Counting Kcals

mr_eddy

I am after some advice from someone who is in the know.

I am curious as to what sort of calorie deficit I have and also how many calories cycling burns. According to a few websites 90 minutes cycling at a moderate pace (14 mph) burns 1039 calories. This seems very high but I was wondering if anyone can verify this, maybe someone with a heart rate/calorie monitor etc?

Secondly,

On a average day I eat something like :
breakfast - large bowl ready brek oats no sugar
Lunch - Fruit salad, cheese had sandwitch on white bread, mars bar
3pm - medium bowl of ready brek unsweetened
5pm - half a 12" Tesco ham and pineapple pizza

Gym session - free weights 1 hour 5 days a week.

this along with my 14 mile commute averaging 14mph with a few small hills what do you think my calore intake and calorie burn amount might be?

For reference I weight 80kg and I am 5'11"

Hob Nob

First of all everyone is different, so you cannot really guess the numbers.

Get yourself on a calorie counter website (I use myfitnesspal as it find it by far the easiest) and start logging your food intake & exercises.

That will give you an accurate picture of your daily consumption, although it does require you logging the weights of everything you put in your mouth - its the only way to do it accurately.

As for calorie burn, again it's hard to tell on an 'average' exercise how much you burn. For example in my case, I play a lot of squash as well as cycle and sometimes if I play county league matches I can play a game for an hour with an av HR of ~130 and burn 500 calories & other times I can play for an hour with an av HR of ~180 & be up at 1200. Obviously I feel considerably more worn out with the latter example, but double the burn? I wouldn't know that at all.

Easiest way is to get yourself an HRM. Then you at least stand a chance of getting close to the numbers.

Edited to add, you should probably have a look at your diet anyway, it looks pretty crap in terms of nutritional value there...

Pokerface

mr_eddy wrote:

I am after some advice from someone who is in the know.

I am curious as to what sort of calorie deficit I have and also how many calories cycling burns. According to a few websites 90 minutes cycling at a moderate pace (14 mph) burns 1039 calories. This seems very high but I was wondering if anyone can verify this, maybe someone with a heart rate/calorie monitor etc?

Secondly,

On a average day I eat something like :
breakfast - large bowl ready brek oats no sugar
Lunch - Fruit salad, cheese had sandwitch on white bread, mars bar
3pm - medium bowl of ready brek unsweetened
5pm - half a 12" Tesco ham and pineapple pizza

Gym session - free weights 1 hour 5 days a week.

this along with my 14 mile commute averaging 14mph with a few small hills what do you think my calore intake and calorie burn amount might be?

For reference I weight 80kg and I am 5'11"

+1 for getting a calorie tracker. It will open your eyes greatly.

As for calorie burn - 90 mins at 14mph could be anywhere from 750 to 1200 cals. Depends on the terrain. The flatter, the lower the number. I would guess a flattish ride of that length to be around 900 cals.

Unfortunately a HRM won't really tell you a whole lot.

mclarent

See if you can borrow (or buy?) a proper powermeter. Do a training ride, note the KJ number that will be as near as dammit (+/-10%?) to calories burnt.

+1 for myfitnesspal (see signature )

meanredspider

+1 for calorie tracking.

I've been using the LiveStrong one on my iPhone for about a month (most of which I've spent sat on my butt in a hospital) and I've lost 1.5kg. The only issue with it is the exercise end. It seems to reckon (like my Garmin) that I burn 1000kCals an hour cycling my 95kg around at 16-18mph. I adjust this to 600kCals for balancing purposes.

I'd agree with the view that your diet is on the crappier side - makes what I've been feeding myself in this hospital (as parent of patient) look quite good.

Pokerface

meanredspider wrote:

+1 for calorie tracking.

I've been using the LiveStrong one on my iPhone for about a month (most of which I've spent sat on my butt in a hospital) and I've lost 1.5kg. The only issue with it is the exercise end. It seems to reckon (like my Garmin) that I burn 1000kCals an hour cycling my 95kg around at 16-18mph. I adjust this to 600kCals for balancing purposes.

I'd agree with the view that your diet is on the crappier side - makes what I've been feeding myself in this hospital (as parent of patient) look quite good.

