Average Weight Loss/Gain on Cross Country Tour

[davidbonn]

I don't know if "average" is a meaningful term in this context.  Yes, you could survey cyclists on long tours and find out how much weight they lost and compute the mean.  But I doubt very much that number will have much predictive power for someone planning a trip themselves.

Some of the larger factors that come into play might be:

• How far and how fast and how hard you are actually riding
• Your weight at the start of the trip
• What you are eating and not eating on the ride
• How efficient your metabolism is in the first place

[rayed]

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[misterflask]

Me, in a convenience store, looking at a Hostess fruit pie:
At home:  300 calories! I can't eat this!
On the road: hmmm... 300 calories.  I wonder if I can get a dozen of these in my bags?

[Pat Lamb]

Me, in a convenience store, looking at a Hostess fruit pie:
At home:  300 calories! I can't eat this!
On the road: hmmm... 300 calories.  I wonder if I can get a dozen of these in my bags?

Yup.  Near the end of my longest tour I looked at the nutrition information on a snack outside the convenience store and blurted, "This is 1,050 calories I'm eating!"  My daughter swallowed and replied, "You're going to burn it off." 
The tough part is to stop eating like that when the tour is over.

[John Nettles]

 
The tough part is to stop eating like that when the tour is over.

Amen to that!  This summer, I toured for about 3 months.  I lost about 12% of my body weight.  It took exactly 22 days to gain it all back and I was somewhat trying not to eat.

[davidbonn]

One of the things that happens is that over time your body is adapting to a certain level of exertion and calorie input.  And if you take away that exertion your body is going to take some time to figure out that is no longer happening.  In the meantime your body will be attempting to store as many calories as possible against when that exertions is going to start up again.  So it isn't surprising if you have a period of rapid weight gain after a big trip.

I've noticed that some tourists have a pattern of riding for some days (maybe up to about two weeks) and then taking multiple days off.  Others tend to ride most every day with infrequent zero days.  It would be interesting to compare the weight loss experiences of those two groups.

Speaking for myself, after about four days I am hungry.  After about fourteen days I am very hungry.

[Murayage]

Hey @davidbonn, your observations about weight fluctuations during cross-country tours are intriguing. It's remarkable how our bodies adapt to varying levels of exertion and calorie intake over time. The distinction between cyclists who take multiple days off versus those who ride consistently is particularly interesting and likely impacts weight loss experiences.If you're curious to delve deeper into fitness and weight loss tips tailored to endurance activities like cycling, https://thenutritioninsider.com/fitness-weight-loss/ offers a wealth of resources worth exploring. Remember to listen to your body's cues and fuel it appropriately to support your performance and overall well-being on your journeys.

[davidbonn]

Thanks for the link!

Oh, these two articles on nutrition and distance hiking have some applications to bicycle travelers as well:

https://www.msrgear.com/blog/nutrition-for-thru-hikers-part-1-food-for-fuel/

https://www.msrgear.com/blog/9019/

[davidbonn]

This was more focused on the GDMBR but there is excellent advice and a lot of good ideas in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb48ZQ3YzlU

Probably any experienced tourer knows most of the above, though.

[davidbonn]

... Stay hydrated and listen to your body's cues—it knows best!

If I did that I'd eat pie and ice cream five times a day!