Donating Plasma

Nightmare_Queen88

I donate twice a week and I always eat a good meal before hand. But what I want to know is if what I eat still counts towards my calories for the day? Or should I eat back anything? Do I lose a lot by donating? I know I lose carbs and protein. But what about calories?

janejellyroll

I found this on the internet: http://www.plasmadonating.net/2013/07/does-donating-plasma-make-you-lose.html

It's not really sourced, but it matches what I have read other places. Most of what you will lose is fluid. There is some calorie burn as you make up what you donated, but it isn't really enough to drive weight loss because your body is replacing a bit each day -- not all at once. I would just make sure I hit my calorie goal on the days I donated, pay attention to meeting my protein goal, and wouldn't eat back extra calories.

I donate blood every eight weeks, which I know is different, and I have never eaten back the estimated 600 calories per donation. It didn't seem to cause me to lose any extra weight.

Now if you notice that you are losing faster than you would account for otherwise, I would consider it as a possible factor.

Nightmare_Queen88

I did lose 6.2 lbs in a week. I haven't weighed myself recently but I'll keep track of it. Thanks for the information. I'm not donating to lose extra weight, I just need the money. Lol.