Increasing calories after cardio ?

datlinstewart952
datlinstewart952 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If I am in an average deficit and I do cardio do I need to increase how many calories I eat to prevent muscle loss ?

Replies

  • my58vw
    my58vw Posts: 18 Member
    The common idea is that you eat back approx half the calories you burn from all workout. The half number is to accommodate any bad or incorrect tracking, or workout calorie inaccuracy. There is also another phrase here... You can not out workout a bad diet - workout for health, and eat back those calories. BTW this assumes you are happy with your calorie deficit.
  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
    If you aren't losing muscle at your current deficit, then simply add enough calories to offset the additional calorie burn.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    Muscle loss does not come from doing cardio. It comes from having your calorie deficit too aggressive, perhaps 2 pounds or more per week and not conducting muscle sparing in the form of strength training. You should be getting enough protein in spite of strength training, always. When eating at a deficit your protein needs increase.

    However, MFP is designed for you to eat back a portion of your exercise calories in order to meet the MFP NET calorie GOAL.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    edited September 2016
    datlinstewart952 wrote: »
    If I am in an average deficit and I do cardio do I need to increase how many calories I eat to prevent muscle loss ?

    When you lose weight, you are going to lose fat, muscle, water, and glycogen stores. Mitigating as much muscle loss as possible means you will need to be lifting to maintain as much as what you currently have as you can.

    No matter what the gizmo/gadget you use to measure calorie burn during cardio exercise - it is an "estimate". Because of this, it is easy to eat more calories than needed when trying to account for the amount you burned during exercise, so for that reason many tout the mantra of "eat back only half" which is a way of building in the margin for error to stay on track with the weight loss. It also becomes key during maintenance to find the right equation/balance.

    If you are already eating at an average deficit to be losing weight, and don't eat back enough of the exercise calories - you will feel lethargic during your next cardio session (at least I do) and your weight loss will increase at a quicker rate. Not a bad thing if cutting weight is the primary goal, but just note the body will feed on whatever it can at that point - including muscle. So you have to try a bit of experimentation to end up fueling the furnace enough to fuel your exercise, maintain the muscle you do have, and still be dropping weight via fat loss. It's a pretty delicate balance.

    What percentage of your daily food comes from protein?
  • datlinstewart952
    datlinstewart952 Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks for all your input I try to get at least 1.5 grams of protein per pound is that about where I should be ?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    1.5 grams per pound is a bit overboard. I'd aim for no more than 1 gram per pound of weight, though personally I go with .8-1 gram per pound of lean mass.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    datlinstewart952 wrote: »
    Thanks for all your input I try to get at least 1.5 grams of protein per pound is that about where I should be ?

    At a minimum I think the generally accepted value is 0.8g/lb of bodyweight. Anything above this is down to how individuals like to structure their macronutrients. Anything above 1.2g/lb is probably overkill for natural athletes though.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,321 Member
    I do an hour of cardio every day… I don't know about you..but I feel weak if I don't fuel my body before i go. I now make sure I have a pre workout snack, as well as something small to eat right after..especially if I'm lifting weights. To me, it is common sense and I feel so much better than when i don't. I try to balance protein and a carb for my workout snacks.
    Listen to your body.

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