Can you exercise the next day instead?

aoede
aoede Posts: 30 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,

So we have our daily calorie goal, which is increased if we do exercise that day. My question is, in real life, is this really a daily thing or do your calories and exercise average out over a few days? I ask, because I would like to know if it is possible to say, overeat on calories one day, and do the exercise the next, and still continue to lose weight. This is very important given that Oktoberfest is starting on Saturday and after drinking a litre of beer I am not likely to want to go for a run...

Replies

  • MiNiMoNkI
    MiNiMoNkI Posts: 447 Member
    The way i do it is to stagger, its a great way to keep the body guessing and in all honesty, sometimes you are going to eat more on certain days right? for e.g family parties, meals out, etc. It is fine to go over one day and eat less the next and vica versa. I check my "weekly" calorie intake and modify accordingly, i have succesfully hit my goal weight so it cant be wrong! good luck hun xx
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
    I'm pretty sure the answer to this is no. In all honestly, I think if you know you're going to be drinking you should do your exercising beforehand.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    If you're still at a deficit over the week, you'll be losing.
  • kirstiey
    kirstiey Posts: 243
    Yep.

    I have been steadily losing weight at 1lb per week. Some days over and others under. As long as I hit my weekly total (1300 * 4) It seems to work!!
  • katejolee
    katejolee Posts: 50 Member
    GUESSING FROM EXPERIENCE I'D SAY DRINK YOUR BEER HAVE FUN AND EXERCISE WHEN YOU CAN. I SOCIALISE AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK AND USUALLY OVER INDULGE BUT I MAINTAIN AN EXERCISE ROUTINE AND I'M STILL LOOSING WEIGHT :-)
    AS THE SAYING GOES 'ALL IN MODERATION'

    ENJOY X
  • Angelabec
    Angelabec Posts: 505 Member
    A lot of people would tell you no, but weight watchers successfully ran a campaign for years where you could save up points to use on a big day, so I think if you do a little more before and after, you will be fine! enjoy your day :o)
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
    I'd just put the bad day behind me and work as hard as possible for the rest of the week! X
  • aoede
    aoede Posts: 30 Member
    Exercise before hand is not really an option, as we will be going straight from work to the tents in the afternoon and staying til they close at 10pm or so, so the day before or the day after a drinking day will be my only opportunity (or perhaps a couple of days after).

    Then again, dancing on the tables can probably be counted as cardio, right? ;)
  • kyle4jem
    kyle4jem Posts: 1,400 Member
    Of course it's not a daily thing, in fact Exercise is the gift that keeps on giving.

    When you burn your "calories" exercising, what you actually burn during the exercise and what you continue to burn for the next 24-36 hours is AMAZING! You see, you actually burn more of your exercise calories the next day than you do at the time you are actually working out.

    That's why regualr exercise is so important. Just walking instead of driving or taking the bus - it makes a lot of difference and it's good to vary your routines to give you some variety.

    Basically, as fas as Oktoberfest is concerned... you'll just need to factor the beers into your daily diary.:drinker: Sure you're bound to go over and you may not be able to fully compensate on food and exercise calories on the following days. But that's the wonderful think about real life... it's not a smooth road and you're gonna get bumps from time to time.:ohwell:

    Try and enjoy yourself and no stress too much... but remember how heavy those Steins are... and stand instead of sitting at tables ... or indeed start dancing on the tables... it's all a bit of extra exercise (but I wouldn't necessarily log it on MFP :laugh: )
  • aoede
    aoede Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks for the responses guys. So I just did research to understand how to body burns calories and stores fat, and now I understand the answer. I think it will be interesting to everyone who oesn't know.

    Basically, your body stores the excess calories (the ones it can't store in glycerin cells) as soon as they are digested. Not overnight, not weekly, but constantly. This means that when I eat 1200 calories per day, a lot of the calories I eat are actually being sent to fat straight away (before I even get up from the table), and then my body uses the calories it needs to function (and also the ones needed for exercise) from fat (and also glycerin cells) throughout the day.

    So, by eating a normal meal of 400 calories I am storing a lot of those calories as fat and then later burning them off. It's not like you never store the fat just by lowering your daily intake. As such, there isn't really a difference if I burn them that night by exercising, or the next day by exercising, or the next day by eating fewer calories. In the end, I stored some calories which I need to burn later.

    So the answer to my Q is yes they average out because I can burn the calories from fat by exercising the next day (or a week later), but it also got me thinking that if I don't consume them in the first place, there would be less fat to burn off when it comes to the day after. So of course now I am thinking do I have two shandies (300 calories each) and give up the 100 or so grams of fat loss it sets me back? I had wanted to lose weight quickly as I am going to a wedding in 3 weeks in Australia (and the 24 hour plane trip certainly won't help).
  • carriann2012
    carriann2012 Posts: 180 Member
    I would say yes :) You will be fine. I do that on sometimes when I have social events to go to, but I just keep track of my calories and excercise. Good Luck and have fun!!:drinker:
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