Replenishing exercise calories

pfenixa

So since joining MFP I've been given the daily intake of 1200 calories per day. It was rough to cut down portions and find snacks and foods that allowed me to stay close to this goal, but now I've gotten very comfortable with it. The problem is, most of my exercise is running and over the past month the distance has steadily increase, and now I'm burning 300-500 calories with exercise a day and I'm supposed to try and make these calories up in what I eat. Now that I watch my calories, this is a huge number to fill!! Come of think of it, that's a meal! Well, it can be easily filled, but I don't want to fill it at the expense of getting alot of saturated fats and extra sodium into my diet.

So I guess the question is, what do you guys do to fix this? What are some good foods with a decent amount of calories but no saturated fats or excessive sodium, sugars, etc?

DORYBLUE

That would be good to know. I thought if you burn what you eat, you can lose the weight faster. so I ate a banana after supper because I recieved those scarey warnings about starvation mode.

lagerold

I've had the same problem since I joined my gym and started working out. A friend of my suggested that I eat bananas because they are really good for helping your muscles repair themselves. Peanut butter and almonds are also good snacks.

sweetbn

Smoothies are a great treat after a run... and tasty, too. I burn 3-500 as well, but I eat these during my regular day so no need to try to make up the difference.

alisonengland

I have exactly the same problem. If I go to the gym I burn 500 calories and if I additionally do Jillians 30 day Shred that's another 200. I am struggling to eat enough without going way over on fats and sugars (from fruit). Today after all meals i am almost 600 under. I could always drink two large glasses of wine but I guess that is not the best solution! I just read some posts on high protein so perhaps you could have a yogurt, some nuts and some strawberries. I am trying to 'graze' throughout the day to get the added calories eaten. Good Luck!

lotusfromthemud

two handfuls of nuts = just under 400 calories
one tablespoon of olive oil = 90 calories
an ounce of cheese = 150 or so calories.
8 oz of milk = 100 calories
8 oz of almond milk + one tablespoon of almond butter + one scoop of protein powder + handful of ice = 250 calories

You don't need big portions to bump your calories up. :flowerforyou:

pfenixa

I had completely forgotten about bananas! I brushed them off when I was eating lower calories because it suprised me how many they had, but that's perfect for the current situation.

As far as two handfuls of nuts, I currently have some marcona almonds and two handfuls of those is about 4-5 grams of saturated fats! Out of 13 for the day, that doesn't seem like a good snack to pick. The same may go for cheese, though I need to look up saturated fats for low-fat cheeses. I know a glass of lowfat milk has 2 sat. fat too. I can think of alot of snacks with alot of calories, it's the ones without all the sat. fat and sodium that I'm stuck on. I noticed sodas don't have these things, but I imagine that's not a good way to make up calories, lol.

And thanks for the feedback.

aippolito1

I work out at night so during the day, I log the MINIMUM amount of calories I want to burn during my work out and put in how many calories I've already burned walking around the office. This allows me to eat my extra calories during the day BEFORE, rather than snacking afterward and panicking because I can't find anything healthy or because I don't reach for something healthy and then I go over.

I usually just try to fit in something that I know is high calorie but good for me...such as ... avocado with my dinner, a higher calorie snack (150 instead of 100 or less) and a bread instead of just a protein and veggie for dinner like I normally do. Check out my diary if you so choose. I try to burn at least 200 everyday on intentional exercise and 100 just in walking around... Wednesdays I have a lot more to eat back because I do a more intense work out...it's all about strategy!