Best ways to use unexpected calories...

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9/14/11 7:56 P

If not hungry/wanting something ill just not have anything. But if Ive been wanting a glass of wine or beer thats the night Ill have it. 300 cal could get away with a little ice cream if Ive been craving.

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9/14/11 7:18 P

The "best" thing to do is to use those calories to eat some nutrient-dense food! Make a smoothie with skim milk, frozen berries and Greek yogurt. Or have some natural peanut butter on whole-wheat bread. Or dip some veggie sticks in homemade hummous. Obviously you can spend those calories on a treat if you want, but it wouldn't be the "best" use (and you did ask for the best!).

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9/14/11 6:35 P

If I'm not hungry I'll just ignore it but usually when I notice that I have 200 or so left for the day, I'll sneak in one of my parent's ice creams. Or I'll pig out on my low calorie food since I usually don't :)

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9/14/11 5:58 P

I'll have a snack if I'm hungry, but I don't see any reason to eat just to hit the range. It's more important to learn to listen to my body than to go to bed with my caloric intake Spark-approved.

It's not a bad time for a glass of wine, though.

Edited by: HEALTHANDHEARTH at: 9/14/2011 (17:59)

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9/14/11 3:30 P

If it's one day now and then, it's fine to just leave it if you're not hungry. It's definitely a BAD idea to fill up to your range with treat food. Whoever suggested that you need to ignore from now on!

Treats are fine, and welcome in any diet plan in moderation, of course. But you should not consider your treat food as "nutrition". In other words, get your minimum nutritional requirements from "real" food. Treats fit into the 350 calories of your range. You can have a treat while meeting your minimum with real nutrition, and still not go over your maximum.

If you're finding that you're 300 calories under quite often, then it's a whole other story though. Regularly under-eating is just as bad as over-eating. Try to pre-plan so that you don't find yourself in that situation, or at least track the day so far before dinnertime so you've time to add a little to that if necessary, rather than late at night.

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9/14/11 10:48 A

if I'm not hungry then I don't use them Being under one day doesn't cause any damage and it offsets days when I am more hungry than normal.

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9/14/11 8:36 A

If you're hungry enough when you have extra calories I'd look at what nutrients you aren't getting enough of (carbs/fat/protein) and have a snack that will help meet that goal. For me I have a hard time getting enough protein so I will use extra calories to have a protein shake.

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9/14/11 8:07 A

I never use calories just for the sake of meeting my daily goal. Eating when I'm not hungry is what got me here in the first place! It's usually only by a 100-200 calories and I know any snack or bonus food will probably end up triggering me to eat over that amount.

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9/14/11 2:31 A

if you are not hungry don;t eat, start the next day by adding a few more calories throughout your meals and then spread them out through the week , that way it is more balanced

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9/14/11 2:23 A

Sometimes when I'm not hungry but have extra calories I end up drinking my calories. I try to be healthy about it by having 100% orange juice or low fat/non fat milk.

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9/14/11 12:15 A

If you are not hungry then don't worry about those calories that are lacking. Tomorrow is another day. Besides... there will come a day when you are 300 over calorie budget and then maybe you won't feel so guilty about it since you were 300 under today.

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9/13/11 9:36 P

I tend to try eating an extra piece of fruit on my very low days, but if I'm incredibly low, I do make a trip to the Starbucks on campus for either a frapp or one of their small desserts (after checking online to make sure that it'll keep me in my range). It's these days that I allow myself a "treat."

Posts: 205
9/13/11 9:34 P

Wow!
That's a big chunk of food, lol! I wasn't quite there yet today either, I had some yogurt since I needed more carbs too. I'm too lazy to go out specifically for a junk food, and I don't keep it in the house usually. If I were to indulge, it'd be chocolate or ice cream!

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9/13/11 9:09 P

When I put my food in the nutrition tracker I discovered I was still 300 calories under my target for the day! (it was a very busy day!) I decided to use the opportunity to have a little treat but had nothing in the house that even began to strike my fancy...which is weird because I have never had a problem with finding snacks in the past! Anyway, I finally decided on a cheese stick (because I'm always low on calcium) and some chips because, well, I haven't had any in quite some time.
What do you do when you have some extra calories to burn at the end of the day?