*stuffed* and still have 611 calories to fill the day... ugh

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TS65
TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
in Motivation and Support
OK, I get that we're supposed to eat all of our exercise calories. But, it's 8:15 pm, I've eaten another 1/2 dinner (to get my calories up) and I STILL have 611 calories to go. To be fair, it is my own fault. I got a late start this morning, went to the gym and ended up having breakfast for lunch.

HOW do you fit it all in? I'm trying to eat healthy, so the stuff I'm eating isn't loaded with fat and sugar (normally) - which makes it twice as hard. I mean, I could fill up on crap, but that kind of defeats the purpose!! :laugh:

I guess I could do a protein bar or a shake, but I'm so dang full from having TWO dinners I can barely move.

Sorry for the whine... but I'm curious to see how you get your calories.

Replies

  • princessekrystale
    princessekrystale Posts: 114
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    Well you don't have to eat it all.
    You're fine like that.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
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    Do you use a heart rate monitor when you exercise? If not and you eat all the calories, your probably going to eat to many. If you plan to eat them all....nuts are a great choice. They are high in calories & good fats : )



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  • princessekrystale
    princessekrystale Posts: 114
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    As long as you've gotten at least 1200 calories, you're good!
  • OSUalum
    OSUalum Posts: 449 Member
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    It's great you're so motivated ...and feel full.
    Just be careful from now on to keep your blood sugar level by eating more often during the day.
    Sounds like you're off to a great start!
  • Cmuchoa
    Cmuchoa Posts: 161 Member
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    I have some hot cleansing tea with an apple, peanut butter, graham crackers - that will fill some calorie voids and still be good for you. If you have any ice cream pops like Weight Watchers or Skinny Cow one or two may fit in nicely as well.
  • mrschappet
    mrschappet Posts: 488 Member
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    If it were me... I wouldn't worry about eating the rest of my calories when it is so late in the evening. You don't want to go to bed on a full stomach, it is not good for digestion and it will be hard on your body to burn those calories. just start fresh in the morning .
  • WildcatMom82
    WildcatMom82 Posts: 564 Member
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    Basically I start with breakfast - the days I know I won't be working out I have just oatmeal, but if it's a workout day I'll add a yogurt and/or fruit or mix some protein powder in it. Then morning snack I'll have maybe 100-150 cals more than usual and so on. I generally workout between morning snack and lunch so then I know what to plan on for the rest of the day. If I burn a lot I'll be sure to have avocado or nuts, something calorie dense, with lunch. It took a couple months to figure it out since I wasn't used to eating so much in a day and even now I end up having a bowl of cereal plus a snack usually after dinner. But I have about 7 hours between dinner and bedtime (I'm a night owl, but we eat dinner early for my daughter) so having the extra cals during that time helps!
  • faerybun
    faerybun Posts: 65
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    We're supposed to eat back our calories? WHAT? EW!
  • chanel5_1987
    chanel5_1987 Posts: 19
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    Try adding in nuts. They are high in cals but still good for you. I eas a LOT of Mac nuts because though they are high in calories, they raise your ketone levels (which indicate fat burning)
  • snowflakelaia
    snowflakelaia Posts: 214
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    It just happened the same to me today...

    I've saved the 2 slices of ww bread I was going to have for dinner, and spread some natural peanut butter with some natural jalapenyo jam. :P
  • 30tips
    30tips Posts: 132
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    If I were stuffed one day, I wouldn´t worry about eating ALL of the calories. Especially if it happens once in a while. Also, for some of us, night eating possibly increases our weight, or affects our digestion.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    First of all- don't stress over one day. Just like being over, being under oneday isn't a big deal

    Regularly getting your cals in is really pretty easy- it's all about spreading it over the course of the day. To make it easier- I pre-plan most of my meals and workouts- just a sketch outline so i have an idea what I am aiming for:

    Breakfast: 250-400
    Snack: 50-200
    Lunch:3-400
    Snack : 50-200
    Dinner: 350-500
    Snack: Left overness

    If I workout I add about 50 cals to each meal and slightly eat bigger snacks. If you aim to get more in earlier, it won't feel so overwhelming throughout the day.
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
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    I'm in the same boat myself. Had a late (high protein) breakfast and a cheese stick about an hour and a half later on my way out the door so I wasn't really hungry (nor home) for lunch. I did some snacking around my normal dinner time and had dinner about 7. I have my evening snack planned out and logged but haven't actually eaten it. I bought some Kefir today and wanted to try it. It was a little tart for me so I added a scoop of my protein powder but could only drink half (it's really filling). I still have 513 calories to go AFTER I finish the kefir shake AND have my evening snack (and i"m not sure I'm going to do that tonight).

    The kicker is, today was supposed to be my FREE aka relaxed aka cheat day but I still can't do it. I don't WANT anything because I'm NOT hungry. I think I'll have to try again tomorrow for that one but I think this new mentality has conquered my bad behavior with food and I don't really mind!

    If you're not hungry, don't eat. Things could change in a few hours and you could try some yogurt, a protein shake with milk, some nuts or peanut butter toast. You're right though you don't WANT to FILL UP with crap, but if there is something you think you want to eat, by all means allow yourself to have it, especially if you have that many calories left. I don't know what your normal day's goal is but if your net calories (calories consumed after exercise) is at least 1200 it won't hurt you one day. If you meet your normal daily goal without exercise then that's even better. Over the long run you don't want to add to the deficit created by mfp but it's actually good to stagger calories where one day or two it's low and the next it's normal or even slightly higher (just not above your maintenance level). You need to listen to your body and go with that. Just don't let your head get in the way.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    We're supposed to eat back our calories? WHAT? EW!


    OK I don't get the "ew" part. If think of eating as gross, you likely need some kind of help cuz that's not a healthy mentality.

    You should be eating your exercise calories because that is how MFP is designed, you have a NET calorie goal. Check out the thread "Newbies Please Read Me" under the General forum- it will give you details as to why. Essentially though there is an equation on your home page displaying this:

    GOAL FOOD - EXERCISE = NET

    Your goal is to get your net calories to match the goal number every day.
  • TS65
    TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
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    Edited to add - my days calories are 1200 plus I earned 688 from exercise - so goal is 1888. I'm at net 640 right now (or 1328).
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
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    We're supposed to eat back our calories? WHAT? EW!
    yes otherwise you'll create too big of a deficit over what MFP sets for you to lose weight. It's not healthy and it can hinder your weight loss goals. If you set your calorie goal to your maintenance level and then exercise, no, don't eat back your calories but you need to burn 500 calories a day for each pound per week you want to lose and don't consistently go below 1200 calories or you will stall and suffer from malnutrition. It does seem counter productive but when you set your weight loss goal, mfp takes the calories required to maintain your current weight with the activity level you selected and deducts 500 calories a day to give you your calorie goal that is displayed on your profile and food journal. Making this number larger by exercising and not eating back most if not all of what you burn can be a bad thing unless you have some serious weight on you to fuel your body with.
  • iamhealingmyself
    iamhealingmyself Posts: 579 Member
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    Edited to add - my days calories are 1200 plus I earned 688 from exercise - so goal is 1888. I'm at net 640 right now (or 1328).
    One day won't kill you but if this is your normal routine going forward you need to rethink your meals and snacks to include these extra calories during the day or even having a bigger dinner (if you workout before dinner) will help you get the calories early enough to not affect digestion at night.

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