High activity days, calories to eat

1thankful_momma

I have all my goals set by 'sedentary' because I have a desk job. On the weekends, my husband and I have to rebuild our house. How much of those exercise calories should I eat back?
I was starving today after three days of hard work. The first day said I did 1788 for exercise, 965 and then 720 (I was sore and tired).
I was hot, so drank a ton, which I think affected how hungry I was this weekend, not to mention just being tired. So I didn't eat but 100 more than my max.
My normal calorie max is 1600.

kirkor

I'd only eat back reported calories by 1/2 the given amount, max, and most of the time I wouldn't do that. With your normal calorie target of 1600, what weekly deficit does that give you? You can try setting your weekend calories higher by a few hundred, but just keep an eye on your weekly weight to make sure things are going in the right direction.

2t9nty

The thing people say is not to eat back the exercise calories. That is easier for me to say because while I am fairly active in my work - 10K steps more or less, I only walk from time to time if the step count is low due to circumstances. I call myself sedentary for the purpose of setting goals.

Someone with a pattern of exercise more like yours will "weigh in" soon.

gettinthere

I have a desk job as well but have my calories set to 1200 and then eat back the calories my Fitbit gives me.

1thankful_momma

I don't eat back the calories if it is just a 'workout'. I consider that a bonus towards weight loss. I normally have a exercise calorie bonus of 50-200 a day. I also looked back and noticed that I had a couple 1000 calorie days of food eaten( I don't eat if I'm not hungry). I'm just wondering if my hunger today is from three days of strenuous work and if I need to balance it better in the future. I would hate to get to a hunger level that led me off plan.

KenSmith108

The more I exercise the hungrier I get.
The less I exercise the harder it is to control my glucose numbers.
I'm left in a real balancing act.
I've found light exercise works best for me,
that used to be called "The fat burning zone"
I don't usually add more food so I don't have to add
more meds.

or

kpk54

I've never intentionally eaten back calories "burned". Just as above, they are a bonus and I eat if I'm hungry and don't worry about it. My exercise is not too strenuous though so doesn't amount to much regardless of what the trackers indicate. TDEE calculators and activity trackers are just a guideline.

lemurcat12

I find that creating too high a deficit will result in me overeating at some point, even if the two events are not connected in my mind (this did not happen when I had lots to lose to my memory, but it definitely does not). Thus, because I do have a pretty regular workout schedule (marathon training, so lots of running miles), I include my expected exercise in my calorie total (if I did not, I would eat some of it back). Right now my daily calories are a bit lower than that would really be, because I normally do go over on the weekend (and also do my longest run on the weekends and walk somewhat more than average on top of that).

If I didn't want to change my calorie goal but added a bunch more activity on the weekend I would add back some of it. (That's kind of what I do anyway, although not officially, but bunching to be able to eat more on the weekends.)

lemurcat12

Ugh, WHHHYYYY can I not proofread better. In the first parenthetical I wanted to say "it definitely does NOW" not "does not").

Sigh, I guess there's a limit on edits.

Sunny_Bunny_

I say eat if you're hungry, but make sure it's not just a sodium thing or that you're not low on protein or something.

retirehappy

I'd be more concerned about what the weekly average is your counting calories. As long as your weekly number is good, you are good.

Somedays I want all the foods, others? Food? Meh Go with the flow.