Probably been asked before but..

ramius
ramius Posts: 91
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
Ok I know this has probably been asked before in some fashion -- but looking for some advice here or what you normally do..

I know the whole threads about eating your excercise cals back etc.. but I think its different when you have 2 - 300 you can eat back and a lot more.. so heres my Q ::

So I went to the gym twice today and that got me a bunch of extra cals.. now I'm almost at the end of the day.. and I've been eating all day like normal.. but there is no way I'm going to be able to make up the deficit to get to net 1000 - 1200 cals today.. is that a bad thing when you're not hungry and I'm not depriving my body of food??? in fact I ate some items today I don't normally eat as its a Friday such as a couple slices of Pizza (now it was realitivly healthy pizza only 200cals per slice etc.. but still)

As always appreciate everyones point of view..

Replies

  • SHERRYDAVIS3472
    SHERRYDAVIS3472 Posts: 10
    I don't always eat up my exercise calories either. I know they want you to but I agree with you, sometimes it's actually too much food and you don't want to eat junk just to make them up!
  • focusedfrances
    focusedfrances Posts: 42 Member
    I don't buy into the "eat your calories back" idea! Seriously, I am trying to lose weight. I track my food to be accountable and just ignore that foolishness.

    Good luck!!
  • RDH0513
    RDH0513 Posts: 245 Member
    You will get a whole slew of different answers. I SOMETIMES eat them back, but only some. If I have a super high calorie burn, I just find its impossible too. I eat pretty clean, and its really hard to even hit the initial 1200 cals in clean foods. So really I think it should be up to you, If you are starting to plateau, then I would try eating some extra calories that you don't normally eat. My diet comes #1 in losing weight, and my exercise is like extra credit, so I sometimes feel like I shouldn't eat those back. But again, it is whatever works for YOU!
  • dracobaby82
    dracobaby82 Posts: 380 Member
    I think that if you feel full I wouldn't eat any more, sometimes I only eat part of my exercise calories back... and a day like today, where I have 3 kids sick (puking) and been stressed all week long because of the sickness... I finally exercised today and haven't eaten any of those calories... I think it's fine, listen to your body!
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
    uh oh...you've opened the ever popular "should I eat my exercise calories back" debate ;) you're gonna get about 50 responses with 50 different opinions...

    As for me, I try to eat most of mine back...sometimes I succeed, but if I've done a workout of 600 or 700 calories burned, I don't always make it...I do try to net over 1200 calories a day though.
  • LovelySnugs
    LovelySnugs Posts: 389
    every once in awhile, this is not a bad thing. but what i was told when i asked this exact same question a couple weeks ago was, work more food into your meals earlier in the day when you know you're gonna work out later. now, i didn't follow that advice today, so i'm gonna have a net of like 900 where i usually aim for at least 1200. but it seems like sound advice. to me, at least.

    my problem is that i can never be sure when i'll be able to work out and/or how many calories i'm gonna burn when/if i do. but most people move their workouts to earlier in the day so they have more time to work in those extra calories.
  • ajk828
    ajk828 Posts: 335
    It honestly just depends on my mood. If i'm already full i'm not going to stuff my face just to make up for the calories. If when i'm completing my day and MFP doesn't yell at me for not eating enough calories, I consider it a success. You know your own body better than anyone else so just go with works. I think if you were to not eat your exercise EVERY DAY then i'm sure there'd be a problem.

    $.02
  • LindseyC87
    LindseyC87 Posts: 178 Member
    I eat as much as I can.. But at the end of the day it still wants me to eat more, and I just physically cant.. I am always under calories even though most days I am around 1300-1400, i just cannot make up ALL of my excersise calories. It is gonna get harder in the future also since I am increasing the intensity and frequency of them.
  • eates
    eates Posts: 334 Member
    If I know I'm gonna have a pretty high calorie burn workout then I try & plan accordingly through the day and have a couple of high calorie snacks. That being said on Zumba days there is no way I'm going to eat back the 800-900 calories that I burned. I have my calorie deficit set at a 1 lb a week loss so I don't worry too much if I'm a bit under. I usually try & eat back 1/2 ish but some days that just doesn't happen.
  • ♥AngelKisses♥
    ♥AngelKisses♥ Posts: 86
    I have been logging my food/exercise for 4 weeks, and for the first 3 weeks I was consistantly losing about 2 lbs a weeks. Last week, I got alittle lazy and started eating alot of my exercise calories back but never going over my net calories. Weighed last Monday and I had GAINED 2 lbs. Totally bummed me out but i'm determined to no longer eat my exercise calories. You just have to find out what works for you. As mentioned before, I count exercise calories gained as "extra credit" :) Hope that helps.
  • ramius
    ramius Posts: 91
    Thanks everyone.. appreciate all the responses.. yeah I know the whole eat the excercise cals back or not.. thing.. which I'm totally into that idea when

    1 - I actually get anywhere close to my goal weight or pleateau.. as you all see I still have a ways to go..

