Do any of you count calories?

[Marto32]

ride more and ride smarter. Are you following a structured training plan?

Not really, I usually go for a 20 - 24 mile ride two days a week, do sufferfest intervals/sustained efforts 2 days a week, climb one day and go for a long ride or race on the 6th day. I'll either go for an easy ride on the 7th day or just rest/stretch.

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

As for the morning not being an ideal time to ride.. I see tons of riders in central park at this time.

[ilovecycling]

WOW! 8-9 hours a night? What luxury! Have you somehow managed to change the rotation of the earth in your part of the world to operate on 26+ hour days?

Most of the time I get 6-7 hours of sleep/night. And during the 4 years I was in University recently, it was more like 4-6 hours.

Sounds like my sleep schedule for the past 7 years. Since graduating college a little over a year ago I still have trouble sleeping more than 5-7 hours a day. I know I should probably be getting 7-9 hours of sleep regularly, but I can't help it. I find that my chronic lack of sleep makes me a little grumpier than I could be, but I can still ride my bike for a lot longer than 30 minutes at moderate intensity before bonking out. How hard are you riding?

[Marto32]

Not that hard. My avg speed is usually around 17-18 mph and there's only one moderate hill in central park. I'm almost entirely convinced it's a lack of cycling fitness and dieting. I really only started training hard in early March.

[ColinL]

If you start counting calories rather than sheep to help induce sleep each night, you'd be killing two birds with one stone now wouldn't ya?

wth did I eat for dinner... oh, chicken. was it 5 or 7 oz.. and that's 35 kcal per ounce...

at the point you start doing math, I don't think it helps you fall asleep.

[patentcad]

My Joule 2.0 counts them every ride.

[MrTuner1970]

Just make sure you have recovery days mixed in with the hard days. My normal schedule is:
Monday recovery ride in zone 1
Tuesday Speed work if solo; group ride when I can
Wednesday aerobic endurance
Thursday Intervals
Friday recovery ride in zone 1
Saturday & Sunday races or hard riding both days

Its hard for me to remember that gains are made AFTER hard work; i.e. recovery rides or time off the bike.

This week is a rest week for me. Doing easy rides and endurance rides, and taking 2-3 days off. Resuming hard training Saturday.

Not really, I usually go for a 20 - 24 mile ride two days a week, do sufferfest intervals/sustained efforts 2 days a week, climb one day and go for a long ride or race on the 6th day. I'll either go for an easy ride on the 7th day or just rest/stretch.

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

As for the morning not being an ideal time to ride.. I see tons of riders in central park at this time.

[Siu Blue Wind]

WOW! 8-9 hours a night? What luxury! Have you somehow managed to change the rotation of the earth in your part of the world to operate on 26+ hour days?

Most of the time I get 6-7 hours of sleep/night. And during the 4 years I was in University recently, it was more like 4-6 hours.

Sounds like a bit of jealousy hidden in sarcasm, to me. *insert smart alecky grinning smiley face here*

[Dilberto]

I used to - but the body soon gets wise to the fact you are trying to achieve diet-induced caloric deficit....and will stop shedding pounds COLD. Ride long and easy, on an empty stomach gets much better results - as exercise-induced caloric deficit is way more effective for fat loss.

[Machka]

Sounds like a bit of jealousy hidden in sarcasm, to me. *insert smart alecky grinning smiley face here*

Yep ... I'm jealous! I'd need a 26 or 28 hour day in order to get 8+ hours of sleep every night.

[lazerzxr]

I dont really know how you can count calories accurately enough to plan a diet around the energy you burn.

My Garmin is way off on the calorie count, better but still off is my old polar computer. When I download the Garmin to strava and mapmyride, i get wildly different calorie reports. Being a powertap user you might think i could just use that, and i can, but that measures energy that passes through the hub and gets to the road, not the enrgy I personally burn in the process of sending that enrgy to the hub, to calculate that you need a fudge factor which may or may not be accurate. Also if i ride on a warm day, the PT will report the same calories for a ride as it would on a freezing day when I burned hundreds of calories keeping warm.

I just make sure the food I eat contains about the right ratio of ingredients and "eat enough of it". I'm 6'2" and 160lb so I think that approach works quite well for me.

Calories were really invented to give fat people something to talk about while standing around having a smoke.

[Velo Vol]

No.

[sqharaway]

I'd pay attention to what you eat directly after a ride. Perhaps your current recovery strategy isn't working and your glycogen stores are not filling? The food you listed in the first post, assuming you rode that day, doesn't seem like nearly enough...

[Machka]

I dont really know how you can count calories accurately enough to plan a diet around the energy you burn.

Nutrition Data: http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Fit Day: http://www.fitday.com/
Daily Plate: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/

[krobinson103]

If I want to get 2 hours of riding in every day I have to get up at 4:30am. This means I get about 6 hours of sleep every night IF my kids go to sleep at 10am. Still, I don't feel overly tired from 3 months of this schedule so I guess 6 hours is enough. I just go by the charts and ignore exercise induced loss unless I ride enough to really need the energy. Lost 10kg in 3 months so I suspect its working just fine.

