Approximately how much calories do you eat a day?

Triathlon Forum
41

It most certainly is not. A fit person of average build and weight, say 6’ and 180 lbs, will need about 2000 - 2500 calories per day to maintain their health and weight - on days that they do no training. Add just a simple 56mi bike ride and you need an additional 2000 calories. Another 400-500 calories if you swim 1.2 miles before biking, and if you run also…well you need to add some more. 4-6K is a good ballpark figure.

If you just putter about while training, or just do one thing per day then you don’t need 4-6K. Or if you are merely exercising to lose weight, then the calorie intake would be less. But if you are training to get stronger, 4-6k is in the ballpark.

Who here is doing a 70.3 each day in training? 3-4k doesn’t seem outlandish for a typical day, more on bigger weekend/long days, but 4-6k every day feels outlandish to me.

42

1.78m (5ft 10)
83kg

If I eat more than 1500 calories I gain fat. I know it’s not normal. I’m working through it.

I do a heck of a lot of fasting and am in the middle of Ranadan as well (food only at 5:30pm onwards)

Are you gaining fat or is your weight going back to normal as your glycogen stores are replenished? How are you measuring fat gain?

I used to think it was just glycogen or water extension. So I went low carb to test it. At 2k calories, my weight slowly increased each week.

I know there is a heck of a load of variables with calories but roughly for me 2k is too much. If I run for an hour a few times a week, I don’t don’t gain anything

Are you basically sedentary?
I ask because you mention ‘if’ you run an hour a few times a week, whereas I assume that most people here talking about eating 4000kcals per day are training for 90 minutes or more per day, every day.

It is possible that your BMR is lower than 2000, but I don’t buy it when people say that they train for hours per day and eat 1000kcals and don’t lose weight (or just keel over due to lack of energy!)

I can send you my input and output if you want. I record almost down to the gram quite anal.

On average I’m 1k under per day and don’t lose weight. Average 1400 ish calories training 8 hours a week

Could you give an example day of what you eat? Do you include oil, butter, sauces, drinks etc in your calories?

If you have ever watched Secret Eaters, you’ll forgive my skepticism! Lots of people there claim to eat 1500Kcals per day, but actually eat 5000+!

Sure, I get it, unless you prepare a meal from scratch you will never know and tbh then its also about how cooked the food is and how much you chew etc etc

But 90/10

Yesterday was a relax day and I was eating out with friends.

Woke up. I had a coffee and a water. Then fasted till 5:30

Another coffee and two waters.
350g chicken
1 cup bone broth
80ml cream
Spices

Then

One lamb shank
Half a cup of potato mashed
One piece of bread roughly weighing a medium slice
And three glasses of wine

Without wine its 1400 and with its 2k.

Just an example. I like to use examples from as close to the day as possible and I always put drinks in and weigh food.

43

1 kg of spuds? LOL - that’s some serious taters!
question - are you married or have kids? - Personally i find it difficult to stick to any strict regimen while also being in charge of feeding the rest of the family (need to make them all happy or at least not mad at me)

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

I hear this buddy. Sometimes we will just skip meals after how crazy our boys are with food. #privi

44

1.78m (5ft 10)
83kg

If I eat more than 1500 calories I gain fat. I know it’s not normal. I’m working through it.

I do a heck of a lot of fasting and am in the middle of Ranadan as well (food only at 5:30pm onwards)

Are you gaining fat or is your weight going back to normal as your glycogen stores are replenished? How are you measuring fat gain?

I used to think it was just glycogen or water extension. So I went low carb to test it. At 2k calories, my weight slowly increased each week.

I know there is a heck of a load of variables with calories but roughly for me 2k is too much. If I run for an hour a few times a week, I don’t don’t gain anything

So using a generic calculator, your RMR should be around 2000 calories per day (with some expected smallish margins for error +/- 200 calories or so). That’s not including regular daily activity or all the training. You either have EXTREMELY low muscle mass, a metabolic disorder, or you’re recording your intake wrong.

