Cycling - Total Calorie burn vs. Calorie intake qns

I have some time off at the moment, so getting seriously back into my cycling, and probably for the first time am considering the calorific impact.

I am working on trying to get back to my previous levels of fitness back when I used to cycle a lot, so I am getting out there and at the moment I am doing around 70km.  This is mostly on city roads, so with traffic and lights etc, all up it takes me around 3 hours.  Apparently this equates to about 3000 calories.

From information on the site generally and in posts, I add calories burned from exercise to my burn meter.  Generally I should then have a deficit between my burn meter and how much I eat of no more than about 1000 calories.  So, in my case, based on my stats, I have a basic daily burn meter of 2770, to which I then add my activity from exercise, i.e. 3000 and thus get a total burn of 5770.  Does this mean I should be eating about 4770 calories???? 

This is pretty much impossible for me to do, and I don't try to do that.  My calorie intake tends to be about the 1800-2200 range generally, regardless of exercise (in fact I tend to eat LESS on days when I go for a long ride).  Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to try to build on my rides to get to doing about 100km a day (and therefore probably around 4 hours and 4000 cals of exercise), and to do this about 4 times during each week.

Does anyone see any problems with this plan assuming I feel I have the energy to do it?

I ride a lot too.  I do try to up my calories significantly on days I ride and burn tons of calories.  I try to keep the deficit under 1000 for sure and usually closer to 600.  There are some days you just can't do it like you said you would be eating 4700 calories.  I have found that when I am training this hard that if I have a huge deficit too many days in a row my performance suffers and I am riding slowly and usually end up bonking far from home.  I have started taking more snacks on the ride and eating more nuts and peanut butter to keep my deficit lower.  I would also wear a heart rate monitor when doing your rides so you can get an accurate number of calories burned.  The estimates given here seem to be way off for me.  Good luck with the riding.  

The heart rate monitor is a good idea!  Haven't seen my old one since before I last moved, will have to do a bit of a hunt for it (or maybe an excuse to buy a new toy  ).

Nice looking bike you have there btw.  Happy trails.

 Yup, problem - you're going to be utterly screwed if you exceed your body's capacity to mobilize fat for energy.

 Now, that can be a lot if you've got a fair bit of body fat to lose - it's 31cal/lbs fat mass/day, so if you've got a fair whack of body fat to burn you can safely run higher deficits. Exceed that limit though, and your body has no choice but to burn muscle for fuel, since it's impossible for it to mobilise more energy from your fat stores.

 And burning muscle is bad, mmm'kay? So if you're going on marathon rides like that, make sure you eat enough to support your activity level; your body will thank you for it over the long haul.

Thanks melkor.  Could you maybe work some numbers so I can get what you mean here?

I used to be quite big about 5-10 years ago, then I lost a LOT of weight, so went from about 310 lbs down to 175lbs.  However, I had a skiing accident that really took its toll on me and I went back up to 280lbs.  I on my way back down again, and am currently at 258lbs, so still have quite a bit to go to get back to a weight I am happy with.  If it also helps, I am male, 39, 178cm.

So, if I assume that 175lbs is a good weight to be, and I am currently 258, I still have 83lbs to lose.  Based on what you have mentioned, this means I can have a daily deficit of up to 83*31= 2573 cals?

As always, appreciate your help!

Depends on what your body fat percentage is - you can get a reasonable guesstimate using Covert Bailey's test or the Navy/YMCA alternative.

 See, when you're gaining weight some of that always comes in the form of muscle - if you are completely sedentary and do no exercise whatsoever 13% or so of the weight you gain is still muscle. Which means that you're probably carrying more muscle mass than the average person, and so trying to get down to "average" weight isn't going to be very healthy for you. You can't control which muscle gets used for fuel, and your heart is a muscle...

 Anyway. Figure out your fat mass, give yourself a safety margin of about 10% to account for errors in measurement, and then do the (lbs fat mass)*31 - or better yet, use Phord's calculator once you know your body fat percentage.

That was really helpful, thanks for that.  I used both the Covert Bailey test and Phord's calculator. 

Apparently my maximum fat calorie expenditure is 2633 Calories, so will be sure to factor that in on my riding days.

Incidentally, does it make much difference if the bulk of my calories for the day are before the exercise rather than after it?

 Probably not much, your body tends to work on calendar time, not clock time.

 With the intensity exception, of course - you've only got enough carbs stored to fuel about 2-2.5 hours of exercise at a high intensity; it's why long-distance bikers use energy gels and sports drinks to keep from 'bonking'.

 'course, energy gels are rather overpriced - raisins work just as well and are way, way cheaper. And chocolate milk (not the HFCS-sweetend kind mind you) works pretty well as a post-exercise recovery drink, it's got both carbs and protein. Though given the workouts you're planning you might want to buy some actual whey protein for post-workout nutrition, it can be hard to get in enough protein in a day without it.

Sweet.  Will try to pick up some raisins as I head out tomorrow, and already have the whey protein in the cupboard awaiting my return!

I'm sure raisins are fine on a long ride but bananas have long been the fruit of choice for cyclists.  I think it's the biodegradable wrapper.  Fig Newtons are popular too.  Of course the europeans favor ham and cheese panini.  On long rides in hot weather I always take a bottle of sports drink (you can make your own) to replace some carbs and more importantly electrolytes.  I don't do protein powder but I have been known to drink some chocolate milk after a particularly hard effort.

Mmmm, Ham and Cheese Panini sounds good!

Went for a 72k ride today, didn't find raisins in my local store on the way out, but did stop around about the return point and took a lunch break.  Was great to go to a chain restaurant here that has a "drink bar", meaning free refills!!   Absolutely a plus after doing around 35k in 30 degree (celcius) heat.

Did a pretty good search for my old heart rate monitor earlier today with no luck, so will probably buy another one real soon.

As I am getting back into it, I realise how much some things have changed, like insulated water bottles!  Threw out my 10 year old water bottler today and bought one of those new insulated ones!  :)

Hi there,

I'm a cyclist, too, and I can't live w/o my HRM on rides.  On Sunday, I biked 61 miles (98 km! I should have gone for the metric century!!), and burned 3100 calories in the process.  I try to eat back at least some of my calories when doing these long rides--I stopped and had lunch along the way, etc., for this ride, then I allow myself a nice cold Guinness when I get home!  :)

But, I have to lose about 60 more pounds (I'm 5'3", 198 pound, 36 year old female), so I'm trying to use these high calorie expenditure days to help speed the weight loss a bit, so if my deficit is more than 1,000 on any particular day, I'm not too concerned.  I feel great and still lost 2 pounds this week!

In any case, good luck in using the cycling to get yourself back in shape.  I've been watching the Tour this week to keep myself motiviated!!  :)

Denise

PS--yeah, the insulated water bottles are so cool...