Best way to count exercise calories

jayclock

I went from 105kg to 88-90 about to 10 years ago

Not looking for praise but now very fit (over many years)and doing long distance triathlons (Ironman) and want to shift at least 6 if not 10kg purely to aid speed.

I do a lot of exercise (currently running twice a week (30-40 mins) cycling a total of about 5 hrs a week and swimming 2 hrs a week.

Am I better to add a fixed amt per day to my basic food calories (e.g. 1800+500) or count each exercise differently? Any views

CafeRacer808

Unless you're running, cycling, swimming, etc for the exact same time and while expending exactly the same amount of energy for each workout, I'd count each exercise differently. Also, different exercises burn a different amount of calories.

For running and cycling (assuming you do these activities outdoors), you can use an app like Strava, MapMyFitness, or Endomondo which base their calories burned calculations on time, distance covered, your height, weight, and age. Adding a heart rate monitor will make the calculations a bit more accurate, as it's based on actual metrics rather than a formula that applies to people of average height and weight. But just know that all calories burned calculations are estimates and can vary quite a bit depending on which app you use (different algorithms and whatnot).

Edited to add: I know for cycling specifically, you can attach a power meter (not sure of the exact term) to your bike which will give your app's algorithm more accurate metrics to use in its calculations. I'm sure someone with more knowledge of cycling tech will pop in to provide more detail on this.

lemurcat12

Up to you -- either way works. I don't find that long days result in that much hunger or that I am that much less hungry on a light day, so I tend to average it over the week (but with a general focus on the week as a whole, so if I eat a little more on heavy days and less on light days, that's fine if it averages out). Try it and see how you feel and adjust as needed.