The Almighty Calorie by Bicycling Magazine


I don't really follow what it mentioned(Yeah, or kow is my favorite drink and beef burger is my favorite junk!)  But for the sake of sharing, read on!  You can also find the original posting at the following:

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-4-21-21409-1,00.html

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There are 3,500 calories in every pound of body weight. Riding your bike zaps nine to 10 calories a minute, which means a 150-pound cyclist will burn between 500 and 600 calories—roughly the amount in a 6-inch Spicy Italian Subway sub—on a typical hour-long ride. (If you're heavier, you shed more calories; if you're lighter, you lose less.) "Cyclists notoriously overestimate how many calories they're burning," says Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports nutrition at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "If you eat an energy bar and drink a sports drink on a moderate ride, you've effectively cancelled out any calorie burn." Surveys show that some exercisers overestimate the calories they burn by nearly 1,000—about half a day's worth. "Unless every morsel has a food label, it's difficult to know how much you're taking in," Bonci says. "It can be even harder to know how much you're burning."

A calorie is a measurement of the energy in food. And for years we've been told a calorie is a calorie: Whether you eat 500 of broccoli or pastry, your body will burn or store them equally. That's not true, says Bonci. "Foods close to their natural state, such as fresh vegetables, whole grains and lean, whole cuts of meat, require action—energy—from your body," she says. "You need to work to chew them and to digest them. They create a thermic response, which means you burn more calories just processing them."

She and other experts partly blame the preponderance of "lazy calories" for the current obesity epidemic. "Our food is so heavily processed, it's practically predigested," she says. "That fast-food burger has gone through so much pulverization, you barely have to chew. We're losing the ability to burn calories as we naturally would during the eating and digestive process." And many of these same foods are calorie-dense, so there's more for your body to store.

Bonci doesn't suggest counting calories. "It takes the joy out of eating and ends up a futile venture," she says. Instead, fill your plate with active calories, like those found in fruits and vegetables. Such foods possess more fiber and water, which means you digest them slowly, feel satisfied with fewer of them and gain longer-lasting energy. Bonci says you can consider them "free foods" and eat as many as you want.

By simply changing the composition of your plate, you can lose weight without worrying about hunger pangs, bonking episodes or counting calories. The box below shows what a "performance plate" should look like. "Structuring your meals this way," Bonci says, "will allow you to ride well and fill up without filling out."

The Performance Plate

  • One-quarter to one-third of your meal should consist of active and semiactive calories from protein such as lean meat, skinless poultry, fish, soy foods, eggs and low-fat dairy.
  • One-half should be active calories from fruits and vegetables (for the fill-and-chew factor).
  • One-quarter should be active and semiactive calories from whole-grain starches: brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and potatoes.
  • Couch-potato calories should be consumed sparingly; save them for occasional indulgences and snacks.

    Active Calories

  • Lean meat, fish, poultry
  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Whole grains
  • Beans and legumes

    Semiactive Calories

  • Fiber-rich cereal
  • Whole-grain bread
  • Low-fat dairy
  • Soups

    Couch-Potato Calories

  • Pastries, cookies, pies, cakes
  • Fatty processed meats
  • Chips, pretzels, snack foods
  • Greasy fast food
  • turbosnail - Posted on 06 February 2010

    Hi y'all. I would like to share my experience on my daily dietary intake. Based on Bonci's performance plate, I agree with her. As a matter of fact, my dietary intake daily is about that. Sometimes we allow ourselves to indulge a little to get rid of boredom. Who says we can't eat pasta, pizza, ice-cream, fast food, roti canai, teh tarik, thosai, roti pratha, capati and so on? We can eat but we must have discipline to control the intake. Perhaps twice a month unless one is born to live to eat. Everyone is born to eat to live but unfortunately it has become a habit to indulge and become otherwise.

    My breakfast diet usually consists of a 'Hokkien Mee' bowl of rolled oats simm ered with 2/3 Kopi O and 1/3 HL milk, two to three slices of whole meal bread or raisin buns depending on their sizes and my appetite. Lunch will be mostly vege dishes, eggs, tofu or taukua and either chicken breast or fish cooked anyhow. If I can find 'ulam' or raw green vege, I will include them as much as possible abt 100gm. My rice will be about 12-15 tablespoons, also depends on my appetite. Lastly will be a good serving of fruits. Dinner usually consists of veges and more fruits. Once in a while I will indulge in McD, KFC, KRRoasters, Pizza Hut and other outlets.

    As long as we train hard enough and get our hearts and adrenalines pumping, what we eat will be burnt by our body. After all, we train more than 2hours everytime we ride out. The 1st part of 40 min, carbs will be burnt. In the next 20min, our body will start to burn fats and other reserves. So for those who constantly train everyday for 2 hours will automatically burn lots of calories. I dare say a round Island ride will make us burn more than 1,200kJ. Automatically we will look for carb rich foods to eat. Why not meaty stuff?

     

     

     

    Hey Turbo, You deflate our inflated feeling of calories burn!!. From My Garmin 405cx Gps linked gadget, the calories burnt on average when we ride thru The balik Pulau climb and to Pantai Acheh or the Pearl Hill ride, we burned about 800 to 1000 calories per hour. I hv always wonder if the figure is really accurate. When I compare to my run, it seems accurate, 850 calories for a 10 Km run ( one hour). I hv checked my settings and parameters and it is all in order. So I presumed the figure of 800 to 1000 calories or even more sometime when we do the Pearl Hill run is probably quite accurate (maybe slightly exaggeratedWink). The calories burnt per hour probably got to take into consideration the speed, the elevation, the terrain and of course the parameters of the riders. So the fiugre quoted in the magazine cud be for a leisurely ride on a flat terrain. Otherwise, this inflated feeling after each ride has to be deflated!!! AND CUT DOWN ON THE ROTI CHANAI CAMPUR TELUR AFTER THE RIDE!!!

    But it is a good article on healthy nutrition that not only cyclists shud try to follow but the general public and Alan cut down on the calorie ladened Tiger BEERWink

     

    No fear, no fear!  More imperial and metric century road and extend MTB ride on hills to come!!!

    Wow... if the conditions are like this then I belong to the Couch Potato Master! Maybe that might be the reason why I'm not losing any weight from so much cycling.  I take 100Plus everytime I ride and take in so much carbohydrates during the rides, no wonder there is hardly any change on my bathroom scale.

    Have to modify it a bit la.  See you guys tomorrow!

    best regards,

    nightrider

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