Eating Exercise Calories The Next Day...is this okay?

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MJKing2
MJKing2 Posts: 177
in Fitness and Exercise
Good morning! Here's my situation. I have been doing Insanity in the mornings before going to work and then in the evenings I go to Zumba. On days where I do both I'm burning between 800-1200 calories. This week my average calorie intake was around 1500 (my daily goal is 1200) but my net calorie intake never reached 900. This being the case after all of my hard work this week I not only managed to not lose any weight, but I actually went up 2/10 of a pound. I, of course, am frustrated, but I want to make sure that moving forward I don't consistently keep running into this problem.

Because I do Zumba in the evenings, I'm hesitant to eat those calories before I burn them. I have 2 young children at home and anything could happen that could prevent me from making it to my class on any given day. I don't get out of my Zumba class until 7:30 or 8:00 depending on the day. I'm eating dinner after class, but I'm really not starving at this point nor do I want to overeat before bed. Because of this I am ending up with a ton of calories left over from the day and I'm thinking this may be the reason I didn't lose this week. My body needs more fuel than I'm giving it.

So here is my question. Is there any reason why I couldn't use my Zumba calories burned from the evening the next day? I'm not eating all of my exercise calories (nor do I plan to. My HRM is not an exact science and I don't want to eat too many calories, not to mention that's a lot of food) but I do want to try to increase my intake to at least 1/2 of what I burn. Can I carry over my calories burned the night before into the next day or does the body not work that way? Thanks in advance for your advise.

**edit: I also have my diary open to the public so feel free to look at it. If you have other suggestions or thoughts please feel free to pass them along. ***

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    estimate your calories burned early in the day and eat most of them spaced out prior to your zumba class.
  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
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    Unfortunately, you're going to have to take the risk that you may not make your Zumba class & eat your calories earlier in the day. Try to add 200-400 calories throughout the day, that way if you do miss your class you won't be over your allotment that you got from Insanity.
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
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    I personally dont but if you are a monthly or weekly weigh-er then why not? I also have stopped eating back all of my calories. but it is a good way to have a "cheat day".
  • wanttogetskinny
    wanttogetskinny Posts: 194
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    I don't see why you couldn't. The calorie in/calorie out thing isn't an exact science, nor is the body 'reset' back to 0 at midnight. It's all about a cumulative effect.
  • maysflower
    maysflower Posts: 180
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    I roll over my calories to the next day all the time. If I burned 600 calories on Monday but when I went to bed I still had 200 left for the day I will roll those over to Tuesday, and so on. It worked for me, but everyone is different. There is no reason you can't try, and if it is not working for you try something different.
    Good luck!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    If you're consistent in exercising and eating them the next day, I can't see why that would be a problem. No different than zig zagging calories. It's not like our bodies have a button that resets everything at midnight.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    I don't see why you couldn't. The calorie in/calorie out thing isn't an exact science, nor is the body 'reset' back to 0 at midnight. It's all about a cumulative effect.

    I owe you a beer! :laugh:
  • lucythe
    lucythe Posts: 33
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    Congratulations on all your hard work. I know for me, I have not been eating my exercise calories. I burn a lot of calories biking and I do Zumba as well. I try to keep it at 1200. Banking calories for the next day doesn't work for me, it just sets me up to cheat and make the wrong choices. On the other hand, yesterday I was very busy, got my exercise in but I just wasn't hungry and didn't force myself to eat. I was at like 800-900 calories for the day - and I gained a pound. I need to be consistent with all areas, diet and exercise - and mainly not beat myself up and also I think not weighing myself so often would be in my best interest.
  • SarahLovesCheesecake
    SarahLovesCheesecake Posts: 520
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    but I actually went up 2/10 of a pound.

    TWO TENTHS OF A POUND?????????? WTF, a wee will get rid of that....Cant believe this!
  • iwillsoonbeslim
    iwillsoonbeslim Posts: 283
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    24 hours is 24 hours. How about your 'day' being from 5pm-5pm? So anything burned after 5pm 'today' needs eaten back by 5pm 'tomorrow'? Would that make it easier to fit it all in?

    And I'm all about eating back those calories - MFP tells me to, and I'm more than happy to oblige ;)
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    I've started zigzagging my calories a bit because I'm finding that with my late work out schedule I am normally hungrier the day following a big work out.

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