How do you deal with exceeding your calorie limit?

fakehippie
fakehippie Posts: 13 Member
in Motivation and Support
When I exceed my calorie limit (which is a lot of days tbh) I feel really guilty and crappy about myself. How do you deal with this feeling? How do you move on and do better the next day?

Also, I'm currently set at 1200 calories/day, which is the minimum, and it's reeeeeally difficult to meet, any suggestions?

Replies

  • WeatherJane
    WeatherJane Posts: 1,492 Member
    edited March 2021
    1200 is the minimum calories given to a female. If you change your weight loss to .5 or 1 lb how many calories does it give you? Do you eat back your exercise calories?
  • justace0305
    justace0305 Posts: 33 Member
    I figured out the calorie amount differences if I planned to lose 2 pounds a week, 1.5 pounds, and 1 pound and then set my calorie goal to the lowest amount of calories, with a goal to lose 2 pounds a week. Knowing the calorie totals of each goal, I learned there’s a 500-calorie difference from the lowest amount of calories to the highest amount of calories. I strive for the lowest calorie amount, but if I go over, I know I have a 500-calorie buffer to work with each day and still use weight.
  • fakehippie
    fakehippie Posts: 13 Member
    WeatherJane wrote: »
    1200 is the minimum calories given to a female. If you change your weight loss to .5 or 1 lb how many calories does it give you? Do you eat back your exercise calories?

    Yes, I do eat back my exercise calories, but even with that I find myself going over. I have my activity level set to "active", and on top of that I run every day, anywhere from 3-10 miles. It's just so hard to stay under the limit, even with exercise calories!!
  • fakehippie
    fakehippie Posts: 13 Member
    justace0305 wrote: »
    I figured out the calorie amount differences if I planned to lose 2 pounds a week, 1.5 pounds, and 1 pound and then set my calorie goal to the lowest amount of calories, with a goal to lose 2 pounds a week. Knowing the calorie totals of each goal, I learned there’s a 500-calorie difference from the lowest amount of calories to the highest amount of calories. I strive for the lowest calorie amount, but if I go over, I know I have a 500-calorie buffer to work with each day and still use weight.

    Yeah I guess keeping that in mind is helpful. Like today I went over by like 700 calories, so I was kinda freaking out! But then I realized that because I'm set at a calorie deficit, I'm not actually going to gain weight from it -- I actually ate right at maintenance.
  • demi645
    demi645 Posts: 20 Member
    For me, the answer is planning ahead.

    My calorie goal is 1200 as well. And, I have really struggled with staying under. This week I worked on making better choices and planning out the day before starting to eat. For starters, I try to drink 64 ounces of water each day. Next I am trying to focus more on proteins and vegetables. For breakfast I've been going with Chobani Flip yogurts. Many of them are under 200 calories. I also found a cottage cheese I enjoy by Dairy Pure. It was so yummy. Or, boiled eggs. I include a hot green tea with breakfast. For lunch and dinner, I alternate between salads and a protein like shrimp, grilled chicken or tuna. Green Giant has some great lo cal veggie options. I especially like the roasted red potatoes and the green bean casserole. For snacks I do hummus and cucumbers or a cup of chicken stock. For me the key has been getting single serving packed items or measuring so that I am accurate with my count.

    Food choices can vary. I just think it helps to start each day with a plan. If you know you want to splurge on one meal, adjust the other meals accordingly.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I do wish MFP had an option to set your goals as between X and maintenance.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,539 Member
    concordancia wrote: »
    I do wish MFP had an option to set your goals as between X and maintenance.

    There’s nothing to stop you from doing that. Particularly if you are close to goal. Or even if not close it’s always useful to know your maintenance number.
  • sweetdaisy13
    sweetdaisy13 Posts: 357 Member
    edited April 2021
    When I started logging my food on here around 11th March, I had a calorie goal set at 1,200. Fast forward 6 weeks and I have reached my goal weight and am now on maintenance of 1,678 calories a day.

    1,200 calories a day is tough and I'm quite active: run, walk, do rebounding and isometric workouts. What I have found is that by increasing my calories it has improved my running, as I recover quicker and running at a faster pace. It also means that extra 400 calories a day allows me to continue eating the foods I enjoy and prevents me from just thinking "stuff this" and eating a load of rubbish.

    I don't feel hungry and even though I think the consensus is to eat back exercise calories, I can't bring myself to do this, but on heavy exercise days I will allow myself to eat a little extra, whilst still having a deficit.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    88olds wrote: »
    concordancia wrote: »
    I do wish MFP had an option to set your goals as between X and maintenance.

