Trying to figure out how much I should be eating a day to lose weight as calorie calculators are sort of weird it seems (with different settings for intense exercise and daily intense exercise).
So my question is: what is your height/weight, how much do you ride each day @ what wattage, do you lose or gain weight, and how much do you eat?
Just follow the basic principles and eat less than you currently are, and/or ride more. Note that the make-up of those calories is as or more important than the calorific number. Also note that that distance at lower intensity will spur the fat-burning more than short, higher intensity.
I ride everyday, seemingly eat in a deficit (I weigh almost all my food) and still am not losing weight. Maybe itâs water weight from working out everyday (not used to it, but I like zwift too much). Just wondering what other people eat.
The problem with weight loss is that everyone is different. We could be the exact same height, build & weight & we still wouldnât lose weight at the same rate due to your metabolism. Just like some people can eat anything anytime & not gain weight whereas another can put on 2 lbs walking past a McDs.
My advice, having done it a few times, is look at it as a long term solution & not a quick fix. Losing weight quickly might look good for a while but the weight comes back on when you stop. I cut out sugar, in everything & not just coffee/tea, and went for the 2lbs a week target. It took me just under 12 months to get down from 17st, 238lbs down to 12st 7lbs, 175lbs, and kept it off for over two years so far. Thatâs like carrying half a person extra & now itâs gone everything, not just cycling, is better.
I focus on protein and cut carbs to drop weight.
How big a deficit are you aiming for? How long have you been running this deficit? How much weight have you lost in this time? Whatâs your average daily calorie burn on the bike? What other exercise are you doing?
Not so sure, online calorie calculator says that with daily training or intensive training 3-4 times a week, I should be eating 2700 to maintain my weight. Iâm eating probably around 2200-2300, and it seems as though Iâm gaining weight. Maybe itâs water weight?
I ride around an hour a day, sometimes more, sometimes a bit less.
At what average power do you ride for these rides? Regardless, if you are gaining weight week over week (ignoring the daily variations), then it would seem you would need to cut out a few more calories regardless of what the online calculators say.
Only been riding around 2 weeks so far, and have done a metric century and alpe du zwift during this time. Iâm mostly doing around 100-110w on average for each ride. My weight has been fairly stable, with seemingly no large weight gains or losses (except 500g lost the first few days.)
If I recall correctly the rough calculation for how much you burn on a ride is average power x time in hours x 3.6. So at 100W/hour on average you would be burning about 360 calories per hour. So thatâs not a huge amount if it is your only big physical activity for the day above your basal metabolic rate.
Edit: Zwift has the ability to show kJ burned in the customizable interface which roughly translates to calories given the 24-25% efficiency of cycling etc.
To show a difference when I started wanting to lose weight I didnât even go on the bike, I used to do an hours brisk walking every day, usually about 6 or so kms, so not a drastic amount of fitness. I used to do a loose version of Dr Michael Moselys 5-2 diet. Itâs basically eating a balanced diet for 5 days in a week & restricting calorie intake to 600cals a day twice a week for a male. I did it on Mondays & Thursdays but any days are fine, itâs up to you, just not two in a row. Itâs also called intermittent fasting.
Finding what works for you is one of the hardest parts of losing weight as weâre all so different.
Or you could just look at the calories burned (estimate) that it gives you in multiple places at the end of every ride. 
That is true, I was more thinking if the OP had a âcalorieâ (or kJ) target. They could keep their ride going until they hit it etc.
Good point. In which case, they can get the HUD to show calories burned (estimated)
Ha, I thought they only had kJ, but if they also have calories, then thatâs even better - guess my memory is not so great 
But how much riding do you do each day and at what intensity do you do that riding at on alternate days? (Easy one day, high intensity next)?
And what about weekends? Saturday and Sunday Iâll do a hilly 100-120km ride each day outside on a real bike as well.
And are you getting faster?
From what youâve said - 100-110w average is fairly modest, so Iâd look at trying to build that power over time, that will help you also. More power burns those calories.
When you are done riding for the day and had dinner or whatever, put some shoes on a go out for a 5km walk at an easy speed, keep those legs moving.
Speaking of food, a balanced diet is important- but I also very much dislike these fasting ideas, you need to eat to fuel the exercise you are doing. On your easy days you want to aim for calorie deficit but you still have to eat, otherwise you risk doing the rollercoaster of weight loss and then gaining it all back, it has to be little by little and continuous over time. Not kilos per day.
Something else - itâs okay to have some sweets now and then. Itâs a reward, as long as you donât overdo it! I also donât have sugar in my coffee - if the coffee is done properly then it doesnât need added sugar.
This isnât going to be a 3 month process, it will take a long time, it took years for me to go from unfit to being a ~60kg lean climbing cyclist with power to match. Keep at it and youâll get there.
Reach out if you want further guidance and donât want to say everything on a public forum.
as âtheyâ say itâs a marathon not a sprint⌠consistency rules⌠just keep going and doing what you are doing
Upon reflection, one thing Iâve found about cycling for myself is⌠I didnât start cycling to lose weight, and the reason I bike is not to lose weight⌠but I have lost weight to get better at cycling. Everyone is motivated by different things, but once you realize how important power to weight is in cycling, and if you really take up cycling as a hobby you will naturally want to safely shed excess weight just to improve your ability to climb faster at a similar power. Perhaps that will give you more motivation to eat better, and bike more consistently?
Either way it is not a 1 or 2 week thing, it is something that takes many months if youâre doing it properly, so donât be concerned if you donât see huge improvements over a few weeks.
Thatâs it, in real life riding being light is a huge advantage on the bike - in Zwift it doesnât matter so much unless you are going up the ADZ or Ventop.
IRL as soon as the road goes up like Old Razorback Rd near Camden in Australia I go away very quickly, and thatâs fairly moderate in gradient.
In Zwift Iâd have a heavier trailer locked to me with no way to get rid of them.
But thatâs how Zwift is and real life is so unrealistic in comparison. 
I started riding only because a colleague encouraged me and it looked fun, then I got involved with a group of A grade real life racers who made me fast quickly. I nearly died on those early rides - heart rate so high. But I eventually got better. They went just slow enough I could keep in sight but I suffered so badly!
You shouldnât expect too much, 2 weeks are surely not enough. Your body needs some time to accept the changes and âset upâ. This time is (for the most people) longer for older people - I started losing weight 6 weeks after changing my habits.
Be patient and ride on!