Cycling Nutrition: Calories

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