"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Eating Enough while Training?

Hi all,

I've recently started using www.fitday.com as suggested by a poster here or on RBR I forget which. I've noticed that I burn off way more calories than I intake on a daily basis. In the last couple of days I've eaten...

Day 1 Day 2
Eaten 3304 3179
Burned 4489 4501

Calories Missing 1185 1322

Is it okay to have this much missing a day? I don't feel adversely affected or anything but I don't want to be doing something to my body that is a no-no. Are these internet sites very accurate anyways? I know the data on what I'm eating is accurate but the burned data could be off. Thanks for any help.

That's way too many calories you're losing per day. A lot of muscle is going along with any fat. At that deficit, you should be feeling rather famished at times.

I would keep it to 500-700 calories per day, if you want to lose weight. Even less is better, especially if you don't want your training to suffer.

In short: eat more.

+1. 500kcal/day deficit works out to about 1lb/week, which is as fast as any nutritionist I've ever heard/read tells any athlete to lose weight. You can lose it faster, but there'd be more muscle mass leaving with the fat you want to get rid of.

I don't even want to lose weight, at 6'4 and 165 lbs I think I'm pretty good where I am. I guess I'll just eat more. Cooking some white bean chili as we speak :D

What are you using to calculate your burn?

Also... two days of deficit isn't so bad, really. My long ride days are probably in that deficit range, but I don't track intake much anymore. I just eat all the time to try to keep weight on.

I just eat all the time to try to keep weight on.

I hate you. ;)

What are you using to calculate your burn?


To calculate my burn I'm just using the fitday calculator, supposedly the break down on a average day is 1939 Basal, 1260 Lifestyle and then whatever I've done for fitness (1 hour of Foundation = 739 calories)

I hate you. ;)

Yer the surgeon... just do a little self nip-n-tuck?

Yer the surgeon... just do a little self nip-n-tuck?

Hehe... I know a good plastic surgeon... I'm one of those lucky people who will have love handles forever and ever unless I just have them chopped off. It's those good NE European genes workin' there... :(

how do you have your metabolism set? i try to keep mine at "seated some movement" on weekdays and just seated on weekends. punch in your activities in your activity log. (i work at a bike shop, so i type in 5-8 hours of "volunteer work-packing/assembling" or whatever and then my commute, if i ride (not so much lately, too ****ing cold) and computrainer time after i punch out. average burned is about 3350 and consumed is around 3200 daily. it works out. (6'0-165 pounds) it's a fun program, but it turned me obsessive. and i'm not so sure the activity log is super accurate. just sayin.

-jason

IMHO, Fitday grossly overstates the Calorie burn. For example, cycling 16-19 mph gives you a calorie burn for an hour of almost 1000 calories. Yet Powertap data would indicate that the calories would be mor ein the 500-600 range.

For me, to make the data on Fit day consistent with reality (and what the scale is telling me) I dumb down my activity level to seated work (not with some moving around option) and enter my rides at about 2 levels below Fit day's descriptions.

IMHO, Fitday grossly overstates the Calorie burn. For example, cycling 16-19 mph gives you a calorie burn for an hour of almost 1000 calories. Yet Powertap data would indicate that the calories would be mor ein the 500-600 range.

For me, to make the data on Fit day consistent with reality (and what the scale is telling me) I dumb down my activity level to seated work (not with some moving around option) and enter my rides at about 2 levels below Fit day's descriptions.

I too was a bit "put back" with what fitday states my calorie burn is without even factoring in exercise. I really don't think I burn 3400 calories a day before you factor in exercise. Seems like a lot.

+1 to merlinextra's claim that Fitday's overstatement of calorie burn. This method is an estimation and the error in it, over time, is huge. I would also suggest using a wattage meter on your bike or heart rate monitor.

But don' tget hung up on the numbers. Are you gettingtired quickly? Ravenous for meals? Do you get light headed or irritable when you haven't eaten? That's how you know that you're eating too little.

Another thing that this myopic calorie counting misses is WHAT you're eating. Make an effort to get beyond the big three (carbs, protein and fat) and get into the amino acids, kinds of carbs, how often and how much you eat, etc.