Athlete with extra calories?

mackie121
mackie121 Posts: 32 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
As an athlete I burn on average more than 1400 calories a day from working out on top of the approximately 1425 calories I burn according to my BMR. Because of this my food diary usually gives me an extra 1200 or so calories in addition to the 1200 calories I should be eating to lose weight. I feel horribly guilty when I go over 1200 but I also don’t want to put my body in starvation mode. Yesterday my calorie goal was supposed to be 2445 which seems like an awful lot to me… This high calorie goal also gives me the lenience to eat things that aren’t healthy like chocolate peanut butter and pop tarts (two of my favorites) on top of the healthy meals I eat, without coming close to my goal but if I try to get to my goal by just eating healthy food I’m so full. What should I do? Is it ok to eat some of the bad foods because I am burning it off or should I stick to strictly healthy food? And if so do I stop when I’m full and come in well below my goal or try to reach my goal but be overly full? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm at the high point of what weights are considered healthy for my height and build but I’m trying to lose about 15 lbs. because being a little leaner will make me faster and put me in the middle of healthy weights for my height so I’ll have a little wiggle room without 2 lbs. being the difference between healthy and overweight.

Replies

  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    As an athlete, I wouldn't worry about your body weight - especially after checking out your physique. To me, you look great. I was considered morbidly obese when I bulked up to 215 lbs while maintaining 8% body fat - I did look like a jacked up gorilla, though. My point is, that the standards for weight categories are outdated, just like vague measurements of health such as BMI.

    Getting enough calories as an athlete while you cut body fat is crucial as it can negatively affect performance if you place yourself at too much of a deficit. Burning 1400 calories is a lot - and although, its not absolutely essential to net your RMR (BMR) while you cut, I'd aim to eat back most of it so the deficit isn't too large.

    Just doing the math: 2445 - 1400 = 1045 net (380 shy of your RMR). How accurate is the 1400 calorie burn? Did you use a HRM to assess calorie expenditure? If it gives you peace of mind, you can contact a metabolic testing center to gauge what your actual active metabolic rate is using calorimetry (measures the amount of O2 and CO2 while wearing an oxygen mask to assess energy expenditure). Once known, you can cut approximately 10 to 20% of that depending on how much exercise you do.

    Regarding your favorite foods, I say enjoy them in small amounts - chocolate peanut butter and a pop tart is not all that bad as there are far worse choices out there. As you said, if you are indeed burning 1400 calories every day, it does give you a lot of freedom to eat "junk" food. Besides, weight gain has more to do with eating at a surplus.
  • mackie121
    mackie121 Posts: 32 Member
    Ok interesting, now answer this one… I should keep my calorie count high to keep the deficit low or it might hurt my body which I know, and I think one of the reasons I do hold weight gained in the my off seasons is because I may be putting my body in starvation mode a bit during my sport seasons. I’m a big believer in listening to your body so when I’m full I stop eating. To get those extra calories between feeling full and reducing the deficit should I be eating until I’m stuffed? Also with healthy food it takes a while to get to that point so do i just keep eating? because i feel like that is just creating bad habits with food, you know eating until stuffed, not just pleasantly full...

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