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    Do you make sure you eat back your leftover calories at night?

    Posts: 79 Member
    edited November 2024 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
    I was very active today and I still have 500 left, and I'm not hungry but I do enjoy eating lol what do you do in this situation?

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    • Posts: 466 Member
      You look like you're in pretty good shape. I have a way to go on that myself, so for now coming in under my calorie goal without being hungry I just leave well enough alone and let those calories go.
    • Posts: 466 Member
      And I just realized I was in the maintaining weight forum... so yeah. Whoops.
    • Posts: 935 Member
      IDK....i'm tracking and weighing and I have lost only 15 pounds in 73 days. I am pretty active. I get a total of 15000 steps on average per day working at the hospital. Im an X ray tech.
      But my MFP is set to sedentary. Why?? Because I don't want to overestimate my calorie burn. Anyways. I allow myself about 1500 calories a day and my weight isn't moving. It's stuck between 169 and 172. I lost most of the weight the first few weeks.
      Anyways, I really don't want to lower my calories.
    • Posts: 4,838 Member
      Save them for tomorrow if you're not hungry. I have a couple hundred calories left today, but I know that I'll be eating out for a couple of work-related events tomorrow, so I'm just going to save those calories. Just be sure that you do eat them...otherwise you could wind up back in a deficit.
    • Posts: 8,488 Member
      I generally have a lower appetite on heavy work out days so I just let any calories left roll over, just incorporating them into the rest of the week.
      I don't often have a low week. Everything manages to even out.

      Think of looking at your calories as a weekly allotment rather than daily. For some it can work really well. (I've been doing it for years.)

      Cheers, h.
    • Posts: 19,809 Member
      I would feel restricted if I felt compelled to balance the books on a daily basis and for me at least the feeling of being restricted isn't conducive to happy and successful long term weight maintenance.
      There's likely to be times when you are hungry (especially if you "enjoy eating") but don't have any calories left for the day.

      I just seek a balance over an extended period of time.
      Same applies to holidays/vacations, the period of time is even more extended. :smile:
    • Posts: 4,404 Member
      I would leave them for another day when you are more hungry and need them. Bound to be a meal out or an occasion when you will be glad of the extra. You might fancy a piece of cake or some cookies later in the week and have those spare calories to use still.
    • Posts: 103 Member
      I 'save' my workout calories if I'm not hungry as I will generally go over on a weekend so it's good to have something spare.
    • Posts: 79 Member
      WOW you guys are really smart! I usually use them that day, but other times, I just "forfeit" them completely. I never thought of saving them for another day.
    • Posts: 13,454 Member
      middlehaitch wrote: »
      I generally have a lower appetite on heavy work out days so I just let any calories left roll over, just incorporating them into the rest of the week.
      I don't often have a low week. Everything manages to even out.

      Think of looking at your calories as a weekly allotment rather than daily. For some it can work really well. (I've been doing it for years.)

      Cheers, h.

      Pretty much all of this. While I was losing, and still now that I'm in maintenance, I tend to eat a little lower calories during the week and save calories for more indulgent weekends. It all evens out on a weekly basis.
    • Posts: 3,782 Member
      I rarely have much left over, but when I do I know that in a day or two I'll eat too much and it will balance out. I look at it as wanting long term balance, not just one day at a time.
    • Posts: 529 Member
      I definitely focus on finding a balance weekly or bi-weekly as opposed to focusing on the day. I had 750 calories when I went to bed last night. Today I'm more hungry so I will probably eat some of them. I want to go out for sushi this weekend so I'll eat some more. As long as my week or every two weeks balances I'm good with that.
    • Posts: 312 Member
      My hunger comes the day after. So on really active days where I don’t feel like eating I let them roll over. The next day I will want them all and more.
    • Posts: 3,051 Member
      karintalley wrote: »
      IDK....i'm tracking and weighing and I have lost only 15 pounds in 73 days. I am pretty active. I get a total of 15000 steps on average per day working at the hospital. Im an X ray tech.
      But my MFP is set to sedentary. Why?? Because I don't want to overestimate my calorie burn. Anyways. I allow myself about 1500 calories a day and my weight isn't moving. It's stuck between 169 and 172. I lost most of the weight the first few weeks.
      Anyways, I really don't want to lower my calories.
      I eat between 1500-1600/day. I ate less for a year & lost most of my wt & don't want to go lower. I set my cal to lose 1/2 a week but I got stuck too BUT 2 days ago wt loss started again after 2 months
    • Posts: 3,051 Member
      If I'm not hungry, I don't eat just to eat
    • Posts: 8,488 Member
      edited November 2017
      Evamutt wrote: »
      If I'm not hungry, I don't eat just to eat

