Logging and eating your exercise calories on the next day

Cella30

I’m considering logging my exercise and eating those calories on the following day instead of the day I do it. I don’t usually work out until the end of the day and by that time it’s usually too late to try and make up those calories. In addition, I’m afraid to go ahead and eat them on that day just in case something comes up and I end up not working out at all.

Has anyone tried this? If so, what were your results?

Thank you!

melaniecheeks

I f you know you're going to work out you could eat those calories back earlier in the day?

alison2429

I’m considering logging my exercise and eating those calories on the following day instead of the day I do it. I don’t usually work out until the end of the day and by that time it’s usually too late to try and make up those calories. In addition, I’m afraid to go ahead and eat them on that day just in case something comes up and I end up not working out at all.

Has anyone tried this? If so, what were your results?

Thank you!

This is a good idea. Why didn't I think of this as I do 2 runs a week in the evening and find it hard to eat them before I exercise ....just in case I don't get to run!! Oh what's a girl to do???!!!

InfamousQ

This would not work for me because I forget stuff easily. That is why I have this on my phone and iPod touch so I can log as I go. If this work for you I say do it it really does not matter when you log your workout and food you eat as long as your are being honest about it.

smiley01x

this would also be great for me to try! i work 2 jons and sometimes i think i will make it to the gym and i cannot. then i have eaten those extra calories without the exercise! i am going to try this out!

mrsshazbat

I log my food as I go along (I also have the phone app for good measure) and as I tend to be on the pc or laptop late, it suits me to log stuff as I do it or as soon as I can.

SparksFly460

It's a matter of how your body responds to it.
I say try it out for....2-3 weeks or so. See if your weight loss stalls, accelerates or remains the same. What works for one person's body, may not work for yours
Keep mindful of if you feel hungrier, fuller, more energetic...any changes that could result from this.

Personally...
Sometimes I don't end up eating ALL my exercise calories, and sometimes I do (this is referring to any work out day). The days that I have an intense burn, and lets say have a ton of calories left over...Im just naturally hungrier the next day. The days I know I'm be eating heftier portions or calorie-laden food (like QT/date night with the boyfriend) I make sure I have an intense burn or a good work out session the day after

Try it out and keep us updated :happy:

wolfchild59

Your body doesn't now you're trying to "save" those calories for the next day though, so you're going to be eating way over your actual burn for that day.

I.e. For me, I burn about 2500-2600 calories on a workout day. So I eat 1800-1900+ calories on workout days. On days I don't work out, I burn about 1700-1800 calories, so I eat around 1300-1400 calories.

Now, if I worked out today and end up burning 2600 calories today, but only eat 1300, I'll have the unhealthy deficit of 1300 calories. And if I ate 1800 calories tomorrow, but only ended up burning 1700, I'd be eating more than my body even burned in the day, which also isn't a good plan.

So my advice is to eat more early in the day to build your calories up and keep things on hand that can help increase your calories later at night in case you still need them after the workout, without making you feel super full late at night (I.e. Peanut butter, almonds, PowerCrunch bars, protein shakes, etc).

And I give this advice as someone who also works out at night. And I actually use the getting to eat the increased calories during the day as continual motivation to still get on that treadmill no matter how tired I may be after work. Cuz if I get home and my brain is whining about wanting to workout, all I have to do is look at what I've already eaten and know that I need to follow through on my workout plans in order to eat dinner and dessert. I always feel better after I workout anyway.

If you pay attention to what you burn during each workout, you can start entering an estimate of what you'll burn during your workout at the start of the day, so you know what you should eat. And again, seeing that exercise already entered is a great motivator to make sure it happens.