Eating back training calories...

Zangpakto

Ok, a question.

Your opinion, do you think one should? I mean I burnt 2887 calories today.

So almost 3k calories. Should I eat back, or just eat and not worry as essentially that is almost say 4.5k calories I would need to eat today...

yarwell

My first question would be "are you sure" or "did you really" ? The biggest risk with eating all of your exercise calories is that they are overestimated and therefore eat into the deficit you're aiming for.

But in general, if you're using MFP in the way intended then eating extra food to match your exercise calorie burn maintains the original deficit set, rather than giving you an additional deficit from your efforts.

justjenn1977

Ok, a question.

Your opinion, do you think one should? I mean I burnt 2887 calories today.

So almost 3k calories. Should I eat back, or just eat and not worry as essentially that is almost say 4.5k calories I would need to eat today...

this is somewhat a controversial topic here...

I agree with the previous poster... I would ask if you are sure that you burned that much... I searched my logs to find a burn similar... it was a 10 mile hike for 259 minutes (the elevation gain was killer)... that is a lot to burn

now to answer your question... I have determined through trial and error that I don't eat back exercise calories unless 1) I am really really hungry and 2) I don't eat back all of them and 3) I usually don't unless they are greater than 1k...

this is what works for me

my advice is try one way for a month... (eating them back or not) if you like it and are happy with your progress then continue doing it... if not try the other way

Zangpakto

I am sure of the burn.. Was a marathon race, wore hrm etc..

Thing is I have now signed for an ultra and that training starts in a month when feel good.
My long runs will be in general about 30km. Sometimes back to back runs. Would still burn close to 2.5k as hilly route.

Burning that and the extra needed daily, should I rather be averaging on week total rather than daily?

Oh and the marathon was great if anyone was wondering, loved it!

yarwell

is the HRM set up for your VO2max, does it report gross or net calories ?

Zangpakto

Reports what I do for run, I do not obviously use the whole day.. I mean seriously?

Net? Umm what has that got to do with anything... I ran, and that is what I burnt during the race. Do I stop and add calories along route for net? Not a chance! That is insane to even think about!

That is the amount I burnt on the run itself. Not DURING the day, only the run. a sub 5 run that qualified me for my ultra.

I added in all my calories I used during run already on MFP. I am under 1000c net still after dinner.

Not bad considering it is roughly then 3.5 - 4k calories of food/fuel during day... And I plan to drink another 500c to bring my net up.. maybe... I had 3 glasses wine already, so another bottle or two wouldn't exactly hurt would it lol..

Anyway consumed about 1000c during race, had 1000c for breakfast and another 400c for carbo load drink before, then ham/cheese rolls for lunch, then tex bar choc for snack, then supper of 2 plates curry (butter chicken + vindaloo). Oh and 3 glasses wine, might have 1.5 lit beer or another bottle of wine, not sure...

But drinking I can get my net goals for today, and according to everyone that is a MUST, soooo I take it as a go ahead get pissed invitation from the MFP community xD

I can drop weight super fast when push comes to shove, but knowing what to eat after racing I don't know what to do... That's why I asked

I eat pre-race 2-3 hours before to allow digestion, then 1hr before an energy drink, 30-50m a gu gel, 1hr in a 32gi chomp cube and follow that pattern till end race adding 1hr time frame from last gel or chomp square.

I also carbo load the week before increasing total weight by 1.5-2kg as need 300-500gr carbs a day starting 3 days prior after depletion the rest of week. and most is water weight as 1gr carb = 3gr water = 4g total weight added so use that to calculate my stores.

But again, after a long run or race I am, clueless... I can get to race day feeling the best I can, but I am not good at what to do for recovery, anyone have advice? Eating calories back is cool and all, but 3k calories spent without bad food is honestly too much to eat back on top of normal daily requirements. Hence my chocolate and alcohol. Not the best, but I see no other way! Honestly it equates to roughly 37.5 slices of bread for just my run. Then I still need my daily requirements.

Hope that puts it a bit in perspective.

Seriously any help on recovery and advice from people who do run LSD runs of 20-30km on weekly basis would be much appreciated. I don't think general knowledge quite gets it right here considering most people here I don't think could qualify or run an ultra, yet I am pretty confident considering how strong I felt at finished that and ultra is very much doable. Already singed up for 1 maybe 2 next year already, a 56km and a 90km.