I rode this morning and burned approximately 1500 calories, as i had eaten nothing but a banana i was burning fat as fuel. Is there an equation that works out the amount of fat burned in relation to calories used?

1g of fat contains 9 calories

So assuming you only burned fat, you would have lost 166g of fat

but I don’t know why you think you only burned fat

A pound of body fat is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories. But unless you were riding at very low intensity you won’t have been burning predominantly fat, and even then only after the first half hour or so once the fat-burning metabolism gets itself wound up.

1g of fat is 9 calories

1500 calories is about 1/3 of a pound of fat

Not an accurate one (to my knowledge). Your body uses lots of different energy sources (glucose, protein, fat, glycogen, food in your belly & many more) so no equation will be able to take them all into account.

Maybe see how many handfuls you can grab round your waist before/after a ride? 😉

How did you measure the 1,500 calories?

its an “ish” on my garmin and hrm

exercise is a really rubbish way of losing weight (except by dehydration). It’s a hundred times (or 1000 ?) easier not to eat a thing than to exercise enough to burn off the calories it contains.

Ride your bike for fun, and if you’re too big eat less stuff.

Brilliant! How many dieting magazines and websites could be made redundant by simply repeating what SFB says:

“if you’re too big eat less stuff”

I watch Aerobics Oz Style twice a day. Helps me work up a sweat 😀

Starving yourself to lose weight unfortunately tends to use the protein in your muscles as well as bodyfat, which as a rider isn’t good. A healthy diet, with a slight calorie deficiency complemented by your riding will burn fat, keep your metabolism up and maintain your musculature.

I prefer the Billy Connelly line
“eat less, move more”

Garmins are quite a way out unfortunately. You can half the figure usually.

According to my Garmin, I burnt 4,763 calories doing the Etape Caledonia…….

Did you get a puncture Druidh? I hear of disaffected locals scattering thumbtacks

Calorie counting using these sorts of machines is very much merely an educated guess.

i do not believe that 2 hrs at an average of 17mph equates to 750calories

I have a similar dilemma to the OP…

I am 84kg (13st 8lbs) on a 5′ 10″ frame so I reckon about 1.5 stone or 10kg over weight.

For guys they say that the waist line measurement is critical and I am the wrong side of 34″ waist. I have been as high as 36″ but want to (and have been) slim as 32″.

I cycle (commute) to work which is 5 miles each way although the back journey is mostly uphill and hard work.

I tend to eat more when I cycle and ‘fuel up’ on bananas, energy bars, etc. I also ‘allow’ myself the odd biscuit and cake because I am doing the exercise!

I read widely and I read about ‘recovery’ meals 20 minutes are exercise so attempt to meet the advice. Should I just do starvation rides and only eat when really hungry and try to eat low fat food?

I will start a new post – on reflection this is a little bit of a hijack!

its not a hijack mate – i am similar

6ft 2 and 13 stone, want to be down to 12 or 12st 2 ish

i try to ride (on the road) for 2hrs ish at a steady pace in the fat burning zone on my HRM but fat seems to stay put!

Its how to eat in relation to the cycling…I am pretty hungry after a ride so tend to consume anything that does not move. This of course can mean I end up eating multi grain muesli bars for example which are 181 calories a piece!

TandemJeremy – Member

Did you get a puncture Druidh? I hear of disaffected locals scattering thumbtacks

Calorie counting using these sorts of machines is very much merely an educated guess.

A/ONE disaffected local….and it was carpet tacks – little ones.

No. No punctures for me, although I was taking it very easy at points looking for tacks, and was very nervous as there were folk puncturing just inches away. Scary ride.

As regards the calorie thing, you’re right. I’d opt to half the number given by the Garmin (sorry R_R – that means more work for you!)

Fow much fat you burn depends upon the intensity and duration of the exercise and can only really be measured in a laboratory setting.

Gas analysis systems measure the amount of oxygen being used by the body (VO2) and the amount of carbon dioxide being produced (VCO2). The ratio between these two measurements gives you the (approximate) balance between carbohydrate, fat, and other ‘anaerobic’ energy use.

e.g. VCO2 = 1800 ml per min, VO2 = 2000 ml per min
1800/2000 = 0.9 (or 90% carbs, 10% fat)

This is probably the best fat burning you will get during endurance exercise as these figures are seen during ‘easy’ miles

A brisk 1-2 hr ride would see roughly equal values for VO2 and VCO2

e.g. VCO2 = 3000ml, VO2 = 3000ml (3000/3000 = 1.0)
You are buring pure carbs at this intensity

Fast rides, or ‘race’ efforts

e.g. VCO2 = 4500ml, VO2 = 4000ml (4500/4000 = 1.125)
Pure carbs and some ‘anaerobic’ fuel
The breakdown of ‘anaerobic’ energy produces the excess CO2

If you want to burn fat you have to ride slowly, for a long time, and often.

If you ride fast you burn lots of calories, but most/all of it will be carbohydrate and not fat.

Hope that makes sense?

Jon

i do not believe that 2 hrs at an average of 17mph equates to 750calories

Obviously the true measurement depends on your weight/size/build, but Garmin’s method of calculating calories is based speed/distance/time. It does not take into account the type of riding, your weight

I very much doubt it is truely 1500 calories though, unless the 2hrs was hard off-road.

12 stone @ 6’2″ will make you look like a bag of bones imo….

Well it did me & I’m only 6’1″….

It’s almost impossible to accurately count calories and to guess at how much you need based on activity. If you eat just a latte and a small handfull of crisps every day that are excess calories, you’ll put on 3 stone over a decade*.

