Ridiculous amount of calories to eat after exercise.

alicekelli

I am exercising at a rate that i feel necessary to build my strength, lose weight, and boost metabolism... but my calorie goal for weight loss is 1200... and after burning 1000 exercising, that means a 2200 calorie day. I ate a jumbo bowl of popcorn at the end of the day to make up those extra few hundred calories... but it just seems like too much food. leaving me feel heavy. concerned also that the more i eat, the more i will want or need to eat every day... i love food, but would love to just be able to eat about 1700 to 1800 and feel content and healthy. don't want to drop below 1200 net... and 2200 seems way too much... would less exercise be the best option?

rduhlir

Honestly...when I burn that much I just eat until I am full and take the extra calorie deficit as a bonus. While not dropping below 1200 net is ideal, if you aren't hungry enough to hit 2200 then don't worry about it so much. As long as you are eating enough to keep yourself feeling full and healthy.

But....if it does worry you, start buying full fat versions of stuff, cook with oils, etc...that will bump calories up pretty easily.

j6o4

Get an HRM to get a more accurate calorie burnt, MFP and cardio machines can give you an inflated number.

JoshD8705

Listen to your body. Honestly if I eat 1750, and burn 1000 at the gym. All I do is have a 170 calorie protein shake, and go to bed at times. That may net just 920, but honestly I ate near 2,000 calories, and I know I'll make it up later in the week.

sbarella

I see you have a small amount to lose, which makes me think you aren't obese (you would burn tons of calories if you were). If MFP gives you 1000 extra calories every day from exercise you may be overestimating your burn or overexercising.
What kind of exercise are you doing? MFP and cardio machines tend to overestimate the burn for everything except running and walking IMHO.

patrick139

Just consuming calories alone won't get you the results you want, if you are not paying attention to the kinds of food that those calories are coming from. Having a proper balance of Protein/Carbs/Good fats is Key. the ratio of those however will flux a bit depending on the kind of working out you are doing.

1000 Calories from working out is pretty huge so i have to commend you for that. If you are burning most of your calories from strong resistance training, then you will want to make sure your proteins are the main part of your nutrition as the body will need those proteins to help rebuild muscle, and recover. If you are burning most of your calories from cardio/HIIT style training then you probably want to lower the protien % a bit and increase carbs (for energy). Example for heavy resistance training: 60% protein, 30% carbs, 10% fats. Those percents would change depending on the type of working out you are doing. The amount of calories per day that you need also does depend on the kind of regular activity you get from Non working out (i..e a desk Job vs a construction worker). The kind of fitness you are doing as well also has an effect on if you will plateau or not.

Finally, the types of food you consume make a real difference. Obviously consuming calories from something of very little nutritional value will just have an opposite effect of achieve proper fat loss and fitness goals.

Give us an idea of the kind of working out you are doing. There really is a no one size fits all approach and the kind of working out + food intake, is what will ultimately determine the right amount of calories you need. Calorie numbers can be played around with and tweaked.

alicekelli

that was with a heart rate monitor...but in my settings, i said i was sedentary... though i logged my power walk / jog today, which with hills was 400 calories... not sure i should log walks, even if intense?

alicekelli

i did an hour of cardio and later took a 45 min intensity walk (fast and hills).. then tonight i did 20 min hatha yoga to stretch my legs and relax. i appreciate all the comments!

roserosey1993

To be quiet honest, I was fearful of the same thing months ago. But it's always good to maintain a deficient calorie in take when losing weight. For example my diary yesterday contained +14360 in food and exercise of -1019 leaving me a net of 417. My daily calorie goal is 1,530. It's not that I didn't eat enough because I did, but I was so active today, which isn't bad. If your hungry eat healthy and right. If your just eating to make calories back I would stop. Plus you never eat all your calories back from exercising anyways. Hope this helps, enjoy your day!

amusedmonkey

You could log only half the calories you actually worked out. Even if you decide to eat every single workout calorie back, 1 cup of walnuts is close to 800 calories! A fistful of walnuts could fill in any gaps and it doesn't feel overwhelming. Personally I would go by my gut and not worry too much unless it's cutting in too low.

RagingMammoth

That sounds really high...

Francl27

I highly doubt all that exercise is 1000 calories. Maybe 800. Even then, a bowl of ice cream with some fudge and whipped cream and you're set.

