Do you have to eat all your calories?

ladygirl123
ladygirl123 Posts: 37 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I mean, the added calories you burned for the day? Would it be a big deal if you don't? I can't keep eating UGHH!!

Replies

  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    edited June 2015
    You should probably have a little extra if you're exercising, but basically, if you feel well and aren't hungry, you don't need to eat them all. I almost fainted two days after I started back at the gym, so I had to loosen up a little bit.
  • magurski
    magurski Posts: 45 Member
    ladygirl123 wrote: »
    I mean, the added calories you burned for the day? Would it be a big deal if you don't? I can't keep eating UGHH!!

    If you're trying to lose weight, you don't need to eat back all the excess calories. After all, you want to burn more than you eat.

    With that being said, if you have a major (ie, multi-hundred or more) deficit, especially daily, it might be worth it to eat back some, especially in protein and fats (nerves need fats, muscles need proteins), though not necessarily *all* of them. It's still good to maintain a deficit to lose weight.
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    If you are weighing all your food and logging scrupulously, yes, you should eat back your calories.

    If you aren't doing the above, no, probably not, because you are probably eating more than you think.

    If my final deficit is 400 or less, I don't worry about it either way. If 400 - 1000, I'll eat at least half back. If > 1,000 (a 90 minute run for me) I eat as much as I feel like and almost never can shove that much into me.
  • Lottiotta
    Lottiotta Posts: 162 Member
    I've found that if I don't eat back at least some of my exercise calories I tend to eat more and go over my calorie goals the next day, so it kinda balances out in the end. I'd definitely rather eat the calories on the day I'm using them, but that's my personal preference.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Depends upon a lot of things like what your current deficit is, how accurately you log your food and how you are measuring your exercise/activity. If you use something like a FitBit I'd say it's safe to eat them all back but if it's all estimations it doesn't hurt to be cautious because sedentary for instance does already expect you to be covering 1-2 miles just in your usual daily activities. Don't eat too little or it becomes detrimental to your health.

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