How do you calculate calories burned?

[ny biker]

I wanted to reply to this yesterday and I hesitated because I did not want my response to sound snarky. I have done a lot of training over the past 10 years, lots of endurance training and long sessions. I have been most successful managing a comfortable weight when I do NOT factor exercise into my calorie consumption. I fuel during the ride or run as necessary, but the rest of the day, I eat like I do not work out. Just good clean food, clean snacks, very low sugar. That was the biggest difference.

I run into trouble the minute I think, well I ran two hours today and burned X amount of calories so I should have or can have_____________________. As soon as I started to do that I had immediate success. From what I have researched MOST of the gadgets that calculate are way off in the calories count anyway. I could never figure out why I was logging all of those miles and not losing weight. And then bingo.

Just food for thought, no pun intended. If you have any questions or want specifics, just let me know. I can give you more details.

Related to this --

http://www.sportingnews.com/sport/st...uring-exercise

I know that I do tend to be very sedentary for the rest of the day after a long bike ride, and if my legs are feeling tired I will cut back on daily activities for the next few days, e.g., take the elevator at work instead of walking up the stairs. One of the reasons I don't do century rides anymore is that they caused me to gain weight -- I'd be too tired for any exercise for several days after long training rides, but at the same time I was very hungry and eating a lot.

BTW I still find Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook to be a great resource for weight management as well as guidance on what to eat before, during and after bike rides. She also posts links to some interesting articles on her twitter feed.

[OakLeaf]

One of the reasons I don't do century rides anymore is that they caused me to gain weight -- I'd be too tired for any exercise for several days after long training rides, but at the same time I was very hungry and eating a lot.

If you ever want to try it again, you might want to bump up what you have for your recovery meal. That really sounds like classic glycogen depletion.

[ny biker]

If you ever want to try it again, you might want to bump up what you have for your recovery meal. That really sounds like classic glycogen depletion.

You are probably right -- I now make sure to have a cup of OJ ready immediately after finishing long rides, and also have a food plan, either a snack I have with me or a place I know near the ride finish where I can get a sandwich. But I did not used to do that.

On the other hand, I also did not really enjoy the long training rides, and since I am not a fast rider I ended up with too many miles still to ride during the hottest part of the afternoon and finishing after the post-ride picnic has run out of food and most people have gone home. So I prefer metrics, with an occasional 75-80 miler. Always followed by OJ and a snack or sandwich.

[Dubz]

Thanks, girls. I appreciate all the feedback and useful links etc. I've had a quick look, but will look into them properly again. Definitely food for thought there (pardon the pun)!

I used to work out 6 days a week (including 10 mile runs three times a week), so I understand the need to refuel directly during and after a workout. I also know that it's not good idea to get caught up in exact calories burned. But for me, I like to have a ballpark figure so that I can ensure I'm getting the right amount of protein / carbs / fat etc. I like to plan what I eat. It makes life easier. It's what I used to do and it was very successful. I was in the best shape of my life. Otherwise, I know from past experience, that I will guesstimate what I need and get it wrong and then wonder why I'm not performing as well. For example: I was doing 10 mile runs and wondering why I was so sluggish since I was eating so healthily and wasn't hungry and was refuelling during my runs and afterwards. I couldn't understand what was going on. It turned out that I wasn't eating enough and having enough protein or fats (I wasn't avoiding fats either btw!). If I hadn't been tracking my food and calories burned, I would never have figured this out. I upped my calorie intake and changed around the ratios of what I ate. After that, I was fine.

@rocknrollgirl - Your comments are fine. Not snarky at all! Maybe your approach is worth considering as another way of looking at things. The calories burned counter that Bones8 put up is also very useful. I may end up using that to have as a rough guide for me to use.

On another thread, I've been asking about HRMs. I'm in two minds now whether they're useful or not. I think I need to read more and decide for myself.