Im about to begin biking 12 miles to work 3 times a week.

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  • allisonrozsa
    allisonrozsa Posts: 178 Member
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    According to MFP, 40 minutes of biking burns about 300 calories, so in total I'd be looking at burning 600 calories on the days I bike. Something about that makes it hard to believe. I've got friends who are biking up to 40 miles a day still with huge guts. I dont' know if I really want to be eating back any of these calories above my 1400, because it's commuting for work and not really exercise. Plus I work a desk job in which I sit all day.

    What do you guys think?

    Commuting on a bike is GREAT! Although my work is close, twice a week I do a 10 mile round trip for a second job. It would probably be a good idea to get a heart monitor to check that your MFP calorie log is actually correct (mine was vastly different once I put on the monitor). Even though you think commuting isn't exercise, it still is quite a bit of work to do 12 miles and should consider adding just a little extra to your daily intake. It doesn't have to be more (not even all of it), but giving yourself a little treat or extra glass of OJ just to keep things moving.
  • g0tr00t
    g0tr00t Posts: 192
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    My ride to work is 7 miles each way most of it on a bike trail. Pre-ride, I eat 2 fig newtons and a cup of water. When I get to work, I eat my normal food. I track my ride with my Motoactv watch and burn about 300-400 calories according to it. I wear a heart rate monitor and have a speed/cadence sensor. I guess it depends on the wind...lol..I average between 16-20MPH again, depending on wind. At times I push it to 23 to 25 MPH for a few minutes to give myself that burn.

    I love it, the weather here is getting pretty hot (Florida) but it does allow for year round riding, just have to have the proper clothing.
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
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    According to MFP, 40 minutes of biking burns about 300 calories, so in total I'd be looking at burning 600 calories on the days I bike. Something about that makes it hard to believe. I've got friends who are biking up to 40 miles a day still with huge guts. I dont' know if I really want to be eating back any of these calories above my 1400, because it's commuting for work and not really exercise. Plus I work a desk job in which I sit all day.

    What do you guys think?

    Cycling is great exercise. The reason you see those guys with the big guts is because losing weight has more to do with diet than it does exercise. Exercise is great if you want to be healthy and fit but if you're not eating at a calorie deficit you won't lose weight.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I bike about 15 miles each way, it takes me an hour, and MFP says it's burning about 850 calories for my height and weight. I've been eating most of them back and it hasn't slowed my weight loss that I've noticed.

    Especially when you start out with a long cycling regimen, PLEASE FEED THE MACHINE. You don't want low glycogen stores when you are cycling, particularly if you are on the road with cars. You want to be well-fed, energetic, and alert. Try eating back the calories and see what happens. Give it a few weeks or a month, because adding cycling is going to give you some initial weight gain as you retain water to repair muscle and recover from the ride. Feed that recovery or you're going to find cycling very discouraging and painful.

    If it slows your weight loss for a couple of weeks, so be it - the benefit of cycling is well worth it. The scale is not the whole story. But please trust me that you do NOT want start a new cycling regimen on a big calorie deficit - you won't be able to recover quickly enough and you're looking at another 40 minutes in the saddle at the end of the day, your body needs to be fueled to recover.

    Best bet is to have a carb snack about a half hour before cycling, then a carb and protein snack within a half hour of stopping. And hydrate.

    After 3 weeks of eating them back, if you're feeling good about the cycling and your weight loss has stalled, cut the "eat back" calories in half and see how you feel then.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Cycling is great exercise. The reason you see those guys with the big guts is because losing weight has more to do with diet than it does exercise. Exercise is great if you want to be healthy and fit but if you're not eating at a calorie deficit you won't lose weight.

    There's also the fact that cycling as an exercise does very little for the core. I've been cycling a lot this year and losing weight, I've still got a bit of a belly, but my legs look like a sculpture of a Greek God with muscles the size of school textbooks.

    There's also a lot to be said for "you get out of it what you put in it". I have a cheap hybrid/entry-level road bike as my commuter, I carry cargo, and I attack hills like a knight attacks dragons (which, as you might expect, means the dragon wins and I look like I've been on fire, but I leave no caloric prisoners!).

    If you get a Cruiser and ride around at 6mph on a level trail, or drop $5,000 on a bike whose weight is measured in mouse farts to ride ten miles a day, you aren't going to burn a whole lot of calories (more than sitting on the couch, so it's all good, but MFP is going to badly overestimate your burn).
  • cydonian
    cydonian Posts: 361 Member
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    My husband used to do 8 miles a day or so when he lived in England and he was pretty skinny, and his legs were BUILT. I think you need to adjust your intake accordingly. Why wouldn't it burn calories? You're doing cardio and getting your heart rate up, and flexing the muscles in your legs.
  • kaleas
    kaleas Posts: 200
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    Thanks everyone for the input!

    As a bit of my own background, I got into biking last spring when I got a cheap 25 dollar bike on the side of the road. I put about 200 dollars into it and it became my way of getting around. I live in an urban area, so every day I'd just run errands on my bike. At minimum it was 2 miles a day, sometimes 10 just running around. I'd bike to bars, the store, to friends houses.

    When the semester started, I began biking to class twice a week, which was 10 miles round trip. I didn't really change my eating habits, but noticed I was starved on the days I would bike, however I would never count those miles rode into my exercise calories on MFP.

    I'm done with class now so I wanted to switch out my bike rides to school with bike rides to work. it is dangerous. I have to ride across a highway and on roads with no shoulder. I attack hills like a beast. I've now invested in a 300 dollar fixed gear. It's light weight, but I carry a load all the time. It makes the hills harder and I can't coast, but you're more in tune with the bike.

    I did great today on the ride. I did eat a little more than usual to keep me fueled, but it was more protein than anything. I think I'll only count half of it as my exercise so I don't end up over eating.

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