Questions about calorie setting for an athlete??

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Islandqueenfl
Islandqueenfl Posts: 59 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all, so I wanted to get some thoughts on my calorie settings. I work full time in sales so I am on my feet all day. I have been racing triathlons for about 8 years and I am training for my 3rd full Ironman in October. I used to never have issues with keeping a good weight, but last year I went through a long stretch of too much stress, not enough sleep, very little training, and even worse eating habits. Before you know, the weight just starts packing on! lol I have been logging for 45 days (yah!) and have lost about 5-6 pounds. I am trying to lose about another 10-12 by October (I think this is realistic). I have my settings on MFP at: Activity Level: Lightly Active Weekly Goal: 0.5lbs a Week and no added exercise in the settings area. Based on my current weight, it is has my daily calories at 1570 a day . I add in exercise on my daily diary and try to eat back about 1/2 the calories lost. The problem is some days my training could be an 6 mile run, other days it could be an 80 mile bike and a 6 mile run. I fuel throughout workouts and track all of that food. Some days I am full, other days I never get full lol. My training is only getting longer from here out, so I'm wanting to make sure I'm eating enough, but still in a deficit to lose weight. Losing weight with all that training may sound easy, but it is not! lol Most people think the weight would just fall off, but you get so hungry! lol My husband is a triathlon coach and we both have knowledge in the sport and fueling for training, but the MFP is a bit newer to me ;) Thanks

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  • toe1226
    toe1226 Posts: 249 Member
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    Hey there! I'm a rock climber/lifter/runner/swimmer (aka way overcross trained and unspecified athlete) - and it has been super tough for me to really nail down my calories. Obviously 1570 is just not going to cut it when you have an 80 mile bike with a 6 mile run.

    What I do is play around with a couple of different calculators to figure out my maintenance calories (I wouldn't use MFP), and on big training days eat at maintenance. I basically have a MAX rule, which is at absolute max, even on a tough workout day, I don't eat more than 2500 cals.

    It takes a lot of experimentation and obviously you know that ravenous "i just did the most epic workout and feel insatiable hunger" thing...and I think you have to listen to it, otherwise things can get bingey later.

    Long story short, you'll probably need to increase your cals on major workout days. Some people here use fitbits but I think you can listen to your body (closely) and find the answer.
  • billiebarry13
    billiebarry13 Posts: 5 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Am currently training for an Ironman and have figured out that I need to eat back ALL the calories that I burn training, and ALSO what MFP tells me to eat at as lightly active. Note, that I am pretty sure about the calorie burn as I use a heart rate monitor to work out the calories (the MFP exercise estimates are way too high, as are the estimates on any workout machine). If I don't eat back the calories, I can't fuel the training. I have been doing this for the last 4 months, training 2-4 hours most days, eating between 2500-3500 calories and am maintaining my weight (which was my aim as I don't want to lose any more).....

    As toe1226 says - it takes experimentation! And, I would say, if in doubt eat more!
  • Islandqueenfl
    Islandqueenfl Posts: 59 Member
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    Thanks guys. I train heart rate on run and bike. And power on the bike. So my cals. Are pretty accurate. 1570 is my base if I didn't work out, but on big days I can eat up to 2500ish calories. Nice to hear from other people that train similar trying to find a balance :)

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