Overeating to reach goal??

amery125

Hello! Just started MFP a couple days ago and love it so far; there's one thing I'm confused about, however.
My daily calorie goal is ~1300 calories. On the days I work out by biking, etc. it increases to about 1500 -1600, but I honestly don't feel any hungrier on those days, so I typically still eat ~1300 or less. I read through some other threads and it seems that I do need to eat more on those days to stay healthy, but I also don't want to train myself into overeating when I'm not hungry!

Is this a problem, or should I assume that if I still feel fine, it's okay to under eat?

Right now I'm clearly not burning huge amounts of calories, but I will begin a fitness class this week that might make this a bigger problem in the future. This might be a basic question but I'd really appreciate any advice!

SezxyStef

well ....hunger is not the best indicator of what the body needs...and it sounds like you are netting under 1200 which isn't healthy.

Try this analogy...

You are in your car and need to drive it far away so you fill it with gas...the trip takes 3/4 tank...so to get back you need more gas...so you put in another 1/2 tank...

You just get home but are on empty now and in order to drive again you need more gas...

That is what exercise calories are the gas for the car.

If you are exercising you will need that extra fuel to do your next workout.

You don't have to eat them all back but at least enough to get you to net 1200...and it doesn't have to be "diet" food...it could be a bowl of ice cream, or a chocolate bar or heck a slice of pizza.

jdhoward_101

I'm the same, i think there is no point in eating if i'm not hungry; as long as you still eat at least 1200cals a day, i figure it should be fine. But i have no scientific evidence to back me up there, so others may (and maybe quite rightly) disagree!

bethanyka

Agree. Trust your body and your hunger. Your body knows what it needs (and doesn't need).

diannethegeek

You wouldn't really be training your body to overeat, though. You'd be training it to eat an appropriate amount to fuel your workouts while allowing you to lose weight.

Pay attention to things other than hunger. Make sure you're eating enough to allow you to get enough protein, fat, and fiber. Make sure you're getting plenty of micronutrients. Pay attention to how you feel during the day and especially during workouts. Watch out for things like lethargy, reduced concentration or focus, or poor mood, etc. Hunger is not the only indicator that you aren't eating enough.

SezxyStef

Agree. Trust your body and your hunger. Your body knows what it needs (and doesn't need).

actually no your body doesn't. There is a mechanism in the human body that will shut off hunger cues if it isn't fed enough.

and some people really don't know if what they are feeling is hunger....and with the rise of obesity people have lost the ability to even know when they are full, hungry, satisfied etc.

cwolfman13

Rather than thinking of it as training yourself to overeat, think of it as training yourself to properly fuel your body and activity. If you're currently only burning a couple hundred calories on an easy bike ride then this really isn't a big deal...if you actually get into fitness, understanding how to properly fuel fitness is a very big deal. How successful do you think I'd be riding a 100 miles on my bike or racing cyclocross if I didn't know and understand how to fuel that activity? Here's a hint...I would suck...I would bonk...my body would be broken down and wouldn't have the energy (calories) to repair itself.

When I'm training for a century ride I often need around 4,000 calories just to maintain my weight (I could eat 3,500 calories per day and I would lose about 1 Lb per week)..do I always feel like eating 4,000 calories? No...but I need that kind of energy to repair what I've broken down. If you get into actual fitness, at some point you're going to have to have an understanding of what your body actually needs. Eating to fuel your body and activity isn't overeating...it's eating properly.

Like I said before...at your stage of the game it's probably not a big deal...it can be a substantial detriment down the road though.

vismal

Agree. Trust your body and your hunger. Your body knows what it needs (and doesn't need).

If that were true no one would be fat


To the OP: If you are not hungry on a 1300 calorie diet that includes a lot of exercising, you are counting your calories wrong. Don't worry, many people do. Sometimes by a lot. Do you weigh 100% of your food on a scale or do you use things like cups and tablespoons (those are meant for liquids only), or do you just estimate? Do you eat out often? Do you ever have free meals or cheat days that you don't count? All of these things matter tremendously.

corgarian

When I first started (which sounds like where you are now), my body didnt really call for more food yet. It wasnt used to the changes and felt fine on my normal intake. After a feww weeks to maybe even a month or two, your body will start talking to you loud and proud.
Now on days when I do a heavy workout, my body screams to be fed, and I happily listen.

