Planning food when working out at night

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claire_b79
claire_b79 Posts: 101 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So this might be a really stupid question but it's something I'm not sure about. During the week I workout after work. On the weekends I workout in the morning. Yesterday for example I went to work, ate my planned meals and then worked out...well I didn't know how many calories I was going to burn so by the time I got home I had so many extra calories left to consume. On the weekend it is easier because I have my protein shake in the morning and then go the the gym and i have the rest of the to eat back the calories I burned.

How do you guys plan your food on workout days so that you don't have a huge amount of calories to eat at the end of the day? I'm scared to over guess my calories and then eat too much.

Replies

  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
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    Well, I approach this by eating dinner after i work out, but depending on when you get off work and when you work out, this may not work for you. You could log your intended workout beforehand (even the day before as you’re prepping your meals) to give you an idea of how many calories you’ll have to work with. You can always edit the numbers afterwards with specific calories lost.
  • agordon415
    agordon415 Posts: 13
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    If you know what you are going to do for your workout (treadmill, gym, videos, etc..), put the excercise in at the beginning of the day and you will have an idea of what you need to eat the rest of the day. Good luck!
  • fuhrmeister
    fuhrmeister Posts: 1,796 Member
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    I eat after I work out also. But I have a routine. So on the days i do yoga I plan lighter dinners and teh days i do big cardo I plan bigger dinners. If I need more calls I treat myself to chocolate. If I need to eat less I try to cut portion size.

    Good Luck!
  • claire_b79
    claire_b79 Posts: 101 Member
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    Okay thanks, I will start to put in my exercise at the beginning of the day so I have an idea. Last night for example I ate my dinner but then I had about 500 calories left and I didn't want to binge so I just didnt' eat them. But I could have eaten more during the day if I had known.
  • aweigh2go
    aweigh2go Posts: 164 Member
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    First, you have to know how many calories you are going to burn depending on the workout you are doing. For a week, record the number of calories you burn based on each workout. If you don't have one, I'd suggest a heart rate monitor (HRM) that tells you how many calories you burn based on your age and not an average.

    Second, I'd suggest planning a typical day in MFP assuming you are going to workout. In other words, if you plan on getting on the treadmill for 30 minutes and you know that'll burn 500 calories (because you tracked calories burned), then plan your meals at your daily goal plus the 500 calories.

    However, a word of caution, be realistic! Don't plan on the extra 500 calories if there is a chance you won't workout!
  • catherine1979
    catherine1979 Posts: 704 Member
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    I normally hit myyoga class at 8 pm, so I log that exercise early in the day so I know how many (approximately, at least) extra calories I have to play with.
  • 2hdesign
    2hdesign Posts: 153
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    While I do not personally eat my exercise calories back daily (I'm working with a registered dietician and at this point in my weight loss journey it's right for me), I do enter my exercise calories in early in the day not only as a way to help my stick to working out, but also for when I know I'm having a cheat day (like with the superbowl and party I went too). Then I know how many calories I have (because on those occasions I do eat my exercise calories). HTH

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