This post comes with a warning

I am going to preface this post with a warning so understand this:

I am not a doctor, nor am I a health expert. I am simply some guy on the interwebz who writes a blog based on what he does and the results he gets from trying different combinations. I am not suggesting anyone do what I do or use me as an example of what to do. I listen closely to what my body tells me and I adjust according to it's needs and desires....again, I listen closely to my body and adjust to its needs and desires, this includes cravings because cravings are a need of sorts.

So with that out of the way lets get on with it.

This post is about diet and exercise and tracking them together(see why I needed the warning?)

Today I ran into something that has been happening on a somewhat regular basis, although today was a bit more extreme than it has been in the past. Basically I use MyFitnessPal to track calories, I use Strava to track exercise and a rough approximation of caloric burn. So far so good and I have been ok with the results of both programs and their convenience is a big plus.

This is what todays caloric intake looks like including most of my ride (I had 9 miles that don't show up due to error on my part)

I have yet to add in dinner but I know for a fact I am going to be below their 1000 calorie threshold and get a warning about my caloric intake. This has happened 5 times that I can remember and although it looks bad I question just how bad it really is.

I am not intending to have this extreme a deficit, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact I eat when I am hungry and when I am not I don't. I listen to my body closely and if it has a craving I tend to indulge it. The issue is not that I am not eating but appears to be that I am exercising too hard for how I eat.

My diet consists of a lot of fruit through most of the day, bananas are a big one and I average probably a dozen or so bananas throughout my workday, a banana and strawberry smoothie with a small amount of yogurt in the morning, the occasional doughnut and maybe a hard boiled egg or two now and again. I never am very hungry throughout my day of moderate physical activity at work (I am a brewer if that helps).

Come dinner time I eat whatever but tend to keep towards a mildly vegetarian diet with occasional meat dishes. Not really intending it this way but I eat what makes me feel best and makes my body perform best, so don't take this as preaching any particular diet...this is simply how I eat. You do you and I'll do me.

So from day to day I will ingest any number of things but as a general circumstance I am consistently under their recommendation of 2340 calories and feel fine with it, once in a while I exceed it but it is the exception and far from the rule as you can see above.

Today on my ride I was stronger than I have been in a while. I had multiple personal bests and had the sun stayed strong for longer I would have been tempted to go another 20 miles or so. As of right now I am getting ready to cook dinner, watch a movie and obviously post this blog. I am not ravenous or even feeling any hunger that is out of the norm.

So my question to you good reader and most likely fellow cyclists is, at what point should there be concern or is listening to your body carefully enough?

Answers, questions, insight and personal experiences are all appreciated.