Calories left!!!!!

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New to MFP this week so only a few days in, however I'm struggling to eat all my calories. Is it just as bad to eat too few as too much. I have got 206 calories left (out of my target of 1210) and I've even eaten things "for the sake of it" just to use some
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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    For one day, no, but yes it is bad to eat too little in the long run.
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    whitpauly wrote: »
    I'll never understand these "struggling to eat 1200 calories" I'd freakin die

    I'll never understand people who go down to 1200 when they don't have to in order to lose weight. Or lower (a friend of mine is being stupid and limiting herself to 500 a day, she knows it's wrong but won't listen).
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    whitpauly wrote: »
    I'll never understand these "struggling to eat 1200 calories" I'd freakin die

    I'll never understand people who go down to 1200 when they don't have to in order to lose weight. Or lower (a friend of mine is being stupid and limiting herself to 500 a day, she knows it's wrong but won't listen).

    Us shorties have no choice if we want a calorie deficit. Exercise calories are awesome in this scenario just to be able to have some kind of treat. No way would I have stuck this low if it wasn't needed though.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    You don't need to eat more per se - you can just substitute higher calorie items in your existing intake. Alot of us, when we start out, go for the "lower is better" approach to calories, and end up under target. Oils, full fat dairy and dressings, less lean cuts of meat etc all add back calories without necessarily upping the amount you eat.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    whitpauly wrote: »
    I'll never understand these "struggling to eat 1200 calories" I'd freakin die

    I'll never understand people who go down to 1200 when they don't have to in order to lose weight. Or lower (a friend of mine is being stupid and limiting herself to 500 a day, she knows it's wrong but won't listen).

    Us shorties have no choice if we want a calorie deficit. Exercise calories are awesome in this scenario just to be able to have some kind of treat. No way would I have stuck this low if it wasn't needed though.

    I'm 5'2" and losing on 2000 calories a day - I'm about a third of the way to my target goal and don't plan to go below 1700 to get there. It's going to take another year and change, but I'll be at a normal BMI eventually. I do a decent bit of walking, but that's it. I just don't understand the idea that short people cant create a deficit without going super low. Maybe people mean shorter than 5'2"? Or those last ten pounds?
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
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    No, a couple hundred calories under isn't an issue, as long as you're eating back some of exercise calories. It's so easy to over estimate exercise calories, that it's likely a couple hundred calories is actually faurly close.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    whitpauly wrote: »
    I'll never understand these "struggling to eat 1200 calories" I'd freakin die

    I'll never understand people who go down to 1200 when they don't have to in order to lose weight. Or lower (a friend of mine is being stupid and limiting herself to 500 a day, she knows it's wrong but won't listen).

    Us shorties have no choice if we want a calorie deficit. Exercise calories are awesome in this scenario just to be able to have some kind of treat. No way would I have stuck this low if it wasn't needed though.

    I'm 5'2" and losing on 2000 calories a day - I'm about a third of the way to my target goal and don't plan to go below 1700 to get there. It's going to take another year and change, but I'll be at a normal BMI eventually. I do a decent bit of walking, but that's it. I just don't understand the idea that short people cant create a deficit without going super low. Maybe people mean shorter than 5'2"? Or those last ten pounds?

    I am now at my goal weight and MFP has given me a NEAT of just under 1400 calories a day to maintain my weight. Fortunately my NEAT is closer to 1600. I am a few inches shorter than you but as you get closer to your goal weight you may just have to get much closer to 1200 before exercise to continue losing than you would like. Even with between 1 and 1 1/2 hours of walking a day I am gaining at 2000 calories.
  • sarahseeto
    sarahseeto Posts: 38 Member
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    Yeahhh like everyone else is saying, if you're on 1200 and struggling to eat them then you're not measuring your food accurately. I'm a tiny person on a 1300 calorie diet and I'm always hungry. Trust me, measure your food with a scale. I can bet my unborn child that you aren't measuring correctlyyyyy!
  • traceyayre
    traceyayre Posts: 3 Member
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    I have actually weighed every morsel that I've eaten and a lot of my packaged food has been logged by scanning the barcode (yogurt, cheese, ham, fish etc). I've logged every coffee/tea etc.