How Many Calories Do You Eat? (Weight Loss)

[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.

[kelownagirl]

I am not a big girl but I have been working at losing fat and gaining muscle and have lost 22 lbs in the past year. During that time I ate between 1200-1500 calories a day. The closer to 1500 I get, the less likely I am to lose. They stress not to go under 1200 because your body thinks you're starving and hangs on to the fat. No idea if this is true or not.

I ride 100-200 km a week, most rides about 1.5 hours long. I do not eat anything on these rides - I just drink water. On 3 hour rides, I will eat one small snack (100-200 calories max). So - there are no "bike calories" for me. Some days, like today, I burn more than I consume - I try not to use that as an excuse to pig out for dinner that day.

If you are bigger than me, you can probably eat more calories than I do and still lose weight. I wouldn't be eating less than 1200 if I were you...

[DrBadger]

Hey Darcy-
My first thought when I saw your initial post that you were eating an average of 1200 calories a day was that it was no where near enough, and that might explain why the scale hasn't moved at all, though you are loosing inches.

I started working out a lot this year, and was being really good about what I ate, and while I was more toned I wasn't loosing any weight... the scale seemed stuck at 148.... at 5'3", while not horrible, I knew that my body should want to be lower. I thought I needed to cut my calories even more... did that after christmas... was eating about 1400/day while working out ~5-6 days a week (spin classes, bodypump, and riding outdoors when the weather permitted), but again, no weight loss....hmmmm... got me thinking, maybe I am eating too little to sustain the activity level and my body is in "starvation mode". I did a test and upped my calories to ~ 1600-1700/day and what do you know, the weight started coming off. I have lost 10 lbs in the past 3 months without even trying, and it is still coming off. In addition to the weight I have dropped 1-2 sizes in my clothes and NONE of my pants fit anymore!

Here is a great website that my roommate showed me, that will actually explain the different calorie needs calculators and will give your maintence level, fat loss level, and extreme fat loss (the rock bottom of calories you should eat a day before the body will go into starvation). It also takes into account your sex, age, height, and activity level. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/cal...alculator.htm#

You are obviously doing something right with the increase in your fitness and health levels, but I would suggest trying to up your calories for a couple of weeks and see what happens. If you stay the same I vote for some the others suggestions that you talk to your Dr, and maybe try to see a nutritionist.

Good luck!
Ellen

[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.

[DarcyInOregon]

I think the idea of seeing a nutritionist is a good one.

I do use a nutrition software program to evaluate my calories and nutrition. I actually had a nutrition class as a science requirement in college, way back a long time ago, but the knowledge stuck with me. I am really attentive to my nutrition, which in part is why I opened this discussion, to see what others are doing with their calories everyday. For everyone who provided links, thank you, because those links are very useful, not to just me, but to everyone who is reading this discussion.

When I gave the number of 1200, that is my average net calories consumed, not my total calories consumed. It isn't a specific daily number, but my average when I calculate in my rest days off the bike. For example, today I ate 1780 calories, and I burned 1105 calories on a 30-mile ride, leaving me a net of 675 calories. I ate approximately 20% protein, 20% fat and 60% carbs. The food calories include my bike calories. I will get low blood sugar if I don't consume carbs on my rides, and since I bike solo, it would be very dangerous for me to bonk and be disoriented when I am out by myself.

Dr. Liz, what does one of your average daily food diaries look like as provided by your dietician?

Darcy

[FH Cyclist]

Darcy, thanks for starting this thread. I've been looking for reasons as to why I haven't been losing weight even though I've starting riding again. I've been riding for the last 2 months and the scale hasn't moved - in fact I've gaind 3 pounds.

I'm rationalizing that it is muscle weight since I have always had a lot of muscle mass.

To those of you who have added items here, thanks. I think I'll go to some of the links mentioned here and see what is going on. I may also go back and get a body fat test.

I'll be checking back here. Thanks.

[kelownagirl]

I am really puzzled by the math of the whole calories in, calories out thing, especially since this thread was started months ago. I rode my bike a LOT in August - mostly medium to high intensity rides. 930km, 38+ hours of riding. A conservative estimate of calories burned would be around 25,000 during the month. If 3500 calories equals 1 lb, then that is about 7 lbs worth right? During that month I ate "normally." I probably consumed about 1800-2000 calories a day averaged over time. Although I was not trying to lose weight during August, it boggles my mind that my weight stayed exactly the same the entire month. I did not gain or lose an ounce. If I had not done all the riding, I would have gained 7lb in one month! And clearly I cannot "eat normally" (ie not counting calories) when I am not working out as much as I did when I was on vacation. Now that I'm back at work and can't exercise as often, I will have to go back to counting calories so I don't gain weight. That frustrates me because my hope was that once I reached my goal weight, I could go back to enjoying food in life and maintain my weight thru exercise...

[DarcyInOregon]

I am really puzzled by the math of the whole calories in, calories out thing, especially since this thread was started months ago. I rode my bike a LOT in August - mostly medium to high intensity rides. 930km, 38+ hours of riding. A conservative estimate of calories burned would be around 25,000 during the month. If 3500 calories equals 1 lb, then that is about 7 lbs worth right? During that month I ate "normally." I probably consumed about 1800-2000 calories a day averaged over time. Although I was not trying to lose weight during August, it boggles my mind that my weight stayed exactly the same the entire month. I did not gain or lose an ounce. If I had not done all the riding, I would have gained 7lb in one month!

Kelownagirl, I am puzzled and confused too. I don't get it either, because the math doesn't add up for me either. At least you stayed the same. I gained weight! I am pretty sure it is muscle and water gain, but still, oh gosh and darn, because it makes me heavier on the bike.

