Calorie deficit and exercise - is food more for calories or nutrients?
I've been on a steady weight decline due to a simple calorie reduction over the last few months. I have not adjusted my exercise routine much, which generally just consists of walking the dog and yard work.
Last weekend, though, I threw in a 30-mile bike ride just for fun. (26-mile ride, 4-mile hike. Popped a tire.)
Since I'm aiming for a calorie deficit, I figured it would be better to just take the calories burned as a bonus and not adjust my intake.
I'm wondering now, though, if this is how the body actually treats food. Say, hypothetically, I ran a double-marathon and burned 6,000 calories in a day but only consumed 2,000. Does that deficit hit a point where it's dangerous regardless of current weight? Or if the body has fat to burn, does it just need a baseline amount of food for the sake of nutrients, and the calorie deficit can be pushed as high as one wants through exercise?
Hypothetically. Obviously, this would be somewhat self-regulating based on physiological factors for fueling that amount of exercise.