Does cycling makes you fat?
I know the headline is provoking so before you decide to ask for my expulsion from EN hear me out. I know cycling doesn't make you fat; I know YOU make YOU fat. Last year after race season was over (which was very early - IMTX) I took some liberties with food resulting in a fantastic gain of 35 lbs. The journey was amazing, the outcome not so much.
My goal is to get rid of 40 lbs and be under 200 lbs.(Never been under 200 lbs, I think I was born at 201 lbs). So far so good, I have dropped almost 20 lbs with a very strict calorie count through myfitnesspal (1,800 cals + exercise - food >0), much better food choices, and exercise. I upgraded my scale to a Garmin that keeps track of the data and revisit the data to generate trends.
As I have increased my long rides to 50+ miles, I have found that the myfitnesspal equation stops working. Those rides result in calorie burns of 2K to 3K so the equation allows for a very high caloric intake. Seeing that I can consume almost 5K calories according to the app, I usually have a bigger meal, maybe enjoy a dessert (I don't go crazy, just a little more than usual). I feel I have earned it, and according to the numbers I have. Most of those days I go to bed with 2,000 unused calories but the next day I see that the weight goes up instead of going down and it takes two days to get back on a loosing trend.
Here are my questions:
1) Could having that bigger meal before and not after the ride be a better idea?
2) How are you recovering to avoid being so hungry after a long ride? I use a protein shake but it's not enough
3) I don't think my nutrition or hydration during the rides are an issue but would like to know your thoughts if you are familiar with Infinite or something similar. I take gels and bars.
Thanks
Comments
@Jorge - I've used myfitnesspal for years and have found just the opposite. E.g, the really long weekend rides are when I lose the most weight because I leave too many calories on the table. Those are the days when I eat a pint of Haagen Dazs just to close the gap because I don't want to take more than a 1000 calorie deficit. I also use gels and bars during a ride, and - infrequently - will take a protein drink after a ride. Typically, I just make sure I eat something within 20-30 mins but I don't track the macro nutrient breakdown. As long as I'm taking a consistent net deficit, the weight comes off. However, if you aren't all ready, be sure to track only net exercise. E.g., I don't count any stops in my swim, bike or run when entering those totals into myfitnesspal.
When you enter the calorie burn from your long rides, do you adjust for calories consumed during your ride? For example, if you're taking in 300 calories per hour, then that's 900 calories over a 3 hr ride. This could be causing you to go over or closer to your daily calorie allotment. Also, I think fitness apps/watches over estimate calories burned, especially for us well trained endurance athletes. As fitness improves the rate you burn calories slows down. I suggest reducing the app's calorie burned figure by 10 to 20%.
Also, I usually have a sensible reward immediately after a 4-5 he ride but I don't get caught up in the "My app said I burned 4,000 calories so I can eat 4,000 calories of food" trap. Calories burned/consumed is not an exact science.
I recover with a protein shake and then a regular meal 1-2 hours later. My "reward food" after a long ride is something like icecream or 3-4 cookies or something similar.
@Jorge Duque I think you have some good questions..
From my experience, you may feel as though your ride nutrition is sufficient but I would take a second look. I usually am craving some real food within a hour or two post-ride, but I wouldn't consider it starvation. I have also seen where I confuse dehydration with hunger after a long work out as well.
I wouldn't put much stock into the app's calculation of calorie burn. A three hour ride, unless done at a very high RPE, wouldn't lead to a calorie deficit of more than 2,500 calories (open to a rebuttal here) but once you consider the several hundred calories per hour inside the workout (which is likely where an athlete of your size should be), you may exit with a deficit of half of that total burn amount or less. Then its a matter of eating the good stuff to satiate the craving rather than junk. If your calorie intake is less than 300 calories per hour, that is likely why you come off the bike feeling hungry and a desire to indulge. I also think too that some of my longer days are higher in sodium and simple carbohydrates which inevitably leads to some water retention for a short time. Not a big deal because of my next point..
You mentioned two things that are extremely important and speak to your perspective of the journey. Daily tracking is critical for some people (daily weight, calories). I track my weight daily. As you mentioned though, its a long journey. It took you months and months to gain it, and you should anticipate small fluctuations as you trend back down. Focusing on the process will get you to your goal.
I don't trust the apps that "estimate " calories burned either.
i use power for running as well as cycling and use a rule-of-thumb that equates kJoules burned during the wko to calories (ie say 850 kJoules burned to equal roughly 850 calories).
in my experience this appears to be a better estimate than Garmin Connect etc.
For swimming, I SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) around 400 cals per hour if most is around my CSS pace ( eg 5 X 400 meters @ T pace, plus 500 meters Wu and cool down).
I find apps and fitness equipment to be pretty inaccurate when it comes to calorie counting. I would consider getting a metabolic test test to dial in calories burned in a variety of zones. It should also break out carbs versus fat too, so for example, you may be burning 600 calories per hour riding around in Zone 2, but if you are pretty fat adapted and in the hour you burn 60% fat, then you really only need to be eating/drinking 240 calories per hour. Everyone has plenty of fat to burn, even at 2% body fat.
A quick check on the app accuracy is to estimate calorie burn with your power meter. You should burn about 360 calories per hour per 100 watts of power. So, if you ride for one hour at 200W, then you should be burning 720 calories (360 calories x 1 hours x 200/100 watts = 720). A 2 hour ride at 150 watts would be 2 hours x 360 calories x 150/100 watts = 1080 calories.
Thanks all for your comments
@Paul Hough I am only entering net exercise. I will have to make some tweaks and see the data
@Derrek Sanks I keep track of the intake too. For example, if I get 3 gels during a ride, I will add 300 calories in the app as a snack. I have noticed that myfitness pal tends to be much more aggressive on burned calories than Zwift or Garmin so I always use the lowest value for calories burned.
@Jonathan Benson I am going to review the calorie intake. Maybe that's where I am making mistakes. On a 4 hour ride in Zwift I usually take around 400 to 500 calories for the complete ride + 5 to 6 bottles of Nunn. I will try to increase the caloric intake during the long rides and see how I feel afterwards
@Peter Greagg I went back and reviewed my past rides over 90 minutes and found a pretty good correlation between calories and kJoules. They track pretty much on point
@Tom Glynn Very interesting. You had me doing some math here. I ran some of the last rides and the equation gives me very similar numbers to the caloric burn. I used both NP and Average and all the numbers are in range. Good to know that 3 different methods are providing a consistent cluster of data. Regarding body fat, I still have plenty to do there. I have been able to go from 19% to 17%. I will look into the metabolic testing
@Jorge Duque I did a 4:30 zone 1 ride on Zwift last weekend. I took in 1200-1300 calories via liquid nutrition - Gatorade Endurance and Carbo Pro, as well as 600 calories in bars.
Hey @Jorge Duque I'll preface my comment with I am part of the I train fasted group and I like it ... one of the best methods for losing weight IMO is doing the rides fasted and not taking in any calories on the ride. I can usually mange about 4 hour rides on water - just electrolytes as needed depending on weather conditions. BUT, in order to do this I also need to keep the intensity low and generally follow the MAF 180-age as a HR cap. If I manage my intensity I can do a 4 hour ride and finish and not even feel hungry but a few of these help to drop the LBS. Post ride I consume a protein drink with some added glutamine and I am good to go the next day. I eat a normal meal at next sitting and again as long as I was good at keeping intensity low my caloric intake does not need to be much, and I am not hungry at all. Just my experience - good luck.