Should I Be Eating More Calories For My Workout?

If you’ve ever played with a calorie calculator, you probably already have noticed that when you switch your activity level from sedentary, the calculator increases the amount of daily calorie intake. That means eating more calories to compensate for the extra calories burned while you workout or participate in a lot of physical activity. For weight loss, however, you don’t want to increase your caloric intake, since you attack the excess weight by eating fewer calories and burning more.

If you’re trying to lose fat and gain muscle, it’s more about what you eat and the type of exercise.

If your goal is to build muscle and lose fat, body recomposition, cutting back severely on calories may help you lose weight, but it won’t help you build your muscle tissue. Cutting calories is the traditional route to take, but if they’re cut dramatically, and the type of exercise is cardiovascular, you won’t get the results you want. High amounts of cardio burns tons of calories, but those calories come from both fat and muscle tissue and a dramatic calorie restriction can also cause both fat and muscle loss. Instead, reduce your calories slightly, eat more protein and use both cardio and strength building workouts.

If you want to maintain your weight, you have to increase your caloric intake.

When you burn 3,500 more calories than you consume, you lose a pound. It doesn’t matter what exercise you do or what you eat. It’s all about the math. If you increase your caloric output with exercise, you’ll burn more calories, so you have to boost your food intake a bit to compensate for those calories lost. So, in this case, you do have to increase the amount of food you eat.

Likewise, if you want to lose weight, you don’t want to increase your calorie intake.

If you want to shed weight, don’t increase your calories. In fact, cutting the calorie count is more appropriate. The combination of the extra calories burned during exercise and the lower caloric intake will zap fat quickly and make weight loss easier. A lower calorie intake and more exercise is the time-tested combination that’s helped people shed weight and get the body they want.

• Whether you increase your intake of food, decrease it or keep it the same, it’s all about your goals. If weight loss isn’t one of them, then eat if you’re hungry or indulge occasionally in a special meal that’s higher in calories.
• One of the biggest problems people face when they first start working out is that they overestimate the number of calories they burn at the gym and feel they deserve a pizza or giant burger and fries at the end of each workout, which ends up packing on excess pounds.
• It’s more about what you eat and when you eat. If your diet includes whole foods, like fruits and vegetables and a lean source of protein, you can eat more. It’s important to make sure you have a pre and post workout snack that consists of protein and carbs.
• If you’re trying to gain weight or are training excessively, you may have to add extra calories to your diet. It can be important for muscle growth, recovery and repair.

For more information, contact us today at Garcia Muay Thai