I've used the Livestrong one for years (on and off). It's great as it seems to have every food imaginable

As for cals used - I'm fortunate to have a powermeter, so can just manually enter the number.

Just started a diet under the watchful eye of team nutritionist and using the Livestrong app to track everything. Dropping weight fast now that I'm paying attention to what I eat!

mclarent

Myfitnesspal app is quite good too!

overgeared

there are all kinds of sophisticated ways to calculate your calorie consumption at rest (basal metabolic rate determined via a metabolic assessment) and while riding (as mentioned, the mechanical work in KJ recorded by a power meter can be used to estimate Kcalories burned).

however, the best way to determine whether you are burning more than you eat, or else eating more than you burn, on a daily basis, is simply to keep track of your weight over a period of time. barring changes in hydration levels which you can minimise by weighting yourself at the same time every day and not shortly after exercise this will give you a pretty good idea.

as a ballpark estimate i beleive that most people who arent on a recovery ride will be burning at least 700 calories per hour cycling, it all depends on their fitness because fitness translates to oxygen consumption and oxygen consumption translates to nutritional energy release.

mclarent

overgeared wrote:

as a ballpark estimate i beleive that most people who arent on a recovery ride will be burning at least 700 calories per hour cycling, it all depends on their fitness because fitness translates to oxygen consumption and oxygen consumption translates to nutritional energy release.

Big fat disclaimer required there - lots of variables to consider: terrain, weight, speed etc - basically all part of calculating power required, as measured by kj...

Alex_Simmons/RST

overgeared wrote:

as a ballpark estimate i beleive that most people who arent on a recovery ride will be burning at least 700 calories per hour cycling,

Which equates to around 190W average power.

I'm not so sure that's "most people".

ut_och_cykla

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

overgeared wrote:

as a ballpark estimate i beleive that most people who arent on a recovery ride will be burning at least 700 calories per hour cycling,

Which equates to around 190W average power.

I'm not so sure that's "most people".

I reckon on at best burning 600kcal an hour - usually 500 or so. (not skinny female 50 +)
Not sure what that equates Watts wise to but it wasn't until I logged everything on Livestrong and 'toned' down ' my guestimated burn that I have started to lose weight. Small differences perhaps but over weeks and months they have been the difference between no weight loss and small but steady weight loss.

mclarent

I think myfitnesspal suggests a daily deficit of 200 calories in order to lose 1/2 pound a week? They also overestimate calorie burn for a given activity by something like 100-200 calories... Go figure...

floosy

Livestrong user here...

only 52KG now because of it....



Dave.

50YONewbie

Hi.

If you'll forgive the sheer brass neck involved in a first-timer telling an old-hand what to do :oops: ...

before counting calories at all, I'd change your diet. On the face of it, what you've listed is substantially junk and has far too little protein and far too may carbohydrates. (Assuming that your goal is shedding unwanted body-fat, apologies if it isn't.)

Cheers!

P.S. I am a neophyte when it comes to grown-up cycling, but I do have experience of training and losing weight successfully whilst rowing.

B3rnieMac

i use a polar ft4 hrm and it has a calorie burning function on it, not that i pay *too* much attention to that function. but this morning i did a quick 80 mins on the road, and burned 1248 kcal. yesterday in 3 hours 20 mins, i burned 3116 kcal. i'm 84kg, so obviously your milage may vary, and i usually sit around an average of 160 bpm.

mattshrops

livestrong for calorie counting


dont want to be rude but you need to do some serious reading on nutrition/healthy diets

Pep

Why would anyone ever wanted to know calories is something that will continue to elude me for ever.

Pokerface

Pep wrote:

Why would anyone ever wanted to know calories is something that will continue to elude me for ever.

WTF does that mean?

Herbsman

Do what I do and just eat proper food, then you won't have to count anything.

Pokerface

Herbsman wrote:

Do what I do and just eat proper food, then you won't have to count anything.

So I can eat as much 'proper' food as I want? Sweet.


I'll inform my nutritionist her services are no longer needed.

P_Tucker

Pokerface wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

Do what I do and just eat proper food, then you won't have to count anything.

So I can eat as much 'proper' food as I want? Sweet.


I'll inform my nutritionist her services are no longer needed.

I thought you were 90kg? I think you should have got rid of her a long time ago.

Pokerface

Down to 81Kg :oops: