Too many calories left

larainew
larainew Posts: 17
in Food and Nutrition
So it's 11 p.m. and I have more calories left over than I did at the beginning of the day.
I started out with 1,200 calories as the baseline for what I should eat without exorcise.
I got up late, had my normal breakfast (about 250 calories), but at noon.
Then I went for a 3 hour hike.
Then I had a BIG dinner (nearly 1,000 calories - I normally don't eat more than 400 per meal)
Then I worked out doing strength training for an hour.
Now I have 1,300 calories left. I usually try to eat back most of my calories, but I'm ready for bed and not hungry. In fact, I'm kind of sick from that huge burrito.
Is it better to eat something right before bed or just chalk it up to a lost day?

Replies

  • atthompson27
    atthompson27 Posts: 31 Member
    Geez, I think you should just chalk it up to a loss. That's too much to try to consume in one sitting or so late at night. Next time, skip the workout.
  • shosh413
    shosh413 Posts: 135 Member
    give them to me :)
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    give them to me :)

    Yep I'd get rid of them in a flash! No problemo.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    A three hour hike will burn a lot of calories. This is the perfect opportunity for a high calorie snack, like some peanut butter! Yum!
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    i would either try to eat something calorie dense (peanut butter...mmmmm) or just leave it for today. however, i also wouldnt kick myself if i went over calories the next day. ive had days where i just couldnt eat all my calories, and the next day i was starving so i ate them then. just look at your weekly net and make sure you hit that goal
  • larainew
    larainew Posts: 17
    mmm peanut butter... that sounds good. I don't think I can eat 1,300 calories of it though. :)
  • ApocalypticFae
    ApocalypticFae Posts: 217 Member
    Love the peanut butter idea. Take the opportunity to have a delicious snack and don't worry about it if you're still under. Personally, I would have a banana with peanut butter, some dark chocolate truffles, or even a bowl of cereal. Nice hike btw!
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Geez, I think you should just chalk it up to a loss. That's too much to try to consume in one sitting or so late at night. Next time, skip the workout.

    Really? I routinely eat 1000+ calories between 10pm and bedtime. Eat whenever you want to eat-in one meal or 10,000. Makes no difference for losing weight (assuming you're not over your calories).

    OP-eat if you're hungry, don't if you're not. You may wake up extra hungry and use those bonus calories tomorrow. Don't skip workouts just so you don't have calories left over.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    mmm peanut butter... that sounds good. I don't think I can eat 1,300 calories of it though. :)

    No, but it will help keep you from being too hungry in the morning. At least for me, when I have a high burn day and don't eat enough that day, I feel hungry all day the next day. So like someone else said, if you find yourself overly hungry tomorrow, then count today and tomorrow together for your calories.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Love the peanut butter idea. Take the opportunity to have a delicious snack and don't worry about it if you're still under. Personally, I would have a banana with peanut butter, some dark chocolate truffles, or even a bowl of cereal. Nice hike btw!

    Dark chocolate truffles....mmmm....those can add up fast! :bigsmile:
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    i would either try to eat something calorie dense (peanut butter...mmmmm) or just leave it for today. however, i also wouldnt kick myself if i went over calories the next day. ive had days where i just couldnt eat all my calories, and the next day i was starving so i ate them then. just look at your weekly net and make sure you hit that goal

    I agree with this, and many people actually practice it as a weight loss strategy called "calorie zig zagging." I do it sometimes. If you look at my calories this week they're all over the place - some days I went way over, some days I stayed way under. I know that as long as my weekly net is on point, I'll lose the weight on track. So give yourself an extra treat tomorrow :)
  • marvybells
    marvybells Posts: 1,984 Member
    You should probably eat something so you don;t get your body in starvation mode from too few calories...how bout a handful of nuts or olives maybe, if your not keen on the peanut butter idea. (I also keep protein bars handy as a snack or for when i need to easily add a few calories on if i ate light that day & am not too hungry)

    oh never mind, i just read your post again & saw that you just ate so you are full & are ready for bed...in that case i agree maybe just hit the hay, and have yourself a nice breakfast tomorrow :)
  • larainew
    larainew Posts: 17
    Peanut butter eaten...dark truffles left over from Christmas? Tempting me...
  • ducoteycd
    ducoteycd Posts: 26 Member
    I would maybe eat a couple tablespoons of peanut butter or something like she said up there and then feel free to go 100-200 over in the next couple of days.
    Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe a pound of fat is like 3500 calories, so if weight loss is your goal just make sure you average close to that number under maintenance calories for the week
    Sounds like you did a lot of exercise today though, good job!
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
    I LOVE when I have that "problem"! It happened to me twice this week. One day I left 1,300 cals on the table cuz I wasn't hungry and I wasn't going to eat just for the sake of it. (Sometimes I will if I'm drastically short on a macro, but that wasn't the case here. The 2nd time I was still a little hungry so I took the opportunity to eat one of my favorite calorie-dense splurges: a jumbo honey bun. Actually, I ate two of them... and I still had over 600 cals left! Trail mix is also good for closing a large cal gap.
    Probably won't be an option tonight because no dedicated workout... so the cals left in the bank earlier this week will help to counter tonight.

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