Advice for losing weight (or not gaining) while cycling

[Irulan]

I used myfitnesspal today. I did 12.5 miles, burned 750 cals and ate 1600 cals. According to them, if I did that every day I'd be in good shape.

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Wow if I ride for 60 minutes @ 14 MPH (avg trainer ride) I earn 450 cals... are you sure you are entering that correctly? I know it calculates differently based on ht/wt/age, but that seems way off.

[lovelygamer]

Wow if I ride for 60 minutes @ 14 MPH (avg trainer ride) I earn 450 cals... are you sure you are entering that correctly? I know it calculates differently based on ht/wt/age, but that seems way off.

I know what you are saying. Myfitnesspal is usually withing 100 or 200 of each ride I log, according to Endomondo but who knows? I don't wear a monitor.

I think the reason I am burning more now is because I am heavy. I don't ride at 16mph yet either. My average is 11.

[Catrin]

I know what you are saying. Myfitnesspal is usually withing 100 or 200 of each ride I log, according to Endomondo but who knows? I don't wear a monitor.

I think the reason I am burning more now is because I am heavy. I don't ride at 16mph yet either. My average is 11.

I do wear a monitor and have found it quite helpful. I use LoseIt, an app on my phone to track food and exercise for the last 2.5 years. 50 pounds ago when I started this cycling journey I certainly burned far more calories than I do now for the same trip.

A monitor isn't exact either, and I typically assume that I've burned 85-90% of the calories it reports. I have noted that Loseit, Endomondo. RideWithGPS, and other related sites I've tried over the years estimates my calories burned in any activity to be 100-300 calories higher than what my monitor tells me - but we need to have some way of estimating what we burn in our activities. Because of this when I track exercise on Loseit I will scale the time spent back enough so the calories spent will be close to that 85-90% of the calories my monitor reported for the ride/activity.

BTW, after 2 years and losing 50 pounds I don't average 16mph either - my average is 13ish depending on the day/conditions & that is ok

[Reesha]

Oh man. so after riding 200 miles this weekend, my hunger is through the roof. I am sure some of it is real hunger... my body wants to make up for any calorie lag. i also think there's some perceived hunger. If this is a prelude to this summer, it's going to be interesting. It will be really difficult to quantify calories consumed this summer with no internets and such, and I don't plan on wearing a HR monitor the whole time either.

I suppose I should stay away from junk and try to eat loads of good healthy foods. I just worry my hunger will best me. Can anyone who does long tours like mine weigh in?