How many calories should i aim for?
 

Hey guys, this has been asked 100,000 times but i want to get a straight answer on it.
Im 20 years old, 6 foot 1 and weight around 218-220 pounds depending on the day. Im
not fat, im just a big guy but i do have some areas around the stomach(love handles) that
i would like to get rid of. I bike alot, usually between 25-30 miles every day to every other
day depending on how i feel and theyre usually consist nothing but climbing hills and going
all out for the hole ride(besides the warmup) and i love to sweat. My question is, how many
calories should a active rider at my size take in each day for maximum weight loss? I usually
wake up, eat a bagel with light cream cheese and maybe a peice of fruit, around noon ill have
a nutrition bar and an apple, and for dinner ill usually have a big salad with 2 peices of chicken.
Can somebody tell me how many calories i should take in each day?
Heres a picture of me to show my size.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...elli/032-1.jpg

Calculate your BMR, there are calculators online that will do it. This will give you a ball park figure, add to that calories burned from cycling. Most HR will give you a ball park figure based on your heart rate. The ones that take in to account your weight, max HR, age, sex are more accurate, but it is still just a ball park figure. Then just track your weight and what you eat. For healthy weight loss you want around 500-600 calories deficit. Also try to incorporate weight training and core muscle exercise as not to loose muscle mass.

From what you posted you might not be eating enough for your weight and age. Nutrition and eating healthy is a very important part of weight loss. Personally I would recommend replacing the bar with actual food. Bagel is ok, but it's mostly just carbs. If you do choose a bagel go for whole grain one.
UD

I'm more than twice your age, weigh 142 lbs, and I eat at least twice what you listed there. Either that is an idealized diet that you don't actually stick to (my guess), or you are running a severe caloric deficit.

If you could stick to it, you'd lose weight fast, but you'd get slower on the bike since you'll be catabolizing muscle.

No one can tell you how many calories you need, maybe an estimate but only you can determine how much you need. Your under eating atm thats for sure, your body won't lose the last bit of fat because you always keep it in a starved state so it stores extra fat for energy. Pump up the cals with lots of nutritious carbs(fruits)

Okay thanks for the input guys, im going to work on this.

Lots of little meals is my philosophy. I eat 400-600 calories every 2.5 hours. This equates to six meals a day. I'll bet this would help your body get into weight loss mode, as you're communicating to your system that food will always be there, so there's less need to store what's coming in as fat. One or two cups or tea or coffee (black) will help boost your metabolism also.

Also, consider mixing in a longer, less strenuous ride once a week. A lower heart rate will encourage your body to burn fat more efficiently, which might help the pounds drop off.

:bang:

You could be a very lean 220 pounder or a not so lean 220 pounder. Shoot for 15% body fat, or maybe 10% if you want to become faster on the hills.

At 15% body fat you will look quite skinney compared to the average American male of the same build/muscle amount

Thanks for the input, What do you usually find your self eating? I sometimes find it hard to find healthy stuff to snack on throughout the day. Any suggestions? Right now i eat a good amount of fruit and veggies and health bars.

Thanks Mate!

B:)

No telling - that would depend on how well you are responding to your days activity needs.

Focusing your weight loss effort on a calorie count is a wrong-headed approach. See the big picture. You already know how you got to your current weight. Simply reduce the "super-size" meals you used to have - and continue to exercise.

The thing about eating small meals is not about "boosting metabolism" or "body is not storing extra as fat" it's about not getting hungry. People tend to over-eat when they are hungry since it takes a brain a while to realize food is in the tummy. It is not an all end solution to weight loss. It works for some, but not others.

Moderate rides are good for building aerobic base. Generally speaking higher the intensity more calories someone burns. As intensity increases different energy systems get used to power muscles and exercise transitions more to anaerobic from aerobic. This means less oxygen is used, and at some point none, to power the muscles. This means more carbohydrates stored in muscles and liver and less fat are used as the percentage of total calories burned. Although as I said before more calories are burned total, which is the key point. Of course it is hard to do high intensity exercise every day, and it is counter productive to training. So balance needs to be struck between different intensities. This will depend on time you have, and your fitness goals. One of the reasons things like HIIT are popular with people who do not have time to exercise, or treat it like some kind of burden/punishment. It is a high intensity exercise that burns the most calories in shortest amount of time.

For healthy snacks, dump the "healthy" bars. Most are just candy bars in disguise. Almost anything can be a "snack": small salad with egg shredded on top and a bit of dijon mustard and soy sauce for dressing, greek yogurt (or any other plain yogurt), mixed with berries or fruits, nuts (although go easy on those they are quite calorie dense).

UD

I eat a lot of burritos. Most homemade. Breakfast burritos (pan fry a handful of frozen tater tots, add 2 eggs, salsa and load into a tortilla) or bean burritos (canned refried beans, salsa, tortilla, sometimes cheese) or cheese quesadilla. Lots of apples. PB&J sandwiches. Celery/PB. Soup. TV dinner. Carrots/cucumbers/pita with hummus. Smoothies (tons of options there - fruit or veggies, lowfat yogurt, wheat germ, etc etc). The list goes on and on.

I'll confess: one meal a day is usually not too healthy. Usually in the afternoon I'll have something bad like a handful of oreos and milk or a toaster struddle or something like that. I try not exceed 400 calories there though.

It's total calories that matter, not when or how often you eat them. Frequent small meals may help with hunger but you may find your life will start revolving round food and everything you eat - which isn't a good thing IMO.

You may find that if you time your meals right, a carb rich meal 3-4 hours before a training session will provide best results, and eat lighter, smaller amounts the rest of the time. Plenty of fruits/veg and restrict white/refined carbs.