Exercise Calories-Question about night workouts.

Mommy2JLS

Hi Guys,

I am super new to MFP but have lost almost 20 pounds so far. I was facinated and have read most of the posts on here about eating your exercise calories. What happens if you workout in the nights? My class ends at 7:30pm and then I have a 15 minute drive home. Should I add those calories earlier in the day and eat them before my class, or do I eat them and risk eating up to an hour before I go to bed.

Any advice would be appreciated :-).

kao708

Congrats on your 20 lbs!

I'd say it depends on what you consider the starting point of your day. I count anything prior to midnight as current day and anything after midnight as the next day. That just seems easiest for me to remember but you might need to set your start/end times differently if your schedule is different.

bzmom

Id say if you know you will be working out then yes you can add it in advance that way you can spread some if not all of those calories through out the day.

Hi Guys,

I am super new to MFP but have lost almost 20 pounds so far. I was facinated and have read most of the posts on here about eating your exercise calories. What happens if you workout in the nights? My class ends at 7:30pm and then I have a 15 minute drive home. Should I add those calories earlier in the day and eat them before my class, or do I eat them and risk eating up to an hour before I go to bed.

Any advice would be appreciated :-).

HeidiMightyRawr

I sometimes workout as late as 10/11pm if I've had a busy day. My calories I eat and burn I all count as one day from the moment I get up until I go to sleep. So usually if I workout late I'll eat all my food for the day (maybe going over if I know I'll burn it off later), have my workout and then have a protein shake, which is also included in calories eaten. After a while of doing regular workouts I know roughly what i'm going to burn so can plan my meals around that and it doesn't matter if I go over before because I do plan on working it off later in the same day.

erickirb

Hi Guys,

I am super new to MFP but have lost almost 20 pounds so far. I was facinated and have read most of the posts on here about eating your exercise calories. What happens if you workout in the nights? My class ends at 7:30pm and then I have a 15 minute drive home. Should I add those calories earlier in the day and eat them before my class, or do I eat them and risk eating up to an hour before I go to bed.

Any advice would be appreciated :-).

If you know you are going to workout, estimate the calories burned and eat them evenly throughout the day. If you have some left at the end have a glass of milk or a handful of nuts.

NoAdditives

Hi Guys,

I am super new to MFP but have lost almost 20 pounds so far. I was facinated and have read most of the posts on here about eating your exercise calories. What happens if you workout in the nights? My class ends at 7:30pm and then I have a 15 minute drive home. Should I add those calories earlier in the day and eat them before my class, or do I eat them and risk eating up to an hour before I go to bed.

Any advice would be appreciated :-).

If you know you are going to workout, estimate the calories burned and eat them evenly throughout the day. If you have some left at the end have a glass of milk or a handful of nuts.

My advice exactly.

Mommy2JLS

Thanks so much guys, I like the idea of spreading them out over the day. I go to booty camp and lose a lot of calories during that workout, and I don't think I could eat them all after my workout.

Thanks again for the advice!

myofibril

Hi Guys,

I am super new to MFP but have lost almost 20 pounds so far. I was facinated and have read most of the posts on here about eating your exercise calories. What happens if you workout in the nights? My class ends at 7:30pm and then I have a 15 minute drive home. Should I add those calories earlier in the day and eat them before my class, or do I eat them and risk eating up to an hour before I go to bed.

Any advice would be appreciated :-).

Do what you feel confortable with and which best fits into your day to day to routine.

In fat loss terms it makes virtually no difference if you eat them earlier in the day or later. Your body doesn't stock take at the stroke of midnight for example and decide what to do with the calories you have consumed and burned during the day.

However, eating close to bedtime may make it more difficult for you to get to sleep as your digestive system will be engaged.

MisdemeanorM

Eating earlier is fine, especially if you are very consistent at the gym and know how much you will be burning. Though I found that I like to eat after a workout, late or not. I hate going to sleep really hungry, and eating late is really not going to screw you up. Unless of course, you don't like to go to bed having eaten, some people just don't like it. A protein shake or something is great then - no overly full stomach, but some calories for your metabolism to munch on.

Sometimes I log after midnight food for the next day, but only if I am out of calories for that day already :laugh: ... otherewise I go from when I wake up to when I go to sleep as one day. If I wake up and eat somethign at night (hey, I'm pregnant! :laugh: It happens often!) I log it for the following morning "before 11" meal. So, sometimes my before 11 lists normal breakfast food and also a sandwich! :laugh:

PS, as long as you are not consistently way under your calories for the day, being under here and there is just fine. Odds are some days you are a bit over too, or some days you splurge and go way over cuz you eat 1/2 a cake (or is that only me?!) and it all balances out in keeping your metabolism on it's toes.

Mommy2JLS

Thanks again for the great advice, I am very regular with these workouts and for at least 2 days a week I know how many cals I will burn (I always under estimate so that way I will always hit that number). I always save at least a handful of cals for after a workout (I heard it's good to eat a bit at least 30 minutes after), so I usually have vector cereal.

I have never thought of a protien shake...this is going to sound dumb, but I have never had one before. What should I look at when buying the powder, and does it really matter where you buy it?