How to Eat
meanredspider
Posts: 12,337
I've started using the Livestrong site to track calories to focus on weight loss (I was to lose 5kg before the start of the motor racing season).
My question is this: what's a sensible calories deficit a day?
Livestrong reckons my base calorie intake should be around 2000kcal a day to lose 750g a week. On top of that I get credit for my commute. Livestrong reckons thats around 1000kcal each direction (15 miles at 16mph+) - my Garmin reckons 1200kcal - I think less. The thing is, whatever that figure is (even if it's just 600kcals each way) I tend to meet just my base calories with what I eat - so the ride is extra deficit. So I'm at least 1200+kcal deficit a riding day. Is that too much?
My question is this: what's a sensible calories deficit a day?
Livestrong reckons my base calorie intake should be around 2000kcal a day to lose 750g a week. On top of that I get credit for my commute. Livestrong reckons thats around 1000kcal each direction (15 miles at 16mph+) - my Garmin reckons 1200kcal - I think less. The thing is, whatever that figure is (even if it's just 600kcals each way) I tend to meet just my base calories with what I eat - so the ride is extra deficit. So I'm at least 1200+kcal deficit a riding day. Is that too much?
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1200 kcal deficit is OK as long as your diet is a good diet IMO, I would include a decent percentage of protein just to help avoid muscle loss, but at that deficit you may experience muscle loss, though probably not in the legs.
I'd personally say that 500cals a day is a better target deficit, 1lb a week loss is a good target.
It won't slow down if you are doing daily exercise though, exercise increases the metabolism.
Now if you were sedentary then yes I agree, but not for an active person. When I was losing weight and exercising everyday, I probably survived on less than 2,000 kcal a day for quite a while, so probably had a calorie deficit of around 1500 a day, depending if I went to the gym twice a day.
You can quite easily maintain the current level of activity if you eat the right foods.
Unless you have a particularly active job then its probably around 2000kCal. To loose 750g each week needs a calorie deficit of about 800 per day so if you did no additional exercise that'd mean consuming only around 1200kCal per day. With your commute burning around 1200kCal then that means you can consume about 2400kCal per day on the days you're commuting.
I think that's right but I stand to be corrected....
Well that's what I'm assuming Livestrong has calculated to give me a target of 2000kcals a day to achieve my weight loss - so somewhere north of that (2500kcals??).
I do tend to ride pretty hard - averaged 165bpm (57RHR 183MHR 46yo) for the 15 miles this morning though I'm trying some slower (<70%) rides mixed in.
I've lost a couple of kilos in the last 3 weeks but I want to be sure that what I'm doing isn't counterproductive. A couple of years ago I lost a kilo a week for 15 weeks but that was mostly relatively light exercise (<30 mins a day) and sensible eating - but I was very unfit and (obviously) pretty overweight. That weight has stayed off.
Wot he said.
1200 cals a day deficit isn't too much (if it's from exercise. Too much if you're not doing anything). However - you may find it hard to run that deficit EVERY day. Some days you are going to be low on energy and extra hungry. So eat more on those days if you need to.
If you can maintain your energy/performance levels and eat less - then keep it up.
(The recommended daily deficit for losing weight is usually 500 cals a day - but that is for someone who isn't exercising. If I do a big ride and use up several thousand calories - I don't feel the need to replace every single one of them. Because on rest days I tend to actually eat more than on training days!)
So with your profile of 2000kcal base + 2000kcal exercise, have a deficit of 400kcal a day
I have to agree with the comments that 1000kcal each way seems a bit far out. I do a hilly 15 mile each way commute everyday and assume it is 800kcal total
To take on more protein eat more eggs/tuna fish/lean meat
follow on
I reckoned I needed about 500 calories a day deficit to do that, but I was also worried about a reduction in my metabolism, basically that my body would think a famine had arrived and shut down to compensate. So my alternative plan was to run a 750 calorie a day deficit Monday to Friday and try to achieve a balance at the weekend.
I also thought a slow reduction like that might have less chance of burning muscle and could be easier to keep off than doing a quick hit.
Did you choose highly active (or whatever they call it) in Livestrong? If you did then that includes your daily exercise. So if you want to add calories burned for your commute on top then select the activity level that matches your day excluding the commute.
I'm just surprised that Livestrong seems to be telling you that you can loose over 1.5 lbs a week on 2000 calories not including your commute.
Or have I misunderstood completely?
Its all the stuff like full fat mayo that make the difference. Only way to keep track accurately is to prepare all your own food so you know exactly what's going into it.
Nope - I worked on the basis of what a non-cycling day looked like. Given that the recommended intake for a male is around 2500kcals, I'm assuming that Livestrong takes that sort of figure and applies a calorie reduction based upon the target loss. So I chose "light activity" I'm male, 46, 212lbs, 6.0' - gives 1989kcals a day to achieve 1.5lb weight loss a week.
To that goal, I apply food calories consumed and exercise calories burned.
I'd love to prepare all my own food and do for breakfast (porridge/banana combo) and tea (well Mrs MRS does - she's far more skilled at it) but lunch is just a step too far. I need to find an approach that fits my life not a life to fit my approach.
As above - except that the calories burned thing is still pretty inaccurate. Short of strapping on a power meter, it's going to be a guess. Strong headwind and detour around the murder scene will have added to the uncertainty today.
Virtuous circle?
Yup - I'm comfortable with doing what I'm doing just looking for reassurance.
Thought you weren't down in Glasgow until next week?!
We, unfortunately, have our own murder scene which is a bit of a shock for sleepy Inverness. More shocking is that it's a 4 year old girl and it seems as though her mother is under arrest for the murder. Anyhow, it's on my bike route which meant I had to detour via the hospital which adds a mile (and I got abused by a fellow cyclist for having my knees showing in February! :oops: