Athletes and WLS - questions

Question for all the athletes out there.

Currently I do not compensate for calories burned in a day, if I am supposed to eat 2000 calories a day  ( total) to offset what I have burned with exercise, I do not.

What do you do?

I was a pre-op diabetic and happy to say I am off all medications, including insulin. Because I was a diabetic I have remained adament about not adding carbs to my diet. I know this is wrong. I need to hear it. I know I am working against myself, but need that kick in the butt. ( I just got one yesterday from my nutritionist as well)

any tips would be appreciated, what do you do to fuel.

Thanks, Mike

I don't compensate for calories burned by exercise. I feel it would be a way to justify eating too much. I look at exercise more to be healthy than to lose weight....just my 2cents

Thanks Billmacc, I feel the same. My nutritionist encouraged me to eat more and to compensate for the calories burned. I am fearful to do so. Thanks for responding, Mike

For me, it depends on the level of exercise.  For example, last Saturday I ran 16 miles up a mountain and burned just under 2000 calories in 3+ hours.  I literally had to eat some of those back.  I try to stay around 1200 calories on normal or easy days, but on those hard days I pu**** up.  Makes recovery easier and makes me feel less like death.  So I guess if you're looking for a rule of thumb, mine is about this:  anything less than 500 calories burned, I ignore.  Above that, I eat a portion of back, as needed by listening to my body and knowing what it needs.

A big thing to remember is DO NOT trust calories burned calculators.  I barely trust my heart rate monitor, but it's probably accurate enough. 

Thanks for the response. I like that rule of thumb. I am not a long distance runner, but do run and work out a minimum of 5 days a week. To this Point I have not compensated for calories burned. I had my 18 month f/u on Monday and my Nut suggested I compensate for burned calories. I was reluctant and even more so hearing from you and Billmacc. I am going to keep as is, why mess with success. Thanks! Mike

Yeah, if you're not burning a ton, I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure to listen to your body.  It will tell you, very loudly, if you need more.   

If you're maintaining your weight then you are by definition eating your exercise calories one way or another.  Eventually we all have to break even.

I love whole food carbohydrates and eat them all the time.  In fact, they are literally required for any kind of endurance sport or you'll "bonk."  When you run out of readily available sugars (glycogen) for energy your body will begin to oxidize fats, which is a slow process and typically won't supply adequate energy.  It's like running or peddling through pudding and it's downright awful.

My fuel is typically whole fruit and portioned energy bars like Clif.