those that eat back your calories...

ahoier

how do you deal with your macro-nutrients.......? lol. i work out heavy, 5-6 days a week...and get nervous as the day goes on, seeing my protein, fat, sugar, sodium, etc. go into the negative.....i never did eat back my calories.....but as i've thinned out, i feel i need to fuel the muscle i'm putting on....i've always been against eating back my calories.....simply because it's hard for me, i work out at night, after 7 p.m......usually in bed by midnight, to be up for work at 830-930 the next morning.....and don't obviously want to 'eat back' 800+ calories i burned, 2-3 hours before bed....lol. so i've gotten better at spacing out my snacks through the day (i cant call them meals......lol. since i typically only eat one 'meal'.....lol and it's been working doing this 'grazing' thing....spacing out my food throughout the day rather than alll at once, 3x per day...)


but yea...i was just curious, how you handle the macros going into the negatives....lol. sodium and fat are usually always there....by the end of the day. but i keep hydrated.....so hoping the water keeps that flushed out.....

katherine_startrek_fan

In terms of eating back calories, you don't have to wait until after you've exercised to eat them. I usually try to eat back no more than half.

In terms of macros, if you are continually going over sodium, fat, etc., try to find ways to reduce the amount of sodium, fat, etc. from your food on a daily basis. Forinstance, if you typically drink whole milk and cut back to skim, that would reduce your fat intake.

My struggle with macros is to get enough protein into my diet. Even with a protein shake, protein bar, and two meals containing protein, I'm lucky if I can hit over 60 grams of protein per day (supposed to be getting 80-100). But I take macros more as recommendations and guidelines than the law.

jemhh

I consider my protein goal to be a minimum. I don't care about fat or carbs. I'm generally over on fat and under on carbs and it doesn't bug me.

lemur_lady

To be honest I don't mind seeing them in the negatives. I'm more concerned about the calories. That said I do try to get as much protein as I can but that never gets into the negatives

If you know roughly how many calories you'll burn eat them earlier on in the day before the workout.

SergeantSausage

Barring issues like acid reflux from laying down on a full stomach, there is nothing inherently wrong with calories before bed. Calories don't wear watches. They have no idea it's the middle of the night.

jacksonpt

I try to hit minimum levels for my macros (fats, carbs and protein) each day. Once I hit those minimums, I don't much care where the rest of the calories come from. This is true for both workout and rest days.

ahoier

thanks for the input. i got the app on my phone, and i get discouraged when i see the calories go into the negatives.....lol. especially with fitbit synced up too, it'll take away calories too, if i'm not as 'active' during the day....and then give me them back later on in the day based on my daily activities....and yea, usually after my workout i end up with a surplus of calories. sodium and sugar seems to be my biggest fall...granted, i've heard sugar from fruits is processed differently than say, white table sugar (which i don't use at all.....) and was told not to be worried about it.

girlviernes

The main macro I try to hit is my protein, and I think of that in grams. So my goal is 120 grams per day. That is usually a challenge to hit.

I moderate my carbs, so I do look at that macro but I don't have a specific target in mind. My focus re carbs is rather to keep starchy/added sugar carbs to less than 30g per meal.
Generally my net carbs are around 120-150, although I have days closer to 200 grams.

I don't pay attention to the fat macro at all.

levitateme

You can also log exercise as 1 calorie so you don't have the extra calories to eat back and your macro requirements won't change.

arrrrjt

Personally, depending on the activity I would mentally adjust the macros. Aka really try and get at least 100 g of protein on lifting days - supplement with a protein shake or bar if I NEED to. Doesn't MFP adjust them anyway? And you can manually set the percents if you so desire? The general "rule" is don't adjust your macros as long as you're losing.

lemurcat12

jemhh wrote: »

I consider my protein goal to be a minimum. I don't care about fat or carbs. I'm generally over on fat and under on carbs and it doesn't bug me.

This.

Also when I ate back exercise (I do TDEE now), I focused on my protein goal by gram and didn't think about what happened with the extra calories from exercise. That's because my percentages were based on my minimum calories, and I basically expected that if I, say, ran 10 miles I might feel compelled to use a higher percentage of the extra calories for carbs and less for protein, and there'd be nothing wrong with following my natural tendencies if that were the case.

I admittedly do find TDEE easier, though.

Marianna93637

levitateme wrote: »

You can also log exercise as 1 calorie so you don't have the extra calories to eat back and your macro requirements won't change.

All this time I kept wondering why some of my friends do this. I couldn't figure out what would be the benefit of logging just 1 calorie. Thank you for clearing that up

mamacoates

If key macros are constantly going into the red (barring protein) then you probably want to change your food choices to better match your macro goals. People usually don't need surplus carbs, fat or sodium in their diet consistently so you can adjust your food choices to regulate better what you are using to fuel your body. If you have lost a good amount of weight and built significant muscle (body recomposition), it may be time to re-establish your daily calorie and macros values.

sizesixorbust

my macros are all over the place throughout the span of a few days, but i notice them evening out ultimately over like the course of a week or so. i guess it just depends on what my body feels like it needs.

mamacoates

What a coincidence! This month's MFP nutritional blog was written by a registered dietician and discusses the question of whether or not to eat back exercise calories. If you have not yet read it, here you go. You will have to copy and paste the whole URL into your browser, I think:

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly20150112&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoku6vIZKXonjHpfsX86essXaCxlMI/0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4DTMZnI+SLDwEYGJlv6SgFSrTFMblm0LgLXhM=

mamacoates

sizesixorbust wrote: »

my macros are all over the place throughout the span of a few days, but i notice them evening out ultimately over like the course of a week or so. i guess it just depends on what my body feels like it needs.

Respectfully speaking, your macros are all over the place because of the foods you choose. Meal planning in advance and/or conscious food selection throughout the day will alleviate that.