Pro athalete's needs?

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alephdalethmem
alephdalethmem Posts: 2
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I have a question about work and exercise. I would like to have a better idea of the calories that I burn while working. As an arborist I climb trees and drag brush(cut limbs) that average forty to sixty pounds an average of fifty feet. When climbing, I foot lock(method of tree entry) several times a day. Also I lift, carry and load wood that weighs up to fifty pounds. As an example in one day(ten hours) a two man crew(me being one) can take down a tree(piece by piece) that weighs approximately two thousand pounds and put it in a truck. In short I am a professional athelete. Of course not every day, is this intense, sometimes I just use a hand saw and pole pruner all day and don't lift anything heavier than five pounds. What is the best way to figure out how many calories I need on a day to day basis? I thought I was eating plenty, but when I started with my fitness pal I soon discoverd that I was eating less than half of what I need, but I am still unsure of the best way to calculate the calories I need from day to day...

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  • Kate_Bot
    Kate_Bot Posts: 19 Member
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    It sounds like you do a lot during the day.

    It sounds like you have already used My Fitness Pal's calorie estimator. There are web tools and apps all over if you search for them. I also like the Mayo Clinic's calculator because I've found it to be more conservative than many others: http://www.mayoclinic.org/calorie-calculator/itt-20084939.

    But I won't stress too much about how much you "should" be eating right now. Track your consumption for a few weeks and seeing how it corresponds to your weight. Make sure you are verifying portion sizes and including the meals out, snacks and special occasion drinks and foods. All of that can really add up quickly. You may find that your own average over time is closer to that calorie count than you realized from a shorter period of tracking.

    If, after a few weeks, you see you are still way below the calorie goals and are losing weight and don't want to be, add a little more food. Experiment, and make sure to give yourself and your body a few weeks after each adjustment to see how it goes.

    Good luck.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Set your activity level to active.

    Then eat what mfp says. Give it a few weeks and see if you lost/gained and how much. Then you can back-calculate and work out what your maintenance figure should have been. Then you have a good base for understanding your cutting/bulking/maintaining calorie needs.

    After that, pick a surplus or deficit that achieves what you want and eat, work and train as you inch closer to your goals...
  • alephdalethmem
    alephdalethmem Posts: 2
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    Thank you for the pointers, I will make some ajustments.

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