Training & Nutrition - How much to eat

I'm curious as to how much others are eating, how many calories, how many times a day, and how many days per week you are riding and at what intensities. I think I may be a little low at approx 2000 calories a day and riding three days a week and moderate to higher moderate intensities. I'd like to hear what others are consuming. Thanks.

When I ride every day my calorie content sky rockets. I'd say over 4000 some days on multi-hour rides. Wife hates me. :)

I ride around 400ish miles a week, eat about 4000 cal/day. I should probably space it out a little better but I tend to not each much during the day and then eat a lot at night, wake up in the middle of the night for snacks, and in the morning... If you ride only 3 days per week at moderate intensity (you don't quantify that, or say for how long), 2000 cal/day average is probably enough. But what are your goals? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you feeling weak and tired?

I don't count calories. All I know is that when I ride longer rides (2 hours or more) I get really hungry later in the day. So I'll eat a LOT over the remains of the day. I've been trying to take some little bits to eat with me and have some recovery nutrition (mostly chocolate milk YUMMY) right afterward. On my shorter rides (around an hour) it makes me pretty hungry for breakfast and then seems to level out for the rest of the day.

My trouble is that even though I'm riding a fair amount I'm eating a LOT more than I was when I wasn't riding. I would guess I am packing in over 2500 calories a day and maybe even up to 3500 on some harder workout days and they aren't all good calories ;). I am losing weight and inches slowly. I am going to try to eat healthier after next week (I'm on vacation and all bets are off - but I'm taking my bikes with me :D). I'm hoping I can drop weight and inches a little quicker if I get my diet under a little better control. I want to be able to climb hills a little better ;). Hauling 212 pounds up someof these hills is a good work out, but I'd like to get up them a little quicker :D

I ride 150-200 miles a week, and I eat everything in sight. It costs as much as gas, I swear. I'll make a box of hamburger helper, can of pork&beans, and bread, half a cantaloupe and some grapes. I can't eat it all at once, but I just leave it on the counter and come back an hour later and finish it off. Still can't seem to gain a pound.

Nice timing on the thread. I recently decided that I would like to move from the high end of my weight range to the middle and needed to loose 10 lbs to do it. Being that riding more is a tad difficult I have started counting calories, how much fat, protein, carbs, and what time I eat at. It turns out with 56 miles of commuting each day I have been eating roughly 5000 calories. Plus with a decent amount of fat. I am in the process of dropping it down to smaller amount. So far 3000 seems about right but I may need to increase that a bit. I am feeling a tad woozy. I want to loose the weight not kill myself.
I still have to decide upon a non riding day calorie goal.

If you're starving at the end of a ride, it means your blood sugar levels have dropped too low. I suggest eating more while on the bike (I like about 150 calories per hour, depending on the intensity). I find that I'm not starving when I'm done, and so it's much easier to eat a reasonable meal after (I like a recovery drink right after, then a normal meal a bit later).

I recommend checking out posts by Danno and Aikigreg on this very topic. I'm basically just parroting their excellent advice.



I don't count calories. All I know is that when I ride longer rides (2 hours or more) I get really hungry later in the day. So I'll eat a LOT over the remains of the day. I've been trying to take some little bits to eat with me and have some recovery nutrition (mostly chocolate milk YUMMY) right afterward. On my shorter rides (around an hour) it makes me pretty hungry for breakfast and then seems to level out for the rest of the day.

My trouble is that even though I'm riding a fair amount I'm eating a LOT more than I was when I wasn't riding. I would guess I am packing in over 2500 calories a day and maybe even up to 3500 on some harder workout days and they aren't all good calories ;). I am losing weight and inches slowly. I am going to try to eat healthier after next week (I'm on vacation and all bets are off - but I'm taking my bikes with me :D). I'm hoping I can drop weight and inches a little quicker if I get my diet under a little better control. I want to be able to climb hills a little better ;). Hauling 212 pounds up someof these hills is a good work out, but I'd like to get up them a little quicker :D

Thanks. Yes I have indeed try to take some calories along on longer rides. My stomach has a hard time tolerating food while I'm riding at higher intensity. But I have started training myself to eat some and have been taking in some calories with sports drinks as well. I'm not quite there yet, but have made progress. This will become even more important as I'd like to work my way up to doing a century (pretty hilly from what I've heard) by next summer. Right now my longest is about 40 miles and I'm planning a nearly 80 miler (mostly a flat ride) in early August (I will need to make sure to eat on that one...)

Thanks for the tips for this newbie. I will check out those threads and training myself to eat and ride!!