MelodyandBarbells

I bank my extra calories for the days I feel like sitting on my *kitten* and eating all the calories. I watch a weekly deficit because I am unable to do a daily one. If you have this large of a deficit everyday, you may wish to re-evaluate your fitness or nutritional goals. Also, try to make sure your calories on any given day at least do not dip below your BMR.

Shropshire1959

A 15Km run is about 1000cals (with HRM) and so the data in the Op is not outrageous.

My go to food after a good run like that us mostly Protein based.

Tillyecl1

Honestly...when I burn that much I just eat until I am full and take the extra calorie deficit as a bonus. While not dropping below 1200 net is ideal, if you aren't hungry enough to hit 2200 then don't worry about it so much. As long as you are eating enough to keep yourself feeling full and healthy.

But....if it does worry you, start buying full fat versions of stuff, cook with oils, etc...that will bump calories up pretty easily.

+1

litsy3

I do that much cardio, sometimes more (when training for a marathon) and do find I can eat back most of my exercise calories, unless I've run 18-22 miles (which is a LOT of calories), but it doesn't make me want to over-eat on non-running days because I'm just not as hungry if I haven't worked out. So I really wouldn't worry about getting into bad habits.

I originally joined MFP to make sure I didn't lose too much while training intensively and what I noticed is I was eating a lot less at lunchtime than I thought I was. So rather than trying to make up a massive deficit at the end of the day, maybe consider just having slightly larger meals throughout the day? e.g. add some nuts or toasted pumpkin seeds to a salad at lunch, eat full fat yoghurt for breakfast etc.

weird_me2

If you plan on doing that much exercise most days, you'll want to plan your meals better. Eat a bit more at each meal, especially protein. Also, pick foods that offer a lot of calories for the volume; cheese, nuts, peanut butter, oil, etc. I don't think you need to eat all of the calories back every day, but definitely eat some since your daily goal is so low. My favorite go to if I have lots of calories left is 2 slices of bread, 90 cal each, toasted, with 2-3 T peanut butter and 2 cups of 1% milk.
A delicious way to spend 600+ calories.

AmyRhubarb

If your exercise burns are accurate, and you can't eat enough cals to keep up with it, then I'd cut back on the exercise, because proper fuel and nutrition is important.

Personally, I have no problem eating 2000+ cals a day. I've also never burned 1000 cals through exercise in a day, so it's never a problem.

SolitudesMuse

If your exercise burns are accurate, and you can't eat enough cals to keep up with it, then I'd cut back on the exercise, because proper fuel and nutrition is important.

Personally, I have no problem eating 2000+ cals a day. I've also never burned 1000 cals through exercise in a day, so it's never a problem.

I'm gonna agree with this. Assuming you're going to keep up the exercise once you get to your goal weight... your maintenance calories are gonna be pretty high. So you need to look into finding a better balance between the calories you're eating and the calories you're burning.

cwolfman13

I am exercising at a rate that i feel necessary to build my strength, lose weight, and boost metabolism... but my calorie goal for weight loss is 1200... and after burning 1000 exercising, that means a 2200 calorie day. I ate a jumbo bowl of popcorn at the end of the day to make up those extra few hundred calories... but it just seems like too much food. leaving me feel heavy. concerned also that the more i eat, the more i will want or need to eat every day... i love food, but would love to just be able to eat about 1700 to 1800 and feel content and healthy. don't want to drop below 1200 net... and 2200 seems way too much... would less exercise be the best option?

If you don't know how to eat like an athlete, maybe you shouldn't be training like one.

You don't need to burn 1000 calories in exercise every day...not really sustainable for most, particularly if you don't know how to properly fuel that activity.

Your calorie deficit for weight loss is built into your calorie goal before exercise...meaning you would lose your weight just eating to that calorie goal. You exercise for fitness and if you aren't a reasonably fit individual, doing that much exercise is likely overtrain. I'm very fit and active and the only days I have burns like that are on my long ride days where I'm out on my bike for 3 hours plus and covering a good 30-40 miles....I know I'm going to burn a lot so I eat a lot...I don't wait until the evening to get my calories in, I plan them into my day.

I would add to that, if indeed you are training like that and burning that many calories on a regular basis, 2200 calories is nothing....on a long ride day I eat around 3500 calories to maintain...I would still lose about 1 Lb per week eating around 3000 calories.