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Sunday, March 6, 2011

A Cyclist's Diet: Take The Right Kind Of Calories

There are 3,500 calories in each pound of body weight. Riding your bicycle zaps nine to ten calories a minute, meaning a 150-pound bicyclist will burn between 5 hundred and 600 caloriesroughly the amount in a 6-inch Spicy Italian train subon a normal hour-long ride. ( If youre heavier, you shed more calories ; if youre lighter, you lose less. )

Cyclists infamously overstate how many calories theyre burning. If you eat an energy bar and drink a sports drink on a fair ride, youve effectively cancelled out any calorie burn. Surveys show that some exercisersoverestimate the calories they burn by nearly 1,000about half a days worth. Unless each morsel has a food label, its hard to know how much youre taking in. It can be even harder to learn how much youre burning.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            A calorie is a measure of the energy in food. And for years weve been told a calorie is a calorie : Whether you eat 500 of broccoli or pastry, your body will burn or store them similarly. Thats not right. Foods close to their natural state,eg fresh vegetables, whole grains and lean, full slices of beef, need actionenergyfrom your body. You want to work to chew them and to digest them. They create a thermic response, which implies you use up more calories just processing them.

Experts partially blame the preponderance of lazy calories for the current obesity pandemic. Our food is so heavily processed, its practically predigested. That fastfood burger has gone thru so much pulverization, you barely have to chew. Were losing the ability to burn calories as we naturally would in the eating and digestive process. And many of those same foods are calorie-dense, so theres more for your body to store. Mavens don't suggest counting calories. It takes the joy out of eating and ends up a futile venture. Instead, fill your plate with active calories, like those found in fruit and veg. Such foods possess more fiber and water, which implies you digest them slowly, feel happy with fewer of them and gain longer-lasting energy. You can consider them free foods and eat as much as you need.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    By simply changing the composition of your plate, you can lose weight without caring about hunger pangs, bonking episodes or calorie counting.
Read more at http://www.articlealley.com/article_2094032_23.html?ktrack=kcplink

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