Exercise calories?

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andreacord
andreacord Posts: 928
in Food and Nutrition
Hey Everyone :)

Well i know this probably gets thrown around a lot, but should i eat back my exercise calories? I'm set for 1200 calories a day on here in order to lost a pound and half per week, but i work out at night, and pretty hard, (like 500-700 cals usually) and now my net intake for the day is like .. 500 calories. My mom continually scolds me for eating when i come home from the gym at 9 30 at night, she says i won't lose any weight, but yet i have a mountain of left over calories from exercise! Can anyone provide any solutions for me? Thanks a bunch, hope everyone out there had an excellent day today :)

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  • andreacord
    andreacord Posts: 928
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  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Well, first here are some great threads explaining metabolism and why it's a good idea for most people to eat at least some of their exercise cals...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    Second, it is even more important to eat some of them if you are relatively close to goal (less than 40 lbs) and/or if you already have a high loss/week goal (1.5 or 2 lbs).

    Last, eating later in the evening is not ideal, but it will not stop your weight loss, as long as it is still a healthy meal/snack. I have to work out in the evening and I almost always have a healthy evening snack afterwards - hasn't slowed me down at all. Ideally, try to get more cals in earlier in the day when you know you will be working out later. Good luck to you!
  • jojuvanlaanen
    jojuvanlaanen Posts: 29 Member
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    There are topics on this all over the forums, just search for it. I've been told eat all, eat none, eat some, or eat half. So I really don't know if there is a "right" answer. I'd love to hear what other people think as well!
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    I say, do what works for you. There are people that can't eat back all of their exercise calories because there are some that burn a lot of calories and it would be almost considered binging if they ate an EXTRA 2000 calories in one day. I personally burn 2000 in an hour on my elliptical. The reason as to "how" aside, there's no way I could possibly eat that much. My body couldn't handle it. Plus, I work out at night, so there are days where I'm not guaranteed to eat that much because as random as life is, a nightly workout isn't always for sure.

    Therefore, I do eat some of it back. Depending on what my body is telling me to do. There are times I have a really hard session and my body is screaming for extra calories, so I'll eat what feels right, whether it be protein, carbs, vitamins in the form of fruits and vegetables, etc. Then there are times where after a hard workout, it's not asking for much, so I'll eat a small recovery snack of peanut butter on whole wheat toast and a cup of green tea or something.

    Logically in accordance to health and nutrition, what should be done is maintain the same type of healthy calorie deficit that's allowed to lose no more than 2 lbs a week. In other words, you're technically supposed to eat back your exercise calories. Some do and it works for them. Some don't and it works for them as well. I do what feels right, allowing my body to call the shots after heavy activity.

    And that's my $0.02.

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