Tindo

Hello again everyone and thanks once again for the wonderful advice. I've dropped one gear and took a rest day and now my legs are recovering much faster. I've also achieved my goal of 20 miles a day, but i don't ride that far every day. I generally go 12 to 15 miles a day and then head back home to shower, shave, and go to work. Now I've got another problem. I have gained 1.5 pounds since my last post and its really disappointing. I eat between 1100 and 1500 calories a day. I do include carbs, and protein in my diet but no sugar at all. Am i eating too many calories? Should i cut 500 calories out of my diet, or is the weight I'm gaining muscle mass? My legs do feel sore after a ride and i'm thinking about shifting up to another gear and riding a few less miles a day until i can build enough strength and stamina to get back up to around 12 to 15 miles a day, but i don't know if this is the right thing to do or not.

Chaco

You lost around 100 pounds in 4 months. Your body is resisting now. Give it some time.
A variation of 2-3 pounds in a week is nothing to worry about. Remember, your body is around 60% water. That means that for a 200 lb. man, there is 120 lbs. of water. That guy can eat a little extra salt, and see his weight go up by 3 lbs. in one day. It means nothing.

Here's a good calculator to figure out your basal metabolic rate, and it incorporates, age, exercise level, desired weight loss, etc.

If you're eating 1,500 calories a day, you have very likely convinced your body that you're starving. It will try to conserve every molecule of fat that it can, by slowing your metabolism, and by consuming your lean muscle mass. You don't want that.

If you weight yourself every day, then get an app like Libra (for Androids - I'm sure there's an equivalent for iPhones). This app will show you a trend line, so that you can disregard the statistical noise from daily weigh-ins.

The idea that you're gaining weight because you're increasing muscle mass is mostly a myth. It might be true for young body builders who have plenty of testosterone and are not in a calorie deficit. For almost everyone else, it's BS.

rkerider

The below information is just my own opinion, but I have read and learned a lot about nutrition over the years. I have another post to compare with others about my macros requirements looking for suggestions. After my injury, I have diet set at 2500 calories and feel like I’m starving, so I’ll bump that up to 2800~3000. I got into cycling since I was having problems with knees and wanted low impact sport that I could keep up on cardio, and enjoy with the kids.

You’re thinking about cutting calories when you’re getting no more than 1500?? That’s unhealthy. 1100-1500 calories might be enough for someone who lies on the couch all day. You are cutting out sugar but sugar is a simple carb and can be found in fruits, vegies, and dairy naturally. I’d agree in cutting out empty calorie sugars like ice cream, cookies, candy.

I’ve always tried to get most protein from food (chicken, tuna, pork, meat) and good carb foods to equal out and limit saturated fats as much as possible. Your protein intake will not contribute to weight gain since any excess protein will be excreted out in waste. There is a debate about high protein and effects on kidneys, but I have not read proof on that. Try to get simple carbs (fruit, milk) and complex carbs (bread, pasta, rice) carbs which will fuel your engine. Complex carbs take longer to digest so I tend to consume early in day so body will have time to burn them. Do not cut out carbs since they are main source of fuel, but use them efficiently. You can take slow digesting proteins (cottage cheese, casin) before bed to repair muscles during sleep. In morning, get going with oatmeal, bagel, or cereal and another protein food to get body out of starvation mode. Just try to do small but frequent meals so you don’t get any blood sugar spikes. Critical times for protein and simple carbs are first thing after waking up and after exercise.

Your body will burn calories during cycling but after the ride your metabolic rate goes up too. So it will seem like you’re eating more but your body is trying to refuel. Try to get a good protein meal with simple carbs within first 1hr after exercise. You are correct that muscle mass weighs more so your weight could slightly go up. If that bothers you see a health trainer to do body fat calculation with calibers. Sorry to ramble but I know that 1500 calorie intake with moderate exercise is unhealthy. The body will stop burning fat since it thinks it’s starving and will use the protein in the muscle as fuel.

See the calculator link that Chaco submitted. You will need to log your intake for a day so you’ll know how many grams of carbs you’re taking in. The site even answered my question about fat intake so I was about 30 grams low, so thanks Chaco.

Carbonfiberboy 

And weight gain doesn't necessarily mean fat gain. Blood volume goes up when you are starting on an exercise program. Hydration can go up.

Paul01

Muscle is denser and heavier than fat.

CbadRider

It takes 3500 extra calories for you to gain a pound. Unless you've been eating everything in sight, it's not fat you've gained. You might actually be eating too few calories and your body has gone into survival mode where it hangs on to everything you eat because it's not getting enough calories to maintain itself.

I can gain 3-4 pounds of water weight overnight if I eat a bunch of salty food like chips & salsa. Make sure you're eating healthy food and not a bunch of processed stuff with high sodium.

As for your workout, are you taking any recovery or rest days?

Tindo

Yep i take a rest day every 3 or 4 days.

krobinson103

I can lose or gain 3-4 pounds in water over the course of a day. After 100 miles I've lost at least 3 pounds in water, 6 hours later its back. A better measure is to see if your clothes fit the same. If they are getting loose and you are getting heavier you have nothing to worry about. I've been stable at 85-87kg for 2 months now and my clothes are still getting larger. All i can figure is that fat is being burned and muscle being gained at the same time.

Tindo

My heart rate monitor says i burned 1423 calories during a 12 mile (8 to 10 mph since i wear out too quickly to go much faster) bike ride, but map my ride says 582 and the program i use to count calories with says 507. I know mapmyride and the program i use to count calories are based on calculations but my hrm has got me wondering witch one is more accurate.

Thirstyman

I don't know your weight but 1423 appears wildly wrong. It is much more in line with 500 Kcal.

Chaco

This is a great example of why you should not count exercise calories as part of your overall total (unless, of course, you're a professional athlete like Phelps who has to consume 12,000 calories a day just to maintain his weight). Unless you weigh about 500 lbs. and had your heart in zone 5 to do those 10 miles, there is no way in the world you came close to 1,423 calories.

I count carbs, so I don't have to count calories, but these exaggerated calorie counts are one of the things that sabotage calorie counters. They have an exercise session and see that their computer (on the treadmill, HRM, or whatever) tells them they've burned 1,000 C. So they eat a 500 C snack, thinking they still have 500 C in the bank. In reality, they have wiped out the calorie expenditure from exercise, and on top of that have an excess of 250 C.

There's an interesting study that just came out, testing the theory that the reason obesity is such a problem has to do with our sedentary lifestyles. Basically, what they found out is that this isn't true. The main culprit in obesity is the type of food we eat, not the amount of exercise we get in our daily lives. That isn't to say that we don't need exercise for a lot of other health-related reasons, but it is not the key to losing weight -- at least in terms of direct caloric expenditure.

In my case, exercise does have a relation to weight loss, but a psychological one. Strenuous exercise motivates me to keep doing what I'm doing; after all, dragging all those extra pounds up a 7% grade is tough.

If you do want to keep track of exercise calories, then you'd probably be much better off figuring around 20 to 25 C per mile, at least until you can get in better shape and get to a pace of around 15 to 18 mph.