unbalanced day, go over calories to meet macros?

starspecks
starspecks Posts: 49 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have a quick question I think I already know the answer to but I wanted to see what you amazing people in the community had to say.

Here is an example that happened to me yesterday. It was my "cheat" day which I define as a day that includes a meal I didn't cook or plan out ahead of time. I ordered a pizza ate a couple slices and had some fried mushrooms. Surprisingly I still stayed within my calorie goal but did not come near my protein ending at 63 grams out of my 120 gram goal. Should I have had a protein shake and some other source of protein before bed to meet my macro and just gone over my calories?

My guess is yes, I should have definitely tried to meet my protein goal and not paid attention to the calories since I want to retain my muscle and it corresponded with a rest day which from what I've read is when you build your muscles.

So tell me how far off base I am :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    One day does not make a diet, it's what you do over the long term. You're not going to lose muscle eating under your protein for one day. If you're one of those people who likes/needs to have the numbers match up, just eat a little more protein over the next few days so it averages out.
  • starspecks
    starspecks Posts: 49 Member
    One day does not make a diet, it's what you do over the long term. You're not going to lose muscle eating under your protein for one day. If you're one of those people who likes/needs to have the numbers match up, just eat a little more protein over the next few days so it averages out.

    Thanks for your response! I definitely try to look at my weekly average while trying to stay as consistent as possible during the week. However I previously just ate paleo and NEVER tracked anything ate when I was hungry. So paying attention to macros is new and I will probably run into this situation a lot on my cheat day. I will try to avoid it by planning my morning/afternoon better but just want to know how much it would matter for muscle building.

    I also wanted to add I'm not dieting for weight loss.

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