foods to use up excercize calories with?

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boffo
boffo Posts: 22
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everybody....

I've been losing weight for about 5 months now, and am down to a point where I can finally get back on a bike and start building some muscle and my heart. I'm riding about 6 - 8 hours a week right now; burning about 8000 extra calories a week. I know i'm supposed to eat those calories, but I"m having trouble finding foods that have a high enough calorie density that aren't full of fat and cholesterol (the good stuff fills me up long before I've eaten enough.) What are my best choices for healthily eating an extra 1000 calories a day?

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  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    If you are having trouble eating enough, try drinking some calories.
    Juice is full of calories, you can make protein shakes, if you drink milk, try upping the MF%, if you drink 1% switch to 2%, or add a table spoon or 2 of skim milk powder to your milk.
    As for food you can eat, try natural nut butters, full of good fats and a ton of calories.
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
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    I've found the best way for me to use my exercise calories is to use them periodically through the day.... add a little extra olive oil to something, eat an apple with natural peanut butter, a little extra meat at lunch or dinnertime, hummus and veggies, hummus and fruits... hummus and anything, lol! Greek Yogurt Smoothies are awesome.... good calorie content, good protein, dairy, carb combo. Just try to stretch your exercise calories throughout the day... I've gotten to the end of the day and had 600+ extra calories to eat and that's just impossible... Good luck! And congrats on being back on the bike!
  • PureAndHealthy
    PureAndHealthy Posts: 539
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    I agree with the previous posters. If I'm in that situation, I usually go for things packed with healthy fats because those add up quicker. Avocados, nuts or nut butters, full fat yogurt, adding olive oil to things I cook like pasta or salads or even on bread. Just eating more throughout the day to compensate for the burn, will help you not get to the end of the day thinking "What am I gonna do with 950 calories?!":noway:
  • MattySparky
    MattySparky Posts: 771
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    Not all fat is bad, you need to get this into your head. Try natural Peanut butter, a great high calorie source of good fat. Usually 100 cals per tbsp. Another way to increase calorie content and healthy fat is Extra Virgin Olive oil. Most are between 110- 125 cals per tbsp and can be added to almost anything without tasting it. You can blend it into shakes, put it on whole wheat pasta, put it in sauces... the list goes on and on. If you're burning that many extra calories and not eating back any of them you are going to run into problems sooner than later.
  • boffo
    boffo Posts: 22
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    thanks! juice never even occurred to me... I've been eating peanut butter sandwiches as a snack after my rides... i guess i was more on track than i thought!
  • rells
    rells Posts: 19 Member
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    Hi Your question Boffo and everyones answers has helped me to!
    MyPal Diary told me I needed to up my calories today as I was at risk of going into starvation mode. So I was in a dilemma to what would be the best healthy/ calorie foods to eat. Did have move bran flakes this morning.
    Feel silly really had cut out my most loved snack- hummus because of the high cals.
    I'v also been concious of getting the right amounts of everything else. Ahh!
    Thanks EVERYONE ! I think I get it.

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