Saving exercise calories for later?

teh_geek

Hello there,

I read this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

Can I eat my exercise'd calories in 1 big meal once per week and still get the same effect without risking of going into starvation mode? I have a 1500 calories pizza in mind (more on this a below)

A little background on me: I weight 100 kilos now, 180 cm height. I entered this data and chose to lose 2 pounds per week (at "no activity" level) and got ~1500 calories per day goal. This seems alright. Target weight 75 kilos BTW.

I also plan to exercise at least 6 days a week. I started today, and here is my second question: do you think these numbers I am about to write down are accurate for my case (entries from MFP DB of course). So here goes:

1) Mild stretching 25mins 104 cal
2) Running (jogging), 5 mph (12 min mile) 26mins 347 cal
3) Walking, 3.0 mph, mod. pace, walking dog 13mins 72 cal

I have doubts about the first one. What I do is not aerobics, I just stretch basically all my main muscles. I got those exercises from some book I believe, and that really worked for me a few years ago (it had gotten me all flexible . But 100 cal for that seems a little too much. I mean I am not out of breath, but I do get warm and the sleepiness is gone after that.

Anyway, the running and half of the walking back makes me soaked in sweat, heart rate is high, breathing too (i.e. I couldn't talk on the phone while doing it). What I am getting at is: is 500 cal for an hour of exercise (half of which is vigorous) realistic for my case?

So back to pizza. I will be burning ~3000 cal from exercising per week. I don't want to eat it all back. So I was thinking, 1500 pizza for 1 meal once per week (this means I won't be eating "regular" 500 cal meal, which brings me +1000 extra calories consumed per week). And I got 3000 excess, so 3000 - 1000 = 2000 extra half a pounds burned per week, which would bring me to 2.5 pounds loss. Do you think it is still healthy and efficient?

Appreciate any advice and observations

lizjames1971

A heart monitor is more accurate for me- I burn between 650 & 850 in one hour of cardio depending on what I do!! As a heavier person I find I burn lots more per hour than my 55kg friends!!

cheeksv

I read an article once where a woman did that. Basically " saved" calories for a big dinner she was looking forward to or an extra dessert at a party or whatever she was looking forward to.It worked well for her and I actually lost my first ten pounds following the advice she gave. If you want I can find the article again for you.

mattquit

i read an article on the newbie please read. It said that the fats your muscle can't use are stored into fats. Even though you exercise a lot if you eat all that in one eating, the fats would still be stored. I think it would be better if u have 30 minutes break per 2 slices or something. just trying to help

rochey1098

Is it optimal for refuelling your muscles? No

Can you still lose weight by doing it? Yes

In all honesty, this isn't a race, screw optimal and go with sustainable... whatever that means to you

VIII_4G63

It would probably work, but do you really want to eat a 1,500 cal pizza? For me, a major part of getting into shape and staying there, is getting away from that kind of food.

As for the calories burned, the nubers look reasonable but your really need a hrm for accuracy.

Martucha123

Is it optimal for refuelling your muscles? No

Can you still lose weight by doing it? Yes

In all honesty, this isn't a race, screw optimal and go with sustainable... whatever that means to you

like rochey said
it is not optimal,
pizza is a lot of fat and carbs and little bit of protein
and you shouldnt eat 1500kcal in one sitting
now if you feel that this meal will get you through the diet go with it

i drink back my exercised calories,
during the week its mostly juice (right after the workout)
but on weekend I`ll have half of bottle of wine and drinks
is it healthy?
i dont think so,
but this is what i really enjoy, and if i quit qork out i will have to quit drinking, so this makes me 100% sure i wont quit workout ever :P

teh_geek

Wow thanks for quick replies!

"It said that the fats your muscle can't use are stored into fats. Even though you exercise a lot if you eat all that in one eating, the fats would still be stored." - Yes I forgot that. Thanks for reminding me. It's better to have smaller meals more often.

I don't think I can follow with my initial plan because I feel hungry now (it kicked a few hours after the activities, even though I had 400 cal breakfast just after). I can't concentrate when I am hungry, so for me it will not be worth feeling worse than I could for just 1 extra meal some of which will be still stored as fat.

But I do intend to have a ~200-300 excess of calories for each day Again, thanks for your feedback, everyone!

Robin1117

Hi there, I don't know about the technical aspects of what fat is stored, or not stored. But, I average my calories for the week. I don't really look at it in terms of base calories or exercise calories--I just eat them all in total (and exercise 7 days a week). Some days I'm naturally lower than plan. Maybe one or two days I'm higher, typically on the weekend or if I go out to dinner, but then if it averages out by end of week I'm happy. There is a weekly chart on the iphone app that I use to see if I'm on track.

I'm on maintenance now, and have been for a year and a half. But, when I was losing weight, I still would go out to dinner once every 2 weeks, eat whatever I wanted without worry, and it was fine. When I say "eat whatever I wanted", yes, this did include 1500 calorie meals including wine, dessert, etc....

I eat healthy as a matter of course. I lost the weight and have been keeping it off continuing to average my calories for the week like this. I think it's important to include some fun meals like this in the mix to keep you sane and happy and feeling normal. Otherwise, always denying yourself is hard to maintain in the long run.

Good luck!

janeinspain

You can't save calories over a week, but you can do it over 24 hours.
My advice would be to have the pizza once a week. But do it like this: eat less (around 500 cals) combined from the other meals/snacks of that day + have the pizza immediately after your workout (it will help the regeneration of the muscles too). This way, you will not gain anything, it will just be a maintenance day. This will actually help your weight loss process.

ImNotThatBob

You can't save calories over a week, but you can do it over 24 hours.
My advice would be to have the pizza once a week. But do it like this: eat less (around 500 cals) combined from the other meals/snacks of that day + have the pizza immediately after your workout (it will help the regeneration of the muscles too). This way, you will not gain anything, it will just be a maintenance day. This will actually help your weight loss process.

I have no basis for this other than it makes sense and has worked for me... pushing beyond 24 hours is probably not as effective as keeping it in the 8-16 hour range.

docHelen

going for a mad binge once in a while is good for the spirit, and therefore a positive thing to do....just don't do it too often and make sure overall you are in a negative calorie balance for the week. What ever you do it has to be sustainable or you will just put back every pound you loose. I deny myself nothing but make it a smaller amount (could always have half a pizza!). good luck and enjoy