Hungry day after exercise - leads to fat storage???

tayla78
tayla78 Posts: 25 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I don't know what if this is a silly question or not...
I have been increasing my exercise over the last 4 months and particularly over the last 3 weeks. I have been walking briskly for approximately 2 hours every second day. I have found that on the day I exercise I eat about half my exercise calories back but the day after I am so hungry that I eat about 400 extra calories and could happily eat a lot more.
So I guess I'm wondering if this is ok and my body just needs some extra fuel or if this pattern of eating will just lead to fat storage? Should I be eating more on the day I exercise and not on my days off?

Replies

  • ainarsraciks
    ainarsraciks Posts: 166 Member
    I would say as long as in long run you are at maintenance or deficit you are fine. You might burn 1000 extra cals, for example, from exercise and ate that day 500 back, then you have 500 still left. You can ate them back next day too, you don't have to ate them back all at the same day. Day is just a human made concept. Your body does not work that way and does not reset at midnight.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
    In your case you could aim for a weekly calorie deficit rather than a daily one. Or just aim to eat maintenance calories the day after, and keep a deficit every other day. High fibre low gi foods, and high protein are good for keeping hunger under control.
  • jshay295
    jshay295 Posts: 110 Member
    Maybe try eating 80 % of your exercise calories back instead of half?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Well if you are following the MFP method, you are suppose to eat your exercise calories. So your deficit should be the same. But I would agree to only eat a portion of them (50-75%) is what I recommend.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Agree that a weekly deficit may be best. If your weekly # comes in under or at target, then you don't have to worry about fat storage. Your body doesn't have a 24 hour reset mechanism, though targeting a daily goal does help a lot of people stay compliant with their diet and therefore successful.

    Are you familiar with the apps and the weekly net calorie nutrition bar charts available? These can display your weekly nutrition either for the past seven days, or you could setup your account to "start" on your chosen fixed day of the week, like Monday
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You won't gain fat unless you eat over your maintenance calories.

    Go to http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and enter your info there, with lightly active, and eat what it tells you every day.
  • tayla78
    tayla78 Posts: 25 Member
    Thanks everyone! I'm just going through all your ideas and also figuring out my weekly calorie count. I appear to be under when looking at the whole week.
    My main reasoning for only eating back half of my exercise calories was I wasn't sure how accurate the estimate was. Some activities seem to have a very high estimate (such as walking on the treadmill, particularly on an incline) and others seem to be very low (such as walking with a pram). I know I feel like I have used more energy when I am outside pushing the pram rather than on the treadmill so I didn't want to overestimate and then eat back too many calories.
  • tayla78
    tayla78 Posts: 25 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    You won't gain fat unless you eat over your maintenance calories.

    Go to http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and enter your info there, with lightly active, and eat what it tells you every day.

    Thanks for this, the goals set on MFP are very similar to this calculator. I have added extra calories to mine to allow for BF baby.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    My real authority is my weekly number. Your body does store surpluses and expend deficits but it's not an orderly, real time, line item affair like your ATM! I'm often quite hungry a day or two after really long bike rides or hikes because it's just not practical to pack a lot extra to eat on the bike or the trail. No need to fear it is turning to fat if you are still within a weekly deficit.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    What effect are the calories having on your weight loss?

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