Calorie requirements

[speccy1]

Following on from my last post about trying to lose weight while doing a fairly high weekly mileage, I`m confused about how much I should be consuming each day.

I am aware now that I wasn`t eating enough so have changed that (easy), but with a commute each day of approx. 45 moderately hilly miles I don`t know how much to eat to fuel the rides but slowly lose a few pounds, without my body going into starvation mode and wearing everything I eat (grrrr!!).

Stumped on this one, and getting pee`d off with trying to work out what to do to get the best results. The 45 miles is a round trip, not each way btw!

Cheers

 

[Saluki]

My GP says that 'starvation mode' is a myth.
Best thing to do is work out your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).
http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/ is a good place to work out your TDEE and then just go from there. It takes into consideration your gender, height, age, level of exercise and I've used my TDEE to great effect over the years.

It's a place to start, anyway

 

[Travs]

Another factor that a commute doesn't help is the idea of mixing up - you've no doubt tried to do a fasted ride in the morning on the way to work BUT if anything we read these days about challenging your body, it may be that your body is responding to this being a regular occurence and holding on to energy in preparation. Might be worht having a little bit every now and then to make the body think its going to get some energy. Do that some days and not others and your body won't know whether it should store or not perhaps?

As far as calorie usage is concerned, I've read about eating back at least half of what you estimate to use. So if you're going on 2000 as a conservative, if slightly low, starting point, then think about how much you use on your ride, somewhere between 500-700 perhaps? This is most the most exceptional of approximations though based on me having seen I use 1000 per hour or in 1.5hours based on my workrate.

 

[vickster]

Do you actually need to lose weight? Or is it more about try to tone up bodyshape? It may simply be that you have got to the age where things may sag whatever you do, or your natural body type is of the softer variety We're not all built the same

Do you do other types of exercise other than cycling, cross training may work

There's no point getting annoyed about it if you feel fit and well. Enjoy it while it lasts! Or you could pay to see a professional nutritionist if it bothers you that much (or a plastic surgeon for liposuction )

 

[mjr]

http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/ is a good place to work out your TDEE and then just go from there.

It just reloads with a blanked form. Does anyone know what calculation it should be doing, please?

I've a different requirement. I really can't afford to lose weight. It's not as fun a problem as you might think.

 

[potsy]

It just reloads with a blanked form. Does anyone know what calculation it should be doing, please?

I've a different requirement. I really can't afford to lose weight. It's not as fun a problem as you might think.

It's working for me, maybe a browser issue?

 

[Twinks]

It may simply be that you have got to the age where things may sag whatever you do,

 

[mjr]

It's working for me, maybe a browser issue?

ITYM a non-standard website issue, but yes, probably. So I wonder what the calculation is...

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

My opinion. If you're doing a 45 mile commute nearly every day, then - provided you don't pig out on chocolate and ice cream - you're gonna find it hard not to lose weight in the medium to long term.

 

[poynedexter]

please stop counting calories.

eat proper food when you are hungry. real food. ride your bike and eat a little every now and then. on a 22.5 mile trip to work, eat your breakfast before you go. eat a little snack before you leave work and eat normally in between.

just cut right back on processed crappy sugary foods and drinks. eat as much of real food as you like. thats all you have to do.

i've lost 7lbs in 3 weeks with no idea of calories. and i eat a lot, except sugary carbs (unless i'm on the bike). i'm trying to get from 21.7% fat to 16%.

 

[MrPie]

Depends on a bunch of things....

But very roughly, for me; I'll burn around 700 kcals/hr at reasonably brisk pace (20mph) , so around 35kcals/mile. 35kcals/mile x 45 miles = 1575kcals. So, eat as you normally would and then add on around 1500kcals to maintain your current bodyweight . Simples.
If you want to lose weight then adjust the amount of kcals you consume to tie in with the weight you want to lose over a specific time period. e.g. you want to lose 10lb of fat over 10 weeks then consume approx. 1000kcals/day less. 1lb fat contains around 7000kcals so eating 1000kcals per day should give you a fat lose of around 1lb in 1 week. Of course, a healthy balanced diet is a plus. Oh, and 1000kcals per day is a lot!

 

[speccy1]

please stop counting calories.

eat proper food when you are hungry. real food. ride your bike and eat a little every now and then. on a 22.5 mile trip to work, eat your breakfast before you go. eat a little snack before you leave work and eat normally in between.

just cut right back on processed crappy sugary foods and drinks. eat as much of real food as you like. thats all you have to do.

i've lost 7lbs in 3 weeks with no idea of calories. and i eat a lot, except sugary carbs (unless i'm on the bike). i'm trying to get from 21.7% fat to 16%.

I`m beginning to like that idea............

I really can`t face food when I first get up and leave the house - if I try to force it down I WILL see it again. I still have plenty of energy for the ride to work, and when I get there I am starving, and then really enjoy something to eat.

I have no idea what my body fat percentage is...................too much springs to mind haha

 

[speccy1]

[QUOTE 3682838, member: 9609"]How long have you being doing this daily(?) 45 mile round trip ?
If I was doing that my weight would settle just under 13 stone (which is lean for me) no matter how much I eat.

My weight is definitely governed by how active I am rather than how much I am eating, but there could be up to a months delay with my weight responding to change in activity.

very active up until the end Nov 14, 13stone
No cycling in December or January and not much walking either
end Dec - 13½ stone
end Jan - nearly 14½
got back into cycling and becoming generally very active again.
end Feb still 14¼ stone
end March 13½
end April back to 13 stone

Diet will not have changed at all during that period, in fact my calory intake has probably massively increased recently as my wife has got back into baking, and it would be quite frankly rude if I didn't eat all the lovely cake and puddings.

So with me I don't think it is the exercise as much as some change in my metabolism - diet and body weight is not a simple subject.[/QUOTE]
At a rough guess I would say about 6 weeks now - I decided overnight that I was going to double my weekly mileage, and I really enjoy it. My weight usually swings between 13 and 13.5 stone and is more than I would like, I have tried, tried, and tried again to get down to 12 which isn`t a big ask, but no matter what I seem to do I can`t get there.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Starvation mode certainly isn't a myth. People often get confused between calorie starvation mode, and nutrition starvation mode.

This is a concise way of putting it ( from the my fitness pal app if you are too far shy of your daily target).

If you want good results, try linking something like Strava, with something like my fitness pal (or any of the myriad of linkable apps). Log everything you eat, and all your rides, and see what happens

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

At a rough guess I would say about 6 weeks now - I decided overnight that I was going to double my weekly mileage, and I really enjoy it. My weight usually swings between 13 and 13.5 stone and is more than I would like, I have tried, tried, and tried again to get down to 12 which isn`t a big ask, but no matter what I seem to do I can`t get there.

Six weeks is a very short period of time in the grand scheme of things. It took me 8 years to lose the amount of weight I wanted to. No dieting, just upping the amount of exercise I did, changing my body shape and raising my metabolism. Keep at it!