Input versus Output

For the past week I've been vacationing in South Carolina staying at a beach house south of Myrtle Beach.  I've been able to get in some pretty good training having nothing on the agenda but enjoying the time off, relaxing at the beach, and training.  On Wednesday, I decided to do my long bike ride and track everything I ate and drank for the entire day.  After people hear about my training, the question I most often get is "How much do you eat?"  While this is certainly the highest end of the range as it is the longest workout I will do prior to Kona and perhaps the most calories burned.  Also, again I am on vacation and my dessert rule does not apply during vacation so  few things on this list that certainly bumped up the calories aren't typical for me.

The first group is what I ate & drank while on my bike. I started my workout at 6:30 am and biked for 140 miles and then ran 2 miles barefoot on the beach.  According to my heart rate monitor, I burned 6716 calories during this workout that totaled 7 hours and 43 minutes.  By my calculations, I consumed 2,060 calories while on my bike.  This also is a little higher than normal as I don't usually eat that much trail mix but I didn't have my usual granola bars while on vacation. 

Food                 Qty                            Total Calories

Gatorade           80cal /12oz  x 80 oz          530                                        

Granola bars      4x 100                              400

Trail mix             3 packs x 280                  840

PB                     1 tbsp                              100

Jelly                   1 tbsp                                50

Bread                2 slice x 70                       140

WORKOUT                                           2060

Pre-workout breakfast (6am):

Shredded wheat 2 cups                              360

Milk                   1 cup                                 90

Post-work-out breakfast (at 2:45pm):

Egg bake            1 slice                              350

French toast       2 pieces                            350

Light Syrup        2 tbsp                                 50

Immediately followed by post-workout lunch (at 3pm).

Bread                 2 slice x 70                       140

Cheese               1 oz                                  100

Mustard              1 tbsp                                20

Turkey slice         5 slice                                60

Tomato                2 slices                              10

Salsa                    ½ cup                               50

Tortilla chips         ½ oz                                 70

Afternoon guilt-free vacation snack (5pm)

Pina colada          6 oz                                 525

Ice cream            1 ½ cups                          450

Whip cream         3 tbsp                              150

Strawberries        2                                        10

Dinner (7pm):

Glass wine           4 oz                                    90

Bitburger beer     12 oz                                 150

Sautéed Veg       1 cup                                 100        

Wheat bun          ¼ bun                                  50

Fried calamari     1 cup                                 300

Salad w/ honey mustard                                200

Shrimp & scallops 1 cup                               260

Grits                    1 cup                                110

Bread pudding     1 ½ cup                            450

Carmel cake        1/5 serving                        200

DAILY TOTAL                                       6,755

So there is the verdict, 6,755 calories in versus 6,716 calories out.  The calories out does not account for my basal metabolic rate which is about 1700 calories per day.  So for equal balance on this day I would have needed to consume about 8,400 calories which I did not.  

I do have to note there is some inherent inaccuracy with this.  Research states that even dietitians have up to 10% error with keeping and calculating dietary records (non-dietitians have about 20%) so this is certainly an estimate and there are many sources of potential inaccuracy but I'll admit is is interesting to know just how much I burn and take in.  

I will do this again as I go further in my training on a more typical day when my primary source of calories comes from food other than pina colada, bread pudding, and ice cream.  

Thanks for reading and for the suggestion from those who asked me to do this.