    2 - When its just a 2 - 300 cal burn -- thats easy.. a extra sandwhich or a extra snack and its all good..

    So was wondering what everyone does when you have over 700 extra cals to eat back.. thats more than a extra meal to eat back..

    so Good answers in here.. I knew I could count on the MFPers here to have answers :)

    THX
  • lanerichardson
    lanerichardson Posts: 35
    If I know I'm gonna have a pretty high calorie burn workout then I try & plan accordingly through the day and have a couple of high calorie snacks. That being said on Zumba days there is no way I'm going to eat back the 800-900 calories that I burned. I have my calorie deficit set at a 1 lb a week loss so I don't worry too much if I'm a bit under. I usually try & eat back 1/2 ish but some days that just doesn't happen.

    i try to eat healthier foods and factor in what i think i will burn for my workout that i am going to do. I put in my energy supplement before my workout and my whey protien shake afterward. I use this information to figure out how many calories estimated that i need to eat at each meal
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
    Thanks everyone.. appreciate all the responses.. yeah I know the whole eat the excercise cals back or not.. thing.. which I'm totally into that idea when

    1 - I actually get anywhere close to my goal weight or pleateau.. as you all see I still have a ways to go..

    2 - When its just a 2 - 300 cal burn -- thats easy.. a extra sandwhich or a extra snack and its all good..

    So was wondering what everyone does when you have over 700 extra cals to eat back.. thats more than a extra meal to eat back..

    so Good answers in here.. I knew I could count on the MFPers here to have answers :)

    THX

    I work out in the evening after work and eat a late dinner so I have this "problem" quite often--now I'll usually factor in a snack pre-workout AND a protein shake after, and with a good dinner of protein/veggies and a little carbs I usually cover most of my extra calories if I have that many...
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    Thanks everyone.. appreciate all the responses.. yeah I know the whole eat the excercise cals back or not.. thing.. which I'm totally into that idea when

    1 - I actually get anywhere close to my goal weight or pleateau.. as you all see I still have a ways to go..

    2 - When its just a 2 - 300 cal burn -- thats easy.. a extra sandwhich or a extra snack and its all good..

    So was wondering what everyone does when you have over 700 extra cals to eat back.. thats more than a extra meal to eat back..

    so Good answers in here.. I knew I could count on the MFPers here to have answers :)

    THX

    If you have a large amount left, try to get in an extra snack in the evening (no, eating late is NOT an issue), and then you can always increase intake a little tomorrow. I had this happen early this week - I ended up doing something unexpected on Monday for a truly HUGE burn and didn't have an opportunity to eat during the day, and was literally thousands under goal. I had an extra meal at about 10 (some eggs and toast) and then made an effort to increase intake all the next day (got about 800 extra). And I've ended up eating slightly more than I typically do the rest of the week - maybe an additional few hundred over 3 days, simply because I was hungrier.

    One day is not horrible - just try to compensate where you can. :wink:
  • microwoman999
    microwoman999 Posts: 545 Member
    JUST IN THOUGHT....when you burn 3500 cals that is 1 pound gone.....so why eat all of them back if you have been eating all day and doing well and not hungry. I usually leave 500 cals but I don't burn as many as you do. Now if we all were trying to stay at a certain weight I could see eating them back but we are trying to loose so forget that LOL Good Luck hope I helped :)
  • microwoman999
    microwoman999 Posts: 545 Member
    If I have 700 cals left to eat from exercise I leave no less than 500 that seems to work for me if its at 700 and your not hungry I say leave it I have done it and it only helps. The reason why its a freak out is because when you quit the diet people think you will gain back everything....Well the thing is it will take me so long to loose all the weight I want that it is a life change and I don't plan on going back to my bad habits :) as long as I keep logging my cals and watching my exercise I will be fine for the rest of my life and you will too do the best you can now and as long as you are loosing that is GREAT!!
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