Went over my daily calorie goal. What do I do?

theyoginurse
theyoginurse Posts: 82 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I am new to MFP. I’ve been on a 12 day streak and lost 5lbs. Yesterday, I just gave in to hunger. My calorie goal is 1200. I haven’t been exercising yet, because I have been exhausted and depressed from things going on at home/work. I can’t make this an excuse anymore and have to exercise for sanity.

I am -2,350 calories for the day. Because I came home from work and was ravishing- physically hungry and emotionally exhausted. What do I do now? Should I fast for 3 days to make up the difference in calories?

I lost weight on 1200 calories per day a few years ago (did Jenny Craig), but wondering if this calorie goal is too little because I haven’t been going to the bathroom regularly and feeling somewhat tired and edgy. I am 5’5” 164.8lbs right now. My goal is 130.

What do you do if you’re over your calorie goal? Thank you for your help!

Replies

  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
    I wouldn't fast - that isn't going to help with you feeling hungry and exhausted! I guess you're eating too little. What rate of loss are you aiming for? Might help to go a little slower. Or you can try to eat more filling foods. Or exercise and eat back the calories. Or any combination!

    I let my calories vary quite a lot - I only care that I'm in a deficit over a longer period. I try and keep a few "banked" calories so I can eat more on any given day without feeling guilty over it.
  • joemac1988
    joemac1988 Posts: 1,021 Member
    5lbs in 12 days is too aggressive. I'd recommend adding 100cals per day to your target and do that each week until your loss slows to about 1lb a week. Slowly adding calories back in and watching how the scale responds will give you the valuable information of what your maintenance calories (how much you can eat without gaining or losing weight) are.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,134 Member
    Don't panic, and definitely don't fast - just park it and move on, we all have binges from time to time.
    I agree with other posters, 1200 is perhaps too low to be maintained long term. I recently joined a fitness class and she recommends 1200 for a "quick start" but for 2 weeks only, then increase to 1400.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    joemac1988 wrote: »
    5lbs in 12 days is too aggressive. I'd recommend adding 100cals per day to your target and do that each week until your loss slows to about 1lb a week. Slowly adding calories back in and watching how the scale responds will give you the valuable information of what your maintenance calories (how much you can eat without gaining or losing weight) are.

    It’s her first two weeks. A lot of that is water weight.
  • sksk1026
    sksk1026 Posts: 215 Member
    Don't fast or do anything extreme! Just start fresh tomorrow. But I think you can learn from this... Don't let yourself get so hungry again. Maybe you need more calories, some portable snacks, a regimen that is easier to stick to? Weight loss doesn't have to be miserable. You have to be able to sustain this long term so how can you eat more often and enjoy foods you like?
  • pogiguy05
    pogiguy05 Posts: 1,583 Member
    edited November 2017
    I would say let what happen go and move on. dont worry about being over and start new tomorrow.

    A couple of things with exercise is in the beginning it will not be easy. you will probably ask yourself what you were thinking. However you need to keep that positive mentality that you are doing this for a better you. After your body adjust to the new you when it comes to exercise you will start to feel much better and I bet you will feel emotionally better as well.

    The other thing I love it the eat back calories for my hard work at the gym. last Saturday I took a day off and it showed and I was kind of sad when I looked at the eat back calories.

    Remember this is about a lifestyle change and no one is perfect. if you stumble or fall get right back up and get going. You remember the videos of marathon runners who are completely exhausted and falls short of the finish line,but are so determined to make it they crawl the rest of the way. Yeh want it like that HOOOYYYAAA
  • cryonic_273
    cryonic_273 Posts: 81 Member
    Going over your calorie goal is not the end of the world.
    you should try to hit it as many days as you can.
    If you go over - thats ok - the goal is to minimise the number of days you go over and on those days minimise the amount you go over by.
    Having days off is ok - but dont binge on those days.

    Tips - are eat filling foods low in calories that take a while to eat. Veg is good for this.
    Drink liquids they help suppress cravings temporarily.

