Carry calories forward??

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NoExcuses
NoExcuses Posts: 11
in Food and Nutrition
Yesterday I was feeling reallly good and doubled my run. Instead of 3 miles on the treadmill, I ran 6.5!! I did eat more of the earned calories, but not all of them. Today, my knees are not happy with me:noway: and I am planning to take the day off from exercising. Do I have to eat the 1,200 calories to stay on track for a day with no cardio? Or, can I carry some of those earned calories from yesterday forward. Does that make sense?

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  • NoExcuses
    NoExcuses Posts: 11
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    Yesterday I was feeling reallly good and doubled my run. Instead of 3 miles on the treadmill, I ran 6.5!! I did eat more of the earned calories, but not all of them. Today, my knees are not happy with me:noway: and I am planning to take the day off from exercising. Do I have to eat the 1,200 calories to stay on track for a day with no cardio? Or, can I carry some of those earned calories from yesterday forward. Does that make sense?
  • astridfeline
    astridfeline Posts: 1,200 Member
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    It's ok to carry calories over, to a certain extent (200-300 cals). It's the weekly average that matters, as long as you avoid sending your body into starvation mode...I'm not sure how rapidly that sets in. Maybe someone else can chime in here.
  • Tammikins
    Tammikins Posts: 27 Member
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    good question! i want to know the answer too because i always wonder the same thing myself!
  • kerikitkat
    kerikitkat Posts: 352 Member
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    I sometimes carry a bit over but generally that doesn't happen to me. :laugh: I only burn about 400 cals every time I exercise, so it's not that hard for me to eat them all.

    I think the key is that you body isn't a calculator or a ledger book. It's not like it magcially turns the page at midnight and resets like MFP. :tongue: I imagine carrying over a bit isn't detrimental so long as you maintain a good weekly average... so I concur with astrid!
  • NoExcuses
    NoExcuses Posts: 11
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    Thanks....I was thinking that 200 more would be great. I'll watch the weekly averageas well.
  • jessneill
    jessneill Posts: 380 Member
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    Yes, you can offset a less active day by being more active on the days around it. Like when I know I'm going to have a big calorie day because of a social activity I try to work out a little more on the days around it.

    You are looking more at a weekly average of calories than a daily. The day to day tracking just helps keep you in line.

    Let's say you are eating 1500 calories on average a day (including exercise calories) that means you will consume 10,500 calories a week. So, if one day you only eat 1300 calories then you have another 200 calories you can eat that week without going over what you would normally consume in a week.

    Hope that helps!

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