A friend ask me approximately how much calories a day I eat since Im burning at least 750calories per session in my IM 70.3 build and told her that probably around 2500cals a day. She then proceeded to ask me if my weight has been “stuck” in the same number in the scale and she is actually pretty correct. She told me that if I want to lower down my weight that I would eat more at around 4000 calories. I cant imagine eating that much. Im already having a challenging time eating the 2500 cals I eat everyday I dont know where and when I can eat that extra 1500calories. So what does you daily calorie/meal intake look like? I hate to admit but I do need to lose a few more pounds but I dont want to eat lesser as I am in the middle of building for my 70.3
wait…what?
4-6000kcal most days. More towards 6000 on double/triple threshold session days and more towards 4000 on easy days.
Typical day:
M1: 60g of serial with 30g of whey 80 with milk (and jam/honey for double/triple days)
M2: 100g oatmeal, 30g whey 80, 50g of raisins, 1 banana, 40g nuts, some berries, salt, cinnamon and milk.
M3: 200g pasta/rice/couscous with 3 eggs and veggies
M4: 100g oatmeal, 30g whey 80, 50g of raisins, 1 banana, 40g nuts, some berries, salt, cinnamon and milk.
M5: 1kg potatoes/sweet potatoes with 125g of Salomon. Approximately 300g of beans and veggies + mushroom on top of that
In addition sports drink during sessions, post workout fruit and/or protein shake, in between snacks if I’m approaching -30 in training peaks (but then I know it is time to let go of the gas too).
191cm
82kg
17hours/week over the last year, 21hours/week last 3 months.
Hope this helps.
PS: yes, I weigh my food. I am a freak
That’s a lot of spuds
I hear the ‘to lose fat u gotta eat more’ however I think that is said because 9/10 people calorie restrict too much. A small deficit is much more sustainable as opposed to the 1000cals a day route.
I think what the OP´s friend refers to is a study conducted by researchers at Copenhagen university where they found (I seem to remember that the study was conducted on women) that low accessibility to calories prevented well trained athletes to loose weight.
Long story short: the body shuts down normal functions ( which can lead to amenorrhea, reduced bone density, hypothermia etc) when you restrict calories too much. They found that when they gave athletes more calories, symptoms disappeared and - more surprisingly - several athletes lost weight.
The main theory (if I remember correctly) was that the body goes into some kind of “protective mode” when you underfeed it (and you’re already reasonably slim). Dunno if anyone has done anything similar for men.
Damn that is a lot!
Thanks for your input.
I used to weigh my food but found it to be more time consuming.
4-6k calories sounds about right. Don’t diet when you are training, do that during off season where you can get by with about 3k, or maybe a little less.
4-6k calories sounds about right. Don’t diet when you are training, do that during off season where you can get by with about 3k, or maybe a little less.
This would very much depend on your initial size. Joe average needs about 2500 to maintain. If your in training I’d say 3k would probably be about right for safe and moderate fat loss. 4-6k cals really is a lot if your looking to lose.
Just putting this out there - I don’t weigh my food - so this is a bit of an estimate. I’d guess I eat somewhere around 3.5-4k calories a day. Over the last few months I’ve lost around five pounds getting down towards race weight (IM at end of June) with an average of around 15 hrs/week of training over that time span. I snack a lot - nuts, raisins, carrots & humus, apples, sun butter on whole grain bread, etc. I generally have a bowl of yogurt w/berries or Irish oatmeal for breakfast, a large leafy salad at lunch, and a ‘normal’ dinner that usually contains some sort of protein (chicken or fish).
Weekdays around 3500-4000 depending on workload. Weekends 5000 or so. About 183 cm and 69 kg. This is a sweet spot for me. Heavier and I swim better. Lighter and I run better. For all three sports this is my good place
I eat about 3500 a day training about 10-11 hours per week. This was an estimate I put in for a typical day, but I think I snack a little bit more than this and I didn’t add in calories from during exercise bottles so that can get up to around 4000. Weight is holding steady to super slow drop. Short power workouts make it really hard to properly fuel and hit weight loss targets. I’m 69kg.
Sounds like a bunch of you are “Hard Gainers” 4-6K KCals a day. Can I have some of your genetics?
I’ve been trying to get to about 2k a day with just whole foods and that is difficult. Often come in around 15-1600 when I’m trying to cut weight. I heat like 600g of broccoli a day.
On the topic, maybe you can help me out.
I am 6ft, weight 142 pounds (42 male).
I workout 2 hours 15 minutes per day average every week. This includes lots of 75-80% sweet spot and threshold sessions, 7,000-9000 yards swimming and 35-42 miles running, with 2 speed days w/anerobic 200’s & 400’s. (All morning sessions regardless of intensity or duration are fasted.)
I am a freak with calorie counting and eat 2800ish calories per day max. My weight has stayed steady, but I’m hungry all the time. I sometimes nap to escape the hunger. Even when I’m full I’m starving.
Should I eat more? I’d love too!
I would be eating around 3,500 calories every day with that amount of exercise.
Dude, your body is screaming at you to eat more. So eat more.
How do you survive? I am 6’1, 162 lbs, 46 y/o male. Train 10-14 hrs a week (9k swimming, 7-8 hrs cycling, 4-5 hrs running). I have an office job, so not a lot of physical labor, save for gardening and walking dogs. My base caloric intake is 2100 kcals + whatever I burn that day. Never less than that.
Dude, your body is screaming at you to eat more. So eat more.
I was a fatty couch pitato my whole life until 6 years ago. Lost 95 pounds of fat and have kept it off. Now, I scared of gaining an ounce. 
Unless you have a deep desire to act as a fishing pole in the future, start listening to your body. You will probably start to perform better in everything you do, and you won’t have to nap to not notice the hunger.
And honestly, at 42 there shouldn’t be anything in the world worth starving for. I count calories myself (because I saw 230 on the scale and was miserable) and I totally get the need to feel in control. But the goal must be to eat as many calories a day, without any increase in weight? That way you know you will sleep better, you will recover better and you will perform better during workouts.
Who knows, maybe you’ll even drop down if you start to eat a bit more.
Hmm I eat around 1-2k calories. 2k when I run over an hour or cycle more than 2
1k if I’m just doing basic day
This is my winter season and I need to shift 10kg
How tall are you?
How much do you weigh?
Maybe we have found out why you are slower on the bike compared to swimming and running