Pointers?!

neelyalc

Hello everyone!
Ok, I have a couple questions. First, a little background. I've lost 55 pounds and I'd like to lose 20 more. These last pounds have been KILLING me and the only way I ever broke my plateau was eating around 1200 calories and doing Insanity/elliptical. (I'd do Insanity 4 times a week and the elliptical 2 times. Sometimes I'd just run on one of my Insanity days. That's the only thing that got the weight off! Soooo question one

Is it bad to NOT eat the calories you earn from exercise?

And I'm also trying to up my calorie intake a TEENSY bit more. So what's the best think to eat after a work out? Or what's a good protein drink? Is a protein drink still a good idea to drink after a work out if you work out relatively late?

zimbobabe

Hi there,

I am no expert at this but here is what I think
The calories you earn from exercise - I do not think it is bad to NOT eat them, however I use a few of mine, I dont use them all though. Like you mentioned you want to up your calorie intake just a little so my thought here would be to keep exercising and use a few of those calories to increase your intake. I use a protein shake after a workout and I work out pretty late some nights, the best one ive found is by EAS and has multiple flavors, i get the low carb one, it has 17g of protein and 110 cals and low in fat, it curbs the appetite and refuels before i can get a healthy meal in, plus it has everything in one from carbs to fat to protein, all the goodness that you need
Everyone is different though, and its all trial and error in finding what works for you

neelyalc

Ah, thank you so much for your response!
I do kinda let myself go over the 1200 especially on days where I do Insanity. My body just seems to be so picky, I get scared when it comes to adding more calories, cause I don't want to go overboard.
Where can you find your protein drink?

psych101

My advice - you need to eat more that 1200 calories a day. In fact, if you only have 20lbs left to lose you should re-evaluate your goals on MFP.

Have you got your current goal set to 2 lbs per week? If that is the case, change it to 0.5 or 1 lb per week, and eat back most, if not all of your exercise calories. I'm pretty sure in the book that comes with insanity, he recommends something like 1800-2000 calories a day.

You gotta find out what works for you. Add more calories for 2-3 weeks (don't weigh in during this time) and see how you feel. You need to fuel your body if you expect it to give up its fat reserves.

Again, just my opinion - everyone has one.

neelyalc

I've heard that too! I'm just so scared of upping calories and gaining. It's worth a shot though. Thank you!