:)

I ride around 400ish miles a week, eat about 4000 cal/day. I should probably space it out a little better but I tend to not each much during the day and then eat a lot at night, wake up in the middle of the night for snacks, and in the morning... If you ride only 3 days per week at moderate intensity (you don't quantify that, or say for how long), 2000 cal/day average is probably enough. But what are your goals? Are you trying to lose weight? Are you feeling weak and tired?

I'm not trying to loose weight, infact I could use a few pounds. I'm 6' 1" @ 158 lbs. I ride about an hour each of the three times a week. I'm in a very hilly area so the intensity is never too easy. I wonder if I'm eating too little because I wonder if I'm recovering enough to keep improving.

Thanks. Yes I have indeed try to take some calories along on longer rides. My stomach has a hard time tolerating food while I'm riding at higher intensity. But I have started training myself to eat some and have been taking in some calories with sports drinks as well. I'm not quite there yet, but have made progress. This will become even more important as I'd like to work my way up to doing a century (pretty hilly from what I've heard) by next summer. Right now my longest is about 40 miles and I'm planning a nearly 80 miler (mostly a flat ride) in early August (I will need to make sure to eat on that one...)I eat about 2500 cal/day and have been losing about 0.5-1.0-lb/wk. So my BMR is probably around 2800 cal/day.

If you're having hunger-pangs later in the day, you may not have eaten enough during the recovery-phase after the ride. Try for an immediate 250-300 calorie drink with a high-GI carbs in a 4:1 carb-protein ratio. There's studies on both sides showing the protien does and doesn't help. But doesn't hurt either. The extra insulin-spike helps bring glucose into the muscle-cells to replenish your glycogen stores quicker. This will enable faster recovery and you can ride the very next day easily.

The other thing is to take energy-drinks on the ride if you can't deal with solid foods. Try for a 300-500 calorie solid meal at least 1-2 hours before the ride. Then take in 200-250 cal/hr on the bike in high-GI energy drinks. Followed by a recovery drink. Then a normal meal within an hour or two. As long as your total daily calories eaten is less than what you burned off, you'll lose weight.

I'm not trying to loose weight, infact I could use a few pounds. I'm 6' 1" @ 158 lbs. I ride about an hour each of the three times a week. I'm in a very hilly area so the intensity is never too easy. I wonder if I'm eating too little because I wonder if I'm recovering enough to keep improving.Are you doing some sort of standardized time-trial regularly to see if you are improving? You're probably not depleted enough at the end of the rides to where recovery-nutrition would make a significant difference. However, you might benefit from some intense interval training.

Are you doing some sort of standardized time-trial regularly to see if you are improving? You're probably not depleted enough at the end of the rides to where recovery-nutrition would make a significant difference. However, you might benefit from some intense interval training.

I haven't done that. I judge my recovery from the soreness that I have the next day or so. It seems that there is just a little bit of soreness always there. Will recovery be inhanced with heavier work loads?

I have been riding about 150 miles a week since the end of January - it's nice here in the Central Valley. At that point I started working with the Team in Training group and I weighed about 275 pound - I'm 6'.

Six months later, I am thinner, but I still weigh 268.

I eat fruit and/or plain oatmeal for breakfast, a Clif Shot w/ caffeine before my lunch ride, a Clif Bar and an 8 oz Muscle Milk after my ride for lunch, and then a widely varied dinner meal - usually some lean meat and a salad with lots of avocado, and 2 glasses of wine. I drink a lot of water during the day as well - at least 3L.

Sweets on a rare occasion.

Why am I not losing weight?

6% BF
75-76kg

I ride 500-550 km per week.
My RMR is 2470.
My average intake for the last 30 days is 4188
Average intake:
60% carb ( 8 g/kg )
15% prot ( 2.1 g/kg )
25% fat ( 1.5 g/kg )

I've been steady at 75-76kg since the beginning of May.

You're either overestimating how many calories you're burning, or underestimating how many calories you're eating, or both. Try keeping track of every calorie you eat each day -- do that for a week or so. You might be surprised at all the hidden calories you're eating, or how small one serving of something really is.

If you're burning more calories than you're consuming, you'll lose weight.

Also, how is the 150 miles distributed across the days? Two long rides? Five 30-mile rides? How intense?




I have been riding about 150 miles a week since the end of January - it's nice here in the Central Valley. At that point I started working with the Team in Training group and I weighed about 275 pound - I'm 6'.

Six months later, I am thinner, but I still weigh 268.

