[MsTibbles]

Hi!

My first time posting on the exercise boards ever... and I am just starting out with my exercise. I did my first swim last night, 75 minutes of moderate freestyle (1250m to be precise) and most exercise calorie calculators are putting my burned calories at between 800 and 1000. I'm eating at or below 1520 cals daily anyway (2lbs week loss), and my original plan was not to eat back any exercise calories. The reason i'm asking is because this evening i'm feeling light headed and slightly nauseated, which from past experience means that I haven't got enough fuel, so to speak.

I'll probably be doing 75-90 mins of swimming twice a week. I want to keep losing 2lbs a week. My goal is fat loss, not muscle gain (although the endurance will be a bonus ). How many of those calories should I eat back, if any?

Thank you!

[Jesslan Rose]

I have the same problem. I get light to severe episodes of being lightheaded. Depends on how much I exercise and how often. You could try eating back half your calories. If that helps you can experiment with eating less or more once you try the eating half back and know whether it helps or not.

PS I love your avatar!!

[MsTibbles]

Jesslan Rose That sounds sensible, thank you I'll perhaps give that a try if it occurs again. Haven't experienced it again yet, and did my second swim this evening, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. And thank you very much!

[IanG]

I find the symptoms of not eating enough occur before exercising and not after. Lightheadedness afterwards should pass with a little time and practice.

If you start feeling physically unable to do the exercise you are used to, then that might be the time either to rest or to reevaluate your diet. At least that has been my personal experience.

[pigeon]

I know exercising with too little fuel makes me feel terrible afterwards. I guess I can push through the exercise even when I've been eating too little as that's how my body works - I am not awfully hindered by hunger generally - but I will pay for it when I come back home. That's one of the reasons I personally try to exercise moderately 4-5 times a week instead of 2-3 times a week but harder, as the latter would make it harder for me to manage a good balance with blood sugar. Perhaps you could add a 100-150 calorie snack just before and another just after? Just a suggestion.

[dietcokehead98]

I try not to eat back my calories burned, however, I find I'm hungry after a good workout, so I eat a carb laden snack before hand (1/2 cup oatmeal, a piece of toast, rice...) and protein after (beef jerky, eggs, protein shake) and I find that keeps me from eating back my calories burned.

[Jesslan Rose]

I have another thought... I mentioned to both my primary doctor and my RA specialist about getting lightheaded throughout the day and that I noticed it stopped when I took 2-3 weeks off from exercising and worsened when I restarted exercising and was doing more exercise than ever before.

The RA specialist said he was worried it was my heart. The next day my primary took an EKG and my heart was fine. She suggested that it was actually probably dehydration. It's summer out, I'm exercising hard in the heat and not drinking enough to replace what I sweat out and what water my body takes to repair my muscles after exercise. I tended to agree as I only drink roughly 1-3 glasses of liquids a day. She said to up my water intake to 8 glasses a day and see if there's a change.

Since that appt I've tried drinking more. It's not 8 glasses, but it's an improvement. I've only had a couple minor episodes of lightheadedness since then, (no severe ones), however I've also changed my exercise routine. I stopped walking and using walking dvd's (for the most part) for 30-60 mins almost everyday and now do 30 minutes of a kickboxing dvd. I burn more calories in 30 mins of kickboxing than I do in an hour of walking. I'm working out harder in half the time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this contines to work. Hope this insight into a similar situation helps!

[Esofia]

If it's dehydration, you don't just need water, you need electrolytes. Try getting more salt. Sports drinks can be good if you look for sugar free ones. I use Nuun.

[timmothysmith01]

Most individuals engage in modest activities like walking, bicycling, swimming, weightlifting, etc., therefore they don't need to consume back the calories they burn off during activity. If weight loss is the stated aim, these activities do not burn enough calories to warrant a post-workout snack.