Can you work off calories the NEXT day?

tlaker
tlaker Posts: 82 Member
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
Sometimes i tend to get the munchies at night and will go over my calories...and i don't feel like taking a walk or any sort of exercise at 10.... so my question is that IF we go over our calories one day, can we counter act it by exercising more the next day to make up for it.

Lets say i go over my calories by 200....i make sure i have 200 calories left remaining the next day to make up for it.

I tend to do that from time to time....and yes i know that going over like that from time to time is no big thing and you shouldnt plan on killing yourself at the gym the next day because of a slip up-- but just wondering if it will actually counter act it *IF** i do that! Has anyone else done thing? or is it just me!? haha

Thanks :)

Replies

  • crystal10584
    crystal10584 Posts: 334
    I got a response to something similar since I would go over some days and be under some days... they said for the most part, as long as you are around 0 for the week you should be good. ie: today i'll be under by 6 cal, tomorrow over by 14, friday under by 8 (I preplan so I don't get tempted to have something else)... all in all... 0 net...
  • Ral263
    Ral263 Posts: 318 Member
    Of course! Your body doesn't know the difference of whether it's Tuesday or Wednesday (the same principle applies for "gaining weight if you eat past 8"....it's totally ridiculous). Weight loss isn't really a day to day thing-- it's comprehensive, and takes time. As long as you are getting that exercise/deficit in at some point, you'll be fine :)
  • rfcollins33
    rfcollins33 Posts: 630
    bump!

    I am AWFUL with night snacking, interested to read the feedback
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    This is akin to calorie zig-zagging, and in essence, should actually help your weight loss because it confuses your body.
  • jmafte
    jmafte Posts: 46
    I'm no doctor, but I don't think your body and digestive system really cares what time of day it is. At the end of the week you've burned x amount of calories. I tend to try and leave myself an extra 300-400 calories for the end of the day in case I do get hungry at the end of the day. If I use them, that's what they're there for, if not, I'm ok with that too.
  • mzenzer
    mzenzer Posts: 503 Member
    The next day maybe, but everyone is different and there a lot of opinions/studies on this. Just remember that at some point in a 24 hour period your body is either going to burn fat or store it, so you can't wait too long for that recovery deficit from a prior day. For example, if you eat late at night, but workout at 5am, then you are probably ok, but if your workout isn't until the following evening at 8pm, then maybe not. Just monitor your stats and see how those days pan out for you.
  • gloeza
    gloeza Posts: 6
    Yes, I think it will counteract those calories according to your example. It only makes sense. We have our daily calorie goals, but if you look under the report tab at our charts, they do translate that into a weekly calorie goal and it will tell you if you're within that goal as well. For example, on Sunday, I went 500 calories over daily goal....yikes! But I was only over 12 calories on my weekly goal because all other days of that week I was under my daily calorie goal.
  • Smilbuta
    Smilbuta Posts: 10
    I disagree,

    IT depends on what your eating and when your eating it.

    If your eating after 9pm, you should try to refrain, and if you do, ,make it a non-carb snack.
    If your eating alot of carbs after 9pm and worse off if they are sugar carbs say from cookies and crap that stuff will turn right into fat while you sleep, taking twice as long to burn off.

    Best advice is get some will power and don't eat after 9pm, especially if you put in the hard work that day to loose the weight. all your doing is sabotaging yourself into disappointment in the long run.
  • ErrataCorrige
    ErrataCorrige Posts: 649 Member
    Yes, I am a night snacker! Always hungry right before bed. And I work out first thing in the morning. I just always try to burn extra calories to cover what I had the night before, plus what I anticipate for the day. Works for me!!!
  • LongMom
    LongMom Posts: 408 Member
    YES! When I was a WW member and dealing with "points", we were taught that we could "bank" our points and carry them from one day to another, as long as we "reset" after the week was over. We could also bank all our exercise points for whenever we needed them, again, within the same week :)

    I do this all the time :)
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
    Digestion takes a while. It's mainly an overall calorie goal for the week IMO.
    If you go a little over it isn't going to hurt you, you can make up for it the next day, just try to stick to your plan better in the future.
    You don't want to do a lot of up and downs so thats why I'd try to avoid doing it often.
  • knittygirl52
    knittygirl52 Posts: 432 Member
    I think you can, but someone yesterday posted an idea that I think sounds way better, at least for me. You can save your exercise calories from today to eat tomorrow! What a great way to reward work well done. For me, sometimes I plan to exercise as soon as I get home from work only to discover that something has happened in the family that will keep me from doing it. Or maybe I'm just flat out too tired to do more than my lunchtime walk. If I can hold my exercise calories to the next day, I will really feel rewarded for doing the extra work. I'm trying to think through exactly how to keep track of that and do, but it sounds like a good idea.
  • terrisnicebod
    terrisnicebod Posts: 1
    I don't know the answer but I would like to think that once we kick our metabolism up, we will continue to burn calories at a better pace each day. If you find out the real answer, please post it...inquiring minds want to know!
  • jmafte
    jmafte Posts: 46
    I would say that eating before bed does matter to a degree though. It just depends on what you're eating, because you will be completely inactive and your metabolism is slowed down. at that point of the day, your body does care about external factors such as sleep.
  • taiyola
    taiyola Posts: 964 Member
    I was 800 :noway: over yesterday, but I have work on 4 days this week, so that's roughly 20-25 hours of extra exercise this week, which is pretty much double what I'd usually do. I've started a document on my laptop to record my NET, so I can see if I'm over or under by the end of the week.

    Also, as MFP creates a deficit, we should be losing anyways, even if over by 200 a day... no?
  • Ral263
    Ral263 Posts: 318 Member
    I disagree,

    IT depends on what your eating and when your eating it.

    If your eating after 9pm, you should try to refrain, and if you do, ,make it a non-carb snack.
    If your eating alot of carbs after 9pm and worse off if they are sugar carbs say from cookies and crap that stuff will turn right into fat while you sleep, taking twice as long to burn off.

    Best advice is get some will power and don't eat after 9pm, especially if you put in the hard work that day to loose the weight. all your doing is sabotaging yourself into disappointment in the long run.

    There is actually no scientific data that supports the idea that eating after a certain time will make you gain weight. If you consume X amount of calories in the day, those calories aren't suddenly "more caloric" because you eat them at 9pm. As long as your overall caloric intake is the same on days where you eat later at night, then there is no difference.
  • kld4239
    kld4239 Posts: 186 Member
    Sure go for it! For me I couldn't do it too often because I would undoubtedly not make up for it the next day and it would become a bad habit. But that's my problem and probably not an issue for most.
  • NanoReefDiver
    NanoReefDiver Posts: 153
    I do this a lot. The food thing (not going crazy) is the hardest part for me by far. It's like a stepping stone. Over time I"m slowly getting better about hitting my target. Working them off the next day (or days) keeps me accountable!
  • tlaker
    tlaker Posts: 82 Member
    Wow thanks for all the advice everyone!! Now i dont feel so bad :P
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
    Almost everyone on this site spent a good portion of their LIFE taking in too many calories and now they're working them off. :-D So, yeah, I'd have to say doing this on a daily basis instead of a decade basis is probably healthier. X-D
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