Left over calories

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smadag1
smadag1 Posts: 1,368
in Fitness and Exercise
I know I need to eat all my workout calories,but how many calories would you guys think is ok to leave uneaten. I was not sure if I was going to workout last night so I made sure I had enough to eat dinner but when I got home I felt good enough so I did 50 minutes on the eliptical. I ate as many of those calories as I could but I fear I left too many uneaten. I am just looking for your opinion.:drinker:

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  • smadag1
    smadag1 Posts: 1,368
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    I know I need to eat all my workout calories,but how many calories would you guys think is ok to leave uneaten. I was not sure if I was going to workout last night so I made sure I had enough to eat dinner but when I got home I felt good enough so I did 50 minutes on the eliptical. I ate as many of those calories as I could but I fear I left too many uneaten. I am just looking for your opinion.:drinker:
  • thejarviclan
    thejarviclan Posts: 465 Member
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    I don't ever eat more than 100-200 exercise calories. It's not unusual for me to leave 300-400 on the table and I'm losing weight - about 1.5 - 2.0 pounds a week.
  • awestfall
    awestfall Posts: 1,774 Member
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    I know I need to eat all my workout calories,but how many calories would you guys think is ok to leave uneaten. I was not sure if I was going to workout last night so I made sure I had enough to eat dinner but when I got home I felt good enough so I did 50 minutes on the eliptical. I ate as many of those calories as I could but I fear I left too many uneaten. I am just looking for your opinion.:drinker:
    \
    In my opinion if you ate some of them back then you should be ok and I wouldn't worry about the rest of them.Don't stuff yourself full if your not hungry:flowerforyou:
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    OK, here's the deal.

    It has nothing to do with how many calories you do or don't eat back.

    The concept is this: you need a certain amount of calories for maintenance.

    You decide (based on your research, asking questions, talking to other folks, knowing your specific case, setting the goal through the goals wizard...etc.) that you can safely eat a certain number of calories below your maintenance in order to facilitate weight loss.

    It doesn't matter how you achieve this deficit, whether you eat maintenance calories and then work out for a certain amount to achieve a deficit, or you set a deficit as a goal then exercise and eat the exercise to stay within the goal, it doesn't really matter. The body doesn't care how you achieve the deficit.

    So instead of asking how many calories you can eat back. Ask if you are still within that reasonable deficit after you work out, if the answer is no, then eat enough back to stay there, if the answer is yes, then you don't need to eat more.
  • smadag1
    smadag1 Posts: 1,368
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    Banks how do I figure out if it is a resonable defecit after a workout? I think I had around 400 calories left after a workout. I'm sorry for all the questions I just don't want to undo what I have already done.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    Banks how do I figure out if it is a resonable defecit after a workout? I think I had around 400 calories left after a workout. I'm sorry for all the questions I just don't want to undo what I have already done.

    you find your maintenance,

    find out what your BMI and body fat % is,

    talk to someone who knows what a safe deficit is at your range and age, or do some research and decide what a safe range is.

    Then you endevor to stay within that range.

    I.E. someone with a BMI of say around 28 and a BFP of around say 30%, a safe range is usually between 0 and 600 calorie deficit. This is a very round number and doesn't necessarilly hold for everyone, but it's generally close to correct. I don't know what your BMI and BFP is so I can't tell you what yours is, and even if I did, because every human has slightly different body chemistry, I could only give you educated guesses, it would be up to you to take that info and apply personalized observational tweaks to it.
  • smadag1
    smadag1 Posts: 1,368
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    Thank you Banks:flowerforyou:
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    Thank you Banks:flowerforyou:

    very welcome, I'd be glad to help (as I'm sure a lot of people on here would) you find the right deficit for you, as long as you understand that we are just giving our opinion based on our own research and knowledge and that it's up to you to make the final judgments.

    Best luck you you.

    -Banks

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