[Xtremesteph]

I need your opinions! I've been trying to only eat 1200-1400 but I noticed I was super hungry today and ended up eating over 1500 calories today. However it was all healthy food. I had a big salad for dinner, lots of veggies for lunch, what killed me is I had 2 slices of brown rice bread. I however did Turbo Jam twice today so will my workouts balance out eating so many cals today?

[rainbowstripe]

One day of 1500 calories is not going to make a difference in my opinion, especially as it's only 100 calories over your usual limit. Don't stress too much about it. Maybe you just needed extra food due to the level of workout you were doing.

[ArcticFrogs]

When we count calories, it is almost always an educated guess. It is, of course, easier to be precise with some things over others, but the important thing to remember is that this is a gradual process - having a little flexibility is fine, as long as you don't let it turn into a slippery slope (pro-tip: going over by 100 calories is not an excuse to say "well, I'm over anyway" and eat a cookie )

Also, rainbowstripe made a good point in that you may not be eating enough calories (or enough of the right kind of calories?) if you're still hungry. Since you're eating healthily (I'm assuming this because you pin-pointed "bread" as the culprit, not "cheesecake"), maybe you need that little boost in calories to be more fulfilled.

It is understandable to want to avoid the risk of stalling or gaining by consuming more (I want to be in my magical happy number weight range too!), but for your long-term sustainability and overall happiness, it might be worth a shot.

[timkerbelle]

I track my average calories for every month, and as long as that average is below my daily target I don't freak out too much if I'm a little bit over some days. I think it will all balance out. And as rainbowstripe so rightly pointed out, it's mostly about educated guessing anyways. I use tracking more to be accountable and think both once or twice before putting food in my mouth, than to think I'm actually logging calories down to 1 digit accuracy.

[lifeasme]

You might be over a little bit some days, and you might be under a little bit some days. I wouldn't stress about it, especially if you really feel like your body was asking for it. Don't freak out, don't turn it into a slipper slope thing, and try again tomorrow. I think you'll do fine

[Jesse Taylor]

There are several calorie counting diets that suggest one or two high days to keep your body guessing. If you constantly eat the same amount of calories every day your body gets used to it and you slow your progress. One day of going over may help you more than hurt you. I think it's freediet.com that has a place for cycling your calories and it includes two high days a week.

You'll be fine especially since your food was healthy and not 1500 calories of ding dongs and twinkies.