If I eat a ton, VERY FULL by end of day, do I still have to

stargust1

Okay, so here is the deal......If I eat three meals a day, plus 2-3 snacks, plus have a protein drink after my workouts.......do I really still need to eat my workout calories? Here is today.....I will be under 1200 calories, by a little....but if I go and workout, I will be 300 or more under.....and I am not sure I want to eat anymore because I will feel bloated and really not feel like working out! BLAH!

Breakfast Calories
Oh's Cereal, 0.75 meal 77
Milk - 1/2% 1 Cup, 0.25 cup 15
Add Food | Remember Meal 92

Lunch
Ya Ya's - Chicken Caesar Salad W/O Dressing - Small, 1 Salad 161
Ya Ya's - Salad Dressing - Caesar Salad Dressing, 1 oz. 49
Add Food | Remember Meal 210

Dinner
Walmart Great Value - Frozen Tilapia Fillets, 4 oz. 100
Asparagus 5 Spears - Asparagus 5 Spears, 5 spears 25
Bertolli - Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 68 oz, 0.25 tbsp 30
Add Food | Remember Meal 155

Snack 1 - 10am
Naked Juice - Strawberry Banana, 4 fl oz 60
Keebler - Fudge Shoppe Grasshopper Mint - 100 Calorie Right Bites, 1 Pouch 100
Add Food | Remember Meal 160

Snack 2 - 2pm
Fresh Fruit - Banana Small 6" to 6-7/8", 1 whole 90
Aunt Millie's - Healthy Goodness Fat Free Multi Grain Wheat Bread, 1 slice 60
Jif Creamy Peanut Butter - Peanut Butter, 1 tbsp 95
Welch's - Concord Grape Jelly, 0.5 tbsp 25
Add Food | Remember Meal 270

Snack 3 - 6pm
Gnc Pro Performance - 100% Whey Protein - Strawberry Banana, 1 Scoop 110
Great Value - 1/2% Milk, 1.5 cup 150
Add Food | Remember Meal 260

Totals 1,147
Your Daily Goal 1,200
Remaining 53
Calories

Danica27

If you don't eat enough calories, you body will go into starvation mode and slow down your metabolism. Even though you are exercising etc. it will slow. Also eating enough will keep your blood sugars level and maintain you from one meal to the next. Eating not enough is as bad as eating too much. Hope this answers your question.

chgudnitz

53 calories is fairly insignificant. You should be fine with that.

Capucine7

Although I totally understand what you mean I do agree with Danica 27. Try having something like almonds. They are a little more dense in calories, good for you and you won't need to eat too many to meet your calorie needs.

erickirb

53 calories is fairly insignificant. You should be fine with that.

Once exercise is taken into account it will be 353.

From what I can see your diet looks good, but your breakfast and dinner seem quite small. Try adding another 50-100 calories to each of those meals, if this is your "normal" intake. Add a yogurt or half a banana to your breakfast and maybe some type of carb with dinner eg. 1/2 potato, 1 slice of bread, or 1/2 sweet potato.

chgudnitz

53 calories is fairly insignificant. You should be fine with that.

Once exercise is taken into account it will be 353.

From what I can see your diet looks good, but your breakfast and dinner seem quite small. Try adding another 50-100 calories to each of those meals, if this is your "normal" intake. Add a yogurt or half a banana to your breakfast and maybe some type of carb with dinner eg. 1/2 potato, 1 slice of bread, or 1/2 sweet potato.

Looking at a screen shot of that one day is all I could go off of. I doubt she eats the same exact food every day. For that specific example I would not worry about it.

mrsbeck

You're right at 1200ish before exercise...eh, you could probably do that occasionally, but you shouldn't make a habit of it. I'm a big advocate of not forcing yourself to eat when not hungry, but your body needs fuel to work. If you don't exercise today, no big deal-you're not under by that much...but if you do exercise, you really should put some gas in your tank. A handful of nuts, as suggested above, will give you a pretty big caloric boost, without leaving you with that heavy bloated feeling. Or a glass of milk, or a yogurt...you get the picture.

stormieweather

I'm eating 1/2 of a CLIF Builder's Bar (all natural!!) immediately after my workouts. That is 135 calories - 15c/4f/10p. If you could handle it, you could eat the whole thing even. Half seems to be enough for me, and I also added some protein to my breakfast, ie: a hard boiled egg or 1/2 oz of almonds. Between the two, that's 250 (or so) calories extra and very small in terms of quantity.

Phillips28

I have the exact same question! My calorie goal is also 1,200. I started at the weight of 160 (I'm 5'4") and I'm finally at 145....with a goal of 130. I'm just wondering how many of those exercise calories are really needed to "eat back"? Those exervise calories are just so confusing. Just this last week I've been going over my 1,200 goal...and feeling really guilty about it?? But I read you are suppose to eat some of them back...so this week I'm trying. Since I started this counting calories and working out 42 days ago I've been loosing atleast 2 lbs a week, with the exception of week one and week two. But just last week I only lost 1 lb and I seem to be at a stand still this week as well. It's depressing! I'm just nervous if my exercise calories are off, then what if I eat back too many? I bought a $30 calorie counter watch at Target...but it's a little confusing to set. I hope it is calculating my workout's correctly. ANY THOUGHTS??!! All of this counting reminds me of a big math problem! haha.

LittleSpy

Like others said, being a little under on occasion isn't going to do much damage.

That being said, if it's a consisitent problem and you're genuinely concerned about there are plenty of super easy ways to get more calorie dense healthy foods in your diet.
Roast that asparagus or grill that fish in some olive oil. Add another tablespoon of peanut butter to your snack, drink a glass of milk with a snack, etc.

I lost about 50 pounds not eating many (if any) of my exercise calories. At 216.4 I hit a wall. To break the plateau I started eating 1/2 my exercise calories and now I'm losing weight again . Now, a couple weeks later, my momentum seems to be picking up again and it appears I'm losing close to the same rate I was losing before, actually, and I'm eating 200-300 more calories each day.