[Northernrose]

In the past few days, I've found myself increasingly tired & hungry. This morning I just have a massive brain fog. Not good.

I know it's not to do with the type of food I'm eating because I have a healthy diet - good amount of protein, only eat slow-release carbs, no sugar etc - and I take a vitamin / iron supplement to be on the safe side. Besides, I've been fine on this diet for the last month or so.

I have increased my exercise - cycling - a little over the past few days (from about 45 minutes to an hour, covering more distance) & was wondering if that was it.

I'm having trouble with calorie calculators in terms of what to put for activity level (e.g. is 6 hours of cycling a week moderately active or very active?!)

I am quite muscular (unusually so for a woman).

Any ideas or advice?

[seagirl]

how many calories are you eating a day?

I Have a range of 1300-1600 per day. On days that I bike, I will usually have bigger breakfast with more carbs, and use watery gatorade in my waterbottle (G2 is less sugary, maybe 60 calories?) and if I'm training (meaning, going for speed as opposed to a leisurely ride around town) then I'll have a Clif Shot before I go (an energy goo thing, about 100 cals). Those tend to give me energy on my ride. After my ride, I'll have some milk or cheese.

I'm not usually super hungry the day of a training ride, but the next day the burn catches up with me and I'll eat at the higher end of my calories, maybe a couple of hundred over.

I use Sparkpeople to track. I think on that system you can tell them how many calories you plan on burning a week, by putting in your exercise.

Good luck!

[Northernrose]

I was eating & losing nicely on about 1,800 calories a day, which gave me an 1,000 calorie deficit according to this calculator with exercise at moderate http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculato...alculator.html (I have been told this is a pretty good one.)

Last night, I was so hungry after supper I couldn't sleep, and ended up consuming an extra 300 calories (brown rice & an apple) at about 1am. Late night snacking is not something I have done in a long time now & I certainly don't want to get back in the habit as this is how I piled on the weight in the past.

I usually eat a banana about an hour before I cycle, and/or a bigger afternoon snack a few hours before.

Oh, I cycle at a pathetic 8.74 miles per hour on tracks & road at the moment, but this still gets me really sweaty & out of breath, so it is definitely not leisure cycling!

[seagirl]

If you are doing high intensity biking for an hour then some additional food is good! And sounds like you are making good choices with it. You'll be able to tell if you stop losing or need to make adjustments. Just maybe have that extra food during the day so you can sleep!

[Northernrose]

Ah, okay - thanks. It's sometimes difficult to judge! I will try upping my intake to 2,000 calories & see what happens this week. I lost 1.4 lbs on an average of 1,957 calories per day last week doing very little exercise (about 100 minutes in total), so I should listen to my body, I guess. Thank-you for taking the time to help!

[Northernrose]

Just an update but upping my calories really did WONDERS for my cycling. I cycled for an hour at 9.55 mph, going further than I have ever gone. Felt fantastic & full of energy, so all good! Thanks again seagirl.

[seagirl]

Originally Posted by Northernrose

Just an update but upping my calories really did WONDERS for my cycling. I cycled for an hour at 9.55 mph, going further than I have ever gone. Felt fantastic & full of energy, so all good! Thanks again seagirl.

yay!!