cyclists - i keep getting fatter and fatter

I feel your pain.

After a good long run or ride I'm ravenous too, sadly we can still pack on the pounds (as they say, you can't outrun your fork) Logging your food is a good start, aim for a modest deficit (maybe to lose half a pound a week) as you still need to fuel those rides!

It's odd but cycling, even long distance, doesn't make me particularly hungry despite large calorie burns.

Strength training is the opposite, low calorie burn but very hungry.

When I'm cutting weight I tend to have a mixture of maintenance days and deficit days to keep my energy levels high but still achieve an overall weekly calorie deficit.

Build up of muscle will add to your weight too.

One of the reasons I have been tracking my calories in some form or another for the past 20+ years is so that I know I am fueling my long distance cycling adequately without going overboard.

Estimate calories burned while cycling low-ish ... I use the formula 100 cal/5 km of cycling ...
Eat only about 75% of those calories back ...

And you should start noticing a difference.

sijomial wrote: »

It's odd but cycling, even long distance, doesn't make me particularly hungry despite large calorie burns.

Most of the time, cycling doesn't make me very hungry. Especially long distance cycling, it tends to suppress my appetite. But most people take it a little easier on a distance ride, so they don't limp to the finish. It's the shorter, really intense rides (like when I do hill repeats, or a beer league race) that make me hungry. Some people want to go all out all the time and it might be what's going on here?

My theory is that anaerobic work is what makes people really ravenously hungry. You deplete your muscle glycogen, your body demands you eat (carbs) so it can be replenished.

If your adding inches in the right places, then perhaps you should concentrate more on tracking measurement and not weight.

Hornsby wrote: »

DTrain351 wrote: »

For my 50 mile ride I can burn 3000-5000 calories depending on terrain and cadence.

I would keep an eye on those numbers if you eat them back. That seem grossly overestimated.

Maybe a little high, certainly not grossly overestimated. He's talking about 50 miles. 3-4 hours of continuous exercise. 3000 calories definitely isn't out of the question

Hornsby wrote: »

DTrain351 wrote: »

For my 50 mile ride I can burn 3000-5000 calories depending on terrain and cadence.

I would keep an eye on those numbers if you eat them back. That seem grossly overestimated.

Agreed.

I use the formula 100 calories for every 5 km. 50 miles is about 80 km ... or 1600 calories.


If DTrain351, you are successfully accomplishing whatever you wants to accomplish, then great ... but if you find you're gaining weight or having trouble losing, you might want to drop those calories burned in half or less.

That's how I gained weight!! I was riding about 80-100 miles per week and it was making me ravenous. I was not tracking calories and eating calorie dense foods. I started tracking calories, strength training and cut my cycling back to just a couple of days a week and I was able to make major changes in my body composition. I cut back the cycling more from weather/wind issues, but it was probably a good thing. I will probably pick it back up more during the summer, now that I am logging and know what to eat to provide proper fuel without going overboard.

SingingSingleTracker wrote: »

After a long ride, snack on high volume, low calories things. A huge pile of veggies in the Wok after a big ride will provide lots of nutrients and volume without so many calories.

With only 10 pounds to lose, expect 10 - 20 weeks to shave that off while riding at the volume you are riding and still fueling yourself properly.

^^This!!!^^ High volume food for snacks.

DTrain351 wrote: »

I bike too but I only go 50 miles a week. Try this, eat light before your ride. Then snack lightly while you ride (ie, granola bar or energy product). Then after the ride have a meal. For my 50 mile ride I can burn 3000-5000 calories depending on terrain and cadence. I consume about 300-500 calories before my ride and about 400-500 calories during. Afterwards I resume normal eating according to my plan. If I'm hungry late night I consume a casein protein drink and that fills and holds me over til the next morning. My goal is to drop body fat and maintain muscle or maintain my weight. You shouldn't be starving after your "after ride meal." Eat normal and avoid feasting at night...easier said then done:)

The bold is highly unlikely. Likely way less than half that.

NorthCascades wrote: »

I didn't notice that. Those numbers are crazy. A 50 mile ride comes out to about 1,800 kilo-Joules for me every time, measured with a power meter. Example:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1116892278

Off topic, but there are several tools online to merge two .tcx etc. files together.

[quote="Hornsby;36645225"

"Might" have hit 1k if it was an actual 50. [/quote]

Off topic- I'm in Oklahoma too. Ardmore. Jealous of the trails and lake Heffner.

Regarding the hunger- I've not kept up on the biking, and do more running. Eating within 30 minutes of your ride should help. I stop at the store and get muscle milk, or pack picky bars. I'm not much of a planner so it's always easy foods. Like fruit, and the frozen fruit bars. Cal's aren't horrible.

Elise4270 wrote: »

[quote="Hornsby;36645225"

"Might" have hit 1k if it was an actual 50.

Off topic- I'm in Oklahoma too. Ardmore. Jealous of the trails and lake Heffner.

Regarding the hunger- I've not kept up on the biking, and do more running. Eating within 30 minutes of your ride should help. I stop at the store and get muscle milk, or pack picky bars. I'm not much of a planner so it's always easy foods. Like fruit, and the frozen fruit bars. Cal's aren't horrible. [/quote]

Just bought a puppy from Ardmore on Sunday

Hornsby wrote: »

RollTideTri wrote: »

Hornsby wrote: »

DTrain351 wrote: »

For my 50 mile ride I can burn 3000-5000 calories depending on terrain and cadence.

I would keep an eye on those numbers if you eat them back. That seem grossly overestimated.

Maybe a little high, certainly not grossly overestimated. He's talking about 50 miles. 3-4 hours of continuous exercise. 3000 calories definitely isn't out of the question

I would say grossly based on experience but could be off. I know I'm lucky to burn 1200 on a 50 mile ride and that's at a 21+ average. I can agree to disagree though. Just something for them to watch.

3000-5000 sounds pretty high.

If one is averaging race pace watts, HR just at sub-threshold with some bursts into Zone 5...okay, well now I'm talking about mountain bike racing. I just did a 4+ hour marathon race two weeks ago. 38.7 miles at 4 hours and 37 minutes, about 3000 feet of climbing and my "gizmos" claim I burned 4330 calories. My diary and Training Peaks says I ate a total of 5000 calories for the day (less than the race burn plus my daily needs).

I did a nearly 5 hour gravel race in April pushing it pretty hard for 61.9 miles and my gizmo said I only burned 4829 calories in 4 hours and 52 minutes.

I burn 38-43 calories a mile in easier effort road bike rides. The more I bump it up, the higher the burn. Where I ride, I wouldn't be able to burn 5000 in 50 miles on the road bike, or gravel bike on the hilly gravel roads in my county.

It's all about the effort, zone, wattage, wind, elevation, duration, etc. which may or may not mean our "gizmos" are 100% accurate. Mine is based on a few years of tracking what goes in and what goes out (CICO), so I guess if all my gizmos were inaccurate my body weight would be much askew from what it is.

Curious what gizmo DTTrain uses to measure that burn.

On that note: I find I need about 2/3 more watts to hold the same speed on dirt or very light gravel as I do on pavement. Obviously that depends a lot on the specifics (chip seal requires more power for the same speed, and there are a billion flavors of dirt). What happens for me is that I go a slower on dirt, but not enough slower, so I work harder and burn more calories at the end of the day.

@SingingSingleTracker, @Hornsby - are you noticing the same thing?