I eat fruit and/or plain oatmeal for breakfast, a Clif Shot w/ caffeine before my lunch ride, a Clif Bar and an 8 oz Muscle Milk after my ride for lunch, and then a widely varied dinner meal - usually some lean meat and a salad with lots of avocado, and 2 glasses of wine. I drink a lot of water during the day as well - at least 3L.

Sweets on a rare occasion.

Why am I not losing weight?

Well, the place for underestimating what I eat is dinner. It varies so widely, but I don't eat junk food, always whole grains and organic meats and veggies.

As for the rides, 17.34 miles a day M-F, and a long ride on each of the weekend days.

Like I say, I've lost inches, but very few pounds. One of my teammates lost 40 pounds during training. I did have a test for hypothyroid one last week. I'll get the results on Monday.

If you count up the calories, you'll know for sure. Good luck!



Well, the place for underestimating what I eat is dinner. It varies so widely, but I don't eat junk food, always whole grains and organic meats and veggies.

As for the rides, 17.34 miles a day M-F, and a long ride on each of the weekend days.

Like I say, I've lost inches, but very few pounds. One of my teammates lost 40 pounds during training. I did have a test for hypothyroid one last week. I'll get the results on Monday.

Well, the place for underestimating what I eat is dinner. It varies so widely, but I don't eat junk food, always whole grains and organic meats and veggies.

Most people don't understand just how small "serving" sizes really are. 12oz of steak is like 700-900 calories depending on how much fat on the cut, so a big dinner can really add up fast. Try weighing your dinner for a few days.

Most people don't understand just how small "serving" sizes really are. 12oz of steak is like 700-900 calories depending on how much fat on the cut, so a big dinner can really add up fast. Try weighing your dinner for a few days.

+1.

Most people underestimate even when they think they aren't, so if he's admitting he's underestimating at dinner, he probably is -- big time.

I haven't done that. I judge my recovery from the soreness that I have the next day or so. It seems that there is just a little bit of soreness always there. Will recovery be inhanced with heavier work loads?At your height and weight, I'd say that you've got massive lung capacity, but very little muscle. This means you can easily overdrive your muscles before you're even winded. So some strength training would help you not tax your muscles so much and you'll be fully recovered by the next day and ready to go. You can try weight-training in the gym once a week and do one day of sprints and one day of anaerobic intervals on the bike. Within about a month, you won't have the residual soreness the next day. :)

At your height and weight, I'd say that you've got massive lung capacity, but very little muscle. This means you can easily overdrive your muscles before you're even winded. So some strength training would help you not tax your muscles so much and you'll be fully recovered by the next day and ready to go. You can try weight-training in the gym once a week and do one day of sprints and one day of anaerobic intervals on the bike. Within about a month, you won't have the residual soreness the next day. :)

Thanks, I had a feeling this may be the case too. I know I have little muscle mass, as I am quite lanky. Is it possible to do weight training on the bike; perhaps sprints up hill with no other regular mileage for the workout (I've got a 1 min. 30 sec. standing only climb right out my front door)? Or is it just best to do weight work with regular gym weights?

when i was calorie counting (obsessively) last year i was taking in 2800 on a normal day and close to 4000on hard effort days. from the start of my riding season in April to the end in October i think i dropped 20 lbs or so. all together it was close to 70 lbs dropped for me in 2006. it really is all about the calories in and out. later.

I don't eat to lose weight. I eat to fuel my next ride. Riding 5-6 days a week (220-250mi) has me at a distinct advantage calorie-wise.
I wear and swear by my HRM to tell me an est. calorie count during rides. Hard A group ride of 65 miles or so can add 3400 calories to my daily intake. Then 2 nights a week I play hockey, and that can add another 1500 calories to my count.

I have never thought of restricting calories during the season. Instead I ride longer and/or harder to lose the weight naturally instead of curbing my source of strength.... FOOD.

ADDITION of strength with SUBTRACTION of calories is a new math I am not familiar with :)

I have been riding about 150 miles a week since the end of January - it's nice here in the Central Valley. At that point I started working with the Team in Training group and I weighed about 275 pound - I'm 6'.

Six months later, I am thinner, but I still weigh 268.

I eat fruit and/or plain oatmeal for breakfast, a Clif Shot w/ caffeine before my lunch ride, a Clif Bar and an 8 oz Muscle Milk after my ride for lunch, and then a widely varied dinner meal - usually some lean meat and a salad with lots of avocado, and 2 glasses of wine. I drink a lot of water during the day as well - at least 3L.

Sweets on a rare occasion.

