Calorie Deficit

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Hi my name is Tina; do you think that you have to log everything such as a piece of gum or a life safer if you are in a calorie deficit.

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    Me personally...no. But it's like money. If you don't make much money, every dollar counts and you have to budget far more strictly vs someone making significantly more money who primarily budgets for large purchases but doesn't really sweat the small stuff too much.

    Even to lose weight, I had a fairly generous calorie budget, so there were little things I didn't really worry too much about logging. The catch there is if those little things turn into many little things throughout the day. A piece of gum or a single lifesaver is going to be well within the margin of human error for logging anyway...this isn't an exact science. A couple sleeves of lifesavers popped into your mouth throughout the day would likely be a whole other matter.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Enough of those 5 calorie little things can cause you to go over your calorie budget.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    It depends on how often you are popping one in. I don't know how many calories are in a single lifesaver, but if half the roll is gone at th end of the day, that should be logged.

    The point of logging isn't just the calorie counting, it is increasing your awareness of what you are eating.
  • tbostic01
    tbostic01 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you so much everyone
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    edited March 2021
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    I automatically add two calcium carbonate 1000 antacid tablets to my food diary every day. I figure it's only 10 calories a day, but by the end of the week, that's the same number of calories as having an extra egg.
  • GeekDadCS
    GeekDadCS Posts: 153 Member
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    I think it's what best works for you. I've learned the hard way that the one cube if cheese and bite of someone's sandwich very quickly add up if you aren't paying attention. For me, I try to track most things.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    I don't anymore because I have been at this for awhile and eat pretty consistently while continuing to see progress. However if you are not progressing, it most likely is because of faulty logging!
  • penguinmama87
    penguinmama87 Posts: 1,158 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Me personally...no. But it's like money. If you don't make much money, every dollar counts and you have to budget far more strictly vs someone making significantly more money who primarily budgets for large purchases but doesn't really sweat the small stuff too much.

    Whoa! This is a great way to put it and I'm going to remember this from now on. I've even used the term "calorie budget" before but somehow didn't connect it directly. This is really good!

    I started doing zero-based budgeting way back when I was fresh out of college, underemployed, and had a mountain of student loans. I actually still do count every penny today, when my household is doing much better and the debt is paid, but it's become a much more automatic and easy system and our margins do have much more "give." I'm used to doing it and it keeps us financially stable and healthy. I can't imagine NOT budgeting carefully, now that I've been doing it so long and it's been so good for us.

    Thinking about my weight loss in similar terms to paying off that student loan debt? Eureka. Lightbulb moment. However you want to put it! Thanks!