Not feeling good :(

Heatherthecyclist · July 2014

ok cool. It's just quite scary to up it as I'm scared of putting weight back on again.

But I am really hungry so I guess I do need a bit more maybe. I just didn't know whether it had to feel this way!!

Odinisgod · July 2014

I typically don't feel all that lethargic when I overdo my calorie deficit, just really hungry.

I'd agree that 400 calories per hour is an underestimation based on your weight. If you are trying to net 1200/day, that does not leave much wiggle room for error.

I'd up your calorie level and see how you feel. You can do it slowly in increments and observe effects on the scale.

mstripes · July 2014

Even taking into account the inaccuracies of such a simple estimate, and the undoubted increases in your efficiency with years of training, 400 seems extremely low, given that at 19 mph the baseline estimated burn is 900 per hour. Have you got any heart rate or power/Wattage metrics for the cycling?

Here's an interesting article on cycling calorie burns and calculations/estimates: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/how-accurate-is-that-calorie-reading

Not sure where you are getting your number but they are not even close to what I get with various calculators:
129 pound rider, 18 pound bike
540 C / hr @ 18mph
550 C / hr @ 19 mph
1432 C/ hour @ 27 which is 398 watts, in a peloton she is not burning this in spite of the speed unless she is leading the entire time which is doubtful. If she is in a breakaway unless she is solo she is also not burning that in an hour unless she is leading the whole time and frankly cycling just does not work that way.

Heather. The rest of the advice to raise your base calories is spot on IMHO however I think you need to increase fat and protein but not carbs. However perhaps your coach has good advice? Do you have a HRM or a power meter? either will give you a better idea of your burn. Carbs can make you feel hungry. Fresh fruit and veggies however are a great way to get them.

Heatherthecyclist · July 2014

Thanks for all the comments.

I'm never in a peleton, I'm a time triallist, so I'm never drafting anyone.

I am going to try up my protein a bit, but I find my performance really struggles if I drop carbs too much so need to keep an eye on it. All my carbs are mainly from fruit and veg, I do eat porridge/oatmeal too but no pasta, bread, rice anything like that

The good news is after feeling terrible in the morning it got better as the day went on and I even managed a 14 second PB in my time trial in the evening, 1st lady

2013sk · July 2014

Sounds like your de-hydrated - How much water are you drinking???

KinoM · July 2014

Not sure where you are getting your number but they are not even close to what I get with various calculators:
129 pound rider, 18 pound bike
540 C / hr @ 18mph
550 C / hr @ 19 mph
1432 C/ hour @ 27 which is 398 watts, in a peloton she is not burning this in spite of the speed unless she is leading the entire time which is doubtful. If she is in a breakaway unless she is solo she is also not burning that in an hour unless she is leading the whole time and frankly cycling just does not work that way.

You must have access to better calculators than I could find. Any chance of sharing the link(s) if they're online? Always looking for better sources of information.

mstripes · July 2014

Not sure where you are getting your number but they are not even close to what I get with various calculators:
129 pound rider, 18 pound bike
540 C / hr @ 18mph
550 C / hr @ 19 mph
1432 C/ hour @ 27 which is 398 watts, in a peloton she is not burning this in spite of the speed unless she is leading the entire time which is doubtful. If she is in a breakaway unless she is solo she is also not burning that in an hour unless she is leading the whole time and frankly cycling just does not work that way.

You must have access to better calculators than I could find. Any chance of sharing the link(s) if they're online? Always looking for better sources of information.

Here is just one, not the one I used above however this one is even more conservative: http://bikecalculator.com/what.html

I do not recall which ones I used but found them with a google search. I also looked at data from several friends who use power meters, most of which are 200 pounds or more and their numbers when riding hilly rides do approach what you quoted, hilly being defined at >100' per mile.

Then there is the fact that the more one cycles the more efficient they become at cycling burning even less Calories than before.

Cycling boils down to power per kilo. Lighter riders can go faster with less power. Short duration I can put out lots of watts but then I am a large rider. By losing weight I go faster while expending less energy. Heather being a time trialist likely has a very aero form on the bike when racing and maybe even when training. The more aero the less energy required for any given speed.

So happy for you Heather that you are feeling better and PR'd in your race. Interesting that you don't race in anything other than TT. In these parts there are mostly crits. I don't road race but I do race cx, not any good but fun for me.

bwogilvie · July 2014

Then there is the fact that the more one cycles the more efficient they become at cycling burning even less Calories than before.

That's not really true; the more one cycles, the better the muscles get at recruiting fibers and the better the fibers get at contracting, as mitochondria and vascularization increase. But that simply means that you can use more energy in the same amount of time, i.e. you can put out more power.

Bikecalculator.com, btw, estimates that a 129-lb. cyclist on a 20-lb. bike riding at 19 mph on flat terrain with no wind, on the hoods, with clinchers, will burn 608 calories per hour. On aerobars that drops to 519 cal./hour.

For what it's worth, the numbers are not much different for a much heavier combo, because the faster you go, the more wind resistance is the main force to overcome. I'm a 160-lb. rider, and my usual bike weighs 35 lb. (25.6 lb. bike with fenders and front rack, but add 9.5 lb. of water bottles, food, and tools for an all-day ride or a brevet.) Bikecalculator estimates that I would need 639 calories per hour to do 19 mph on flat terrain on the hoods, and 548 with aerobars (not that I have them).

On the other hand, if we were evenly matched on the flats, the lighter cyclist would drop me in a flash when we came to a serious hill. It's really striking how much faster I am on hills than I was at 210 lb....

Heather: I think you should try eating a little more per hour of training; you're almost certainly burning more like 500-550 calories/hour at your training pace, since you're not drafting, and even more during races. I don't race, but I do club rides and endurance events up to 200 km, and I find that my Garmin Edge 800's calorie estimates agree fairly well with my actual weight loss results; it, in turn, isn't too far off of bikecalculator's estimates.

Congrats on your PR!

Scarecrowsama · July 2014

So since I've been doing MFP I have lost some weight, 9.9lbs down and about 4-5 to go I think though will reassess when I get there.

I've been quite tired but feeling ok (I'm a competitive cyclist and train hard. Not just training to burn calories, but training hard for performance)

I'm on a 1200 base, and then give myself 400 cals per hour for training, and I eat them all back,

Today in particular I feel terrible- headache, sick, overwhelming urge to go back to bed, just feel awful and I have a race tonight Just want to go home from work.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of feeling- wondering if it's just perhaps from running a calorie deficit?

You are probably hitting the wall, or in other words, depleting you glycogen stores, that explains all your symptoms, you need carbs, you are a cyclist, continue this way and you will kill yourself.

Not feeling good :(

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