I did get my body fitness composition and I know my BMR. It is 2001. I input my calories into the nutrition software. I bike, and this summer I increased my fitness level dramatically with respect to distance, endurance and hill climbing. I am extremely pleased in that respect. I input the calories burned into the calorie software. I am careful to not eat too little, but not too much. I am careful with the sodium intake.

One factor for me is I have IBS, and I had a bad flare-up that lasted for the first half of this year. I think the flare-up killed off the friendly stuff in my intestinal and digestive system, and thus slowed down my digestive system to a crawl. I am now taking steps to restore the good stuff, but it will probably take another 6 months. The IBS flare-up might be the cause why my weight didn't go down this summer.

This is going to be my next try. Towards the end of October, when the weather starts getting too windy and rainy to ride as often, I will join a gym and hire a personal trainer with the goal of burning body fat and building muscle density. I will do the gym all winter, along with outside biking when I can, and see what happens. Maybe a diversity of exercise is what I need.

If none of the above works, I hate to admit this, but I might investigate liposuction. The only reason I haven't done so already is fear of the pain, the cost, any long-term bad health effects, and oh yes, once again, the pain.

Darcy

[indigoiis]

It is not the number on the scale. You are not only losing fat, but you are building muscle, which weighs more than fat. Particularly doing the amount of training you have been doing, I am not at all surprised that your weight stayed the same.

Measure yourself. Take a good look in the mirror. You might notice that the places where you used to carry fat are now changed.

You really cannot train and lose weight at the same time. Training as hard as you do, your body really takes those calories and uses every last inch of them. If you BURN far more than you CONSUME, then your body might possibly go into a state where it stalls and prevents further weight loss. I learned yesterday that my 65 mile ride burned around 2000 calories. I rarely eat more than 2000 cals a day. Sure, much of that was water weight (which, by all means needs replacing), but some of that was certainly fat stores. And if you are eating only 1800 - 2000 calories a day, then burning 2000, you've got nothing leftover to "merely" survive on.

To lose weight, cut back on your training, reduce calories.

While training, don't worry so much about weight loss. Eat plenty to fuel your body.

[limewave]

I'm eating about 1600 calories a day--per my doctor. A BIA test revealed that during inactivity my body burns approx 1800 cals a day. My goal is to lose 30 lbs. Here is the diet she has me on:

2 servings of legumes
1 serving of Veg type 2 (carrots, potatos, corn)
5+ servings of Vegetables
2 servings of Fruit
3 servings of protein (no red meat or pork)
1 serving of whole grains (quinoa, brown rice, whole grain bread)
1 serving of Ultra Meal Shake or Bar

I was really worried I wouldn't have enough energy to sustain longer workouts, but the vegetables are really great for providing long burning carbohydrates. I feel so much better and have more energy than I've had in a long time. For long rides and runs longer than an hour, I use Endura sports drink to help keep me going.

I had my second BIA test last week. In 2.5 weeks I lost 8 lbs. Unfortunately it was mostly muscle and not fat. However, I had a MRSA infection which tends to attack muscle tissue. I'm going to step up my WT to promote building muscle and hopefully burn that fat!

For months and months I had been trying to lose weight. I saw several different nutritionists that said I needed to eat 2200 to 2500 calories a day to support my training but that I should still lose weight. They were having me eat about 3-5 servings of grains a day. I kept gaining weight. So I lowered my calories and still gained weight. This has been the first diet that has worked for me.

[Zen]

1 serving of Veg type 2 (carrots, potatos, corn)

what is a type 2 vegetable? Just those three things? they all appear to be high on the glycemic index

1 serving of Ultra Meal Shake or Bar

Is this Ultra Meal something from a medical source (hospital wellness center or the like) or is it commercially available?

[RolliePollie]

This is a very interesting thread! Like kelownagirl, I did a lot of riding in August. I assumed I would lose weight, but I didn't. I didn't really count calories, but I know I've been eating a lot. The thing is, I'm just plain hungry...all the time!!! This makes sense to me though, because my body is asking for fuel due of the amount of exercise I'm getting. I'm thinking that I'll try to lose 10 pounds or so this winter when I'm not riding as much, because I do believe that it's virtually impossible to lose weight when you are training. At least that's the case for me. I also like the idea that we're all losing the really bad internal fat (although I certainly wouldn't mind losing some of the external belly fat!).

[kelownagirl]

Re: gaining muscle, losing weight. In my case, I've no doubt I gained some muscle - my jeans are now tight on my lower thighs because my quads are bigger. (Wish I had measured there as well instead of just the upper thigh.) HOWEVER, my waist and belly measurement is also bigger (by 1 inch) and that is not muscle.

Generally I go by how I look and feel and what clothes I can wear over the scale numbers. I guess I was just surprised that I didn't lose anything when I rode darn much.

Darcy - I'm assuming you've talked to a doctor about weight loss - how about meeting with a nutritionist before you resort to lipo?

I have (did have) IBS. I finally learned to manage it and now it looks like I have defeated it for the most part. PM me if you want more info.

[indigoiis]

This is a very interesting thread! Like kelownagirl, I did a lot of riding in August. I assumed I would lose weight, but I didn't. I didn't really count calories, but I know I've been eating a lot. The thing is, I'm just plain hungry...all the time!!! This makes sense to me though, because my body is asking for fuel due of the amount of exercise I'm getting. I'm thinking that I'll try to lose 10 pounds or so this winter when I'm not riding as much, because I do believe that it's virtually impossible to lose weight when you are training. At least that's the case for me. I also like the idea that we're all losing the really bad internal fat (although I certainly wouldn't mind losing some of the external belly fat!).

Exactly.