Just eat proper food (i.e. not crap food), mostly plants, and move a lot.

*numbers might be wrong as working from memory, but roughly correct order of magnitude

I have seen/read this before…

If you want to burn fat you have to ride slowly, for a long time, and often.

If you ride fast you burn lots of calories, but most/all of it will be carbohydrate and not fat.

But what sort of HR zone is ‘slowly’ equate to?

How much ‘effort’ do I need to put in to achieve this?

what sort of HR zone is ‘slowly’ equate to?

This is the million dollar question, and the reason why most/all of the bike computer/GPS calorie calculators are so inaccurate.

To keep this simple,

Gluclose (C6H12O6) burns in oxygen (O2) to produce carbon dioxide (6CO2) and water (6H20) and energy (e)

i.e. C6H12O6 + 6O2 = 6CO2 + 6H2O + e

(I know there are subscript numbers here but you can’t use these on the forum)

As in my previous post, a bike ‘computer/GPS’ can’t measure the O2 (VO2) or the CO2 (VCO2) and so it can not actually calculate the calories burnt, they simply estimate this from body weight, distance, speed and time.

Now, how fit you are determines at what HR you burn what mix of fuel, i.e. what workrate requires how much oxygen, and how much carbon dioxide is produced.

The fitter you are the higher the workrate you can support through oxidative pathways without needing an ‘anaerobic’ contribution and therefore producing excess carbon dioxide (plus lactate and other metabolites).

The workrate, HR and oxygen uptake response to exercise varies dramatically between people and can only really be measures in a laboratory. The HR zones you see splashed about in magazines and the internet are about as much use as the calorie estimates computers give you.

Jon

Don’t starve as it alters your metabolism – putting it into famine mode.

Just lay off the pies

Just lay off the pies

And ride more

…perfect advice!

“if you’re too big eat less stuff”

not exactly rocket science is it ?

There is alot of science you can play with but having shed 2stone since xmas i’ll tell you how I’ve done it.
Rough and ready max HR is 220- your age i think so for me (220-30=190) now your can roughly work out your heart rate zones. Best for fat burning is 50-60%(so 0.6 x 190) doesn’t matter if some of your ride is higher than this. It’s naturally going to be as hills make you work harder.
Aim for at least 2 mid week rides min 1hr ideally 2hrs and one longer ride 3hrs+ at the weekend.

Right food, I’ve always had a reasonably healthy diet but ultimately it boils down to the portion sizes! Eat less, eating slower will help your body tell you when it’s full rather than forcing in more than you need.
Sounds silly but cause the wife started weight watchers with there points counting I followed her and it really worked + it accounts for the exercise your doing
6ft 1 and was nearly 16st now 13st10lb another 5lbs or so and i’m there. + I’m riding really competitvely.

No not rocket science but it does not make it any easier TBH!

I think the eat less and ride more is an over simplification and is not that helpful.

The cannot measure it accurately only in a lab maybe correct but are there not some ‘rough guides’ or rule of thumbs to use even allowing for the fact we are all different.

There’s obviously a thin line to walk between eating enough to stop the ‘starvation mode’ and not eating too much to gain the weight.

I think the eat less and ride more is an over simplification and is not that helpful.

wrong. It’s called conservation of energy. You may elect to believe it’s more complicated as an excuse but you’re just kidding yourself – though of course, that’s how people GET fat 🙁

The cannot measure it accurately only in a lab maybe correct but are there not some ‘rough guides’ or rule of thumbs to use even allowing for the fact we are all different.

This excess CO2 production is due to the breakdown of lactic acid into lactate and hydrogen ions.

Lactic acid and Lactate per se are not the bad boys people make them out to be, the hydrogen ions are, and are one of the causes of ‘the burn’ you feel in the muscle during exercise.

If you can feel this burning sensation in the legs then you are riding too fast, burning carbohydrate and probably very little fat.

If it is ‘fat’ that you want to shift, make sure that you ride slow enough that you don’t get the burn.

That is as non scientific as I can can be, as I am a scientist (for my sins).

Jon

is the answer “yes” “no” or “always the same”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4GvgaAO4DA

Or just visit your local University Sports Science department, I/we have all of the kit needed to determine all of these things, and many more, over at Aberystwyth University.

There is no need to guess at these things, physiological testing is not that expensive, maybe ~£100 to get all of the data you need to set up a detailed and very specific training plan designed for YOU, not Jo Average. Think about how much you spend on bikes and kit, isn’t the engine worth a little investment too?

i am not THAT arsed to be honest

“i am not THAT arsed to be honest” – fair enough!

thanks Lab Monkey. I am not that close to you but I might see if I am close to an alternative Lab?

I live in Kent 🙂

I like the not feel burn to burn the fat and I could work with that. It is interesting that most training guides advocate building the base miles and doing much more low intensity training then I would normally imagine useful. I think most believe training should be very intensive stuff but most training regimes are full of recovery rides and the like. In fact the one i tried to follow a few months back I found i difficult to cycle slow/low intensive enough to meet the targets.

I live in Kent

I know there are some good guys at Brighton Uni (based in Eastbourne).

Creating an energy deficit is the basic key.

Whether this is reducing consumption or exercise.

I’d combine both but don’t use starvation where you lose muscle for energy.

Best I have done is losing 20kg in 3 months but created a huge deficit and worked out daily when my schedule was pretty blank.

Different strategy when you’re working 7 days a week flat out! losing it slowly and healthly.

Dam I’ll look great for WInter! breathes in for summer…