success eating back exercise calories later in the week?

jasveersingh925

I know that there are a lot of discussions on this forum about "eating back" your exercise calories, but most of them deal with a day to day basis. In my situation, I would like to not eat them back during the weekdays and have them available to enjoy myself more on the weekends with food. Since it is all about a calorie deficit, would this work? Would you have the same exact of calories burned by the end of the week available to "eat back"? If this is true, it will really make my weight loss and life a lot easier!! Thanks!

malibu927

Many people go by their weekly goals rather than daily, so it's fine

Liftng4Lis

If you're using the phone app, it shows you a weekly total with your deficit.

jasveersingh925

thanks all! so if you let all the exercise calories accumulate during the whole week, you have that many to eat if you want?

ChasingMyBliss

I have heard that many people do better that way. They cycle their calories, where some days have low total calories, and other days have higher calorie targets. They watch the weekly deficit, and put the higher calorie days where they need them..... perhaps weekends for you!

bwogilvie

thanks all! so if you let all the exercise calories accumulate during the whole week, you have that many to eat if you want?

Yes. I aim for a weekly goal. Some days, I'm well over my daily goal. Other days, I'm well under. A few days every year, my net calories are negative (those would be days when I have burnt 3000-5000 calories on all-day bike rides in the mountains). I've done pretty well.

Just don't eat so little that you can't recover from your exercise. If you do hard workouts and plan to bank most of your calories, consider having a recovery meal or drink within an hour of the workout, of a couple hundred calories, with a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein. Lowfat chocolate milk is actually pretty good. But that's if you have done a hard workout: intense, long, or both. If you're not tired or drenched with sweat, you can probably skip the recovery drink and its associated calories. I only take one if I've been out for over 2 hours or have burnt over 1000 calories.

charlton7

Thanks for asking this question, I didn't know it could work that way! That would work so much better for me! :flowerforyou: :bigsmile:

jasveersingh925

bump. thanks for the replies!

KevHex

Yes, many thanks for asking the question. I often go for a run in the evenings but don't eat back the 300 to 700 calories I burn. It's nice to know the calories are in the weekly bank if needed. The hunger often comes 24 hours later rather than after exercise.

csec6pak

This is exactly what I do. My net calorie goal is 1500 per day, but I usually eat only 1200-1300 per day Sunday-Thursday. (I also burn 300-500 per day through exercise and don't eat it back.)

Then Friday and Saturday I indulge in a little junk food and beer.

I shoot to be under my target net calories for the entire week by 500-700 calories, to account for any under-reporting or over-estimations on burns. On the weeks I've met that goal, I have lost weight.

jasveersingh925

awesome. before i wasn't sure that the exercise cals would add up so you could use them later.

jasveersingh925

anyone else have success using this method of weight loss?