Not eating enough calories due to workouts

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mscarlett
mscarlett Posts: 8
in Food and Nutrition
As I have been increasing my workouts, I have earned extra calories in doing so. My appetite has increased but not by much. I am logging out at the end of the day with way too many calories left over. I know this could slow down the weight loss for me- Any suggestions? Protein shakes? I don't want to force myself to eat more than I am comfortable with. Any advice would be appreciated.

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  • bpayne78
    bpayne78 Posts: 249 Member
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    Are you at least eating your dailys? As long as you do that you should be ok. Just keep in mind working out makes your body need more fuel, however if you don't eat all your exercise cals everyday, it's not going to hurt you. You really do have to eat to lose though, just make sure you are hitting your daily goal no matter what. You could always start substituting higher calorie foods (i.e.regular cheese vs low fat) to make your cals.

    Hope this helps and doesn't ramble too much.....we just had a bunch of bad storms roll through here and I gotta leave for work in a few min. My mind is kinda frazzled. LOL
  • ansonrinesmith
    ansonrinesmith Posts: 755 Member
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    Eat more calorie dense foods.
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
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    What are you doing for your workouts? My advice would be to cut down on workouts, except for strength training.
  • mscarlett
    mscarlett Posts: 8
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    I am eating close to my dailys, and before I started to really workout I was hitting my dailys without an issue. With my workouts now, I am thrown off. I wasnt sure how bad it would effect me if I didnt eat my workout calories completely. I split up my workouts with Elliptical and weight/strength training.
  • mscarlett
    mscarlett Posts: 8
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    Thanks for your input!
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
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    I am eating close to my dailys, and before I started to really workout I was hitting my dailys without an issue. With my workouts now, I am thrown off. I wasnt sure how bad it would effect me if I didnt eat my workout calories completely. I split up my workouts with Elliptical and weight/strength training.

    "Cardio" (aka Elliptical) is great for cardiovascular health and endurance as well as for helping some people stay on track with their healthy lifestyle....however, in terms of weight loss, basically is only helps to increase the deficit. So I suggest that you A) cut down on the cardio so you won't have to force yourself to eat, or B) eat more calorie dense foods to meet your goals on the days you have more calories to eat. Keep up the good work!

    EDIT: Don't cut out strength training :)
  • katewayofbeing
    katewayofbeing Posts: 6
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    Good questions. I had this problem too, but I liked seeing the big deficit numbers after a big workout. BUT, as someone said above, you definitely have to eat to lose. I listened to my body, which was getting fatigued too easily.

    Since I was working out so much, I changed my profile to reflect an "active" lifestyle, which upped the calorie goal a little. This encourages me to eat more but still gives me pretty numbers at the end of the day. Even adding 100-200 cals might make a big difference. I can tell my metabolism is really working for me now.

    I don't think you necessarily have to go the protien shake route. Many simple foods can give you a few extra cals before or after a workout (examples: 1 hardboiled egg, Walnuts or Almonds, Fruit, soy milk or almond milk).

    Good luck to you!
  • mscarlett
    mscarlett Posts: 8
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    Thanks! This makes sense now!

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