Is it really bad not to eat back most of your calories?

sunflower01

I've been working out for about 2 weeks now and have been doing a lot of intense cardio. I'm burning tons of calories and have found it kind of hard to eat back all the calories. I'm usually not very hungry at all after my workout, but I'll eat a little bit of food. I am usually only able to eat back about 100 - 200 calories back. Is is really bad that I'm not able to eat all my calories back??

shovav91

It depends on your caloric limit. As a general rule, I say never to net below 1200 (if you burn 500, eat no lower than 1700). Any lower is just not enough for your body to run on and it will end up hurting you in the long run.

gummibaehr

You could try drinking your workout calories back with chocolate milk or a protein shake after a workout. Or eat small portions of high calorie foods. I like to eat nuts when I need a calorie boost, but don't want to eat a lot.

sunflower01

Great, thanks for info. I normally do consume the minimum of 1200 calories a day.