Do you make yourself eat all your calories by the end of the day?

If you get to the end of the day and have calories left over that you haven't eaten yet, do you eat even if you are not really hungry, or carry the calories over to a big breakfast the next day, or let them go and just not make your calories for the day?

I've had these days lately where I am busy all day and I don't get home till late and I was so busy during the day that I have only had 600 calories or something. So then I get home and eat 400 or so, and I don't want any more. What should I do about the other 200?  I don't want to have empty calories at the end of the day, but I want to eat enough.

I think a little I am also saving up as many as I can for the end of the day b/c I have a little bit of a neurotic phobia type thing about going to bed hungry. I'd rather be hungry all day than go to bed hungry.

Try and spread them out a little more...if you are eating 1200 a day, try something like:
breakfast - 200
snack - 100
lunch - 400
snack - 50
supper - 400
snack - 50

so you'll hit your max and have plenty during the day but spread out so you don't get hungry (and smaller snacks are easier to fit in than meals...like grabbing an apple and eating as you do a task...or a handful of nuts or something quick and healthy)

Normally i eat something so im not too far away (popcorn, apples, fudgepops...i have little 100 calories or less snacks around so its easy to make up the last bits).

But being under every once in a while wont hurt your metabolism or anything (it takes a few days for that to happen).

I have the same 'phobia'. If I don't have at least 600 calories left for dinner time and after, I get nervous. Heck, if I even approach 800 calories before the snack between lunch and dinner I get nervous! This is on a 1500 per day target. =/ It's been something I've been working on. The main problem for me is that I rarely know how late/early I will have to go to bed that day.

Unless I am just too tired, I do try to eat all/most of my calories. My body needs it.

If you're really busy you should try to bring snacks with you that are easy to carry around, granola bar, trail mix, baggie of veggies, apple, etc.

If it's once in a  while, don't sweat it.  It's the day after day going under that really can hurt you.  I have a friend who doesn't eat LITERALLY anything for 5 days, then eats & drinks what she wants on the weekend... which isn't really that much... but she hasn't lost anything.

So just be careful.  A few days here and there that you are under are natural, it just happens sometimes.  But just make sure you aren't intentionally starving yourself and make sure your body is getting the nutrients it needs.  I know this is a calorie counting website, but sometimes you need to worry more about the way you feel  and less about the numbers.  Just my personal opinion. 

Just don't obsess.  You've been warned.

-P.L.M.

I used to but then it taught me to binge. Its much better to plan a day ahead, and make sure at the end of the day you have about 50 leftover, but dont bother eating those. Within 100 cal up or down is fine.

I used to try and save, to be "safe" but then I'd binge and soon I started thinkin 100 over is ok, then 200 over is ok now and then (but it was every couple of days) and it got out of control and I'd feel sick before I went to bed. And then when i tried to stop i found even if i ate all my cals early in the day I'd want food at night, even if i wasnt huyngry!! I know what you mean by going to bed hungry, but just always plan a snack near the end but not too near the end, as sometimes i think i get hugnrier, but if i leave it 10 mins, I'm suddenly full and ready for bed.

Breakfasts should be 25% of your cal intake.

This situation rarely happens to me but yes, I love the days I am under as I get to have my treats .... I never ever eat less than 1200 calories, so if I am under I hunker down and eat almonds or roasted peanuts (oh yes, joys of life) or have a Nutella sandwich (the best) or something else calorie rich, dense and yummy. Eat up!!!

i found that forcing myself to eat ALL the calories for the day really does help me to lose weight.  often i find myself still eating late & chewing on cucumbers, celery, fruit, etc that i don't even want & i don't want to eat late either, but it seems to work better

i just try to only keep that kind of foods left at the end of the day instead of fats or proteins.

If something comes up I will try to make myself reach my cal goal for the day. doesn't happen too often so it isn't that big of a deal. normally i will just drink my cals on those days

There are enough days when I go over calories, that I don't worry about the days when I go under. If anything, my weekly average winds up a little bit higher than my goal.

However, if this does not apply to you, and your minimum is really low like 1200 (i.e. the BARE minimum for a sedentary female), then I would say... when you go under, increase the next day's goal by the same amount, to compensate. You won't have to eat when you're not hungry, and you'll be able to splurge a little the next day. It doesn't have to be at breakfast - you could eat your little extra during the following evening, if you wish. 

