calorie intake and working out

 HAPPY THURSDAY EVERYONE!! 

Ok question... i'm a little over a month out and today i have taken in about 250 calories.  Well i went to the gym and walked 4 miles and burn 259 calories... i know im not done eating for the day but is it bad to burn more than you have ate? 

 No, it's not bad. All of the fat on your body will provide you with the energy you need to survive. Over the course of time, yes, it would be detrimental. It would mean you are not consuming the protein required for strenuous excersise, and your body would eventually eat your muscle tissue to make up for it. If you are meeting your protein goals for the day, it would be at least 500 calories consuming "real" food.

Once you start eating like a normal person again, you'll easily get in 600-800 calories a day and it won't seem like such a strange thing. Never increase your calories just because you worked out. It's fine to increase protein to help your body rebuild muscle, but straight up bumping up calories is never a progressive thought. 

It's not bad to burn more than you eat because that's how we lose weight, but I dont know about eating 250 cal - I hope that you are eating more than that on a daily basis.


For the first few months, I didnt even have the energy for strenuous exercise so adding calories wasn't an issue, even though i was walking a lot for exercise. However, once I bumped up the intensity and length of my workouts, I had to think more carefully about nutrition.

 
Not tryin to dog the OP.....

My comment is a general one.......as we see many posts like this.......

Enthusiasm is a great thing and will take you far.....

One of the big things we often see is over thinking and people looking for linear/straight mathematic answers.....

General activity such as walking (my favorite) and average gym work is pretty much built in and assumed in most WL plans. Adjustments in caloric intake really only apply to "athletes" or people who have very physical, labor intense occupations.

So, I guess my message is to encourage the enthusiasm and education..... but keeping it simple makes it a lot easier to do this......

frisco

 My doc has repeatedly told me to burn more calories than I take in on a regular basis.  That is when the body burns the fat that is stored up.  At THIS point there is still plenty of fat stored up, so I don't have to worry about it.  Eventually, I will need to watch the ratio of food to exercise, increasing accordingly -- but that's a long ways away yet!

Unless you're really close to goal, I wouldn't worry too much about it!

Keep on workin' out!

 Thanks otter! I appreciate the help!

I asked my surgeon this when I found myself light headed after 30 minutes on the elliptical.  He said not to increase calories for the sake of increasing calories.  He said I needed to drink more water before my workout and through my workout, include electrolytes, and up my protein throughout the day afterwards so that my body has the fuel it needs to repair my muscles while burning fat.

I am no athlete, so while I make sure I meet my protein and water, I don't stress about calories unless I get to that level.

However, I am also a strong believer that you need to listen to your body.  If you feel weak, you need to figure out what you're missing and follow through accordingly.  I had to cut down on some of my workouts because I was exhausted for the next 2 days, no matter how much water or protein I had.  Still waiting on blood test results to see if it's an iron or B12 issue, but it's important to know your limits and follow up with your doctor if something isn't right.

It sounds like you're feeling great with your level of exercise, so as long as that's the case - keep it up! :)

Amy

It may be heretical to say so in this forum, but if your iron, B12 and other micronutrient levels are normal, then you may be experiencing a lack of carbs - not everyone can burn fat fast enough to restock their glycogen supplies to meet their immediate energy demands. Added protein can be of some help, but that is typically really needed when doing strength training that breaks down muscle tissue that must be rebuilt; cardio workouts like the elliptical burns lots of glycogen but not a lot of protein. I had to add some complex carb to my pre-workout meal (by shifting the composition of the meal rather than adding calories) to extend my endurance beyond an hour, and I wasn't doing a ketogenic (