question about what is the better choice

KaciWood19
KaciWood19 Posts: 396 Member
edited November 11 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all! I have been doing alot of research on my own, trying to understand WHY I should eat my exercise calories, not just whether or not I should, and I am convinced! However, I have a pretty full schedule. I will use today as an example...

I will leave work at 4:30, home by 5, eat dinner around 5:15, leave for the gym around 6, take my son swimming, then either run or go to Zumba, If i run I will get home around 8, if I zumba, I will be home around 8:30. I never eat this late, but I'm usually pretty hungry and could def. eat. I usually burn about 300 calories when I run so I would need to eat about 200 cals when I got home.

Is it better to have a larger deficiet and not eat the calories on days like this or should I eat them that late? I don't know what is the better choice!

Replies

  • tulip07
    tulip07 Posts: 167 Member
    I am no expert, but I think eating back your calories (at least half of them) sounds like a great plan! :smile:

    How much you eat may depend on your hunger level and when you go to bed.

    Also if you are hungry, then you should eat. And I usually make sure that my last meal is about 2 hours or so before I go to bed, so maybe you can try that?
  • tulip07
    tulip07 Posts: 167 Member
    If 8:15 is too close to your bedtime, then maybe you can pack some nuts or a drink and eat it right after your workout or on your way home, so it's not close to your bedtime.
  • beckkotsch
    beckkotsch Posts: 482 Member
    It honestly makes no difference what time you eat. Your body doesn't know if it's 5pm or 10pm. If you're hungry, eat!
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    Eating late won't hurt weight loss, if that's what you're asking.
  • deeannhill
    deeannhill Posts: 85 Member
    I've seen more debate on the boards about this subject than anything else. What I've read and experienced personally is this:

    - the calorie set for your daily intake is set to include a caloric deficit
    - this deficit is set to allow you to lose weight at a steady rate if you do no more than your daily routine (NO exercise)
    - if you exercise, you are spending more calories than your daily routine (built-in deficit)

    Here goes with my experience. (I am not a nutritionist, a doctor, a personal trainer or any other scientific guru - I'm just a girl who reads A LOT, studies A LOT & has learned how my body reacts through trial & success)
    - if I eat back my exercise calories, at least 75% of them, I tend to lose better & not be hungry
    - if I do not eat back my exercise calories, I feel like I'm starving & tend to binge
    - When I eat does matter to me - I go into the day knowing if I'm going to work out or not & eat accordingly.
  • anner53108
    anner53108 Posts: 103
    Yeah, I agree: The time of day you eat doesn't matter in terms of weight loss. Depending on what you eat, though, you might not sleep well (everyone is different, obviously).
    But you could easily eat 200 calories in, say, almonds, or crackers/baby carrots and hummus or toast with peanut butter or something like that. If you're hungry when you get home, that's your body telling you it needs fuel (esp. if you have calories to eat!).

    I try to eat most of my exercise calories back. In my experience, the closer I get to goal and more I need to eat those back or my body will rebel and hold on to the weight (or I'll get super-hungry and make poor eating decisions).
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    You could eat some or all of your anticipated exercise calories earlier in the day. You don't need to wait until you actually exercise before you eat them.
  • KaciWood19
    KaciWood19 Posts: 396 Member
    Thank you so much for the advice everyone. I ended up having Strawberries (and then a little snack of PB and chocolate... what I ended up having 800 exercise calories! :wink: ) and I felt fine and had no trouble falling asleep, if anything I fell asleep better because I wasn't hungry!! Thank you again for the advice, I now have to figure out what works best for me!

    I actually just saw this article this morning :

    http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/weight-loss-myths-facts/p83822/page2?cid=2502
  • tulip07
    tulip07 Posts: 167 Member
    sounds like you did great Kaci! I think hunger is the main giveaway here. I eat when I am hungry while making sure I am eating nutrition dense food at night time (not that all day I can eat crap, but I sleep well this way)

    thanks for the link. it was a good read!
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