean I would've had to have eaten and converted 7000 calories over the 1500 calories I'm supposed to have. 8500 calories? Overnight? No way. Therefore, it's not real.
3. I researched how many calories I would need a day to lose weight, maintain weight and gain weight. And what I found surprised me. For me, male, at age 42, when I was at 180 lbs, 5'6", no exercise, how many calories I would need to eat each and every day for 7 days in order to gain or lose 1 pound that week: (roughly)
a) lose weight: 1400-1500 cal per day (which is my NS target)
b) maintain weight: 1800-2000 cal per day (What??!!)
c) gain weight: 2300-2500 cal (What??!!) And this is every day for 1 week!
And that's with NO EXERCISE! If I include exercise, say moderately 3 times per week the numbers look like this:
a) lose weight: 1650-1850 cal
b) maintain weight: 2150-2350 cal
c) gain weight: 2650-2850 cal per day every day for a week
It's even higher if you exercise longer, harder and more frequently!
So as you can see, for me, one day of eating 100-200 calories more than my 1500 calorie recommendation is not going to affect me at all.
The problem, which got me into my obese weight level to begin with, is that I was, more often than not, eating more than 2500 calories a day, every day, every year.
Knowing the math helps put things in perspective. So don't worry about 100 or 200 calories. It's nothing in the whole scheme of things. This is why you should eat AT LEAST your 1500 calories (or whatever for your program) and not under it.
Keep fighting!!
1. Eating too little (for me, under 1500 calories), put me in starvation mode. My metabolism slows down, I stop losing weight and even gain weight. So that's no good.
2. In order to gain a pound (a real pound, not just temporary water weight), we need to eat an EXTRA 3500 calories. And even that would take a few days for the body to fully convert. So, when I see the scale go up by 2 pounds in a day... if it was a true 2 pound weight gain, that would mean I would've had to have eaten and converted 7000 calories over the 1500 calories I'm supposed to have. 8500 calories? Overnight? No way. Therefore, it's not real.
3. I researched how many calories I would need a day to lose weight, maintain weight and gain weight. And what I found surprised me. For me, male, at age 42, when I was at 180 lbs, 5'6", no exercise, how many calories I would need to eat each and every day for 7 days in order to gain or lose 1 pound that week: (roughly)
a) lose weight: 1400-1500 cal per day (which is my NS target)
b) maintain weight: 1800-2000 cal per day (What??!!)
c) gain weight: 2300-2500 cal (What??!!) And this is every day for 1 week!
And that's with NO EXERCISE! If I include exercise, say moderately 3 times per week the numbers look like this:
a) lose weight: 1650-1850 cal
b) maintain weight: 2150-2350 cal
c) gain weight: 2650-2850 cal per day every day for a week
It's even higher if you exercise longer, harder and more frequently!
So as you can see, for me, one day of eating 100-200 calories more than my 1500 calorie recommendation is not going to affect me at all.
The problem, which got me into my obese weight level to begin with, is that I was, more often than not, eating more than 2500 calories a day, every day, every year.
Knowing the math helps put things in perspective. So don't worry about 100 or 200 calories. It's nothing in the whole scheme of things. This is why you should eat AT LEAST your 1500 calories (or whatever for your program) and not under it.
Keep fighting!!
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NS didn't use to tell us how many calories we should be eating and the tracking tool didn't tell us either. You just ate your NS meals and add-ins and you lost weight. Now that they tell the number of calories, I've noticed some people get fixated on that number. What they don't tell you is it's really a range and the 1200 or 1500 is toward the low end of the range. I don't remember the exact numbers, but I'm on the 1500 plan and my calories are actually supposed to be within the range of something like 1400 to 1600 or 1700 on NS. My BMR is around 2100 (I'm freakishly tall), so if I stay within that range, theoretically, I should lose the 1 to 2 pounds a week that NS predicts. I do average that. That's another trap people fall into--our minds think our weight loss should be consistent and often our bodies don't agree! But, if you look at the average, it's usually one to 2 pounds a week. This Saturday will mark nine weeks for me. Guess what? I've lost an average of just over 2 pounds a week--as of this morning, I've lost 19.6 pounds.
I totally agree that 100 or 200 calories in a day is nothing to worry about. Just eat on-plan and the weight will come off. But, I also totally understand how people get so focused on those numbers. We need to focus more on changing our lifestyles for the long term and the weight will follow (and I'm pointing a finger at myself here. Ha!).