[banerjek]

So knowing that I'm getting enough rest and training a good amount, but still not feeling like I'm reaching my potential, this has to be diet-related, right? For instance, this morning I had to stop 30 minutes into a ride because I got nauseous and winded (and I wasn't pushing it any harder than normal).

You might want to get a checkup to make sure nothing is wrong. You get lots of rest, your food intake sounds fine, yet you describe problems that really shouldn't occur. The amount of riding you do really is moderate and shouldn't cause problems.

In response to the thread title, yes I've paid attention to calories for decades. We're about the same height, but you weigh 40 lbs more than me, and I ride more than you. If I rode the same amount as you, I would never be able to eat any 3000 calories a day as you have.

[Marto32]

You might want to get a checkup to make sure nothing is wrong. You get lots of rest, your food intake sounds fine, yet you describe problems that really shouldn't occur. The amount of riding you do really is moderate and shouldn't cause problems.

In response to the thread title, yes I've paid attention to calories for decades. We're about the same height, but you weigh 40 lbs more than me, and I ride more than you. If I rode the same amount as you, I would never be able to eat any 3000 calories a day as you have.

Now that you mention this, I was at the doctor two weeks ago and my blood pressure was much lower than normal. It was around 96/51... I'm usually at around 120/75 and always get a comment about how good it is by the nurse... I figured it was because it was early in the AM and I hadn't eaten breakfast.

[alexaschwanden]

I don't care to much about calories for now, i have a quick metabolism.

[LowCel]

I don't care to much about calories for now, i have a quick metabolism.

I remember those days.

[icyclist]

"For instance, this morning I had to stop 30 minutes into a ride because I got nauseous and winded (and I wasn't pushing it any harder than normal)."

So what did you have for breakfast this morning?

"Yesterday my diet was bacon egg and cheese, tuna melt, chocolate chip muffin and a calzone."

Did you ride like you did this morning? What happened?

[Marto32]

"For instance, this morning I had to stop 30 minutes into a ride because I got nauseous and winded (and I wasn't pushing it any harder than normal)."

So what did you have for breakfast this morning?

"Yesterday my diet was bacon egg and cheese, tuna melt, chocolate chip muffin and a calzone."

Did you ride like you did this morning? What happened?

Had a Cliff energy bar for breakfast. And I rode fine the morning I ate those meals. I had a banana for breakfast that day. I think the problem is diet related. I'm going to eat healthy and carb-heavy for a few days and post back here with updates.

M

[icyclist]

"Had a Cliff energy bar for breakfast."

OK, you felt sick, after you had an energy bar, 30 minutes into a ride. That's not a lot for breakfast and maybe my question should have included: "What did you have for dinner the night before?"

"And I rode fine the morning I ate those meals."

What meals? The bacon, egg, etc?

"I had a banana or breakfast that day."

I'm sorry, I'm a little confused. How does the banana figure in?

If you're getting the bonk - typically that means you become suddenly weak on your ride - it means you're out of energy. If you didn't have enough food the night before (and only a Clif bar in the morning), then yes, your issue is diet or perhaps even hydration related.

As for your very low blood pressure reading - this is starting to sound like an episode from House - didn't the nurse take it a second time to validate the numbers? Dehydration could suggest why you feel sick, and your low blood pressure. Maybe the question should be "How much do you drink?" not about what you eat or don't eat.

[LowCel]

"Had a Cliff energy bar for breakfast."

OK, you felt sick, after you had an energy bar, 30 minutes into a ride. That's not a lot for breakfast and maybe my question should have included: "What did you have for dinner the night before?"

"And I rode fine the morning I ate those meals."

What meals? The bacon, egg, etc?

"I had a banana or breakfast that day."

I'm sorry, I'm a little confused. How does the banana figure in?

If you're getting the bonk - typically that means you become suddenly weak on your ride - it means you're out of energy. If you didn't have enough food the night before (and only a Clif bar in the morning), then yes, your issue is diet or perhaps even hydration related.

As for your very low blood pressure reading - this is starting to sound like an episode from House - didn't the nurse take it a second time to validate the numbers? Dehydration could suggest why you feel sick, and your low blood pressure. Maybe the question should be "How much do you drink?" not about what you eat or don't eat.

It sounds like you are on the right track.

I am thinking that Marto should keep a log of what he eats, how he rides, and how he feels during those rides and after he finishes. Try that for a month and see what you find out.

[Marto32]

It sounds like you are on the right track.

I am thinking that Marto should keep a log of what he eats, how he rides, and how he feels during those rides and after he finishes. Try that for a month and see what you find out.

I'm going to count calories/log food using myfitnesspal for a few days and I'll post back with updates. Thanks again guys.

FWIW - I think the blood pressure incident was a fluke. I hadn't had breakfast (which means I probably didn't drink enough water either) which is what I assumed caused this from the get go. I usually have very good bp.

[generalkdi]

I don't "count" them, but I keep an eye on my input vs output. I want to keep my weight as it is, so I eat more when I burn more and less when I burn less. It works, since my weight is always between 129 and 132.