How many calories do you need for a ride?

AllezAllezAllez

I'm really unsure how much food my body needs for each ride I do.

So for example on a ride today (34 miles, 2 hours 20 mins) mapmyride.com estimates I've used is 1800 calories.

Does that mean I will need to eat a minimum of 1800 calories of fuel?

Ideally I would like to lose weight but still ensure I have enough fuel on board to see me around the route. Last week I had a very light breakfast and I could not turn the crank two thirds into a 40 mile route.

Any advice welcome!

bobtbuilder

To lose weight you need to create a regular calorie deficit. This can be tricky to begin with, as if you create too big a deficit you lack the energy to complete any exercise you undertake (as suggested by the last part of your post).

It is definitely manageable to maintain a daily 100-200 calorie deficit without compromising your training. First of all you need to calculate your calories burned on a normal day. Try this calculator: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Once you have your basic daily requirements you can start to factor in your intake needed for exercise.

You would be advised to keep a food diary to make sure that your calorie intake is as exact as possible.

Be wary of the algorithyms used by Mapmyride, etc. Some (including Garmin's) over-estimate calories burned quite considerably.

Hope this helps.

Valy

I'm not sure if you want to bother too much with that. Eat enough so that you don't feel lethargic or tired and continue to exercise regularly.

Maintain a sensible diet - good variety. Include things like vegetables, fruit, fish and so on. Not too much fat, but still eat something that has it, though do avoid saturated fat where possible and just in general avoid hydrogenated fat like the plague.

You mention breakfast - have something like porridge with golden syrup/bananas/jam/honey etc. Weetabix with the above additions. Try to have a bit of sugar in the breakfast, but also a good amount of starch. Above all have a good, filling breakfast - it does not have to be porridge or cereals. A variation of "full monty" could be eggs, shrooms, beans and toast.

sagalout

bobtbuilder wrote:

Be wary of the algorithyms used by Mapmyride, etc. Some (including Garmin's) over-estimate calories burned quite considerably.

.

This!

I'm quite shocked after getting a powermeter by just how far out the alogrithm based ones are. I experimented at the weekend using Runkeeper and the Garmin 705, with my weight set to 65% of my actual weight. Saturdays Ride:

36 hilly miles, going quite hard (average 88% MHR)
Time: 2:19
Garmin estimate: 2386 cals
Runkeeper: 1996 cals
Powermeter: 1606 cals

I always thought the Garmin set to 65% of weight was 'about right' but now I'm starting to realise why I've been struggling to lose weight as my calories deficit......isnt!

Garz

My Garmin unit informed me that my 37 mile trip out on sunday I expended just under two thousand calories. By applying a 25% reduction I would say that it was more accurate to have realistically burned off 1500 instead.

Also take into account most fluctuation in weight when weighing yourself is a lot to do with water retention. Try weighing yourself at the same time of day every day and take an average over a week to get a better estimate.

Pokerface

Your 2 hour 20 minute ride, unless very hilly, probably used closer to 1200 calories than 1800.

You should be able to do a ride like that without stopping for extra food if you've had a good meal before and take on fluids while you ride. Maybe a banana or energy bar along the way if you need it.

Refuel when you get home.


Most people aim for a 500 cal a day deficit when trying to lose a lot of weight. SO take your daily 2500 cals, plus the 1200 you used on the ride - and you can consume a total of 3200 for the day. If you can consume less and still ride as hard - even better!

Alex_Simmons/RST

sagalout wrote:

I'm quite shocked after getting a powermeter by just how far out the alogrithm based ones are.

Yep.

sagalout wrote:

Powermeter: 1606 cals

BTW - in general, the energy metabolised in Cal is roughly the kJ recorded by the power meter x 1.1 (give or take ~ 5%).

bahzob

Re the OP some background first.

** Fueling the ride:

there are two principle types of fuel that you use during a longer ride:
- Carbohydrate
- Fat

For carbohydrate there are 2 principle sources during the ride.
- What you eat, before and during it.
>> During the ride there is a limit to how much carbohydrate can be digested and used, around 1-1.5g a minute or 500-700 cals per hour
- The fuel your body has on board before you start. (glycogen)
>> This latter stores around 1000 calories (exactly how much depends on physiology and fitness)

For fat you dont want to eat much of this if any during a ride. So all come from body reserves.

** Fuel needed during the ride

You use both carbohydrates and fat during a ride. The ratio between them depends on two principle factors
-- The intensity of your ride.: The more intense the ride (i,e. what power or HR zone you are in) the more carbohydrate you will burn in proportion to fat)
- Your genetic predisposition (partly trainable). People vary in terms of the ration carbs:fat they burn at a given intensity.

See here for more on this
http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/10/fat-burners-and-sugar-burners.html

So for the OPs ride.

In terms of feed needs:

34 miles in 2 hours 20 minutes is a moderate ride in terms of intensity (and so energy needed) and as noted above the estimate of 1800 cals is too much and 1200 is more like it.

Because its a moderate intensity ride much of the fuel will come from fat, at least half I'd guess. On board glycogen will fuel most of the carb needs so as noted by poster above you only need to eat a small amount during the ride, a banana or something just to stop your stomach feeling empty.

Because this ride is moderate intensity you also dont really need to worry too much about post ride recovery eating, especially if you want to lose weight. Just another banana or something plus some liquid is enough.

What this also means is that being unable to turn pedal after 30 miles or so wont be down to food. Its more an indicator of fitness and the solution to this problem is more riding, ideally with plenty of time at higher intensities.

(I speak from some experience, the OPs experience is similar to mine when I started riding, I had trouble finishng and my first "solution" was to buy a handlebar bag to be able to take more food which only turned out to be counter productive.)