Calorie counter

blahblah06

Hi guys. Newbie here just 100km done on my new drop down.

question for ya I have a bbb speedo but it doesnt have any calorie loss counter can I get one or is it all guesstimate?

blorg

It is pretty much all guesstimate unless you have a power meter or at least a computer that works it out from heart rate. There are reasonable algorithms for working out from HR but they are patented and so many computers with HR and calories DON'T work it out from HR and are just as innacurate.

What is your aim here? Weight loss or fuelling? For the latter I just try to stick in 200 calories an hour and that seems to keep me going. Plus food before and after, 200 would not be enough for replacement on its own but I read once I think from tunney here that the body couldn't process much more than that while actually moving.

ednwireland

its a guess i'm think all the computers do is do a calculation like this

http://www.csgnetwork.com/caloriesactburned.html

blahblah06

I'm looking at it purely for weightloss. Every 2nd day I'm doing a 50km cycle averaging 20k

So wondered am I doing enough etc. My intake is about 1900 a day

2 Wheels Good

Hi, if you can invest in a HR monitor with a calorie counter built in. May help from both sides, train in the right hr zone for weightloss and get a calorie count at the end. I've a Suunto t3c that does the trick. Not the easiest to use but takes your age, weight etc in consideration for calculating your stats. Some of the others here may have better advice on which hr monitor to get.

blorg

@blahblah- as most monitors are thought to substantially overestimate calories burned (by a factor of 1.5-2x) there is a risk that you might use this as a justification for falling off the wagon on your diet. Most monitors pay no attention to whether you are going up or down a hill, into a headwind, etc. It is only the ones that work off HR or power that can even hope to be near accurate and even then there are many HRMs (such as the Garmins before the 500) that do not take HR into account when calculating the calorie figure, just weight, age, and gradient. As such it is really a wild stab in the dark and the figure is just not that useful.

It is generally easier to lose weight through restricting your diet as you really have to be cycling a lot for that to have a measurable effect; a mars bar and a can of coke could take you an hour to work off on the bike...

Intake of 1,900 calories a day sounds reasonable. I would suggest keeping a log of everything you eat so you are sure this is accurate and correlating this with weekly weight loss. This should let you figure out approximately how many calories you are burning.

As to the cycling, is it enough? Of course not. Keep increasing the mileage as long as you are enjoying it but don't push it to the point it becomes a chore.

blahblah06

Thank you for that blorg.
Im just back from a 52.10 km cycle there took exactly two hours 30 mins at 22.6 so im getting faster even only by 2.5 km but it all helps. Ill defo keep a log alright

its sickening all that effor goes to waste over a bloody bar of chocolate and can of coke