Recovery Day-Calorie Question

alexialmann

Alright, here is what I have...

I have been steady working out since June, lost nearly 20lbs since February. I noticed if I push myself 7 days a week, my body refuses to drop any weight or even gain muscle. I am on a 1000 calorie deprivation (equating 2lbs a week). If I know I'd like to have a bit more than what that allows for the day (a standard of around 1300-1500 calories) then I make sure I go to the gym and burn the extra 500-1000 with weight training and cardio combo.

My question is this, during the "recovery day" (which I usually use to go to the park or slow hike a mountain, or take dogs out) should I eat all the way up to the 2300-2500 mark or just hang out around the 1300-1500 mark? It hasn't seemed to affect me either way when I've tried both, but which would be more effective for recovery? I am not trying to shock my body and I want to do this as healthy as possible...

RoxieDawn

For starters, you are eating 1000 calories a VLCD? I am sorry but your entire calorie structure is setup wrong. I will let others here in the community do the deed of giving you the rules of weight loss here on MFP.

So the short answer is yes eat more calories!

middlehaitch

@RoxieDawn I think it is a 1000 deficit for a 2lbs a week loss.

@alexialmann, you will gain little to no muscle with a 2lbs a week deficit. Lifting/ resistance work will help you to retain and strengthen the muscle you have.

I think you are probably eating back too many exercise calories which is why your weight loss stops at a 7 day work out.

If your deficit set by MFP is 1500 eat that daily with an additional 500 when you work out. Try this for a month and see if your loss is at a 2 lbs a week average. If you are losing more than 2lbs up your calories by a couple of hundred; if you are not losing at 2lbs drop your calories by a hundred or so.

FYI, a 2 lbs deficit is most suited to those who have close to 100 lbs to lose. You may do better, and retain more muscle if you dropped to 1-1.5 lbs loss per week.

On your rest day, good to have for recovery, eat at your deficit. If you are really active on that day add just 100-200.

Cheers, h.

RoxieDawn

middlehaitch wrote: »

@RoxieDawn I think it is a 1000 deficit for a 2lbs a week loss.

@alexialmann, you will gain little to no muscle with a 2lbs a week deficit. Lifting/ resistance work will help you to retain and strengthen the muscle you have.

I think you are probably eating back too many exercise calories which is why your weight loss stops at a 7 day work out.

If your deficit set by MFP is 1500 eat that daily with an additional 500 when you work out. Try this for a month and see if your loss is at a 2 lbs a week average. If you are losing more than 2lbs up your calories by a couple of hundred; if you are not losing at 2lbs drop your calories by a hundred or so.

FYI, a 2 lbs deficit is most suited to those who have close to 100 lbs to lose. You may do better, and retain more muscle if you dropped to 1-1.5 lbs loss per week.

On your rest day, good to have for recovery, eat at your deficit. If you are really active on that day add just 100-200.

Cheers, h.

This is totally my bad. I saw 1000 calorie deprivation meaning that 1000 calories does allow a 2 pound weight loss, not the other way around..

middlehaitch

@RoxieDawn, no bad. I often see that initially, get half way through a 'you need to eat' tirade before it dawns on me I miss read and abandon the post.

Cheers, h

StealthHealth

Varying calories is not something that I do personally but seems to be a popular method for many. Of those that partake I think the concept is that you eat more on your work out days (to fuel your through the gruelling work outs) and then less on rest days.

I think that for all, not just those that vary calories per work-out/rest days, it's appropriate to think of the weekly calories in and out and this is probably why you see little difference when eating at 2300-2500 once a week (since that a relatively small uplift of 140 cals per day).

I'm a little confused as to your primary goal - lose weight (fat) or gain muscle and although you can (very, very slowly) do both over a given time period, your calorific input would be determined by which of these two goals is your primary aim.

alexialmann

@middlehaitch
I only have it at 2lbs until I get out of this 60 day Challenge thingy I am doing for lifetime...I will be returning to 1-1.5 lbs after that. At this point I only have about 40lbs to lose but that is entirely subjective because I am also trying to gain muscle. Basically, when I am happy with the size and shape I am, and healthier, then I move to maintaining. As far as "eating back" exercise calories, I keep my deficit at 1000, meaning standard 1500-ish, so if I exercise to increase what I can have, to say 2700 for the day, I only eat an extra 200.

@StealthHealth I have gained lost 3% body fat since the challenge began, so yes doing both. I am fine with slowly.

I wonder if I have phrased this wrong...
I think perhaps I will go with the weekly average instead, spread the extra around on the 7 days. Definitely looking forward to maintaining! Thanks!