I'm realizing now that the 40 mile commute is not sustainable....
- Thread starter Pace
- Start date
Shea N Encinitas
Active Member
Interesting, I've lost some weight myself, but I've also given up a lot of sweets that had crept back into my reach, and I'm doing more like 30/day. I've probably lost 15 lbs in 3 months, so yes 2/week is pretty substantial. I imagine it is not as simple as eat more, so maybe drive some days and ride others? Use more power? Since I've added a 2nd battery I'm enjoying higher PAS levels and swapping at aprx 30% in an attempt to extend battery life. Good Luck Pace! -S
PowerMe
Well-Known Member
This is a problem many women (like me) wish they had. 
I thought I was going to read that you were finding 40 mi per day not sustainable from a time standpoint, not from an issue of weight loss. <jealous>
It actually is about caloric intake. With the increased activity you are burning more calories than you are taking in. Here's an interesting stat: Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps, when he was in daily training, was eating 12,000 calories a day. Consider it takes an abundance or deficit of 3,500 calories to gain or lose 1 lb.
If you don't want to lose weight or don't want to lose weight at that level then eat more calories, choose healthy fats and increase those as well, and maybe do a little weight training to build up more muscle too. Carbs put weight on me faster than I can practically eat them. (A bowl of brown rice & beans (supposedly healthy) will bulk me up almost immediately. If I eat that 3x a week I could easily put on 10 lbs in less than a month. And that's not muscle weight we're talking about. )
Anyway, add an extra 500 to 600 calories to your food intake per day to reduce your weekly weight loss by 1 lb. Or, if you like where your weight is currently, add an extra 900 to 1,000 calories to your diet each day you are doing that 40 mi commute. If the weight loss continues and you want it to stop, keeping adding in calories per day until you stabilize.
It comes down to a math equation and you need to figure out how to get your input of daily calories to be equal to or just slightly less than your output of calories.
I thought I was going to read that you were finding 40 mi per day not sustainable from a time standpoint, not from an issue of weight loss. <jealous>
It actually is about caloric intake. With the increased activity you are burning more calories than you are taking in. Here's an interesting stat: Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps, when he was in daily training, was eating 12,000 calories a day. Consider it takes an abundance or deficit of 3,500 calories to gain or lose 1 lb.
If you don't want to lose weight or don't want to lose weight at that level then eat more calories, choose healthy fats and increase those as well, and maybe do a little weight training to build up more muscle too. Carbs put weight on me faster than I can practically eat them. (A bowl of brown rice & beans (supposedly healthy) will bulk me up almost immediately. If I eat that 3x a week I could easily put on 10 lbs in less than a month. And that's not muscle weight we're talking about.
)Anyway, add an extra 500 to 600 calories to your food intake per day to reduce your weekly weight loss by 1 lb. Or, if you like where your weight is currently, add an extra 900 to 1,000 calories to your diet each day you are doing that 40 mi commute. If the weight loss continues and you want it to stop, keeping adding in calories per day until you stabilize.
It comes down to a math equation and you need to figure out how to get your input of daily calories to be equal to or just slightly less than your output of calories.
Well I should say, my original post was a bit tongue in cheek
It is true that I'm losing the weight, but it's not truly a concern... It was something that I was hoping for/expecting.
A couple of years ago when I was training for an Olympic distance triathlon, I had the same experience when upping my training volume. I did have to start eating a bit more to even things out.
What I'm seeing corresponds roughly to adding 8-10 hours a week of regular cycling at 15 mph (according to various fitness calculators), which is close how it feels, except I'm getting extra speed from the assist.
It is true that I'm losing the weight, but it's not truly a concern... It was something that I was hoping for/expecting.
A couple of years ago when I was training for an Olympic distance triathlon, I had the same experience when upping my training volume. I did have to start eating a bit more to even things out.
What I'm seeing corresponds roughly to adding 8-10 hours a week of regular cycling at 15 mph (according to various fitness calculators), which is close how it feels, except I'm getting extra speed from the assist.
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