"Earning" Extra Calories Through Exercise

Bragger407

Twice a week I do moderately-long bicycle rides with a group, usually about 40-45 miles. MFP tells me I can eat an additional 2000 calories (!!!) or so. I realize I cannot eat that many additional calories and expect to lose weight. I lost 48 pounds, put 10 of them back on, and I'm working really hard to get those back off.

Oddly enough, on the days I ride, I'm not that hungry. I typically eat normally on those days. My problem is the NEXT day, I want to eat the dog and both cats and anything else in the house that isn't nailed down.

I guess what I'm asking is, should I FORCE myself to eat some extra calories on ride days? And how many?

Thank you.

taunto_

If you have any device that tells you how many calories you have burned (HRM) then it will be more accurate.

For 40-45 miles bike rides, you have to fuel yourself properly. I would recommend at least eating half the calories MFP is teling you that you burned.

One mistake many make is forcing ourself to eat but what you are forcing yourself to eat is still "light" and "clean" foods which aren't calorie dense foods. Nuts and nut butters are excellent dense foods for those long bike ride days. Other dense foods such as cheese etc are perfectly good to eat.

You burned all these calories. You deserve to eat more

TeaBea

How about averaging those calories out during the week? That's what a TDEE (maintenance) calculator would do. So using a TDEE calculator you eat the same on rest days as you do on workout days.

I would start with a percentage of 2,000 (say 50%). Eat those calories back during the week and see how weight loss progresses. If it's faster than expected, then bump up the 50%. If it's slower than expected, then lower the 50%.

Calorie burns are estimates, activity level is a range (not a single #) but again an estimate. Logging food is an estimate. Granted if you are using a digital food scale, you are much more accurate. It's all estimates.

BrianSharpe

MFP tends to exaggerate calorie burns from exercise.

Your expenditure will be based on a combination of distance, intensity and terrain. As a sanity check I use about 100 cal for every 5km / a little over 30 cal per mile (relatively flat terrain @ about 24km/15 mph) which would more realistically give you 1,200 or so for a 40 mile ride.

You should have a recovery snack shortly after your ride for the simple reason that you've depleted a good amount of your glycogen stores and your body is more able to replenish these stores after exercise.

Personally I let my hunger be my guide, I won't eat for the sake of eating.

If you're still looking to lose a few pounds having a bigger deficit one or two days per week will only help. If you do find yourself feeling unduly fatigued and it's affecting your riding performance then your body is letting you know the tank is getting empty.

NorthCascades

Bragger407 wrote: »

Oddly enough, on the days I ride, I'm not that hungry. I typically eat normally on those days. My problem is the NEXT day, I want to eat the dog and both cats and anything else in the house that isn't nailed down.

How long does it take you to ride 40 to 45 miles? What kind of bike and how's it set up?

You're burning some (large) number of calories by riding your bike. That's not magic, it's real. Of course you don't know exactly how many, but there's no doubt it's far more than zero.

You're trying to lose weight, that's why you're here. When you got here, you set up a profile, the system asked you some questions, you answered them to the best of your ability. You're not trying to lose weight fast (send money now!!) you're trying to do it healthy, at whatever rate you have as your goal. Maybe half a pound per week, maybe a whole pound; I don't know, but you do. Your diet and typical calorie deficit get you there, if you go out and ride for hours and don't adjust your food intake for that, you're throwing your whole plan out of whack.

How much do you eat/drink while you ride? Personally I find that riding suppressed my appetite, but it comes back later. When I eat on the bike, I'm not as hungry after.

You shouldn't force yourself to eat when you don't want to. But the following day you should allow yourself to eat when you're famished and for legitimate reason.

glenelliott5872

If you are doing serious distances then you need the fuel before, during and after. Esp important to get protein after for muscle recovery. MFP is crap for estimated of calories. I use Strava which estimates a much smaller amount than MFP and o worry that is too high as well

Chieflrg

TeaBea wrote: »

How about averaging those calories out during the week? That's what a TDEE (maintenance) calculator would do. So using a TDEE calculator you eat the same on rest days as you do on workout days.

I would start with a percentage of 2,000 (say 50%). Eat those calories back during the week and see how weight loss progresses. If it's faster than expected, then bump up the 50%. If it's slower than expected, then lower the 50%.

Calorie burns are estimates, activity level is a range (not a single #) but again an estimate. Logging food is an estimate. Granted if you are using a digital food scale, you are much more accurate. It's all estimates.

This is solid advice and well worth doing.

CorneliusPhoton

Your weekly deficit is what matters. Use some of your exercise calories the next day when you want to eat more. Lots of people here "bank" calories for times they know they want to eat more.

cwolfman13

This is one of the reasons I stopped following the MFP method and just used the TDEE method...I have days where I go out and burn 1500-2000 calories and days where I burn 500 and days when I don't do a whole lot...it's much easier to just use TDEE and average those calories out throughout the week.