Exceeding your calorie intake but then burning the excess in the gym?

noecharo

Hi!
There's something that's been in my head for a while and I can't manage to find a good answer online so if anyone can help me please feel free to comment.
My question is: If I exceed my daily calorie intake but then I go to the gym and I burn that excess, would the day count as a cheat day or not?

lonragland24

If you burn off the excess calories then no. CICO.

solieco1

There are no cheat days. Who are you cheating? There are just days with more than you need or not CICO is king.

leanjogreen18

If CI<CO you are in a deficit. You can create a deficit by diet alone, exercise alone (hard) or a combination of the two.

The only caution is that most exercise calorie burns are generally overestimated so some eat only 50-75%.

Cheat day means different things to different people. To some eating more calories to others it may mean eating food they don't normally eat still others it's a no count calorie meal.

VintageFeline

I do feel this kind of thinking can lead down a dangerous path. The language around eating a bit more on the odd day and calling it cheating, then punishing yourself by working out to the calorie amount you went over by.

Is it possible? Sure. Should this become your behaviour as standard? Debatable.

MelanieCN77

Sometimes my workout isn't till late in the evening, like I will finish at 10.30. If I have to go into the red to fuel myself and then the workout brings me back into a deficit, there's nothing cheating about that.

rileysowner

If your calorie goal number is from Myfitnesspal and you set up your account properly, that is how it works. You are supposed to eat those calories.

TxTiffani

VintageFeline wrote: »

I do feel this kind of thinking can lead down a dangerous path. The language around eating a bit more on the odd day and calling it cheating, then punishing yourself by working out to the calorie amount you went over by.

Is it possible? Sure. Should this become your behaviour as standard? Debatable.

I think this would depend on one's frame of mind...
"I was bad because I ate too much and now I HAVE to go to the gym" seems like it could be moving toward mentally unhealthy
"I feel great on _____ amount of calories...I love that I can eat what makes me feel good and get extra movement in my day to ensure I stay a healthy weight" seems like a healthy frame of mind.

I don't disagree with you at all....I just think that it's possible that we are assuming a mind frame that may or may not be accurate;) A lot of people use the phrase cheating and she may just be referring to the fact that she went over on calories. Sometimes I work out before I eat past my calories and sometimes I realize I'm in the red and work out to keep balance, but I feel like it's a healthy balance that I try to ensure each day rather than beating myself up by working out after eating over my usual goal;)

Unknown

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inertiastrength

No it wouldn't but exercising as a punishment for overeating is probably a bad relationship with food developing. I went over about 500 today and while I did go for a long walk it's not something out of the norm for me. Instead of a 3500 calorie weekly deficit I'm in a 3000 calorie deficit. Not too much damage, certainly not enough to run 15km to burn it off.