Do you actually hold yourself to your caloric goal, or ...

2

Replies

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    No, I eat intuitively.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    chandanista wrote: »
    I eat over 2-3 times a week, under the other days. I love the weekly nutrition feature, to make sure everything's evening out.

    I do the same. Typically, I "save" 200 cals on 5 days, then I have 1,000 extra wiyh which to indulge. I'm only set to lose .5lb/week also, which means that even if I don't use all of those calories within a week, I'm still at a modest .75lb/week loss rate (I don't care for drastic restriction and the associated dizziness and hangries ).
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited January 2016
    distinctlybeautiful wrote: »
    ... do you just consider it a maximum that you try not to exceed?

    I'm not looking for advice! I'm just super curious because based on my newsfeed it seems like people are super excited about not reaching their goals. But the deficit should already be factored into the goal...

    Because exercise calories tend to be inflated, I almost never eat every single calorie. But I never get super excited about it. That sounds a little...disordered. As if someone's calorie deficit is too aggressive or they rejoice in undereating.
  • neohdiver
    neohdiver Posts: 738 Member
    oolou wrote: »
    I aim for close to the goal and if I am under by a couple hundred, it tends to get banked and put forward/back to another day when I go/went over my goal. As long as it all balances out in the end, I'm happy.

    The number turning red is discouraging, and may be it would be better if there was an amber zone for the first 50 cals over and under, with red also being used if someone goes far under too?

    I agree.

    Even if you are measuring everything you eat, the calorie count for what you are consuming is still only an estimate because of of inaccuracies in food data. It encourages undereating to have no penalty until you hit 1000 calories - but big red flags if you go over by even 1 calorie.

    I eat close to my goal, and assess whether I am still hungry if I end up within 200 calories of my goal at the end of the day. If I am, I eat more. I rarely go over - partly because I find the red annoying, so it discourages topping off the daily calories when I'm close enough that eating much would make me go over.
  • TaraHancock827
    TaraHancock827 Posts: 37 Member
    Ive found that eating only 25g of carbs a day keeps me from ever getting hungry and I tend to not eat all of my calories. Still cant loose though...guessing im eating at maintenance. im not a strict calorie counter. oops
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 666 Member
    I try to hit my calorie goal every day. If I'm a little over or under I don't worry about it. If I end the day with a couple hundred calories left, I will try to eat something else. Usually, that means I'm short on protein. I know that my maintenance is 1400 calories. As long as I don't go over that, I'm fine.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    It is the goal I look to reach. I really wish that instead of saying a person was under their calorie goal when the day is closed out, that instead it would give props for being within 50 calories plus or minus of the daily calorie goal.
  • lakshva
    lakshva Posts: 44 Member
    edited January 2016
    I find red color discouraging. As if I am caught red handed!
    Just for my peace of mind, I have set MFP to maintenance cal. I try to keep a deficit of 500-550 daily so I know I'm on track for my lose .5kg/ week goal. And then on days I eat over my 'allowed' calories, I don't bash myself bcz I know I'm still below my maintenance!!
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
    lakshva wrote: »
    I find red color discouraging. As if I am caught red handed!
    Just for my peace of mind, I have set MFP to maintenance cal. I try to keep a deficit of 500-550 daily so I know I'm on track for my lose .5kg/ week goal. And then on days I eat over my 'allowed' calories, I don't bash myself bcz I know I'm still below my maintenance!!

    I like this system. I may consider adopting it.

  • Nachise
    Nachise Posts: 395 Member
    I don't pay so much attention to what MFP sets as to what my nutritionist sets for me. I pay no attention to what those exercise calories say I can have. When I ate back my exercise calories, I was on a 2-year plateau. Now I am starting to lose weight again.
  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
    distinctlybeautiful wrote: »
    ... do you just consider it a maximum that you try not to exceed?

    I'm not looking for advice! I'm just super curious because based on my newsfeed it seems like people are super excited about not reaching their goals. But the deficit should already be factored into the goal...
    In 245 days I have only eaten to my goal a handful of times. For me it is a maximum and and I try to leave a few hundred calories to account for things I may have forgotten.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    edited January 2016
    For some goals I try for the green and some red. For example, I try to keep my sodium number green so my goal there is to keep it under the 2300 mg. max. but for my protein, I want that to go red everyday so 90 grams is my min. With calories I use 1200 as a daily min, and my maximum varies with the aim of a weekly deficit. I have my fit bit dashboard daily deficit goal set higher than my mfp deficit goal and that helps me hit the sweet spot for weight loss that is in a range and not at an exact number.
  • starwhisperer6
    starwhisperer6 Posts: 402 Member
    jeepinshawn wrote: »
    distinctlybeautiful wrote: »
    ... do you just consider it a maximum that you try not to exceed?

    I'm not looking for advice! I'm just super curious because based on my newsfeed it seems like people are super excited about not reaching their goals. But the deficit should already be factored into the goal...
    In 245 days I have only eaten to my goal a handful of times. For me it is a maximum and and I try to leave a few hundred calories to account for things I may have forgotten.

