How Many Calories Do You Eat? (Weight Loss)

[Veronica]

To lose 30 pounds several years ago I kept my calories around 1800 a day, regardless of how much exercise I was doing.

For exercise I was doing an hour class in the morning -spin, aerobics or weight lifting. Two or three afternoons a week I was swimming a mile.

V.

[Bikingmomof3]

To lose weight I was eating about 1800 calories. My exercised varied, my calories did not.

[Zen]

There are two types of abdominal fat, the stuff on the inside of the abdominal muscles (bad, bad, bad) and the stuff outside (still not great but not as harmful as the sub-abdominal fat) . You've probably burned up the bad bad bad fat and thats good good good.
When you lose weight its usually in the reverse order that it's gained. When a person begins to gain weight the first thing they probably notice is their waistline.

Keep in mind you are building muscle as well. A single fat cell is much larger than that of a muscle cell.
Another way of putting this-
You have two boxes of the same size. You can put 125 muscle cells in a box but you can only put 25 fat cells in the same size box. Both boxes weigh the same.
This is why I tell people not to focus so much on the scale.

If you really want to get involved with numbers to determine workout intensity and caloric needs you'll need to determine your basal metabolic rate and start using a HR monitor.

Take a look at this site or do a search with key words "cycling nutrition".

[DarcyInOregon]

Maybe I overthink everything.

Before I started cycling again last year, when I was merely walking 5 miles a day, I kept my calories to around 1500 a day with a ceiling of 1800.

But with the cycling, as my fitness level continues to increase, which is the muscle density referred to in this thread, my ability to cycle for longer distances increases, and thus my cardio time increases and my calories burned increases.

Yes, I want to lose the excess body fat. However, at the same time two other things are important to me, and that is my long-term health and my desire to be able to recover from my rides quickly and get on the bike again the next day. Therefore, every day, I eat to nourish my body, to help my muscles recover and repair, and to restore nutrients I lost during cycling. For example, I don't want to be cycling for a lot of years and the doctor says, well you have osteoporosis because you didn't replace the calcium you burned when you were cycling.

So the whole calorie thing gets confusing. I need to eat enough calories to replenish what I burn and to recover and repair - and still burn body fat - yet exactly how many calories is that? I've read a lot of books on cycling, and Zen gave a link to a good site in her reply, but there still isn't a real forumla I can grasp that I know I can adhere too, a formula that will adapt to my diet as my distances increase. In other words, I used to be a person who ate too much, and I now worry that I may not be eating enough for sustained long-term health, which is a complete reversal for me and quite ironic.

I should add I rarely weigh myself anymore, at the end of each three-month period is all, and when I do, the body weight hasn't gone down a significant amount, just some. I do use the tape measure and I continue to shrink, so I know my body composition continues to change for the better. And last week I had to spend most of a day cleaning my closet and ruthlessly taking out all the clothing that was too big for me, which is something I seem to need to do about twice a year now.

Darcy

[michelem]

Darcy,

You might want to try this website:

www.nutritiondata.com


When I started cycling I was losing weight like crazy (and certainly didn't need or want to!). I started using this website and realized I was really underestimating my calories in and also didn't realize how much extra I needed to eat to replace what I was burning on the bike. Weight loss has stopped and I am gradually gaining. I was afraid I was going to have to stop cycling until I started gaining weight, but that wasn't the case.

Anyway, first thing I used was the "calories burned" tool. http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-burned
I can plug in all my info, including how much activity I do in a day, and find out how much I need to consume to support that. I also use the pantry to find out calories/nutrients in the foods I consume. http://www.nutritiondata.com/user/re...turnto=/pantry I do a lot of my own cooking and I'm able to enter my recipes and find out the nutrient/calorie breakdowns. I really tend to overestimate how many calories are in stuff, thinking I'm eating way more than I am. My husband would say, "Are you sure you are eating enough now that you are exercising so much more?" and I would say, "I'm eating a ton! I don't understand why I'm losing weight!" Well, turns out I may have been eating a ton volume-wise, but not calorie/nutrient dense foods.

Anyway, hope it helps you as well.

[farrellcollie]

I try to keep a calorie log (I use Fitday.com) in order to keep around 1500-1700 calories per day. I find when I don't keep track for a few days - I start eating around 2000 and for my short middle aged no metabalism body - that causes me to gain weight. I try to keep around this amount regardless of exercise.

[Dr. Liz]

I hired a good friend of mine who is a Ph.D. and licensed dietician to help me plan diets for my husband and myself; I told her our weekly ride schedule (a 40 minute crit once a week, a 20 minute (or less) TT once every other week, a long (40-70 miles) ride once a week, and recovery rides (20-25 miles, low heart rate) the rest of the week.

Her response? As Americans, we generally get enough protein in our diet, and have been convinced that carbs are 'bad'. She helped us work out a weekly meal plan that meet our separate caloric needs, while also giving us enough energy to do the rides that we do.

The short answer? It varies from person to person. I would HIGHLY suggest finding a licensed nutritionist (if you've got a local university, call them, if not, talk to your family doctor for a recommendation). It is a small investment for a very great payoff.

We've been on the 'new diet' for about a week, and while the pounds aren't flying off, we aren't dying on race days, or on our long rides.

I don't think there is a 'universal' diet - I really think that meeting with someone (even if it is only once) to help figure out caloric needs and diet is well worth it.

Just my $0.02.

[Zen]

Is there a sports nutritionist in your area? Maybe a couple of conseling sessions would help find a method that works for you.
check out www.nancyclarkrd
Fellow trainers rave about her.