nutrition Q for a newbie

[archibella]

Hey everybody- I've been reading some of the threads on how much and what kind of nutrition your body needs before, during, and after a ride. I was wondering if anyone has a link to a good calculator for how many calories you need and how many you burn during a ride? I want to lose a few lbs so I don't want to go overboard snacking, but at the same time I don't want to go through the temporary shutdown when I haven't eaten enough. Anything up to 15 miles and I'm fine, but the when I do, say, 22 miles my body wants to take a nap about 45 min. after I finish. I usually fill those 45 min with a shower and a meal. I'm guessing it's because I'm subsisting off of breakfast (or a starter like a cliff bar for rides later in the day) and gatorade/water without taking in any additional calories until after the ride. So... how many calories do I need anyway, lol? thanks!

[alison_in_oh]

Hey everybody- I've been reading some of the threads on how much and what kind of nutrition your body needs before, during, and after a ride. I was wondering if anyone has a link to a good calculator for how many calories you need and how many you burn during a ride? I want to lose a few lbs so I don't want to go overboard snacking, but at the same time I don't want to go through the temporary shutdown when I haven't eaten enough. Anything up to 15 miles and I'm fine, but the when I do, say, 22 miles my body wants to take a nap about 45 min. after I finish. I usually fill those 45 min with a shower and a meal. I'm guessing it's because I'm subsisting off of breakfast (or a starter like a cliff bar for rides later in the day) and gatorade/water without taking in any additional calories until after the ride. So... how many calories do I need anyway, lol? thanks!

Check out cptips.com!

[archibella]

cool site-- thanks! One question though, if you've done the curt austin calculator, can you explain the watts calculation for me? I feel like I'm missing part of the equation... or are you just supposed to input a figure that will yield the closest calculated speed and time, then check the calories?

[alison_in_oh]

cool site-- thanks! One question though, if you've done the curt austin calculator, can you explain the watts calculation for me? I feel like I'm missing part of the equation... or are you just supposed to input a figure that will yield the closest calculated speed and time, then check the calories?

Sorry, I was in a rush at work when I posted the link.

I've only used the BMR calculation and the already-calculated calorie examples for flat roads at varying speeds. 350-500 Cal/hr doesn't sound like much until you realize that headwinds and hills can double that figure!

For some rough examples: My BMR is about 1400 calories. I can estimate that my daily activities at a pretty sedentary job are another 500-800 calories. Then there's riding. 1000 calories per hour seems to be a good guesstimate for the varied terrain and intensity that I ride.

With two or three weightlifting sessions per week as part of about 8-10 total hours of exercise per week, I haven't found it necessary to restrict calories consciously. I just eat in moderation and healthfully and my fat % decreases. (Every so often I use fitday.com and get a rough figure for calorie intake -- usually around 2200-2500.) I might be lucky that way, but I should point out that this is the first time in my life that this is true -- and the first time in my life that I'm riding this much!

Other nutrition pointers: eat a balanced meal with plenty of carbo an hour or two before a long ride. If you're going to be on the bike more than 2 hours, you probably don't have enough muscle glycogen to keep you going. You need to eat on the bike in that case, starting at about an 1.5-2 hours, and then every hour thereafter. Something heavy with carbo, possibly even sweet/high-GI so it gets to your system fast. A Clif bar seems to work fine for me, so a couple hundred cals at a time.

After a ride I have at least something high-carbo like a piece of toast with tahini and jam to replenish those same glycogen stores. Maybe even a meal at that point. Getting some food in fast seems to help a lot with recovery.

Don't forget to drink regularly -- about 4 oz. every 15 minutes if you're not going TOO too hard -- but as has been in the media lately, don't overdo.

Hope this helps!