Working out in the afternoon/evening

kcdrake · March 2010

I am curious about what people do regarding their calories when they work out in the afternoons or evening.
Do you eat your exercise calories early, during breakfast and lunch, or do you eat a larger dinner or evening snacks?

I'm just wondering because as much as I like the idea of working out in the morning and getting it over with, I have to be honest with myself and I really don't think I would actually wake up earlier than I already do. And I would hate to overeat during the day because of exercise miscalculations (or something happening and me being unable to work out), but I also don't want to stuff myself during dinner.

NaomiLyn · March 2010

I work out at night. I can't get up earlier than I do, I am just not a morning person. I plan out my workouts for the week, and know what calories I will burn for each. On the days that I am planning on working out I add an extra afternoon snack. Then when I get home I work out, and then have a little bit of a larger dinner at night. I am really bad about eating all my exercise calories though. I am just not hungry enough to do it.

mayasmom · March 2010

I have this same problem. Late afternoon is the only time that I can workout. I don't eat my 'extra" calories pre-emptively because of what you said .. miscalculations and/or missing the workout. I will usually eat a larger dinner (same thing as planned, just a little more of it) and a snack later in the evening.

aippolito1 · March 2010

I like the idea of working out at night because I can eat more calories throughout the day (because face it, I'm hungrier from the PREVIOUS day's workout!) because I can just workoff the extra calories, whereas if I work out in the morning and go over my calories, there's no second chance.

So, to answer your question. I eat my exercise calories throughout the day as much as I can, then if I burn more than I planned, I'll have a little extra in my dinner (not MORE, just...more calories...such as cheese or sour cream, etc.) just so I don't leave a lot of exercise calories left.

mbmomof4 · March 2010

I never eat my exercise calories ahead of time, I know that would bite in in the butt, so no thanks

. There are times I can't go to the gym until 9 at night & by then I don't like eating that late. So if I go over a bit during the day, I don't sweat it because I know I will burn it off. I very rarely eat my exercise calories anyway because personally I feel like I wasted my time at the gym if I just turn around & eat them back up. That's my personal preference, everyone does it differently.

DG82 · March 2010

I am SO not a morning person, so as much as I would love to wake up even EARLIER than my 5:30am alarm (ha right like that could even happen?!) I have to plan my workout either right before or after dinner (and washing dishes too, lol). I usually come in just barely under my cal goal for the day but so far I think I'm doing fairly well overall. Once the weather finally picks up I'm hoping I can get outside and be more active, but till then I'm pretty much stuck in the house doing what I can...

Counting the days till SUMMER..... :-)

mamaturner · March 2010

I work out at night a lot. I know I'll burn over 500 calories so I'll eat larger meals throughout the day. My breakfast being the largest, smalls snacks still in between, but probably larger by 50-100 calories compared to if I wasn't working out. I eat dinner after I work out, and it's typically a healthier meal.

I also really try not to eat 2-3 hours before I go to bed.

LadySavage · March 2010

i do both.
i do an hour of combined cardio & strength training in the morning and a half hour of cardio in the evening

aymetcalf · March 2010

I hate mornings! I always workout at night. Just eat something with something light with some protein BEFORE you workout and it will help you from starving when you are done. My favorite is a few crackers with peanut butter... or cottage cheese... weird, i know. Good Luck!

Working out in the afternoon/evening

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