Calculating Calories

Yikes, where does the time go!? I’ve been wanting to reply to the excellent questions raised in the comments to earlier post,s and finally have a chance to translate my thoughts into words on the screen. :o)

Liz raised a question about the difference in nutritional needs for different sports, specifically between running and cycling. The general answer is that the amount of calories you need for each varies, but the building blocks of the diet (i.e., carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins/minerals) are the same.

During endurance runs or bike rides, your body needs fuel from carbohydrates. Carbohydrate comes in many forms: Grains and fruits are primarily composed of carbohydrate, and sugar is also a carbohydrate. During the MS ride days and on longer training days you’ll want to snack on some type of carbohydrate food at the pit stops. (I’ll get into more detail about the amounts of carbohydrate we need in my next post.) During long running events, your body also needs carbohydrate…eating while running is a bit challenging, though, so that’s why gels and sports drinks (which have some sugar) come in handy for runners.

After completing an endurance event, whether cycling or running, some researchers advise that you should consume a snack with both carbohydrate and protein within about 30 minutes to aid muscle recovery. Not everyone agrees about this, but I tend to find this works for me.

To see how calorie needs vary from one activity to another, and how calorie needs vary based on your level of exertion, check out the calories-burned calculators at fitday.com.
http://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned.html

Here are a couple examples based on the calculators on this site.

• For a 5’5”, 140# 35-year-old woman, biking leisurely burns 410 calories/hour. Biking at racing speed (16-19mph) burns 634 calories per hour. For the same woman, running at 10 mph burns 519 calories per hour.

• For a 5;10” 175# 35-year-old man, biking leisurely burns 529 calories per hour. Biking at racing speed (16-19mph) burns 831 calories per hour. Running at 10 mph burns 680 calories per hour.

So, the amount of fuel you need depends on your age, height, weight, gender, the activity and how hard and how long you’re exercising. These calculators are just estimates, but they are a good place to start. You do not need to eat all those calories you're burning DURING the time of exercise, but you need to start the event well-nourished and be sure to re-nourish yourself well at the end. More on eating plan ideas to come later....

Ride on!

Shelley