    Aim to make good behavior the norm and it wille ventually become a routine.
    Its hardest in the beginning.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Continue as normal. Fasting to make up for it can send you in a dangerous cycle. Instead, change your goal to a pound a week. 1200 calories is too low for a lot of women...hell, I can’t do 1500 without being ravenous.

    QFT. You will probably have better, more sustainable, long term results if you don't restrict yourself quite so much. You're not going to be able to lose 5 lbs every 12 days, especially at your current size. 1/2 to 1lb per week is going to be much more realistic.

    Exercise will likely help with the stress you've been feeling, plus it will give you a few more calories to play with, but I know for some of us it's difficult to get started. Exercise is my bane. I'm just a lazy *kitten* at heart :tongue:
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    log it and move on.

    you cant 'un-eat' them nd starving yourself will put you in a worse mental state, not to mention more likely to binge.....
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Log it. Move on. Don't do it again. As long as you are normally in a calorie deficit, you will eventually make up for days that are over. It changes when you are in maintenance, but even then there's no reason to worry about an over day until you see the scale outside your goal range.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    I think we talked about this in one of your other threads OP - you're a nurse? Like a nurse that moves around a lot caring for patients? If so, even though you may not be exercising, you're likely not sedentary.

    Also, remind me how much weight you have to lose and what rate of loss you've chosen? If less than 50 lbs then 1 lb/week is what you should be aiming for, I seem to recall you mentioned wanting to lose quickly and keeping calories low but that can have negative effects and result in (as you may be starting to experience) a series of binge/restrict cycles and yo yo dieting.

    Lastly, if you are 2350 in the red, even if you were set to lose 1 lb/week, you are still in a deficit for the week. You have 3,750 cal deficit built into your weekly goal so you would still lose this week, although with a spike like that you may see a temporary jump in water weight.

    You really need to find a sustainable path for the long run, I know you've been asking a lot of good questions on the boards, have you read the stickied most helpful forum posts, have you spent time in the success stories threads reading about people that not only lost weight but kept it off because they took a slow and steady approach to ensure long term success?
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    Just get back on the horse so to speak. No need to do anything special, just keep hitting your goals. You may want to reconsider the aggressiveness of your goals if this starving thing happens with any frequency.
  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 326 Member
    I'm on 1200 calories and doing fine with it, but am older and retired therefore mostly sedentary. Perhaps 1200 is too low for you especially since it appears you are a nurse, running your touche off. We are about the same size, but you are probably younger, needing more calories for your metabolism. You might want to recalculate with a higher activity level or lower weekly goal.

    On the occasions that I have gone way over my daily budget, I eat about 10-25% less the next day to try and average out the week. I don't starve but skip some snacks and concentrate on eating low calorie foods like vegetables and protein. If I know I'm going out somewhere and probably will overdo it, I eat a little less the day before as well. However, in the big picture it makes very little difference if it doesn't become routine. I just have a few peaks in my weekly reports to remember those events by!
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    You're finding 1,200 too hard to stick to because it's the bare minimum for women and not necessary unless you're super sedentary and short.

    You: 5’5” 164.8lbs right now. My goal is 130. Eating: 1,200
    Me: 6'0" 162 lbs right now. Goal is 145. Eating net 1,620
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Log it, learn from it, adjust if necessary (1200 is the very minimum and not always an appropriate goal), move on.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    At your height and weight it is best to target .5 to 1 lb per week loss.youve set too aggressive of a goal and it's usually healthy for many reasons. You can't make up for these mistakes.. Learn from it and move on. Your weight loss might take a couple days longer til you reach goal. That's not the end of the world.
  • twobyflor
    twobyflor Posts: 25 Member
    Are you planning to eat 1200 calories/day for the rest of your life? If the answer is no, then figure out what you really need to eat and lose weight at a reasonable pace. There are calories to help you figure out your caloric needs. Good luck!
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