When I log my runs, I always calculate the calories burned on a run, knowing them not to be accurate but an estimate, and still sticking to the extra 500 calories a day as a weight loss tool. The pounds are still slowly coming off; not at an alarming rate but so slowly one has to look back over months and months of logs to see a big difference. But trends are noted, such as seeing lower numbers more and more often. It's all good.
But I have to wonder, does it matter to calculate the calories? Sometimes I think the numbers just keep me honest; If I see I have burnt 600 calories, Im less likely to eat the 600+ calorie Blizzard. Or if I have burnt 1000 calories, does one more cookie matter? SIGH.
And then I see a run like Sunday's 32 km 3:47:00 run. 2233 calories burned. What does that mean? How many of those calories am I going to put back in? Does having burnt them mean I will lose a pound this month? lol Because of that run? (not to mention 3 more to match it by the month's end). Is calories burned an accurate estimate of potential weight loss, assuming I will not just eat them right back up again? (lol possible, because Im very very hungry.) I know it's not about eating less alone, or burning more alone, but rather about eating smarter and moving more. But those numbers. I still watch them and think to myself "Im a calorie burning machine! Im 1000 calories ahead for this week! Im going to waste away! LOL".
Not likely. But Do the numbers matter?
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