Should I try to be UNDER calories or to hit the goal number of calories?

[CB8]

Is my calorie goal each day the amount I need to have or is it better to be UNDER that number?

[NY2TX · Accepted solution]

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@CB8 wrote:

Is my calorie goal each day the amount I need to have or is it better to be UNDER that number?

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As far UNDER as possible.  And I am still unclear whether the Fitbit "budget" calories is more or less important than calories burned versus consumed.  The more you burn, the less you eat, the more weight you lose.

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[Heybales]

If bigger is better - then why don't you stop eating and just get it over with?

Sadly, the fact has been shown in many studies - make it bigger and you'll just make it harder on yourself.

It's not better to suppress your metabolism below what it could be.

Exercise is less effective for making changes.

Eating so much lower can cause adherence problems.

Trying to come back in to a reasonable maintenance fails for most.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A

http://skepchick.org/2014/02/the-female-athlete-triad-not-as-fun-as-it-sounds/

Pick a reasonable goal - stick to it.

And reasonable for amount to lose is not the biggest available.

Unless you just enjoy dieting, and want to repeat the effort again and again, easier to gain and harder to lose each time.

[Heybales]

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@CB8 wrote:

Is my calorie goal each day the amount I need to have or is it better to be UNDER that number?

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Meet your goal.

Willing to miss your goal weight by 20% and say that's close enough and call it quits?

[josephz2va]

In my experience, it's to hit as low as possible. If you're on a 1200 calorie diet set by your dietician for example and eating extras will make you gain weight, avoid the extras as much as possible.

If you're working to shred fat and build up muscle, visit a sports nutritionist for further guidance. It also helps to sign up for Fitbit Premium and follow the Calories Goal program. You want to reach your calories burned goal per day to shred fat better.