Eating all the calories

_posts/2022-08-08-cycling-calories.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: Cycling through calories
+tags:
+- cycling
+---
+
+I never really paid attention to the calories burned during cycling until
+recently, and it's still somewhat shocking when I look at it. With my love of
+cycling rekindled by [AIDS/LifeCycle](https://aidslifecycle.org) I have spent a
+lot more time in the saddle this year. Between short criterium races, my
+longest at 140mi, or the most elevation with the [Death
+Ride](https://deathride.com/), I have needed to be very mindful of my nutrition
+before, during, and after these rides. In short, cycling can burn a **lot** of calories.
+
+The "nutrition facts" panel on commercially sold food typically accounts for a
+2,000 calorie daily allocation. This is a rough approximation of what the
+average American should eat. Reasonable I suppose, but let me share some of the
+calorie _expenditures_ estimated on my recent rides:
+
+* Patterson Pass Road Race, 43mi, 4,400ft elevation: **2,400** calories
+* Sonoma Parks tour, 140mi, 6,700ft elevation: **5,122** calories
+* Death ride, 103mi, 14,000ft elevation: **7,557** calories
+
+The numbers are insane! I expect that I need almost 3,000 calories a day just
+to keep my weight and activity levels normal. That means for these more
+significant rides my body requires 3-4x the average daily suggested intake.
+
+"I wish I could eat like you!"
+
+I will frequently get comments about my appetite. Eating 3-5k calories a day is
+quite the challenge! Are you sure you're up to it? 😄
+
+Because I have no idea what a thousand calories look like, I have had to enlist
+the help of a calorie tracker. In doing so I have learned a few things:
+
+* Making each meal ~1k calories is *hard*, especially challenging when eating vegetarian.
+* The day needs four meals, not three.
+* Feeling hungry during the day is a sign that I'm behind.
+* "Palate Fatigue" is a thing.
+
+Nutrition science is something I am learning more serious athletes
+spend a *lot* of time thinking about and experimenting with. Logically it makes
+sense: if your body is the engine, food is the fuel and something you should be
+optimizing to improve performance. As a lay person it is still surprising to me
+how rudimentary my own nutrition education was, remember the food pyramid?
+
+There's still a lot to learn and tune with my own nutrition as it relates to my
+weight and performance. I wish I had useful tips to share, but the experience
+is so individualized that I think you may be best suited exploring what works
+best for you. Keeping track of calories, macronutrients, and expenditures is a
+start, but there's a _lot_ worth exploring!