    There’s nothing to stop you from doing that. Particularly if you are close to goal. Or even if not close it’s always useful to know your maintenance number.

    Oh, I do, when I track. I just wish that there were goal options like "+/- 10% of target" or "between 1lb/week loss and maintenance" rather than hitting red when you eat one more calorie. I am currently relying on routines, rather than tracking, because I find it triggering to be so difficult to actually hit a specific number. I quit Noom after a couple of weeks because their traffic light system was even worse for my brain.
  • DezYaoified
    DezYaoified Posts: 143 Member
    I acknowledge that I went over, and try to think of how I was feeling that made me go over. Was I stressed? Bored? Actually hungry? Depressed? Figuring out the cause, helps me to understand when something like that happens again. It’s a learning process and things happen. Be kind to yourself.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,072 Member
    This may sound crazy - but I set my daily calories to 1000 and regularly exceed that by - surprise! - 200 calories. It's just a dumb mental trick, but it works for me. YMMV Some days I exceed that goal by as much as 500 calories; other days I hover closer to 1000. I average out to where I want to be and don't sweat the occasional overage.
  • MaggieGirl135
    MaggieGirl135 Posts: 1,033 Member
    I have upped my daily calorie goal from 1200 to 1320, which is a loss of a half pound a week per mfp. I do lose a bit more than that and I don’t eat back my calories burned from exercise. I am able to stay within this calorie goal through eating frequently (6-7 times/day). I also eat around the same times throughout the day—if it’s not time to eat, I don’t. But again, the next time to eat is never that far off!
  • DezYaoified
    DezYaoified Posts: 143 Member
    MaggieGirl135 wrote: »
    I also eat around the same times throughout the day—if it’s not time to eat, I don’t. But again, the next time to eat is never that far off!

    I do the same. I can’t pick an exact time to eat everyday because of my job but I have a window of time I eat each meal. If it’s between those times, I hold off and look at what I ate the meal before to see why I’m hungry before my next meal.
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    A few things personally I don't eat back my exercise calories and because of that my calorie goal is 1720. I'm 5'5" F for reference. It is easier for me to under shoot 1720 and end up around 1500 than to stick to a lower calorie deficit I'm also making visibly noticable muscle gains. When I go over I try to go under by that amount the following day and move on from there.
  • mgalsf12
    mgalsf12 Posts: 350 Member
    If I exceed my caloric goal one day, or an entire weekend, I just start back up on Monday. You may be eating too few calories, maybe add about 300 more. I don't know your weight, height or even if you are male or female...but if you are always hungry, eat more protein.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If you set yourself to "active" and you're still getting 1,200 calories, it likely means that your goal rate of loss isn't realistic. Change your goal rate of loss to something reasonable and you'll get more calories to eat up front.

    If you're choosing "active" because you run, then you won't want to log the exercise on top of that. That means you're counting it twice. Your activity level on MFP is meant to be your everyday activities not counting intentional exercise. There are people who use it differently and count all their activity, but they don't count the activity twice by then logging it.

    What you're describing is a pretty classic pattern for people who try to eat too little. You get hungry and exceed your calorie goal. You try to get back on plan, which only lasts until you get really hungry again. It's really more efficient to just shoot for a reasonable calorie goal right from the start.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    gceinca wrote: »
    I would suggest NOT eating your exercise calories. If you are set to "active" AND logging/ eating your exercise calories, you may be "double dipping". For example, if you didn't run, would you consider yourself active? Do you spend most if the day in a job that requires you to be on your feet all day and/or doing physical labor all day. If running is the reason you consider yourself active, you definitely need to not eat your exercise calories.

    Myself, I am set up in MFP to lose one lb. a week and list myself as "not very active". With that said, I am at 1323 calories a day. Without careful planning, it is easy to go over that amount. I do a one hour fitness class 3x a week and walk for 45 minutes almost every day. I do NOT eat (or even log) my exercise calories. That being said, I am only losing about 1/2 lb. a week. But, I got myself in a frame of mind that that's OK. I am looking at this as a lifetime commitment (I think I will always have to log calories). I feel it is better to not be in a hurry and eat an amount that is doable for the long term.

    Also, I think MFP overestimates the number of calories burned during exercise. Another reason not to eat them!

    I've never really understood the argument that since MFP overestimates calories burned through exercise, you should assume you're burning 0 calories. That's the one estimate we KNOW is wrong, so if you're worried about incorrect estimates . . .

    I think it makes more sense for active people to be aware of the possibility of over- or underestimation and then monitor their results and make appropriate adjustments.

    In your case, since you're losing half a pound a week so your process is working for you. I don't think that means that OP, who runs 3-10 miles a day, should eat just 1,200 calories.

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