Nutritional advice

giddyupchik said:

Hey, I'm a 17 year old female cyclist looking for some nutritional advice. I'm racing, riding hard most days. I'm afraid I'm not eating enough, but am not sure how much I need to be eating. I'm 5'4" 115 pounds. I'm eating less than 2000 calories a day, and I don't know how many I'm burning. For instance, I took today off, but rode a hard 50 two days in a row before today. Obviously, I'm burning more than I'm eating, but I'm not overly skinny or anything. I've felt like my performance has decreased since late summer, and I'm afraid it's because my not eating much has caught up with me. I rarely eat breakfast, and have a light lunch. I feel really full after eating any small amount of food.

I'm just looking for any advice...Thanks!
Ciao.

[font=Arial]You are certainly burning more calories that you are consuming and it appears that you may be dipping into muscle stores for fuel instead of fat stores hence your decrease in performance over the past year. If you are catabolizing muscle for fuel you will not only lose performance but further slow your metabolism too. Without eating breakfast and only consuming a light lunch your metabolism is starting to take a hit and running very inefficiently for your activity level due to to few calories and nutrient timing. You really need to eat 5-6 times per day spacing your calories evenly eating for your performance needs.[/font]
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[font=Arial][font=Arial]This might help a little. It's your calculated BMR (approximate) with a weight of 115lbs and normal body fat content for an active female of 14-18%. This will at least get you pointed in the right direction. Your protein and carb intake are probably low so you aren't fueling or recovering properly.[/font][/font]
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[font=Arial]If your bodyweight is 52 kilograms. [/font]
[font=Arial]Step 1 - BMR Based On Weight[/font][font=Arial] [/font]

[font=Arial]For Women: 0.9 x 52 Kg x 24 = 1127 [/font]
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[font=Arial]Step 2 - BMR With Bodyfat Percentage Calculation[/font][font=Arial] (female 14% -18%)[/font]

[font=Arial]Taking your bodyfat percentage into account, your adjusted BMR is 1127 calories per day. This is equal to 47 calories per hour. [/font]
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[font=Arial]Step 3 - Total Daily Calories Burned[/font][font=Arial] [/font]

[font=Arial]Adding in your activity level, we times your BMR by 2. This means that your approximate total calories burned each day is 2253. [/font]
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[font=Arial]Step 4 - Macronutrient Breakdown In YOUR Diet[/font][font=Arial] [/font]

[font=Arial]Now that we know how many total calories need to be consumed each day, where do the calories come from? Based on your BMR, Activity Level and Athletic Category you need: [/font]
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[font=Arial]Protein Grams: 103 Grams Per Day.
Protein Calories: 412 Protein Calories Per Day. [/font]
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[font=Arial]Fat Grams: 38 Grams Per Day.
Fat Calories: 338 Protein Calories Per Day. [/font]
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[font=Arial][/font][font=Arial]Carbohydrate Grams: 376 Grams Per Day.
Carbohydrate Calories: 1503 Carb Calories Per Day[/font]

[font=Arial]...Alright, thank you so much for your advice...[/font]

[font=Arial]So say I am [/font][font=Arial][font=Arial]using muscle stores for fuel instead of fat, how much time of eating more would it take to start using stored fat instead of muscle? [/font]
Also, about how long does it take to raise your metabolic rate?

So just for clarification, are you saying that I might be burning approximately 2200 calories a day...that's without a ride factored in?

Thanks. Lindsay
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giddyupchik said:

[font=Arial]...Alright, thank you so much for your advice...[/font]

[font=Arial]So say I am [/font][font=Arial][font=Arial]using muscle stores for fuel instead of fat, how much time of eating more would it take to start using stored fat instead of muscle? [/font]
Also, about how long does it take to raise your metabolic rate?

So just for clarification, are you saying that I might be burning approximately 2200 calories a day...that's without a ride factored in?

Thanks. Lindsay
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I doubt you are using all muscle stores for fuel but it sounds like once you are out of blood sugar from your carbs you are dipping into muscle for fuel more so that fat. This can happen if you are really pushing yourself and riding intensly, especially if you are under nurished.

If you start to up your calories and protein a bit to support your lean mass you will find that your metabolism responds very quickly.

The figure of 2253 was the number that I came up with from entering a general "high activity" level into the equation since I don't know what you are burning on the bike. I have a feeling that with your riding included especially if riding a 50 at high intensity is a regular part of your regimen then I would assume that you are burning somewhere between 2500-3000 calories per day total.

With you eating under maintenance you have put your body into more of a starvation mode to where it wants to store calories opposed to burn them. I think with adequate macro nutrient intake for fuel you will see your metabolism kick in after 2-4 weeks. It does take a while for some especially if it's been slower for a year now. Give it time.