Why am I not losing weight?

There are only 2 sides to the weight loss equation - Calories In and Calories Out. Doing 150 miles per week on the bike, you're burning a whole bunch of calories (probably around 7000+).

So, that leaves "Calories In". If you're not losing weight, it's because you're eating too much.

Do you have any "problem foods"? For me, it's cookies - a bag rarely lasts more than 2 days. So, I only allow myself one bag per month. Identify your "substance abuse" foods and figure out a way to eliminate them, or cut way back on them...keeping them out of your house is the best way to start.

Also, do you drink any of your calories? That's a problem for many people. If you drink sugared sodas, quit right now...they're evil. But even if you limit yourself to fruit juices, it's easy to pack on hundreds of extra calories with a couple of glasses of juice each day.

Bottom line - look at what you currently eat, and try to find 300-500 calories each day that you can do without (preferably, calorie dense/nutrition poor things like breads, sweets, juice, etc.).

You might also want to be careful with the avocados - they're loaded with calories (276 calories in a medium avocado).

And, the "Muscle Milk" looks like a disaster to me too...360 calories if you use 2 scoops, with nearly half the calories from fat. Sounds more like a protein fortified milk shake to me. If you need extra protein, pick up some CostCo whey protein (about $28 for 6 lbs, with no added carbs/fat).

Best of luck.

I don't eat to lose weight. I eat to fuel my next ride. Riding 5-6 days a week (220-250mi) has me at a distinct advantage calorie-wise.
I wear and swear by my HRM to tell me an est. calorie count during rides. Hard A group ride of 65 miles or so can add 3400 calories to my daily intake. Then 2 nights a week I play hockey, and that can add another 1500 calories to my count.

I have never thought of restricting calories during the season. Instead I ride longer and/or harder to lose the weight naturally instead of curbing my source of strength.... FOOD.

That might work for you...unfortunately, for many people it doesn't.

No matter how much you ride, it's fairly easy to consume more calories than you burn on the bike.

And, since exercise tends to stimulate appetite, it's not at all uncommon to hear "I ride 200+ miles per week but can't lose 1 lb".

That might work for you...unfortunately, for many people it doesn't.

No matter how much you ride, it's fairly easy to consume more calories than you burn on the bike.

And, since exercise tends to stimulate appetite, it's not at all uncommon to hear "I ride 200+ miles per week but can't lose 1 lb".

+1

For me, a 100-mile ride is much easier than not stuffing my face afterwards.

There are many hidden calories that people don't add into their daily intake. Avocados are great except they are loaded with calories. Same with nuts, dried fruit and some other grains.
Remember, eating "healthy" doesn't mean low cal, often it's got more calories than processed food. You can easily hit 2000K with one trip to the salad bar.

The other things people miss are things like cream in your coffee, butter, salad dressings, added sugar in drinks like tea and the big one, fruit drinks. The fad is the jamba juice (sp) that can have up to 1000k in one drink!

That might work for you...unfortunately, for many people it doesn't.

No matter how much you ride, it's fairly easy to consume more calories than you burn on the bike.

And, since exercise tends to stimulate appetite, it's not at all uncommon to hear "I ride 200+ miles per week but can't lose 1 lb".


+2

While I am not overweight I am toeing the line. My calorie counting and monitoring of what I consume will hopefully fix that. I can literally eat everything in the house. :p Eating 5000 calories each day is a tad ridiculous IMHO. I was also surprised to see how high my fat percentage was.
My calorie counting is more about making sure I eat enough but not too much.
I'm not worried about being fat but dropping that 10 lbs should help my climbing provided that I do it correctly. I suck at hills.

When someone can ride 300+ miles a week at a quick pace and gain weight something is wrong.

The other things people miss are things like cream in your coffee, butter, salad dressings, added sugar in drinks like tea and the big one, fruit drinks. The fad is the jamba juice (sp) that can have up to 1000k in one drink!

After particularly long and hot rides I like to stop at Jamba Juice and get a small (16oz) all fruit smoothie. None of the added milk/ice cream/yogurt/sherbert and only about 200 calories. It gets some natural sugar in me for recovery (and sometimes I'll add the 7g protein "boost"), is cold, wet, and thick, so I can't down it too fast. It really hits the spot. BUT its very easy to go in there and order a disaster, like you said, so you really have to pay attention to what you are getting.

