Just curious as to what you all do re calorie replacement following 2-4hr rides?
I’ve tried to go with the “eat what you burn on ride plus BMR” mantra, but am still struggling to recover and feel good. For reference I’m 64kg so BMR is ~1650kcal per day.
Do you consciously eat more than your BMR, in addition to the amount you have burn on the ride? Or am I missing something else? Thanks for the help.
Yes, you’re missing something. BMR + Calories burned riding is not enough and it will put you in a deficit. BMR basically accounts for you lying down not moving all day, doesn’t account for thermic effect of food, and more. So basically, you need to start eating more.
If you really want to dial in what you actually burn in a day you need to be pretty detailed about tracking kCal eaten and burned, weigh yourself daily and average over the week, and then track what your weight’s doing over time. Going up, tweak your intake down. Going down, or even staying steady but not recovering, tweak your intake up.
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Try eating some more (following the advice BMR gave about trying to take a tally / count of your intake) and see how you get on.
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How well are you fueling on the bike? Get as many calories down as possible during your rides (and immediately after) so that your “catch up” isn’t much more than normal eating. There are inherent advantages to fueling during exercise with simple carbs that go away pretty quick once you stop activity. If you miss the window, it becomes much harder to replenish and pounding simple carbs outside the exercise window isn’t ideal.
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What does your current macro intake look like? How much and what are you eating before, during , and for post ride recovery? What food are you eating when off the bike?
To keep it simple, I aim to fuel 50 percent of my calories while on the bike.
For breakfast it’s porridge ~100-130g oats plus fruit and yoghurt with nuts/seeds, depending on training. Lunch and dinner are similar, a carb portion (stir fry noodles, pasta, bread, rice, the classics) with a couple of eggs/ egg whites chicken or ham with loads ofroasted veg and salad with hummus/avocado, fat free cream cheese, ketchup etc.
multiple coffees through the day (decaf after midday). Tend to use plant based milk. Evening snack, pre bed, frozen fruit 200g flavoured fat free yoghurt, few nuts/seeds sweetener and bit of crunchy cereal.
I think the secret is to get the carbohydrates in mostly on the bike and in the glycogen window immediately following the ride. A lot of the time the sitting around and checking strava and then okay well now I will cook dinner… it’s 5:15 we will eat at 6:30… that all gets in the way of refueling effectively.
Best case scenario you grab something on the way home that you have appetite for and eat it before you get in the shower, at bare minimum grab a banana and a bottle try to consciously fuel more in the glycogen window.
x1000, always prioritize as many carbs as you can while riding and right after. It’s not about fueling that ride, it’s about making hay while the sun is shining. Sun goes down pretty quick once you are done exercising.
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This is basically the answer.
BMR doesn’t account for walking around, chores, etc etc. So unless you get out of bed, get on the bike, come home, lay back in bed, repeat, you’re going to be missing several hundred calories.
The mantra should be more like “eat at your daily maintenance plus your ride calories”. With “Daily Maintenance” being BMR + all the extra calories you burn throughout the day living your life.
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