Exercise Calories - Do they carry over?

rainycs65

Good Morning & YAY Red Sox!!!

I have a question on earned exercise calories. Do they carry over from day-to-day until your weigh in or do you lose them if you don't use them in the same day they are earned?

Thanks!

pinuplove

Your body doesn't reset at midnight. I prefer to track my deficit on a weekly basis, which allows for more flexibility. I can build in some lower days to offset planned events I know will be higher, or I can eat more on a hungry day from banked calories from previous days. As long as I've kept my deficit for the week I'm happy.

WinoGelato

rainycs65 wrote: »

Good Morning & YAY Red Sox!!!

I have a question on earned exercise calories. Do they carry over from day-to-day until your weigh in or do you lose them if you don't use them in the same day they are earned?

Thanks!

Weight loss comes from creating a sustained calorie deficit over time. Many people, myself included, look at weekly totals for calories and as long as you are at or near your weekly target you should achieve your goals. If you don’t use all your calories in a day and save some for the next day when you’re hungrier, or for the weekend when you might have social plans that would involve more/different food than normal - that’s all fine.

That said, if you’re already at an aggressive deficit and a low baseline goal, like the 1200 minimum for women, and you exercise aggressively, not eating back these cals can potentially set you up for fatigue or inadequate nutrition.

Good luck