Should we really be eating back the calories we burn??

CarvedTones

I am making an effort today, but it feels like cheating after going so long restricting calories. I entered my hour walk as 45 minutes and my hour of mowing as 45 minutes. I still have my base calories set a little on the low side; I am okay with slowly losing a little more. It's been 7 months since I have eaten as much as I have so far today and I still have over 300 calories left. I probably am still at a deficit right now and probably would be if I ate 300 more. I worked so hard to get here and I have a fear of slipping back into old habits and gaining it back. I do need to start eating more at meals and less as snacks. I have had a bad habit of just adding snacks as I have bumped calories back up.

heybales

Very true concern.

Sometimes to get those calories in, more snacks are eaten, even healthy ones.

But those raise insulin, blood sugar drops, perhaps too much, and you feel hungrier than you should for having just eaten.

Sometimes the solution is to just increase meal sizes by a bit, or add fat to get calories without the volume.

Trying to eat extra 300 of celery or broccoli would be a killer for instance. Roll with butter during dinner - easy.

CarvedTones

I thought about that tonight. I had chicken spaghetti and broccoli, but I also made garlic knots for the rest of the family. I almost ate one. When I took them off the cookie sheet and put them in the bread basket, I put the cookie sheet in the sink at an angle and oil drips ran down from where each knot had sat. That turned me off. They were probably quite tasty, but I have gotten so conditioned to avoid greasy food I just couldn't get myself to eat one.

Still mulling over eating at least one more thing tonight.