      I always think this is a bit of a double edged sword. Sometimes lack of a hunger queue means one can easily not meet ones goal over time. This can be calories over, or under.

      Aiming for a weekly goals will cover that.

      Cheers, h.
    • Posts: 4,838 Member
      edited November 2017
      There are a lot of well-intentioned commenters here, but it's worth pointing out that this is the maintenance forum. OP wants to maintain their weight, not lose weight.

      If you are trying to lose weight, then yes, it's okay for many people to occasionally not eat all of their calories as long as they are still meeting the body's nutritional needs. But if you are trying to maintain your weight, then your average calories eaten need to match up with your average calories burned. Otherwise, you'll lose or gain weight. Many people in maintenance don't eat their exact calorie allotment every day, and instead "bank" calories for weekends. They approach their calorie goals from a weekly rather than daily perspective.
    • Posts: 542 Member
      Bank for the weekend.
    • Posts: 13,575 Member
      I rarely eat when not hungry. I'll just save them for another day.
    • Posts: 4,286 Member
      I dont have to eat when im not hungry the same way i dont need to be hungry to eat. Maintenance is all about the middle ground. Work days i burn a ton i literally have to pack away 3-5 donuts on top of all my normal meals all being fit into a 4ish hour window after work while having 0 appetite. My jobs filthy and active it just doesnt make for much of an appetite let alone stuffing myself against my will. In no way do i find that acceptable, So most the time i save calories for days i dont work. I tend to have my appetite then lol. Aslong as it averages out im good.

      Besides, Then when im actually craving something i can eat it. Everything tastes beter when you eat it because you want it in the moment, Vs because its there or you just can.
    • Posts: 8,934 Member
      sijomial wrote: »
      I would feel restricted if I felt compelled to balance the books on a daily basis and for me at least the feeling of being restricted isn't conducive to happy and successful long term weight maintenance.
      There's likely to be times when you are hungry (especially if you "enjoy eating") but don't have any calories left for the day.

      I just seek a balance over an extended period of time.
      Same applies to holidays/vacations, the period of time is even more extended. :smile:

      This ^. If its an occasional thing, it will just balance out for logging and exercise burn errors.
    • Posts: 6,474 Member
      WINE!
    • Posts: 421 Member
      If I have leftover calories and I'm not hungry, I just let them go. I've been on maintenance over 3 years and although I still log every day, the amount of calories left over just does not seem to bother me. I don't bail them and I don't worry about them. Somehow, another day and I will go over my calories. It all works out. Sometimes it's best to relax a bit about this, but when you are new on maintenance, it is understandable that you are being pretty structured. I was, too. Now the only time I get into worrying about leftover calories is if I am above my scream weight for a week, and need to really watch what I am doing.
    • Posts: 421 Member
      Ooops. I mean "bank" not "bail". Darn auto-correct.
    • Posts: 2,577 Member
      Nope, never.
    • Posts: 41,865 Member
      anewell28 wrote: »
      I was very active today and I still have 500 left, and I'm not hungry but I do enjoy eating lol what do you do in this situation?

      This depends...if this is a frequent thing and you're not balancing things out over the long term, you're not going to maintain your weight...you're going to continue to lose weight.

      When I logged, I took a longer view of things rather than getting too wrapped up in the day to day minutia. I've maintained for over 4.5 years and haven't logged in a long time, but I can tell you that just like most people in the world, I'm not eating the exact same calories every day...I have lower days and higher days, and they simply balance each other out over the long run.
    • Posts: 112 Member
      When I am in weight loss mode- no, when I am in maintenance yes or I will keep losing weight.
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