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Just wondering if the time of the day when you exercise affects how many calories you should consume for the day? So I am essentially wondering is, if I change my training time, does it change how many calories I should eat over the course of the day.

Example A: Breakfast, training, lunch, afternoon, tea, dinner Example B: Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, training, dinner

Whenever I follow example A, I always end up eating less in the afternoon, because I feel like I don't need to eat as much, since I've already done my training.

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  • Does your CALORIC intake actually vary that much, or do you just shift it from what you would eat more in the afternoon to eating more earlier in the day? Jun 28, 2012 at 15:50
  • @NathanWheeler, I'm not shifting anything to earlier in the day, because after I have breakfast, I wait about an hour and a half to then train so I can't really fit anything else in to eat before training. And that's why I feel like I shouldn't eat that much when I train in the morning, simply because I'm eating my afternoon snack and then not training,since I have already trained in the afternoon. So when I train in the afternoon, my afternoon snack is followed by training and so that's why I feel like I eat too much only when I train in the morning.
    – Bee
    Jun 30, 2012 at 10:13

2 Answers 2

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mmm...that's a really tricky question to try and answer, as it's going to vary wildly with the individual person, type of exercise, length of exercise, etc.

They've started proving in studies that high intensity exercise can have a lingering elevated calorie burn after the exercise period, but I don't think they've done any studies that show one way or the other the effects of different times for workouts and their effects.

The other thing to consider is your own personal rhythms. I don't get near as effective a workout in the early morning as I do if I work out later in the day, that's just due to the way my body works.

As long as you are eating a healthy diet, and your weight is either stable or trending in the direction you want, stick with the workout timing and regimen that you feel most comfortable with.

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What are you trying to eat after you exercise? I know I don't like eating much, and certainly not anything solid right after exercising because the blood flow is still active in my extremeties rather than going to my internal organs to promote digestion. I don't think that would be a factor of changing how much you need to eat as much as eating a hearty meal right after exercise isn't advisable.

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  • @Robin-If I train in the afternoon, I just have dinner after, which usually involves spagetti or chicken with vegetables. If I train during the day, then I have lunch when I'm finished, then afternoon tea a few hours later and then dinner a few hours later. But for me, I don't have an issue with what I eat after training, since I am so hungry 24/7 every single day!
    – Bee
    Jun 30, 2012 at 10:16

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