I’m 100% sure you’ll ignore this though.

Why would I ignore? It’s quite rational to assume, also auto immunity or a gut digestive issue or I’m eating 12k on a day I’m not recording.

But this thread isn’t about me :-p I just adding to the average

45

I probably average 2500. 122 lbs, 5’6", female. I’ve been running 40-50 miles per week, swimming 4-6k a week, and sometimes I get on my bike.

46

Not sure, I can only answer too many.

47

All of them. Nothing gets left on the plate.

48

I honestly have no idea how many calories I eat. I don’t track my intake at all. I don’t like the idea of micromanaging what I consume, as I don’t really see any benefit - trying to balance it with the optimal amount based on my activity seems misguided. There’s too much we don’t know about nutrition and metabolism to be able to do it with confidence (i.e. it’s based on a false sense of knowledge and precision). I generally eat pretty well, tons of vegetables and fruit. I eat meat everyday, but not a lot. Most of my grains/carbs are whole grains. But I have some dessert (though a modest portion) and alcohol (beer) pretty much every day Which is all to say I don’t feel like I deprive myself at all, in terms of what I eat. I like food too much for that. FWIW, I’m a 43 year old guy, 5’10", 150 lbs, muscular build and pretty low body fat. I train ~8 hrs per week.

49

Not sure, I can only answer too many.

All my clothes make me feel sausage-like lately. Your statement is truth.

50

I probably average 2500. 122 lbs, 5’6", female. I’ve been running 40-50 miles per week, swimming 4-6k a week, and sometimes I get on my bike.

Sheesh, Im 142 6ft Male and workout about a little more than you, yet we eat roughly the same calories. I should eat more.

51

I eat 1700 calories a day plus any calories I burn biking/running. But Calorie counts on most foods are estimates and are not always super accurate, so if I start gaining weight, I lower my daily calories down to 1500-1600.

52

I’m 30 y/o male 5’10 175-180 9-10% body fat. I eat anywhere 4500-5500/ day based on how I’m feeling and train 25hrs/week. I don’t calorie count (former bodybuilder so I am skilled at ballparking) and find I lose fat at 4500, maintain 5500 and get overtrained if i go below 4500.

53

I am learning that I don’t eat enough in this thread.

54

I have no idea how many calories I eat. I try to eat healthy and eat when I’m hungry and try not to overeat. I just try to be aware of whether I’m eating because I’m hungry or just eating to eat.

55

I have a published 7-day food journal here that I did way back in 2017. To answer your question directly it was 7-day / 32,606 calories which comes out to 4,658 a day

56

I’ve seen more than one person say they consume 4-6k calories per day on plenty of fruits and vegetables and a modest amount of meat and bread. Lmao!!! There is no effing way people are eating 4-6k of calories of fruits and veggies. It’s pretty obvious who’s not being honest with themselves.

57

I probably average 2500. 122 lbs, 5’6", female. I’ve been running 40-50 miles per week, swimming 4-6k a week, and sometimes I get on my bike.

Sheesh, Im 142 6ft Male and workout about a little more than you, yet we eat roughly the same calories. I should eat more.

You will see how your performance improves.

I was like you. I was always hungry but didn’t allow myself to eat. I now always eat as much as I’m satisfied with. My performance on the bike AND run improved. I recover better and have much more energy to train.

I have no idea how much I really eat but it is a lot.

58

I have a published 7-day food journal here that I did way back in 2017. To answer your question directly it was 7-day / 32,606 calories which comes out to 4,658 a day

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59

I eat a little much and should probably start a food journal. I eat probably 2500-3000. I eat generally pretty healthy but I work in film which has craft services so there is probably 300 calories of cookies worked in on days I’m not careful.

60

I think to maximize progression you should eat the most calories u can in a day without getting fat. I bet I eat 1000 calories as snack sometimes lol