Daily Net Calorie Balance

Lobsters25

FI and I work out in the evening, and on nights where I've vastly underestimated the burn, I have to chug a protein shake-size dependent on calorie deficit-to keep my net at my goal.  I'm tempted to just leave it be, but then my net would be around 1100, and I'm afraid of heading into starvation mode.  

This has happened a few times with p90x, so I've started tracking each workout to avoid it from reoccuring, but I know as my strength and intensity increase, I'll probably wind up in the same situation again.  That being said, I also don't want to overeat ahead of time and then have a crappy workout and be 200 or so over for the day.

So, I'm curious as to what you ladies do if you find out that you burned more in your workout than you budgeted in the day (or end up going for another workout session or spontaneous run, or whatever.)  Do you do your best to eat back those calories (and keep your balance your net goal/MFP level), or just leave it?  

entropicbeauty

agree with PP.

I do try to eat back to 1200 net, but there are some days where it's just not possible and I don't want to shove my face full of food at 11pm.

On gym days and days I know i'm going to be doing heavy cardio, I try to pre-anticipate the burn and make sure to eat an extra snack during the day or before the gym.

tinkerbek

hey ladies! Ive been using MFP too. (long before i was engaged) i have been trying and trying to lose weight, been doing Chalean Extreme, and I've lost inches but no pounds at all. (i'm 67 days in) Now a couple people have been telling me to eat more... which i started doing last week. SO just wondering how you handle this, because, as Lobsters25 said, it stinks when i plan a workout and just dont get as much of a burn as expected. Is your GOAL to eat 1200 calories net, every day? So that means eat as much of what your burned as possible?

I'm excited to see people talking about this so just interested in hearing how it's been working for ya'll!

Lobsters25

k-I can imagine trying to eat back calories from long runs must be really difficult.  And congrats on the weight loss!

Love your edit - I just made oatmeal cookies with only a small bit of added sugar and butter, and a small amount of flour (whole wheat, of course).  We are a dessert household for sure!

entropic-I do the same thing on cardio days and am usually still 20-50 short, which is a deficit I don't mind.

At this point I really am eating ALL day.  I have something called gastroparesis, which, in simplest terms, means I process food at about half the speed of most people (not to be confused with a slow metabolism, though, because it's not the same thing.)  

It means that I can't eat a full meal at once without getting nauseous or have a lot of fiber, and leaves me snacking all day.  The condition has gotten a bit better, but in order to get about 1300 calories in at this point, I'm basically eating a little bit almost every single hour at work. 

On the days I'm referencing in the op, I still need another 200-300 calories.  I bought string cheese, almonds, fruit, etc, but am just so tired of eating.  Yet, without stuffing myself with a protein shake or some of these snacks, I'd probably be about 150-200 calories short three times a week.

edit: what the f happened to my font size? weird.

Lobsters25

too funny, we just picked up an avocado  I've been really searching for higher calorie snacks, so if you have any recs (also need to be low carb) - I'd be very appreciative!

tinker-ditto to what k said.  my goal is 1200 (though I just changed my weight goals so it's now 1300).  yes, it is net.  that formula at the top where mfp tells you what you ate minus what you burned is how we're judging what we still need to eat, to get the number at the end to be about 1200 (or 1300, or 1460)