Going over on calories?

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LoveMySoldier
LoveMySoldier Posts: 22
in Food and Nutrition
Is it harmful to your weight loss journey if you go over your calorie limit for one day?

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  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    No. You'd have to be pretty darn dedicated to never go over.
  • Perz27
    Perz27 Posts: 3
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    no
  • jamie31
    jamie31 Posts: 568 Member
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    If you are over for a week straight then yes it will make you gain a little bit of weight, but one day will not make a difference. Your body really isnt set on a 24 hour clock. I would look at it more like your body is on a 7 day clock. If you did bad one day just make sure you eat better the next day. No harm done.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    If you go "over" by 100 calories then nope. If you're going over by thousands, then maybe, on a faster basis. But your daily deficit is 500 calories if you're set to lose 1lb a week or 1000 calories if you're set to lose 2 lbs a week. You're just making your deficit a bit smaller (and within the fudge factor for reported calories anyway)
  • mhopp71
    mhopp71 Posts: 46 Member
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    Honestly, it depends. It depends on what you ate to go over and by how much. I still eat chocolate and ice cream and pizza, but only once in a while and with in my calorie goal. I have "splurge" days and the last one I had I gained 4 lbs back and it took a lot of hard work the next week to get it back off. I decided it was better to plan the treats in than to lose a week's progress. How your body processes certain foods will also make a difference as well.
  • kiesh82
    kiesh82 Posts: 131 Member
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    No it should not. I tend to zig zag (not intentionally). Over one day, under the next and have lost a few lbs on my journey so far. I've lost a good amount of weight in the past (20 lbs) doing this.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    No! Some people do not even track their calorie deficit by the day - they track a weekly calorie deficit. If you are under 3,500 for 1 week then you lose 1 pound (approximately). Maybe it took you 8 days to achieve a 3,500 calorie deficit ...... no biggie. Just don't let 1 day turn into 2 or 3, etc.
  • superstar4god88
    superstar4god88 Posts: 4
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    No! Some people do not even track their calorie deficit by the day - they track a weekly calorie deficit. If you are under 3,500 for 1 week then you lose 1 pound (approximately). Maybe it took you 8 days to achieve a 3,500 calorie deficit ...... no biggie. Just don't let 1 day turn into 2 or 3, etc.

    Oh my goodness, I wholeheartedly agree. It's really easy for me to mess up one day and think, "Ya know, I already screwed up once this week. My week is already blown. Why not do it again?! I'll start back up later." Later tends to happen weeks later if at all.

    Perfect example for me was going on vacation this summer. I'd been doing really well for a month or so, then I went to Nashville, TN for a concert and nice getaway. Since I was having to eat out for every meal on vacation, when I came back home it was SUPER difficult for me to get back on track with counting calories and exercising. The vacation was in June and I JUST got back on track a couple weeks ago.

    Don't let yourself get depressed when going over on calories for just a short time. It can really hurt everything you've already accomplished.

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