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When I started using the NuMi app, I started to stop at 1200 calories because the app would say "you have met or exceeded you calories for the day, you will do better tomorrow". So I thought I was doing something wrong, I skipped everything over the 1200, no dessert. It was bad and I spend a few weeks with no loss. My counsoler helped me to realize my issue. She also advised not to add my exercise because I don't want to think I have more calories to eat, I still want to eat between 1200-1499. I get nervous about the carbs tho, I exceed those daily. Since fixing that issue, I have started to lose but wasted 3 weeks!!0
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Hi Koala, Jayne, and Melanie! All of this info was very helpful. Thanks!
I'm with you Koala, by eating way too much, every day, for years...that's how I got here too. So glad to be on a healthier path.
One of the ladies at work was asking me a bunch of questions about NS today, and I tried to explain that in addition to the convenient pre-packaged portion-sized meals, the bigger picture was to teach us to do a Nutrition-Dance. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3....or B, PF, SC, V, L, V, PC, SC, V, D, V, Ds. When you get into the swing of it, it makes sense, feels good, and the weight comes off. Being myself, I had to actually attempt to dance...and almost knocked her plant off its stand. Caught it just in time! Then I used paper instead of dancing to explain.
Take care, Val0 -
Lol. So funny Val.0
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Great article KBear. One thing BeesmaMPF brought up, our program # is a range, and NS does not tell us that. I searched for a definition of my plan with no success. I quizzed a counselor and they referred me to my meal plan. I had to pry a little deeper to get them to say 1500 - 1799, and try to stay closer to the 1500 side.
NuMi has me at 1800 and I have not been able to find a way to change it. I am currently using both NuMi and MPF. Waiting and giving NS time to improve. Have found NuMi calorie counts to be higher than MPF as well as the old Nutrisystem.com tracker. So recommend to check the Nutrition Data is you have a question on a particular food.
I don't get excited if I am over a little. However I have found, at least for me, if I work the plan and keep it simple, I have a hard time reaching the high end of my range and I don't feel hungry.
Thanks for the article, it's really great information.
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I was informed by NS counselor that I was on the 1200 calorie plan. In 2011, they didn't tell us the calorie count, just eat what your told and you'll lose. Back then, I was averaging about 1435 per day. I remember this cause it seemed like a lot of calories, but yet I lost weight.
I have been eating roughly 1200 per day for at least a year or more and did not lose a pound. So, enter NS again. Eating +/- 1200 per day and losing +/- 1lb per week. What gives? There are a combination of factors working here. It is the balance of nutrients that we are fueling our bodies while eating healthier (we ignore sodium for now)on NS. The main factor is smaller more frequent meal sizes, which speeds the metabolism. This is the pure science.
The carbs for NS program is around 55%, protein 25% and fat 20% (on my plan anyway). The fat percentage very important as well! I am vegetarian, so I may eat a bit more protein than recommended, but only by maybe 5% (no big deal). I digressed so sorry
The point is that calories do matter to some extent. BUT nutritional content matters more (imo). If I ate 200-300 calories over of ice cream daily. I am going to gain because of the fat content in the ice cream. If I eat 200-300 over a day in broccoli, I'll be gassy 
, but probably won't gain an ounce. For me, it's all about a balance of calories and nutrient content. 0 -
Very true0
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I was informed by NS counselor that I was on the 1200 calorie plan. In 2011, they didn't tell us the calorie count, just eat what your told and you'll lose. Back then, I was averaging about 1435 per day. I remember this cause it seemed like a lot of calories, but yet I lost weight.
I have been eating roughly 1200 per day for at least a year or more and did not lose a pound. So, enter NS again. Eating +/- 1200 per day and losing +/- 1lb per week. What gives? There are a combination of factors working here. It is the balance of nutrients that we are fueling our bodies while eating healthier (we ignore sodium for now)on NS. The main factor is smaller more frequent meal sizes, which speeds the metabolism. This is the pure science.
The carbs for NS program is around 55%, protein 25% and fat 20% (on my plan anyway). The fat percentage very important as well! I am vegetarian, so I may eat a bit more protein than recommended, but only by maybe 5% (no big deal). I digressed so sorry The point is that calories do matter to some extent. BUT nutritional content matters more (imo). If I ate 200-300 calories over of ice cream daily. I am going to gain because of the fat content in the ice cream. If I eat 200-300 over a day in broccoli, I'll be gassy , but probably won't gain an ounce. For me, it's all about a balance of calories and nutrient content.
I absolutely agree. I assumed going over calories was because of eating all the add-ins. On the 1500 plan, it's difficult for me to stay at 1500 while eating all my add-ins. Even if I were at a lower count at the end my day, that wouldn't give me license to eat whatever I wanted, certainly not when I'm trying to lose weight and adopt a more healthy lifestyle!0
