Too much exercise to eat back calories

sportschik8342

Hey guys! I do a noon hour bootcamp whenever I can (on my days off work) but I also play semi-competitive volleyball. I have no problem doing both in the same day (although it adds up to 3 hours of exercise) but it brings up the age-old debate of eating back calories. I was stalled in my weight loss for a while and started eating more and it seems to be back on track. My real question now is if I should be eating back as much as my exercise calories as possible because sometimes that adds up to 1000+ in a day...and that is just A LOT of food lol

cmriverside

Experiment.

santamommy

I've always heard eat all of it..so girl you might have to go to Burger king or McD's to find those calories..lol

MaximalLife

Hey guys! I do a noon hour bootcamp whenever I can (on my days off work) but I also play semi-competitive volleyball. I have no problem doing both in the same day (although it adds up to 3 hours of exercise) but it brings up the age-old debate of eating back calories. I was stalled in my weight loss for a while and started eating more and it seems to be back on track. My real question now is if I should be eating back as much as my exercise calories as possible because sometimes that adds up to 1000+ in a day...and that is just A LOT of food lol

Give it a go, because it matters not.

Calories burned, calories in.
Eat 'em! And enjoy yourself.

The alternative will be a major loss of lean body mass over time.

lilRicki

What about drinking them? make some smoothies with high calories (peanut butter, yogurt, fruit, etc)...I'm not saying you have to eat back all of them, just refuel your body.

PBmaria

Experiment!
Also, are you absolutely sure you're burning that much?

therealangd

Do what works. I am an eat your exercise calories advocate. But if you can't eat over 1000 during that day then don't. If you are starving the next day, eat them then. If you think that you may have over estimated your calories then don't eat them all. If you start stalling again, then start eating some more of them.

Sweet_Potato

I don't think you have to eat it all back in the same day. Just eat them later in the week.

gaberieger

Experiment.

This.

And what I am currently doing now, and trying to figure out.

Helloitsdan

Just stay between TDEE and BMR and youll be fine.

sportschik8342

The other problem is that I'm not too hungry before volleyball and some nights I don't get off the volleyball court until midnight!

lwoods34

I am in the same boat as you. I do my own workout in the early morning and then I teach a few aerobic classes during the afternoon. My total workout time is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours per day. With that said, MFP says I should eat 2700-3000 calories for the day. By the time I eat dinner I am at 1800-1900 calories. I eat my dessert and that brings me to about 2200, maybe 2300. I cant see myself eating back ALL of my exercise calories. I eat about 5-6 times per day eating about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I also add on 50 extra calories to most of my meals just in case I took an extra bite of this or that. That keeps me honest. But even with adding in those extra 50 calories per meal, I cant eat back all of my exercise calories.

TheGoblinRoad

I wouldn't worry about it. You have to do what feels right for you and your body. It would do no good to eat 1000 calories of junk food, if you decide to eat back those calories, which I don't see as necessary.

There have been times I have burned 2,500 calories in a day. There is NO possible way for me to eat an extra 2,500 calories of healthy food on top of my regular calories. No way.

I say eat if you're hungry, don't eat if you're not. If you burn more, you'll want more, but I doubt that much more.

erickirb

Experiment.

This

How are you calculating your calories burned? If you are not using a HRM I would suggest only eating back 75%ish of them back as MFP and machines tend to over estimate calories burned, not to mention if you are exercising for 3 hours the exercise calories also include your maintenance calories, not just the extra calories burned on top of what you would have burned had you not worked out.

Say you burn 1.5 cals/minute while not exercising, then over 3 hours you would have burned 270 (180minx1.5 cal/min) cals had you not worked out. so if in 3 hours you burned 1000 cals you really only burned 730 above what MFP already gives you as you would have burned 270 had you not worked out, which is accounted for in your caloric intake already.

riley711

Experiment. I've found that I don't need to eat ALL my exercise calories. On some days, that could total 3000 calories (regular allotment + exercise calories). No way will I eat that much!!! But I do need to zig zag my calories so that I won't hit a plateau (or get off a plateau more quickly).

embersfallen

Love to see the answers to this too! On light activity days I typically burn only about 2300-2400 calories....but a few days a week I do double Zumba classes plus whatever else I can handle...usually weights/weighted Hula Hoop...and my calorie burns per my bodymedia fit armband are 3500-almost 4000 on those days.... it's pretty hard to wrap my mind around the concept of much more then 2000-2200 calories @ MOST.... MFP reccomends about 1450 for me not counting excercise...but I HAVE hit a few plteaus even with higher burns like this....and even when in that *ideal* window of 1000 calories of a defecit a day....things have gotten stuck! I just started carb cycling....( a healthy carb/protein breakfast, then every other day the rest of the day is low carb...this is per Chris Powell's new book...) and I am finally seeing MOVEMENT....hoping it lasts...but eager to see the answers here.....