Knowledgeable people please correct/confirm my (mis)understandings about nutrition in regards to cycling. I have spent days reading this particular forum heavily, and although I feel like I get the jist of proper nutrition, I have the feeling that nothing I eat is alright --- and it all seems very complex
1) Your body stores energy in muscles and liver called glycogen. This is worth 2000 calories. It is important to eat plenty of carbohydrates before an intensive ride so this reserve is full. Any riding beyond two hours there should be a replenishment of these carbohydrates (on the bike snacks). After an intensive ride it should be a liquid shake comprised of a 4:1 ratio (Carbs/Protein) for recovery. And if you don't do so after an intensive ride the body MUST replenish the glycogen somehow,
even at the expense of hard earned muscle tissue. Do I have this right? I'm worried about perhaps overeating on the recovery carb/protein drink and simply replacing all my hard efforts...but to do that I would have needed to eat more than 2000 calories...?
2) From what I read in this forum it appears as though cycling @ 15MPH or above burns between 20-30 calories per mile. Since I am aiming for weight loss I'm doing my calculations on the underestimate. Is this correct?
3) There are two energy sources being burned when you bike: glycogen and fat. So, if I bike 25 miles (25 miles x 20cals = 500 calories) how much of that is glycogen and how much is fat? How many carbohydrates should I be consuming after a ride such as that? I'm 171 pounds, 5 9 1/2, goal weight 160, and 23 years old.
4) My BMR according to
this calculator says 1853. That is if I slept in bed 24 hours a day and did absolutely nothing. I bike intensively (18mph+ at high cadences, flats, and hill climbing) 5-6 days a week with 1-2 days a week for recovery depending on how I'm feeling. I'm putting between 2-3 hours of riding a day and anywhere between 15 to 40 miles each day. According to this calorie
calculator I should be eating around 3194 calories per day if I'm exercising moderately 6-7x a week. Now to continue losing 1 pound a week I must eat no more than 2694 calories a day for a 500 calorie deficit. Am I understanding the math correctly here? I believe burning 3194 calories per day seems rather high at my cycling level (above) but I have run through several calculators and they seem to be saying the same thing +/-1-200 calories.
Anyone else get the feeling like they should just abandon reading nutrition guides/forums/etc --- eat small frequent portions throughout the day, stay hydrated, and just bike, forget trying to figure out how to maximize anything? All I want to do is lose another 10-15 pounds but I do not want to be losing any muscle tissue. Sorry for the long post & thank you for reading it.
PS: I have lost 30 pounds over the last 6 months and I feel fitter, stronger, and a lot lighter. I must be doing something right? My lower half of my body is 100% awesome, but I'm worried I'm losing muscle? I can't really tell because I never had a strong well defined upper body, ever, just lean. I think once I'm at my target weight (160) I will begin strength training, even though I know I will gain weight in muscle. I just want to lose the fat first!