How much extra do you eat when working out?
OK, say if you work out every second day at the gym or whatever, and the other days you just do your normal daily routine. How many calories over your normal limit do you go on the workout days?
I eat the same everyday, except on the weekends where I go over my maintenance by a few hundred calories. I found maintenance by eating and recording what I eat and not by trying to add individual exercises......As far as eating less of days you don't exercise, those days are used for recovery and rebuilding and I wouldn't necessarily be feeding the body less. imo
i typically burn about 500 in a one hour workout, so i TRY to stick with my maintenance of ~1600 but i can go as high as 2100. depends how hungry i am.
if i burn 500 6 days a week and eat my maintenance calories ( i keep my profile set on sedentary and log all activity) then theres my ~1 lb a week.
i can rarely survive on less than 1500 a day. if i feel like eating 2100 on a workout day, i do.
My target is 1700 calories a day, but I think it would be good to up this on the days that I am doing HIIT, maybe to 2200 .. what do you think ?
also what will be the best food to add to my calories, I guess protien rich food ?...
Honestly, I think that this whole eat more on your workout days mentality makes things harder then they need to be. If you feel more hungry that day eat an extra snack or a protein shake. If you aren't hungier then upping your cals will just force you to eat when you aren't hungry. I eat the same amount of cals every day of the week, except one day where I eat about 1800, and I exercise every other day. Its all about finding out what works for you
In regards to the topic, I try to eat the same thing every day (with the acception of Sunday). I might take in a few hundred more calories on lifting days. However, it is pretty much 3000-3200 cals per day for me.
It is funny because more times than not people who exercise actually aren't eating enough. For a very long time I was only eating 2000 calories a day. Little did I know that the 2000 calorie average was for people who didn't exercise. I was lifting four times per week and doing cardio 5-6 times a week @ 45-60 minutes a session. I wasn't getting any results at all. One of the main reasons was because I wasn't eating enough. Ever since I started eating 3000 plus calories a day of the right foods (protein, complex carbs from whole grains/fruits/vegetables, and healthy fats) I have gotten great results. Whoever thought that eating that much food would make me look better and not worse?
More times than not, people who exercise regularly should be getting at least 500-1000 calories more per day than they are actually eating. It all depends on your level of activity and how much you weigh. For me it was 3000 plus calories a day because I was working out a lot and I weighed 200 pounds.
Original Post by fooledbyfaith:
Honestly, I think that this whole eat more on your workout days mentality makes things harder then they need to be. If you feel more hungry that day eat an extra snack or a protein shake. If you aren't hungier then upping your cals will just force you to eat when you aren't hungry. I eat the same amount of cals every day of the week, except one day where I eat about 1800, and I exercise every other day. Its all about finding out what works for you
I agree that eating more on work-out days does tend to complicate things!
What I did is figured the "Maintain" BMR for Age, Weight, Height and Gender; adjusted it for my Activity Level. It turned out to be about 2700 calories per day (CPD). When I am working out to build muscle mass, I increase that intake by about 500-600 CPD. When working out to cut fat I decrease the maintain number by about 500-600 CPD. I eat the same number of calories per day regardless of if it is a workout day or not. Also, I break up the total CPD into 5-7 meals. Typically, the above results in a 1-2 pound per week gain/loss, depending on objective. This week I am going to try like heck to include LIT into my routine, so I can burn some fat without sacraficing much muscle mass.
Good luck to everyone in their respective goals!!
I figured out about how much I burn every day of the week (my routine is pretty consistant, so it works for me) and then I found the average, and then subtracted 1000. It ended up being like 1600-1700ish, so my "target" is 1800 cals per day. If I'm really feeling hungry I'll allow myself to go over the 1800, as long as I'm eating good healthy foods.
For adding in extra foods, lean proteins and veggies are probably your best bet.
When I was doing NROLFW workouts (i.e. pretty serious strength training), I found I would get very hungry the day after the workouts and would typically eat about 300 calories more on days-after-workouts. This did not appear to hinder my weightloss.
My approach to calorie counting is that I don't have a set target in mind for the day; I mostly just monitor what I'm eating (and might alter a late-day snack to something lower cal in response, if I feel it's necessary). I know what I want my monthly average to be. For the most part, I pay more attention to food quality and portion control. So, I don't say "I'm exercising today; plan in more calories" but if I'm hungry and I've done a fair amount of exercise, I feel no guilt about eating a bit extra. That doesn't normally happen if it was just a 30 minute walk/DVD, but if I gardened all afternoon, for example, I'll likely eat more.
I pretty much aim for the same amount of calories each day. For some reason when I first joined CC, with the stats I gave it said I should consume 1800cal a day....which was actually about what I was consuming already. I stick to that mostly and also listen to my body. If it wants to be fed I feed it. Usually on days I work out it wants more so I give it more (of nutritional stuff that is). I always try to make sure I don't have above a 1000cal defecit. But quite honestly, now that I'm home, have no classes to walk to and have no access to any gym equipment whatsoever, I'm logging activity less and less because I have my stats set to lightly active. So walking around the house doing chores, walking my dog aren't logged. If I trek around my neighborhoods with all the hills at a decent clip for an hour, that gets logged. No idea how accurate it is, but I'm still losing so I guess I'm okay. Oh and btw, I'm using my own body weight for resistance and sometimes use playground equipment.
