Chapter 5 - Getting yourself in motion

Today was a great day for a bicycle ride and practicing what I preach about getting moving and staying moving. My wife and didn't set the exact mileage we wanted to ride but figured to be somewhere between 30 to 50 miles before we got home again. The total miles put on the bicycles today were 40.5. This was a good trip since we had not ridden in about a month (our last event was a two day 190 mile ride with plenty of hills to make everyone happy).

• Mile 0 - fueled up with a banana and bowl of cereal.
• Mile 19 - fueled up again with a Patty Melt, fries, and a few cups of black coffee.
• Mile 24 - fueled up with a 16 oz smoothie.
• Mile 39 - fueled up with half of a sports drink.

I'll admit that the Patty Melt and fries was not the healthiest option available on the menu but I figured I could afford it with the amount of calories that would be burned on the way home. The other key was that I didn't feel "too full" or sluggish (maybe it was the coffee?).
The amount you eat should be directly related to the amount of calories you burn. The ballpark amount is 2,000 to 2,500 calories for most people. Your needs will depend on your goals and activity level. You can eat 6,000 calories a day if you are burning that amount.
Let's use a person that does a low level of activity everyday. Let's say they walk at a moderate pace for 30 minutes a day.

• To stay the same weight they would try to get about 2,250 calories a day.
• To gain weight they would try to get at least 2,500 - 2,800 calories a day.
• To lose weight they would try to limit themselves to 1,800 to 2,000 calories a day.

Eating is some what similar to fueling your car. You will run out of energy if you do not have enough fuel or waste fuel on the ground if you add more fuel after the tank is full. That is really what we are doing when we over eat. The extra fuel is stored instead of spilled when it comes to our bodies. Running out of gas will not get us to our destination either. We can do ourselves a favor if we eat right before the low fuel light comes on and stop eating once the pump shuts off.
Back to our example (I've stayed off topic again). If you need to lose weight and do not burn a lot of calories as part of your plan. One option would be to eat three 600 calorie meals a day. Another option is to each six 300 calorie meals a day. It's really up to you. Still another option that I often use is to eat four 200 calorie meals during the day (at work) then have a 1,000 calorie dinner. This works great with walking at breaks and lunch time to keep your fire burning all day long. In other words, fuel up several times a day.
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