How Close To Daily Calorie Goal Is Acceptable?

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mithion
mithion Posts: 78 Member
edited January 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
It’s not always easy to match the exact number of calories MFP sets as your daily goal. What is a good number close to that over or under?

For example today I am +37 calories net due to exercise and I do not want to eat anymore. I just ate two bananas to get me there, I’m stuffed and it’s 9pm, I’m done eating for the day with +37 calories net. Is that close enough over my daily calorie goal?

Replies

  • Westschmeis
    Westschmeis Posts: 350 Member
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    Think trends, not precise numbers of calories, or of steps, or any other single dataum. You want to have a caloric deficit over a week, and a month and a year, so any single daily total is fairly meaningless.

    Consistent habits, and a reasonable caloric deficit will lead to real weight loss.

    And physical exercise combined with nutritious foods to get the calories result in a healthy lifestyle.
  • nk9o
    nk9o Posts: 60 Member
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    Chart your weight trends and you should see a gradual drop over time. The averages will show a deficit and if not correct it by staying below your target daily calorie intake.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    edited January 2019
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    I'm a little confused by your post. I think you mean that you went under your MFP calorie goal by 37 calories. That's not a problem. But I'm concerned that you could mean when your calorie goal, exercise, and food are all factored in, you only gave your body net 37 calories today. This would be a much bigger problem. Hopefully you mean the first one and not the second!
  • mithion
    mithion Posts: 78 Member
    edited January 2019
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    apullum wrote: »
    I'm a little confused by your post. I think you mean that you went under your MFP calorie goal by 37 calories. That's not a problem. But I'm concerned that you could mean when your calorie goal, exercise, and food are all factored in, you only gave your body net 37 calories today. This would be a much bigger problem. Hopefully you mean the first one and not the second!

    I mean I had an extra 37 calories from exercise, I had 37 calories left that I could ate ate away.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    look at your weekly goal. i am usually under by 100-200 cals Monday to Thursday so that i can eat more at the weekend.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,676 Member
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    Some days I'm over by a couple of hundred calories, some days under. It mostly depends on how much exercise I got that day (rest day vs. 12 mile run). As long as the weekly total is close to my goal, I'm good.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    mithion wrote: »
    apullum wrote: »
    I'm a little confused by your post. I think you mean that you went under your MFP calorie goal by 37 calories. That's not a problem. But I'm concerned that you could mean when your calorie goal, exercise, and food are all factored in, you only gave your body net 37 calories today. This would be a much bigger problem. Hopefully you mean the first one and not the second!

    I mean I had an extra 37 calories from exercise, I had 37 calories left that I could ate ate away.

    Having 37 calories left over at the end of the day isn't a big deal. You can eat them later, or not. I would not worry about it at all.

    Having several hundred calories left over would be a bigger cause for concern if you did it often and didn't eat them later in the week.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
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    This is not an exact science. Even if you are the most dedicated logger...weighing every gram of food...your calorie goal is still just an estimate. You can’t know down to the calorie what you are burning in a day, so as long as you are losing at an appropriate rate, I wouldn’t worry about trying to hit an exact number. 37 calories is well within the margin of error.
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
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    I just try not to let my net dip TOO low (tho some days I just don't feel like eating another meal after working out, and I'd rather listen to my hunger signals vs try and get the numbers perfect), and I also try not to have days that go above my maintenance... In the end, the occasional 1000 net kcal days even out with the 1600 net kcal ones to my desired average of roughly 1300 net kcal

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