Training and Racing Nutrition

That's the great debate for me as a clyde.  I'm training hard hoping to lose weight so I want to keep my caloric intake low, but at the same time I don't want to bonk.  AAAAAAHHHHH!!!

I think I'm taking in far too little calories during exercise as well. I get some pretty hairy headaches after the tougher workouts, and all I can think it's coming from is inadequate hydration and nutrition while working out. I'm trying to lose weight as well, so I tend to overlook this. Bad time to be doing that....

I am trying to lose as well, but at a decent pace I burn about twice the calories that I am taking in. I have found that getting enough calories lets me go longer, so for me, I end up burning more calories on a weekly basis than I was before I started getting enough to eat. My two cents.

I've had similar problems with any nutritional literature for Athena's too.  It seems like the idea that a woman can top 6' and not be a bean pole with no muscle is out of the question.  I started eating more, then realized that though I wasn't gaining, I wasn't losing either, plus I was having tummy issues which threw off my workouts. So I backed off a bit on the calories and was more careful about the types of food I ate before and after workouts (sticking to rather bland fare pre-workout like pancakes and an egg or toast and peanut butter pre workout, then eating more fiber and other proteins after workouts).  It took me all of last year training for an Ironman and part of this year to really dial it in, and I still wish I could have a good long consult with a nutritionist.  

When you are big and active it is hard to use any of those BMI calculators and/or estimators for how many calories you burn in a day etc.  I just don't think they are accurate beyond average height and weight.  One of them says I should be eating 4000 calories a day even though I drive a desk for at least 8 hours a day, that's how much the average firefighter eats and I am nowhere near that active.   At this point I just try to keep track of what I eat and how I feel after and changing habits based on trial and error. 

What I notice on my bike rides is that after about 1hr 15 minutes my energy level begins to decline if I dont take in some form of carbohydrate.  If I remember correctly from nutrition class our bodies have an approximately 90 minute store of glucagen that we convert to glucose for use during times of exertion.  Which would mean any workout longer than around an hour would require us to supplement in order to maintain our performance levels. 

That being said I am guilty of trying to lose weight by taking in way to few calories at times and have experienced more than one ugly bonk because of it.  I have started planning my workout to make sure that I load some form of carbs about 3 hours in advance just around 300 calories extra but it does make a difference.

Speaking of BMI charts and calorie expendeture formulas I figured my basal energy expenditure on the weight I want to be and used it as the basis for trying to lose weight.  This number tells me how many calories I would burn in a 24 hr period being sedentary. Based on age, height, weight, and gender.  For the OP if you are 30 y/o your BEE is 2358 kcal/day to maintain 245lbs. 

Ok I am rambling, sorry.  Yes nutrition is important  and it is important to figure out what works best for you.

I use to be a personal trainer, and one of the rules of thumb to say that I used was that if you multiply your current weight by 10, you have the calories needed to maintain that body weight. 
Now looking at myself, in april I was 270ish, now july 8 I am 226. I have eaten approximately 2500-2750 cals a day everyday.  I just am making good choices, and training approx 1 hour a day for 5-6days a week.  Now when you look at calorie deficiet, if you train for approximately an hour each day burning lets just say 500 cals, when I am eating 2500 calories, minus the 500 burned that puts me at 2000cals.  What is needed to sustain a comfortable 200lbs.  Some logic in people's minds says great, eat 2500, burn 500, body will turn into 200lbs.  It will, but with pain, grief and suffering.  Gradual is safe, healthy and maintainable.  So when I ate 2500 in a day, burned 500, I made sure I consumed around 200-300 cals prior to training (my 2500 daily includes my post workout meal of one scoop whey protein, 1 banana, and 200ml choc milk).  
That put my calorie intake up to the 2200-2300 range.  That allowed me to be loosing 2-4pounds a week, without headaches, cramps, hunger, or cravings.  I am not the most disciplined normally, but have found with the consistant calories, good choices, and incorporating stuff like dark chocolate, peanut butter and real ice cream, I have been able to stay healthy, and keep things in moderation and still enjoy them.
There is no real mathematical formula that works for everyone, take the information and use it as a guide to determine what works for you, if you are getting headaches, cramps and feeling exhausted after a workout, check the nutrition.  If there is no gas in the tank the engine is not going to run.  Keep it fuelled.  Training with low nutrition is a recipe for disaster, physically and mentally. It creates road blocks and make you feel like you cannot do it.
I found this site, www.sparkpeople.com, let me figure out a daily menu that gave me calories in, and then I was able to figure out calories out.  Takes a few minutes, but worth it.  Use it as a guide to establish a healthy eating pattern that will allow you to train consistantly, and to develop as a tri competitor, no matter your aspirations, a sprint, oly, half or full!