Do other people count calories?

[aquamoose32]

IF I did want to lose weight, I'd subtract 500 calories per day to lose one pound per week. (3500 calories ='s 1 pound).

Calories work if you understand what you need to maintain with moderate or low exercise (for women 12 times current weight should maintain, so 150 lb woman needs 150 X 12 = 1800 calories per day to maintain), understand how much to add during strenuous activity (not as much as 'they' say, but almost exactly what the women of TE say), what food to eat (high quality whole foods, not diet crap), and what your ideal weight is.

I know this is a generalization calculation, but I am a bit confused. On days I dont cycle that means if I weight 105 then I should only need 1260 calories a day??? This seems impossible. And if I subtracted 500 I would starve to death! Maybe thats why I feel like I eat more than everyone I know though. LOL.

I just never know how to figure out how many calories I burn on a ride. All those counters just seem way off. I've gotten things from 300 calories on a 2 hour ride to 1000 calories.

I saw hey if you can enjoy your chocolate sandwich without the calories creeping in your mind, what a blessing!! Thanks for the opinions. WESTTEXAS I liked your quote: "Last night on my ride with the bike shop guys here we discussed the calorie burn of the ride and then figured out how many beers that would translate into at dinner and it was awesome." Haha. I wanna be on that ride!

[Catrin]

One reason I ride is so I can drink beer

I have type 2 diabetes, and I control by strict diet and intense exercise. I try to make certain my body has enough fuel for my activities - I do "count calories" and also try to maintain a tight balance between carbs, fat, and protein that my specialist has given me as a target. Some days I am better than others, but it is working. My blood sugar is well under control, my weight is far less than it has been in 25 years, and I've the energy I need for my activities. Plus I can have a few beers a week and, once in a great while, some chocolate outside of a Cliff chocolate brownie bar

This inconsistent weather pattern isn't helping in that I've not been able to settle down any anything like a regular riding schedule though, and that does not help.

[nscrbug]

I don't really count my daily calories. A while back, I tried logging all of my food intake to see how much I actually ate in a day...it didn't go very well, so I just gave up on it after about 2 days.

I just try to be mindful of limiting the junk and empty calories whenever I can. But if I have a craving for candy or cookies...I won't deprive myself of having these treats every so often.