Underate today...what to do tomorrow?

Hey all.  I had a pretty busy and stressful day.  By the time I had finished my dinner, it was 10 and I fell short of my calorie target by about 150 calories.  There wasn't really anything else I felt like snacking on, and I'm pretty tired.  Should I have an extra snack tomorrow or just continue as normal?

I would just continue as normal. Some days I eat a little more, some days a little less. 150 calories this one time shouldn't make a huge difference.

Thing is, you have an issue with bingeing according to a previous post. So I'm wondering if your calorie target is just too low (which is the most common trigger for bingeing).

In which case, maybe 150 below is really more like several hundred below which may set you up for a binge.

We'd need to know your stats (height/weight/age) to be able to help out with some tips on what a respectable calorie intake would be -- I presume you are trying to lose weight? -- for steady weight loss that will calm the restrict/binge cycle you may be on.

Original Post by hedgren:

Thing is, you have an issue with bingeing according to a previous post. So I'm wondering if your calorie target is just too low (which is the most common trigger for bingeing).

In which case, maybe 150 below is really more like several hundred below which may set you up for a binge.

We'd need to know your stats (height/weight/age) to be able to help out with some tips on what a respectable calorie intake would be -- I presume you are trying to lose weight? -- for steady weight loss that will calm the restrict/binge cycle you may be on.

Thanks for looking out.  I haven't had a problem with bingeing in over a year now, though.  My binge/restrict phase was more like: 1) eat two days worth of calories one day, 2) eat nothing the next.  So it's nothing like that.  My calories were normal the day before; I just got home pretty late, and I can't take in much food when it's late or I feel pretty sick.  My calorie target was 1800, so I don't think it's too low.  I'm only trying to lose about 5 lbs.  I'm 5'7" and 135.

It's fine to be 100 or 200 calories below your target some days, as long as you also allow yourself to be 100 or 200 calories above your target other days - it all averages out then, and in fact I think it's better for mental health to be a little more flexible about it, within reason.

If you are at or under your target calories every day, however, the average will of course be lower than your daily goal, which might lead to too much hunger in the long run.

So everything you're doing sounds completely healthy and so you can go up and down a couple of hundred calories as appletwo said and not to worry!

I just want to add that it's all guestimation from amount you eat (even with counting), to how much you "should" eat based on online calculators. Is it really 1800 Calories, is it really 150 calories short? (hypothetical questions) So I wouldn't worry about a hundred or even couple hundred calories under/over. Just watch the trend on the scale.

UD

The only time where maybe it's bad is if you're restricted to 1200 for a diet and you eat 150 calories below that one day? but that's just a guess on my part - bc prob one day of that won't really hurt but it just shouldn't become a regular thing.

Whenever I undereat one day I just add the calories to the following day.  It seems to be working for me (but I do try to make my calorie goals).