Working out late in the day--when to eat exercise calories?

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kristinL16
kristinL16 Posts: 401 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I generally have to wait to workout until late in the evening (9:00-10:00). In general, I don't usually eat my exercise calories back but will sometimes have a snack when I get home if I am hungry. Last night I went to the gym and didn't have anything to eat afterwards. I woke up at 4:30 (I have a baby who still gets up several times a night) and had a hard time getting back to sleep due to being hungry. Today I am VERY hungry. I have eaten quite a bit already and still feel like I am starving. Does this have anything to do with my workout last night and not eating those extra calories? If I am working out late at night should I add the exercise calories to the following day instead of the current day? Would you eat a snack after getting home, even though I go to bed shortly after I get home? Thanks!

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  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    If you're working out late at night you could eat more before you workout.

    If you are really hungry then it's probably your body telling you that you need to eat more to support the amount of exercise you are doing. That happens to me every couple of weeks or so. I generally just go with it and eat until I am not hungry anymore. I don't usually even pay attention to calories that day and it hasn't had any negative effect on weight loss.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    I generally plan my day out and eat more throughout the day. If I don't, an after workout snack of peanut butter works well. I usually work out around 7 or 8 PM, so a bit earlier than you.
  • ck1416
    ck1416 Posts: 154 Member
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    I too was having trouble eating all my calories and was trying to eat any balance after a late night work out (except I work out at 7p). So I started eating more calories earlier in the day (every few hours), and have a lighter dinner after my work out.
  • kristinL16
    kristinL16 Posts: 401 Member
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    Next time I know that I am for sure going to the gym I will eat more at dinner or a small snack before hand. I do notice that, while satisfied most of the time, once in awhile I am more hungry than usual. I have not paid attention to whether or not those days are usually the day after workouts or just random.
  • RachelGraceReed83
    RachelGraceReed83 Posts: 133 Member
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    Recently I have been working out late so I always try to save some calories to eat either before my workout or after. I also do not sleep well if I go to bed hungry so I started eating something small even it is close to bed time. I find that if I am feeling hungry and I'm already close to my calorie goal for the day it is usually due to the fact that I didn't make good food choices for the day. I always get to eat more food if I chose wisely and this helps me stay full.
  • dreweth
    dreweth Posts: 23 Member
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    I generally have to wait to workout until late in the evening (9:00-10:00). In general, I don't usually eat my exercise calories back but will sometimes have a snack when I get home if I am hungry. Last night I went to the gym and didn't have anything to eat afterwards. I woke up at 4:30 (I have a baby who still gets up several times a night) and had a hard time getting back to sleep due to being hungry. Today I am VERY hungry. I have eaten quite a bit already and still feel like I am starving. Does this have anything to do with my workout last night and not eating those extra calories? If I am working out late at night should I add the exercise calories to the following day instead of the current day? Would you eat a snack after getting home, even though I go to bed shortly after I get home? Thanks!

    I am in a similar situation, in that many of my workouts are mid-morning or fairly late in the evening. So, when I know I am working out late, I eat bigger, earlier. This works out well until I eat in preparation for a big workout and then something gets in the way of working out, and I end up hungry but without calories available and shoot way over my calorie goal.

    But, going over my calorie goal once in a blue moon is better than feeling starved and weak in the middle of a workout.

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