pgjackson

Yep, diet is more important than exercise. Many cyclists who pick up the sport to lose weight fail because they listen to all the "experts" who say you have to carbo load before a ride, then eat some sugary "energy" gel crap, a banana, and a PBJ sandwich every 30 minutes during a ride, then pig-out after a ride to recover. All of the calculators are wrong. All of them. They are based on generic formulas and generally overstate the calories burned. They are designed to give a ballpark estimate (usually wildly inaccurate), not a precise calculation. Like you said, everyone is different. Every body reacts differently to exercise. The easiest way to lose weight is to simply eat less. Experts trying to sell something like to complicate that formula with all kinds of non-sense. But the scientific fact remains that you can not lose weight if you take in more calories than you burn. It's pretty easy to keep track of calories consumed. There really isn't an easy and accurate way to track calories burned.

Also, increasing your metabolism is also critical for maximum weight loss. The amount of calories you burn during that hour of exercise is minor compared to the amount of calories you burn the rest of the day. Regular strenuous exercise will gradually increase your metabolism. A casual bike ride once or twice a week likely won't get you there, but hammering away for 30 minutes 4-5 times a week to the point where it's difficult to breathe will. That's the key, figuring out how to get your metabolism up. In short, it doesn't really matter how many calories you burn WHILE riding, it's how many calories you burn the rest of the day....and is that more than the amount you consumed.