    This, and because I am at work most of the time I don't use a scale. I figure (and my rate of loss seems to prove it) that those calories can make up for the guestimates I make about my calories.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,184 Member
    I try to stay under my goal. Although lately I have been thinking that I should be trying harder to reach my goal even if I go over by a few calories. I agree with others though. The red numbers are discouraging. As if you did something bad. And I do eat back about half of my calories burned if I am hungry so that is usually how I stay under my goal.
  • toe1226
    toe1226 Posts: 249 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    People seem to really hate those red numbers! And there's a lot of back patting when someone closes with calories left. I actually think it's a bit of a flaw and encourages under-eating.

    Personally, I eat every last morsel allowed and generally a little bit more. Weekly average is usually anything from spot on to 50 calories per day over.


    I agree- the backpatting for eating under is a negative aspect of the system. There has been research/advocacy for fitness trackers and fitbits to have an alert to say "you're overdoing it!" - but then there is a reverse backlash taht this would just motivate people more to get to that point! ohhhh the psychology of it all. Bottom line, I don't like that red stuff but I know it is all arbitrary.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    I eat them all including 100% of my exercise calories. I lost at the rate I wanted to and am maintaining with no problems.
  • ZombieSlayer
    ZombieSlayer Posts: 369 Member
    +/- 50 cals, I'm happy.
  • melonaulait
    melonaulait Posts: 769 Member
    Right now my goal is 1500, but I always eat somewhere between 1300-1800. This week is kind of a test week though, next week I may aim for less than a 1800 no exercise max...

    I find I'm the happiest when the 3 of my meals are 400-something calories each. I'll have to work that + snacks into a smaller calorie goal somehow. I'm also walking and doing an exercise program now so I'll have some extra calories here and there to play with, too.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    I've said it before and I'll say it again.

    The "winner" is the person who can eat the most delicious food and still meet his/her goals.
  • abatonfan
    abatonfan Posts: 1,120 Member
    I have my goal set to maintenance, and I manually create my calorie deficit by leaving 100-500 calories left over at the end of the day. I hate those red numbers with a passion, and I don't feel super bad if I have to eat more than what I wanted to (while staying within my maintenance calories) because of treating a low blood sugar.
  • level3tjg
    level3tjg Posts: 21 Member
    I try to stay under but as close to my goal as possible. If I go over... I hit my bike up until I burn those calories back off.
  • alisfitgoal
    alisfitgoal Posts: 32 Member
    I try to hit my calorie goal every day (1300), but I don't count exercise calories and don't eat extra for exercise. This means for a sedentary day I am still on track to lose weight, but if I exercise, it's a bonus deficit.
  • missblondi2u
    missblondi2u Posts: 851 Member
    I've actually been letting myself eat over goal because my rate of loss after 6 months is still higher than expected. I have a 1 lb/week goal, but have consistently lost 1.5 lbs/week, even with eating all my fitbit calories. #notcomplaining
  • sabulaboys4
    sabulaboys4 Posts: 160 Member
    I see the set calorie goal as something to try not to reach so most days I am under by a considerable sum and am happy with my losses. Some days I go over but not very many and when I go over it is usually considerable ( pizza weakness). I stay under mostly because I'm sure I don't log correctly.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    jandw122912 wrote: »
    I try to stay within 50 calories of my goal (up or down). I don't want to leave 150 calories sitting there! But I don't really worry if I have like 23 calories left...

    This is what i do too.
  • brigitukas00
    brigitukas00 Posts: 12 Member
    I never weigh food , estimate everything , always eat more then mfp suggests and am losing weigh , so far 7.7 pounds in less then 3 weeks :)
  • elaineamj
    elaineamj Posts: 347 Member
    juggernaut1974 wrote: »
    I've said it before and I'll say it again.

    The "winner" is the person who can eat the most delicious food and still meet his/her goals.

    LOVE it!

    It's been more manageable for me since i started eating back half my exercise calories. I want to get more accurate so I can feel confident in my numbers and eat all I'm allowed to. Right now, my 1200 calories is a little tight - I can pretty much only have 1 snack a day (and not always either). That said, I'm not hungry and eating lots of yummy food, so it's good :)

  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
    It's why I did away with the friend feed thing and keep everything private. I had some friends on there who only would eat 700-800 calories a day and it drove me nuts, meanwhile I had people commenting on me when I would go over by even just 20 or 30 calories, "Oh, tomorrow's a new day!" Like 20 calories is even a thing or that my numbers are exactly accurate to the calorie. If I am within 100 calories one way or the other, it's all good but I do like to eat all of them. I got sick of seeing the cheers for people way under 1000 calories, like what they were doing was great or something.

    I decided after my break at Christmastime it would just be me, myself and I doing my own thing and not worrying about what other people are doing or worrying about them worrying about what I'm doing.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    distinctlybeautiful wrote: »
    ... do you just consider it a maximum that you try not to exceed?

    I'm not looking for advice! I'm just super curious because based on my newsfeed it seems like people are super excited about not reaching their goals. But the deficit should already be factored into the goal...

    When I logged and was actively trying to lose weight I tried to hit my goals, give or take...because the last time I checked, a goal was something to strive for.

    I think people who try to stay under don't know what they're actually doing and how this tool works...I'm often surprised at the number of people who literally have zero clue how this thing actually works.
  • level3tjg
    level3tjg Posts: 21 Member
    Yeah... I eat under and have lost 36 lbs in less than 3 months. I guess I don't know how this tool works. Thankfully guys like you are here to tell me.
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