Eating habits on training days

[JJFigure]

I'm curious if you guys eat more kcalories on lifting days or fewer kcalories on lifting days. I'm asking because I ran across a recommendation to eat fewer kcals on lifting days (when cutting) and more kcals on non-lifting days, with the reasoning this would keep your body from going into starvation mode. This recommendation seemed totally backward to me.

However, after glancing through my diet log, I noticed I do tend to eat fewer kcals on my strength days, mainly because I don't feel like eating. For some reason, intense lifting just kills my appetite. My protein intake tends to be higher since I force down more whey protein on lifting days, but overall kcals tend to be a little lower.

I haven't been purposefully eating fewer kcals on lifting days though - I just tend to eat or not eat according to what my body is telling me; I still think that recommendation is wrong.

 

[JJFigure]

What? No one eats on training days?

 

[wyst]

I eat more kcals on training days, but then I don't train in the morning, as I suspect you do. It's true that after I train, in the evening, I feel less like choking down that last meal or two, but I'd say I almost always eat more on training days.

For me, it's actually a way to ensure that I do train hard. I look back at what I've eaten all day, and say holy crap, now I have to train and do something worthwhile with all that expensive protein. Otherwise I'm going to be fat AND poor.

xoxo

Wyst

 

[SteelWeaver]

lol @ wyst!

I eat basically the same number of cals - maybe 1-200 more, maaaaybe, depending on the overall state of my diet (assuming a dieting phase). But I change the carb ratios - switch in more starchy type carbs for the bucketloads of fibroussy ones on non-training days. As for appetite - mine never fails me, training or no training In fact, I'm HUNGRIER on training days.

It's an interesting theory. I wonder how eating more on non-training days makes your body think it's not starving? Isn't it about overall cals anyway? And what about making your body hungrier just when it really needs as many nutrients as it can get?

 

[Klingon]

Newbie here... still I have a different approach regarding to this theory; I once read that you should eat less (on a cutting phase) on training days in order to be more likely to burn fat for energy (while training)... in other words, your energy wouldn't all come from the food you ate that day...

But personnally, I eat a bit more (about 200 kcal) on training days... otherwise - it might be psychological - I feel a lack of power.

 

[rez]

i actually think its how long your days are. i can have a day which starts at 6am and ends at midnight. so thats a pretty full-on day; training, studying, working etc etc...your body probably needs slightly higher cals on those days than on days which are more lesuirely.
makes sense.

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

I workout everyday (lift 3days/ cardio 3days)... I adjust only my carbs on the days I run, but I keep my protein constant thru the week.

personally-- that recommendation of cycling kcals sounds a little backwards to me.

 

[JJFigure]

The only thing I can think of is if you ate more on non-training days (by training, I mean lifting or HIIT cardio days), you'd be supplying your body with nutrients it needs for recovery. Of course, if you lift in the morning, I'd think eating higher kcals the rest of that day would do the trick too. I just don't understand how eating more on a non-training day would help prevent your body from going into starvation mode. Just doesn't make sense to me.