Long-term fatigue

[MattL]

I've never really been a salt fan. I never add any to my meals (unless it's a treat and I'm having chip shop chips!) But I normally use some in cooking. The missus is cooking at the moment and I'm not sure she puts any in. On my longer rides, I fill one of my bottles with water and the other with squash of some sort, a few spoons of glucose from Holland and Barratt and a bit of salt. On reflection, I think I generally do feel better after the home-made energy drink and I'd hazard a guess that it's not just the glucose. I'll try some kind of salt with dinner or even saltwater for a couple of days and see how I get on. I might even stretch to a naughty packet of crisps - purely for medicinal purposes!

Thinking about it, I work in an office with no air-con (I know!) maybe the light-sweating is on contrutory factor.

As for resting, I normally have a couple of days' rest between rides and they're rarely more than 20 miles. Occasionally I'll do more, in which case I'll take regular water and rest breaks while en route.

I'm quite prepared for the fact I'm over-estimating what I can do and under-estimating the energy and effort required and now the honeymoon period has passed and it's now in "serious" territory, the sort where if you're not that interested then the bike would end up in the shed.

I think my next steps are: investigating energy required versus carbohydrate intake, upping my salt intake by a pinch and changing my cycling to little-and-often. If nothing proves conclusive then it's a trip to the doctor's and get checked out in case I do have any conditions I'm not aware of.

Thanks to all who've contributed.

 

[MattL]

Just to follow up on this, I've started using a diet-tracking app called MyFitnessPal. With just the ride home from work (1:40~) I'm burning around 1800 calories and my intake by contrast is not near the amount to keep mr going.

Anyone on an exercise-to-lose-weight scheme would benefit from one of these apps to keep yourself from doing more harm than good like me!

 

[jowwy]

Just to follow up on this, I've started using a diet-tracking app called MyFitnessPal. With just the ride home from work (1:40~) I'm burning around 1800 calories and my intake by contrast is not near the amount to keep mr going.

Anyone on an exercise-to-lose-weight scheme would benefit from one of these apps to keep yourself from doing more harm than good like me!

i have been using that app for approx the last 5months and it has helped me lose nearly 4 stone in weight and makes cycling a lot more fun.

you can also eat more than you actually think if you eat lots of veggies and salad stuffs which is next to no calories at all.

Happy training!!!!

 

[amaferanga]

Just to follow up on this, I've started using a diet-tracking app called MyFitnessPal. With just the ride home from work (1:40~) I'm burning around 1800 calories and my intake by contrast is not near the amount to keep mr going.

Anyone on an exercise-to-lose-weight scheme would benefit from one of these apps to keep yourself from doing more harm than good like me!

Doubt it. Are you averaging about 25mph? If not then I doubt you're burning 1800 kCal in 1h40min. If you continue assuming you're burning over 1000 kCal/hour then you'll soon be gaining weight.

 

[tongskie01]

Just to follow up on this, I've started using a diet-tracking app called MyFitnessPal. With just the ride home from work (1:40~) I'm burning around 1800 calories and my intake by contrast is not near the amount to keep mr going.

Anyone on an exercise-to-lose-weight scheme would benefit from one of these apps to keep yourself from doing more harm than good like me!

you have to understand that weight is not a big issue now but the size. as BMI doesnt apply to athletes because of their muscle mass which make them heavier and thus increased bmi up to the level of overweight.

fat is the main issue here. hard exercise is probably not benificial to you. as fat can only be burnt effectively by medium exercise. if you think burning calories will reduce fat in your body thru hard exercise, think again. you might be burning your glycogen reserves and your muscles more than the body fat.

 

[amaferanga]

you have to understand that weight is not a big issue now but the size. as BMI doesnt apply to athletes because of their muscle mass which make them heavier and thus increased bmi up to the level of overweight.

fat is the main issue here. hard exercise is probably not benificial to you. as fat can only be burnt effectively by medium exercise. if you think burning calories will reduce fat in your body thru hard exercise, think again. you might be burning your glycogen reserves and your muscles more than the body fat.

Oh dear.

 

[MattL]

I try to go with decent pace. Being 5'11" and 16st 5lb it takes a lot more effort to ride the same distance than a thin(-ner) person would. Maybe the estimates are wrong but it's a step in the right direction to getting it right.

 

[Rollon]

I went through a few weeks last year, when busy at work feeling drained most of the time. This was after a multi day high mileage backpacking trip.
Eventually I went to my GP and had a blood test. The result was that I had become anemic. A short course of Iron tablets and I was back feeling great and fit again.
Dave.

 

[Arsen Gere]

MattL,
Stick to your estimates, its a lot better than not having a clue. Anything that is going to provide motivation like these apps has to be good. Don't forget any type of interval training will cause you to burn calories after you stop riding too, sprinting between lamposts, up hills anything that you can measure, repeat and make fun, but only when you feel well enough to tackle it.

Have fun.

 

[Glover Fan]

Banjo got there before me, but how often are you riding?

If it is every day you are doing too much.

 

[MattL]

Banjo got there before me, but how often are you riding?

If it is every day you are doing too much.

Twice mid-week, doing a little under 30 miles and also once at the weekend doing up to around 40 miles.

I've started eating more which has helped but also making informed choices, which the food diary will help to do. I'm not silly enough to think everything will be to the nearest calorie but as long as I have a nutritional compass then it's keeping me going in the right direction.

 

[tongskie01]

Twice mid-week, doing a little under 30 miles and also once at the weekend doing up to around 40 miles.

I've started eating more which has helped but also making informed choices, which the food diary will help to do. I'm not silly enough to think everything will be to the nearest calorie but as long as I have a nutritional compass then it's keeping me going in the right direction.

you might be overdoing it. your body is telling you that it needs to recover. give it some time to rest and eat sensibly. bear in mind that exercising hard will lower down your resistance to infection. so a cold or viral, chest infection might occur..vitamins and minerals loss might be a factor too. so u need to replace that too.

 

[VamP]

Doubt it. Are you averaging about 25mph? If not then I doubt you're burning 1800 kCal in 1h40min. If you continue assuming you're burning over 1000 kCal/hour then you'll soon be gaining weight.

+1

I tend to assume that I burn about 500 calories an hour, and thats at 20mph average, flatish roads, no drafting.

 

[lulubel]

People, stop telling him he's going to be overeating if he uses the figures from the site he's using. You're not helping.

Matt, stick with what you're doing. Follow the calorie guidelines on the site, and see what happens for a month or so. If your weight loss is pretty much what you would expect, then it's working for you, and you can carry on exactly as you are. If you don't lose, or lose faster than expected, then you can make adjustments. Everyone's body is different and it is all about experimenting, but you need a place to start from, and that's what you've got with the figures MyFitnessPal is giving you.

 

[VamP]

How's giving him misleading information helping?

Tracking calorie intake = good practice.

Assuming calorie burn based on poorly set up websites = poor practice.

It's not even clear his fatigue is down to his diet. This is a such a great illustration of why people should not rely on internet forum's for health advice.