Creating too much of a deficit

Yurippe

Do you ever consider exercising but decide not too because you know you won't be able to eat the calories?

Today for example I took the dog for 2 15 minute walks and went to the gym. It's already 7pm and I have 500 more calories to eat. I know that there is no way I'll eat that much today. My goals are set for 2lbs a week so I'm already at a 1000 calorie deficit. I feel like taking the dog for another walk and maybe playing on the Wii. Any more exercise would just put me at an even bigger deficit. I end up in this situation at least twice a week.

Is it just me?

Sweetie_Pie92

Personally, the bigger I can make my deficit (within reason) the happier I am If I'm eating enough and am satisfied, I see no reason not to exercise more if I feel like it!

amillward27

Personally, the bigger I can make my deficit (within reason) the happier I am If I'm eating enough and am satisfied, I see no reason not to exercise more if I feel like it!

ditto. as long as im full, i don't feel the need to keep eating just because i feel obligated to eat exercise calories.

ldarter

Yes I agree. I rarely eat any of the extra calories from exercise. I make a point of eating three nutricious meals a day but I won't force myself to eat more when I'm not hungry. I have not tuned in to the whole debate thing about the wisdom of eating or not eating the extra calories earned by exercise. I have been consistently losing weight so far so what I am doing seems to be working so far.

Yurippe

Personally, the bigger I can make my deficit (within reason) the happier I am If I'm eating enough and am satisfied, I see no reason not to exercise more if I feel like it!

What would you consider "within reason"?

gnme4243

I "third" the above posts- I rarely eat more than 100-150 of my exercise calories if I eat any of them at all- too much to eat most days! I say exercise on!

Sweetie_Pie92

Personally, the bigger I can make my deficit (within reason) the happier I am If I'm eating enough and am satisfied, I see no reason not to exercise more if I feel like it!

What would you consider "within reason"?

If I have eaten my original allotted calories (before exercise) for the day I consider that within reason. Mine's set at 1560 calories a day, so as long as I eat that I don't feel the need to eat into my exercise calories.

efcdcdb

I generally don't eat my exercise calories either. I have read a lot about how you SHOULD eat them, on this website. Still, I am 52 years old and don't exercise a TON. I go to an aerobics class twice a week, but other than that, I walk about 30 minutes a day at lunch and/or ride my exercise bike 20-30 minutes a day. I know I am not going to go into starvation mode if I eat my daily allotment of calories (1,200). If I have a splurge here or there, I try to get more exercise to "cover" what I ate. It has worked for me since January and I have been able to stick with it all this time. I figure the exercise gives me the extra calories if I want / need them, but I am not going to eat more just to eat more! Maybe if you are really working out a lot, it makes sense to have to provide fuel for your body. But for moderate exercise, I think you would be fine to "just do it!"

artschoolgirl

I think it's more important to get in your exercise than to avoid it because of a calorie deficit. It would have to be a very drastic deficit, like a couple thousand calories I would imagine, to make not eating exercise calories that much of a health risk. I would recommend taking in around 1,500-1,700 calories a day. I find for me that this is a good range for feeling satisfied & still having the energy for a big workout. If you're really concerned about the calorie deficit but still want to work out, try focusing on weight training instead some days and cardio on the other days.

LittleSpy

My body did fine with very big deficits (sometimes 2500 calories) for about 4.5 months & then it freaked out.

Now, it apparently doesn't appreciate anything over a 1000 calorie deficit for an extended period of time. About a month ago, when I hit my 2nd plateau in as many months, I reset my goal to lose 1.5 pounds (from 2 pounds) a week & I started trying to eat at least 50% of my exercise calories.

One or 2 days with a large deficit isn't going to hurt. I believe it was the consistently huge deficits that caused me to plateau. I thought my body wouldn't have a problem with it because I had (and still have) quite a bit of weight to lose. I admit I was wrong. I've been fighting it for 2.5 months now & by starting to eat more, I've started losing weight again. But I learned my lesson the hard way. And apparently not everyone will have a problem with it. Everyone's body is different.

I try to make my meal plan coordinate with my exercise plan. If I know I'm going to be working out a lot one day, I try to get in a good many more calories early so I'm not left in your situation. If it doesn't happen very often, I'd go ahead and exercise. But if it becomes a trend, consider being more careful with your meal plans to fit in those extra calories.

Yurippe

Thanks for everyone's input! I guess I won't worry about it too much until I hit a plateau.