Sometimes I think its good to think about your calorie consumption as a week goal and not necessarily a day goal. I read in a book on healthy eating that you won't get undernourished in a day. I am not a doctor or professional dietician but logically it seems ok if you skip on some calories one day and then make up for them throughout the week. However I do think its important to get food in the morning so that you kick start your metabolism...even if its only a couple hundred.

yeah for me there's been the rare occasion where I've been like 1150 or something and I won't bother to make up for it. It's so minimal..of course unless I have like a piece of dark chocolate just hanging around perchance. :D I think the weekly idea might have it's merits, but I'd have to think about it more. I suppose as long as you remain in the "deficit" realm for the duration of a week span your doing alright :)

As for breakfast (7:00am), with 1200-1300 on a regular day; I usually have right around 300 calories. Mostly because I work 5 days a week and know I won't get my next break to snack till around 10:30am. I then have my snack, a medium lunch...snack again..go home have coffee/light snack...work out..and a light dinner with some fiber (veggies!) and protein. (chicken/lean beef/fish). Then I'm done for the day having eaten 6 meals. I think that's a decent break-up of calories/nutrients (I hope) :D

That rarley happens to me, but on the RARE occasion that i'm simply not hungry.. I have a glass of juice or milk, and some nuts, or high cal fruit... bananaaaaas!

Anyways, if you're only like 200 under once in a while it's not going to hurt you, but you don't want to be way under for any extended period of time.

That never happens to me.  I shoot for between 1500 and 1600 and never have uneaten calories leftover.

 

My appetite has adjusted since my heavy days, but I still have to say to myself  "Okay, do you want the yogurt & apples, or the kit kat, or the tiny bag of chips" and choose one, but honestly, I could still easily eat up all three in 5 seconds if I wanted to.

 That's why I need to count - it's the only way I know of to keep my consumption under control.

i aim for no more than 1500-1600 calories a day. i easily eat this much by the time i go to bed! is it right that on my profile it says i should be eating 2400 cals a day to maintain my weight?! this number is so excessive there's absolutely no way i'd ever eat that many. i mean, if i eat anywhere near 2000 i balloon up. or have i messed up my metabolism so much by eating under this amount? i'm worried that if i do try to eat 2400 a day it'll make me gain weight as my body's not used to that much food? i ama ctually trying to lose weight but it sys i should me maintaining it. would love to lose about a stone and then i'd be very happy. any explanations are very welcome! please be nice!

Original Post by ebonye:

i aim for no more than 1500-1600 calories a day. i easily eat this much by the time i go to bed! is it right that on my profile it says i should be eating 2400 cals a day to maintain my weight?! this number is so excessive there's absolutely no way i'd ever eat that many. i mean, if i eat anywhere near 2000 i balloon up. or have i messed up my metabolism so much by eating under this amount? i'm worried that if i do try to eat 2400 a day it'll make me gain weight as my body's not used to that much food? i ama ctually trying to lose weight but it sys i should me maintaining it. would love to lose about a stone and then i'd be very happy. any explanations are very welcome! please be nice!

 I think I'm supposed to eat about 3000 or more to maintain if I'm at 170, but I'm pretty sure that anything over 2500 would make me gain weight.  When I hit 170, I want to try and maintain at 2000, but wil up it up if my weight falls any more as I don't want to be under 170 (I'm 6'2 1/2")  Seems like these calculators show pretty high calorie intake.  Maybe some people can eat that much and maintain.  When I gained 30 lbs this spring, I was eating an average of about 3500 cal per day.  No way I could maintain at that calorie level (besides, I was stuffing myself all the time then.  That's a lot of food, although on many days, a lot of it was beer!)

3000 seems too much I agree! Oh I see, for your height you definitely don't want to go under 170, that's very sensible. 3500 a day oh dear, although alcohol is full of calories! It's deceiving! Luckily for me I don't particularly like alcohol, unless it's champagne :-) Although being a Uni student, there's no way that's going to happen! I may try to actually eat more calories then as I know you shouldn't eat under 1000 calories of what your body needs.

You could try eatting higher calorie foods when you do eat, like banana's and peanut butter. If you're not hungry then don't eat, listen to what your body is telling you.

One other way you could try to get more calories is to pack snacks, something healthy and not messy- finger foods and such. s

 I figure as long as what you eat is healthy and you're eatting when your body tells you do (regular exercise too) then one can't go wrong.

I try to make my goal. And I've found that if I don't eat enough calories, then I feel awful!

The other day, I had a 200 calorie breakfast and then I couldn't really fix lunch so I had about 130 for lunch. So, by the time I got home at around 16:00, I felt completely off like I was going to pass out! So, after researching a little bit here, I decided to have peanut butter and some crackers and that brought my body back to life. ;)

So, even if I'm not too hungry I try not to skip meals. I also try to stay on the low side during the day to make sure I have enough to have an alright meal. Nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night with your stomach wanting food!

okay, i aim for 1500 calories a day, max. but some days i dont eat that much. but i MAKE myself get at least 1200 because women arent supposed to eat less than that.

 for men its 1500.