Should I eat gained calories?

I weigh 220 pounds, 5,8 ft long, male, 47 years old.
I commute 23 miles daily, takes about 44-46 minutes one way (11,5 miles)
Average speed is between 14.3-16,2 mph with an average hart beat of 136

I was healthy and active (road bike) prior to summer 2013 when i got pulmonary lung embolism and after a looong recovery
I´m back in the saddle again but now need to be more careful, I can´t afford to be sloppy in my attitude.
Therefor I feel it´s needed to know.

I have used WW before but I don´t find it optimal for my needs.

@RoxieDawn, thanks!
Well, during my sick period i have been eating both healthy and garbage but very undisciplined.
My craving is white bread och and tons of milk and specially late nite sandwich orgies
Amount? probably double up to what I eat now in cal

The only reason I got away prior to my sick period was the amount of training i did.

This time I only fill my fridge with organic and ecologic food, my body like that.

Not sure, hope I answered Your question?

If you were eating double calories, what was that approximate number? So give us the before calories and your now calories???

My before calories is a rough estimate as I didn't count them, I did however made a computation from an average day in Myfitnesspal and that resulted in...that I stopped after 5300 calories.... Say anything between 5000-6000 calories a day would be a fare estimate.

Below You see my current net cal, cal and cal burn for the past days.








It´s the Cal / Net cal that confuses me.

Based on my weight, age, weight goal (187 lbs) and daily non training based activity I´m recommended to eat
2080 cal

sijomial wrote: »

As a fellow cyclist I do wonder if your Endomondo estimate is on the high side.
I'm 45lbs lighter but would be surprised if I got more than 700 cals for that distance.
Maybe try Strava for comparison? May not be any more accurate of course (I find it estimates low for me).

I'm definitely in favour of eating back exercise calories to achieve a steady and sustainable deficit and to fuel your exercise properly. Plus when you think ahead to maintenance at goal weight you are going to have to take exercise into account.

In the end you will need consistency over a period of weeks and then make adjustments based on results - everything is an estimate, calories eaten, exercise, activity and your RMR.

True that, the more data I collect compared to what the scale says the more I can tweak my goal and adjust my settings.
What I do have found out is that I need to add just about all food in metrics as just about all data is is either Oz ore rounded upp to every 100 grams. If I´m suppose to do this right I need to go scientific :-)

RoxieDawn wrote: »

thomasewards wrote: »

@Tavistocktoad, But that would be miss leading, would it note? I sit on my *kitten* all day long, doing just about nothing but typing my keyboard, the "only" exercise I do is my commuting

THis is still exercise. You would put in MFP, sedentary and it will give you min calories to eat, and expects you to eat some of the exercise. Do you by chance know what your TDEE is on any given day (this includes everything you do in days time including the commuting to work on your bike, performing your work tasks, and everything else you do in the day)

You need to create NET calories at the end of the day. This is calories you consume - exercise = NET GOAL.

Did my stats answer the TDEE question?
This is new to me, all the English terms are new to me and I need to have them translates in to metrics.
Have patience :-)

For anyone who's interested in my actual route, here is a clip I made two days ago.
My own music as well....how nerdy
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qwe9xn4e2pU

SlimDownBulkUp wrote: »

Generally, MFP will overestimate how many calories are being burned, so if you do eat calories back, maybe only eat back half or a third? But really if you're not hungry at the end of the day, don't bother with your exercise calories.

In this case the data is imported from Endomondo but You have a good point, no need to eat if I'm not hungry and otherwise feel fine

Wow!! What a gorgeous commute!! I thought that white dog was going to be the end of it though. Lovely scenery. What was that large body of water on your right?

I've got about twelve, often hilly, miles to work but about 2/3 is dedicated trails like this. This has inspired me to get biking. Thanks for the vid. Like the music too.

Just about where the dog wandered out, I often get stunned and filled with Joy and happiness when I heading home and see the ocean again, I' truly blessed in that sense :-)
I live on the west coast of Sweden, it's not directly famous for it´s sunny weather but every now and then Mother Earth give us our share. Like now, it's now 5 PM and we have 82 F (28 C)...one cannot complaint :-)

The sea You see is called Skagerrak, it's the part of the North Sea that´s east of Denmark and Swedens West Coast.
I have pasted a map just to get You a ide on where we are. My route is on the left south of Gothenburg, the other two land masses You see is Norway and Denmark, we are close to one another :-)

I manage excellent without hills, at least when I´m commuting . When i further down the road pick up road biking seriously again I have a route where I get all the hills I want...and not want :-)

Good luck with Your cykling and thank's for Your post, made me happy :-)