You need that extra food to fule your body, it may just take your body a little time to figure it out.

bethanyka

not really. most overweight DO people acknowledge that they eat a large % of their food when they are not actually hungry.

actually checking in and determining if you are in fact hungry, (i.e. hunger directed eating) is a great way to regulate calories and satisfaction. if you are hungry, you eat what you need to feel satisfied, not more. if you average these calories, you would fall in a normal range.

yes. determining when to stop, is another issue, and not so easy when you feel the pleasure of eating, but if you get into the habit to check in with your body before/during/ after eating, you'll be able to really regulate every aspect

so, i'd say people don't actually listen to their hunger, or they determine, 'it's 5 o'clock" i have to eat, which prompts them to "be hungry".

jwats8

Hi- when i first started working out, i had the same issue- I didn't eat back my exercise calories if i wasn't hungry. what i have found is that it changes throughout the month- some days (like today) i feel like i could eat an elephant and still be hungry- other days, i hardly eat anything at all (sometimes under 1200) and i don't feel hungry. I would recommend going with how your body feels. if you are hungry, eat... if you are not, don't eat! Good luck!

amery125

To the OP: If you are not hungry on a 1300 calorie diet that includes a lot of exercising, you are counting your calories wrong. Don't worry, many people do. Sometimes by a lot. Do you weigh 100% of your food on a scale or do you use things like cups and tablespoons (those are meant for liquids only), or do you just estimate? Do you eat out often? Do you ever have free meals or cheat days that you don't count? All of these things matter tremendously.

This is a good point! I'm new to calorie counting, so that may be the problem.
I'm a college student, so I typically eat at my university's dining hall, which conveniently does list calorie/nutrition count for each item by serving. There's likely some degree of fluctuation there...I guess bringing a scale is a possibility? Besides that I eat granola bars or similarly clearly labeled foods. Regardless, thank you for raising that point; I'll try to figure out a way to ensure I'm counting accurately.


Thanks a lot to all of you for the help!! I think I won't worry about it too much on light exercise days but, as cwolfman13 pointed out, definitely up my intake for more intense workouts. I hadn't realized that hunger was not necessarily as reliable an indicator as I thought.

cmcollins001

Your post title is "Overeating to reach goal??" however, you're not overeating at all.

It's basically math. You're body requires X amount of calories to maintain a certain weight. If you go over those calories you gain, if you go under those calories you lose.

When you filled out your profile for your MFP account, you set goals. MFP translated these goals into a daily target calorie goal, in your case, it's 1300.

So, 1300 calories is your starting point. During the day you eat, let's say, 1100 calories - this is your intake for the day. Then you decide to exercise and burn 200 calories. This is giving you a NET total of 900 calories thus far. MFP gives you the adjust balance of 400 more calories to eat to reach your intake of 1300 calories.

1300 goal 1100 in food - 200 burned in exercise = 900 NET calories + 400 in food = 1300 goal
Or 1100 eaten + 400 eaten = 1500 total eaten - 200 burned in exercise = 1300 total NET calories intake for the day

Make any sense?

Kalikel

Agree with trusting your body.

I eat more when I'm hungrier and less when I'm not. If you pay attention to your body, you'll start to notice patterns. Sometimes you need more food and other times, you need less. It really helps to follow it.

Shoving in food when you aren't hungry or refusing to eat when you are hungry, just to eat up or down to some number...that's just not the way I want to live.

IMO, it's part of a lifestyle change, learning to eat when you're hungry.

Ready2Rock206

You wouldn't really be training your body to overeat, though. You'd be training it to eat an appropriate amount to fuel your workouts while allowing you to lose weight.

This!! There is a big difference between stuffing yourself silly and eating enough to make your body work properly.