Nooby question

[SayWhatAgain12]

I made a mistake today, I hit my calorie target but ate too many carbs and missed protein by 40g, this doesn't happen often, but when it does, should I eat 40g of protein and then burn that 160 cals doing cardio...or would the cardio just negate the protein consumed? Would the calories 'burnt' be mostly carbs?

Sorry for the noob question and thanks for any constructive feedback.

edit - also, I don't want to hear, 'just move on, it isn't a big deal' because I'm pretty interested

[matman1813]

If it really is a one off then just let it slide, just make sure it doesn't happen regularly. Nice username by the way.

[SayWhatAgain12]

Thanks, love Tarantino and Samuel L.

I am gonna let it slide but I'm pretty interested in what the answer actually is...

[matman1813]

You're better off not eating back burned calories since there aren't really any accurate counters. One day of slightly lower protein won't have any negative effects, providing it is only one day.

[MulattoRance]

Thanks, love Tarantino and Samuel L.

I am gonna let it slide but I'm pretty interested in what the answer actually is...

His answer was actually pretty spot on haha - the thing is, it's impossible to target in such a small timeframe what your body will do with those specific macros. It would require an incredibly precise amount of macronutrient partitioning for your body to burn just the extra carbs and not the protein, etc - you have to think of it in a much larger timeframe. What you do consistently, day after day, is what matters, which is why he said don't worry, just let it slide.

If it helps, there's a wide variety of opinions on how much protein is optimal for building/maintaining muscle. At the higher end of the spectrum, you've got 1g/lb of body weight and 1.2g per lb of lean body mass. At the lower end of the spectrum, I think is something like .82g per lb of LBM. And this is all supported by some amount of research (more is being done as we speak by a good man by the name of Eric Helms.) So, in the end, that 1 day really won't affect much, since you hit your calorie goals and were still in a deficit. Hope that helps!

[SayWhatAgain12]

Awesome, well thanks a lot guys. Gotta love Eric Helms, seems like a massively respected person in the sector and I enjoy how well he explains things. I weigh like 185 and got like 140g of protein so I guess it really isn't a big deal.

/thread