Eating Exercise Calories

JaenaM

i know exercise calories are there for you to eat but when I have a day like today where I eat them all I'll be honest, I feel like an as*hole

I know it's ridiculous to feel bad about it. Any encouragement?

sarah44254

Can you pinpoint why eating makes you feel like an as*hole?

There must be some sort of psychological block in there, and I'm just not seeing it from the few sentences you posted. Maybe really thinking about it can help clear up the -why- you feel bad about eating them.

Then you can put the reason why you feel bad, and the reasons why you are encouraged to eat them, and try to weigh it out from there.

I'm very curious as to the why, if you'd like to share I'd love to know!

FatUncleRob

MFP already has a calorie deficit built in for your target wight loss (whatever that is, 1lb or 1.5 lb a week) so you're just doing the smart thing.

Tell yourself that you are rewarding your body for getting some exercise and you are concentrating on losing weight in a controlled and healthy way!

Keep up the good work.

hillm12345

it could be worse.. you could have not exercised but still eaten all those calories.

JaenaM

Can you pinpoint why eating makes you feel like an as*hole?

There must be some sort of psychological block in there, and I'm just not seeing it from the few sentences you posted. Maybe really thinking about it can help clear up the -why- you feel bad about eating them.

Then you can put the reason why you feel bad, and the reasons why you are encouraged to eat them, and try to weigh it out from there.

I'm very curious as to the why, if you'd like to share I'd love to know!

Well when I eat them all I feel like I ate too much...like tonight I had a bigger dinner & dessert and I'm so full now it feels like I just wrecked my goal. The numbers say that I haven't but the feeling of being full like this is just too much of a reminder of the out of control binge-eating I was doing before, which is the reason I'm so overweight. I'm just trying so hard to change my life for the better so when I eat all those calories back (and I know it's good to eat some...I usually do without guilt) it feels like I'm slowing my progress. Its too reminiscent of the years I've spent standing in my own way. Hence I feel like an a-hole. I hope that makes sense!

JaenaM

it could be worse.. you could have not exercised but still eaten all those calories.

This is true.

sarah44254

It does make sense, very clear! I didn't even think of that.

Have you tried to eat a little more at each meal during the day? That way, if you have exercise planned, you can already have eaten some of the calories you 'earn' in the exercise, that way you don't have to binge and eat it all at once in the evenings?

JaenaM

It does make sense, very clear! I didn't even think of that.

Have you tried to eat a little more at each meal during the day? That way, if you have exercise planned, you can already have eaten some of the calories you 'earn' in the exercise, that way you don't have to binge and eat it all at once in the evenings?

Ya I definitely need to do that. I eat pretty light in the day but after exercise feel like I gotta make those cals up so I don't go into starvation mode and not release weight. I should def get better at planning. I'm learning a lot with MFP and finally working it better. Old habits (including mentalities) die hard!

musicmaestro25

I also find it hard to eat my exercise calories. Moslty on days where I go to the gym and then play my Trombone in a band (I do this 3 times a week for 2 hours) It's amazing how many calories playing an instrument burns. I try to avoid going to the gym on these days but even when I do i still find it hard without resorting to bad or junk food.