I know I eat more than I think I eat...:) :(

Currently at 165ish lbs (75 KG?) and should really be back to 160.
But then 'evening' happens and snackage is a tempting seductress :)

My best guess is I'm packing about 2600 - 3000 Kcals/day, and aside from the avg day burn rate I'm averaging about 800 Kcals per weekday ride (4 days outta 5 usually, often all 5 days with one day being around 600-650ish Kcals as a recovery ride) ; 1800 ride Kcals on Sat and 2600-3000 ride Kcals on Sunday. Some of it actually has gone into muscle... how that happened I'll never know. :)
Best I can guess on Body Fat, as comparo to a younger me when I had immersion tests done 3x a year, I'm prolly at a loveable 14% blubber content at the moment. 12% would be nice if I could get there... :)
Most people overestimate what their BMR is. BMR is just 'existance', which for someone like me - a shrinking 5' 11" er, at 165 lbs, is likely 1200 Kcals/day. An average work day with no real exercise prolly means 1800 Kcals used, at best. Add in a 1 hr+ evening ride at 800 Kcals and subtract 50 Kcals for what I'd need for that hour anyway - that means 2550 Kcals at most for the day.
Thats prolly STILL OVERSTATING the daily null requirement, otherwise I;d be losing weight...

'Kcal usage per mile' rule O Thumb for moi:

at 16 mph avg - 30 Kcals/mi
at 17.5 mph avg - 35 Kcals/mi
at 19 mph avg - 42 Kcals/mi

whatever that all means... still means I'm barely able to to hold a wheel when the young guys are puttin the hammer to the anvil :eek:

whatever that all means... still means I'm barely able to to hold a wheel when the young guys are puttin the hammer to the anvil :eek:

You do pretty well for yourself on the saturday ride

I just started reading a good book called "Ultrametabolism" by Mark Hyman M.D. which covers alot about calories in and under / over eating and how it effects your metabolism. I just started reading it but have already learned great info.

Thanks Danno & others. This discussion has been extremely helpful to me from diet to training techniques. As a newbie, that's right where I live...

Lovin' it!

:)

You do pretty well for yourself on the saturday ride

HA! thanks, I guess I can still suffer well enough. Somewhere along the way, in the 18 years since I first did that ride, I sortta remember back then my mentality was "YES, letz really JAM up that hill and see if I can get a gap!" ... to now... "Please, Lord, just let me make it up this hill one more time without blowin up!!"
:(

and you chattin with Kim on your cell, while we're doin Old San Marcos, and me sufferin up that climb, does nothing to help my mental attitude :mad:

you'll be there so enough and then you'll be sorry

My doc says jalepeno poppers are not a good "energy bar substitute" for breakfast. Anybody got hard data to back this quack up?

My doc says jalepeno poppers are not a good "energy bar substitute" for breakfast. Anybody got hard data to back this quack up?

No data available . . . go for the poppers :)!!

I eat about 2500 cal/day and have been losing about 0.5-1.0-lb/wk. So my BMR is probably around 2800 cal/day.

If you're having hunger-pangs later in the day, you may not have eaten enough during the recovery-phase after the ride. Try for an immediate 250-300 calorie drink with a high-GI carbs in a 4:1 carb-protein ratio. There's studies on both sides showing the protien does and doesn't help. But doesn't hurt either. The extra insulin-spike helps bring glucose into the muscle-cells to replenish your glycogen stores quicker. This will enable faster recovery and you can ride the very next day easily.

The other thing is to take energy-drinks on the ride if you can't deal with solid foods. Try for a 300-500 calorie solid meal at least 1-2 hours before the ride. Then take in 200-250 cal/hr on the bike in high-GI energy drinks. Followed by a recovery drink. Then a normal meal within an hour or two. As long as your total daily calories eaten is less than what you burned off, you'll lose weight.

When I started being religious about doing the recovery drink, it made a huge difference in how hungry I was after the ride - I'm no longer particularly hungry after shorter rides (say, 2 hours or so) and less hungry on the longer ones. That let me drop 10 pounds in the last year or so (down to 165 pounds at 6'1")

i find if id o good recovery nutrition i am much less hungry later also try upping the proteina bit.

This has been a good read. I only started riding when my podiatrist told me I had to stop running. But, with the travel I do for my job, it is hard to ride a lot -- I know every hotel exercise bike between Chapel Hill and Little Rock. I'm impressed with the amount of miles ya'll can rack up every week.

I had to add a column to my workout log to see how I was doing myself. I'll leave it at "no comment." However, I have been losing some weight -- maybe 1/2 pound per week. I think I have just boosted my metabolism enough t keep my calories burning longer.

Now, if I could get up to 150 miles a week . . . I might get skinny!