When to eat back exercise cals - long distance hiker?
JoniBologna
Posts: 653 Member
Hey all. I apologize in advance if this topic has been beaten to death. I really wish they would put in a "search" function for group topics, as there are 100s in this group.
First of all, I have been "eating more" for the last several months. It has been working for me for the most part, but I am a little worried I am still not eating enough. Before, I adjusted this group's recommendations a little to meet my own liking. Before, I calculated my TDEE at sedentary and set my calorie goal to my sedentary TDEE - 20%. Then, I eat back most, if not all of my exercise calories every day. However, I am beginning to think I just need to set my calorie goal higher and not worry about eating back exercise calories.
See, I am an avid hiker. I hike anywhere from 1-3 times a week, for sometimes over 10 hours, and I often burn several thousand calories a week. However, some weeks it is not nearly this extreme. Considering this is a highly variant activity, I am worried that setting my TDEE too high will be detrimental during the weeks I am not as active, as well as setting it too low will be detrimental during the weeks I am extremely active.
As of today, I have calculated my TDEE at moderately active - 15%, which puts me at about 1950. Besides hiking, I typically run, walk, or bike just about every day of the week. Now, I have set my calorie goal to 1950 and will not be eating back exercise calories.
My overall question is, at what point, on hiking days or long run days, should I start eating back my exercise calories? I know the more accurate way to figure this out would be to calculate my TDEE each day then subtract 15%, but this seems like a lot of work. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
First of all, I have been "eating more" for the last several months. It has been working for me for the most part, but I am a little worried I am still not eating enough. Before, I adjusted this group's recommendations a little to meet my own liking. Before, I calculated my TDEE at sedentary and set my calorie goal to my sedentary TDEE - 20%. Then, I eat back most, if not all of my exercise calories every day. However, I am beginning to think I just need to set my calorie goal higher and not worry about eating back exercise calories.
See, I am an avid hiker. I hike anywhere from 1-3 times a week, for sometimes over 10 hours, and I often burn several thousand calories a week. However, some weeks it is not nearly this extreme. Considering this is a highly variant activity, I am worried that setting my TDEE too high will be detrimental during the weeks I am not as active, as well as setting it too low will be detrimental during the weeks I am extremely active.
As of today, I have calculated my TDEE at moderately active - 15%, which puts me at about 1950. Besides hiking, I typically run, walk, or bike just about every day of the week. Now, I have set my calorie goal to 1950 and will not be eating back exercise calories.
My overall question is, at what point, on hiking days or long run days, should I start eating back my exercise calories? I know the more accurate way to figure this out would be to calculate my TDEE each day then subtract 15%, but this seems like a lot of work. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Replies
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Ah ha. Thanks to a couple friends, I realized I was over-complicating things. Just stay above my BMR on days with huge burns.
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Just my opinion, but I think you may still be underestimating your activity level. You might need to be in the strenuous category. If you net less than your BMR on a regular basis I would re-run your numbers based on a higher activity level.0
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Just my opinion, but I think you may still be underestimating your activity level. You might need to be in the strenuous category. If you net less than your BMR on a regular basis I would re-run your numbers based on a higher activity level.
Thanks for the suggestion. I very, very rarely net below my BMR. I just didn't know exactly how much to eat back on my days with extreme burns.0 -
I very very much doubt you are sedentary.... The hikes put you in moderatly active if not very active Im sure, but if you burning several thousand kcal one go you'll still have to eat more to ensure you net over BMR0
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Go on scoobysworkshop ( can't recall address but it comes up in google) you can work out BMR, TDEE and cut level in one min max0
