Excercise calories....

rlsluvr
rlsluvr Posts: 130
edited September 20 in Food and Nutrition
I know this topic has gone round and round whether or not you should eat your excercise cals, and I know the general consensus is yes you should, so I am wondering, since I workout later at night, and usually AFTER I've completed eating for the day... how should I approach this? should I eat them the next day? should I not eat them at all, or should I guess to how many calories I will be burning and incorporate them PRIOR to working out for the day....

All opinions welcome, and appreciated!!!

THANKS!

Replies

  • Rev_no_Boosh
    Rev_no_Boosh Posts: 239
    I workout at night as well. I typically eat most of my workout calories. I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be doing that evening so I work those in at intervals throughout the day. It give me motivation to work out as long as I planned, and even longer for a bonus.
  • TwentyTen
    TwentyTen Posts: 585
    I work out evenings, and generally have an idea how many calories I plan to burn, so I try to get most of them in during the day. I like to save just enough to provide for a protien snack directly after the working out. I don't think you are supposed to bank them into the next day.
  • whyflysouth
    whyflysouth Posts: 308 Member
    Those are some good ideas... Yeah I've been working out really late. I wait for the kids to go to bed (otherwise they'll try to jump on the treadmill or pull me off or something) and find myself on that thing until midnight, and then I take down protein shake and have a hard time sleeping.
  • lscotch
    lscotch Posts: 40 Member
    I think it depends on what your goals are. I am trying to lose weight and had always eaten my exercise calories and lost between 0.5 - 1lb a week (on a good week) until I started working out with a trainer. He suggested to go a week not eating my exercise calories and see what happens, I lost 3 ponds that week. So until I I want to stop losing weight I am not going to eat my exercise calories. The only exception I made is if I burn loads of calories, i.e. over 1000, then I eat a little more.
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    If I don't workout in the morning before work, I still make a point of logging my workout that I am planning on doing in the evening. Then, I eat my exercise calories throughout the day. That's my little method of keeping me committed to working out in the evening--the calories are already in my tummy! No going back.
  • rlsluvr
    rlsluvr Posts: 130
    Thanks for the suggestions... I really appreciate it!!!
  • mohotma
    mohotma Posts: 3
    The answer is it depends if you are trying to loose weight then you need to have a calorie output higher than you calorie intake if you are trying to gain muscle and bulk up the you probably need to eat your workout calories making sure that most of them are high protien low fat calories. Muscle needs protiens to repair and rebuild. right now I am trying to loose weight so i am aiming for a higher number of calories burned after i get to my goal the i will change to equaling those calories in order to maintain my weight. Good Luck with your mission.
  • mohotma
    mohotma Posts: 3
    The answer is it depends if you are trying to loose weight then you need to have a calorie output higher than you calorie intake if you are trying to gain muscle and bulk up the you probably need to eat your workout calories making sure that most of them are high protien low fat calories. Muscle needs protiens to repair and rebuild. right now I am trying to loose weight so i am aiming for a higher number of calories burned after i get to my goal the i will change to equaling those calories in order to maintain my weight. Good Luck with your mission.
  • imabhealthy
    imabhealthy Posts: 74 Member
    I eat all my exercise cals, and still loose when I'm sticking to it. One thing to be careful of is to make sure calories are accurate - MFP sometimes overcalculates in my opinion. I try to guess on the low side when inputting exercise/calories.
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