On the days I work out I generally eat 70% of the extra calories I burn by working out ie if I walk for 10 miles I might burn an extra 550 calories so I would eat an extra 385 for the day.
That way I have increased my burn to eating ratio and will still lose weight but I also know that I am eating enough to feed my body to sustain the energy levels from the exercise burn.
no workout days....2500 - 3000.....workout days 5- 6000
compatition weeks.....6-8000
That's just NASTY....LOL
Original Post by eddiepotter:
no workout days....2500 - 3000.....workout days 5- 6000
compatition weeks.....6-8000
That's just NASTY....LOL
6-8000 calories??! Are they pie eating competitions?!
I find it really complicated, especially since I've had less of an appetite lately and working out doesn't seem to make me much more hungry... I'm trying to stick with just eating 1000 less than I burn, not too much less or more. So a typical day I burn about 600-1100 calories with exercise, which can make my total burn for the day over 3000, but sometimes I still don't get too far over 1700 in with food. I talked to my dad (he's a doctor) and he said that it's not set in stone and I think I should be okay as long as I'm not starving myself or forcing myself to eat. Since every day I'm trying to get some exercise, though, I'm going to try to be a little more consistant. So far I've had everything from about 2400 calories to about 1300, within a day of each other. I doubt that's good.
ok i'm somewhat confused - i'm 5'2'' currently 122lbs (goal is 110). my daily intake goal is 1200 (which i find very doable & i have a successful routine) and i set my burn thingy to sedentary (i work in an office). but i've been running/walking uphill every day for about 30 mins (generally burn somewhere between 300-400 cals). am i eating too little? i haven't logged my exercise but my burn meter says i burn about 1530 so i figure my daily exercise bumps me up to a 500-700 deficit. it's been working pretty well so far but i don't want to hit a plateau. what do you guys think?
Original Post by misscherryjane:
Original Post by eddiepotter:
no workout days....2500 - 3000.....workout days 5- 6000
compatition weeks.....6-8000
That's just NASTY....LOL
6-8000 calories??! Are they pie eating competitions?!
lol...no: 1 Gallon of water per day
6 pancakes in the morning with 4 boiled eggs
yogurt, and grain cereal for snack
1/2LB Beef Jerky for snack
2-3 subway footlongs for lunch (I know I know I eat too much)
1/2 LB beef Jerky for snack
granola bar for snack
6-7 fillets of tilapia, half a cup of mash potatoes, half cup of Olives, and a bowl of salad.
1 full box of cerealw/ half a quart of milk for a snack
an apple or an orange
Original Post by kbattiato:
ok i'm somewhat confused - i'm 5'2'' currently 122lbs (goal is 110). my daily intake goal is 1200 (which i find very doable & i have a successful routine) and i set my burn thingy to sedentary (i work in an office). but i've been running/walking uphill every day for about 30 mins (generally burn somewhere between 300-400 cals). am i eating too little? i haven't logged my exercise but my burn meter says i burn about 1530 so i figure my daily exercise bumps me up to a 500-700 deficit. it's been working pretty well so far but i don't want to hit a plateau. what do you guys think?
HA..I think that at 122...you are HAWT....skinny is a no no....you sound healthy to me. I say work what you got, and forget the weight.
LOL Eddie you eat a POUND of beef jerky a day? 6-7 Tilapia fillets? Holy poop! It's hard for me to eat more than one ! Haha
Original Post by eddiepotter:
Original Post by kbattiato:
ok i'm somewhat confused - i'm 5'2'' currently 122lbs (goal is 110). my daily intake goal is 1200 (which i find very doable & i have a successful routine) and i set my burn thingy to sedentary (i work in an office). but i've been running/walking uphill every day for about 30 mins (generally burn somewhere between 300-400 cals). am i eating too little? i haven't logged my exercise but my burn meter says i burn about 1530 so i figure my daily exercise bumps me up to a 500-700 deficit. it's been working pretty well so far but i don't want to hit a plateau. what do you guys think?
HA..I think that at 122...you are HAWT....skinny is a no no....you sound healthy to me. I say work what you got, and forget the weight.
thanks eddie haha. i dont really want to be "skinny" actually. i'd be very happy floating between 115-120 but i kinda want to get to 110 just to see how it looks, i don't necessarily want to maintain it. anyway, even tho skinny is a "no no" as you put it, a firm belly & tone arms are definitely a yes. any suggestions there?
Original Post by hayleymajayley:
LOL Eddie you eat a POUND of beef jerky a day? 6-7 Tilapia fillets? Holy poop! It's hard for me to eat more than one ! Haha
lol...not PER day...but this is what I consumed two days ago.
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