The Ex-XXL Trophy

1…101112131416»

Comments

  • fatdaz
    fatdaz Posts: 348
    I've kept mine largely off for almost a year now, at my lowest I was 13st 2 and a year on I'm about 13st 8. After last summer I put the bike away and did very little riding as I decided to attempt a marathon. I went from being a non-runner to completing a dozen halves and one full marathon and I'm now back on the bike. Next target is a half Ironman in August so I've started swimming as well. I'm also doing some of the classic Alpine climbs in July. I've found the only thing that works for me is to always have an event in the calendar that I'm working towards. I don't seem to be disciplined enough to be able to just live healthily because it's good for me - personally I need a target to be training for
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 8,330
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19575618#p19575618]homers double[/url] wrote:

    Will I get to 14.7 for our august holiday? Hopefully...

    Said holiday is in one week and I've failed. Not going to dwell on it, just get back on the bike when I get back home as much as I can.
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,488
    Okay my chubby compadres.

    Time you lot upped the mileage. First deplete the blood glycogen (25-35 mins of riding unless you're carbo loaded, it may be longer) and condition the body to burn fat. Short hard/fast sessions just deplete blood glycogen not stored fat and make you hungry, so you get off the bike and immediately binge.

    Looking at the stats people are putting in, I can guarantee that I am equalling or far surpassing the calorie intake of most of the posters. I am 5'8" and 65 kg's.

    Feed the engine with high fibre, lean protein, lots of vegetables and fruit to increase your metabolic rate. Don't miss breakfast. Do not fast. Eat regularly but the right foodstuffs. Cut down on alcohol. Don't drink instant coffee - it's full of cholesterol, drink real coffee - it's an excellent training aid and helps assimilate fats but stick to coffee consumption in the morning as good sleep is essential and you actually burn a lot of calories when sleeping.

    Protein intake should be for a male adult 0.8 grams to 1.8 grams per kilo of bodyweight (women: 0.6 to 1.6). For a cyclist, that means you are in the lower 0.8/0.6 grams per kg of body weight category. Exceeding the protein intake on a regular basis slows the digestive system down. In the time taken to digest a 6 oz steak (6-8 hours), you could have consumed much better foodstuffs that are far better for the system, far more easily digested and much better fuel. Red meats should be eaten rarely, if at all.

    Treat food as: Nutrition, repair, recovery and fuel. Anything else is surplus.
    Avoid fats, sugars, excessive salt, low fibre starchy foodstuffs (rice, potatoes, white bread). Stuff yourself with fruit from time to time as a meal substitute. Drink lots of water; stay hydrated because many high fibre foodstuffs like banana's absorb water like there's no tomorrow.

    Work out your daily minimum calorie requirement and don't stray from that.

    Once you get to the point where you cannot meet your daily consumption, that's when you're weight loss will rocket. I can eat the odd slice if cake, bacon sarnie, bowl of ice-cream etc as it won't matter a jot. In fact, I look for the odd pastry because I can't keep up at this time of year and my recovery goes to shoot.

    Lastly, request a fasting lipid test from your GP from time to time. It's quite possible to be overweight yet be perfectly healthy and therefore, your aim is simply weight loss whereas if your cholesterol is high, you would want to reduce your cholesterol in conjunction with the weight loss. It's a good carrot.

    Weight loss is a mindset. When you put anything to your lips, you should be thinking "Why am I eating this?".
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 8,330
    Are you saying 30 minute turbo sessions are a waste of time then?
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,488
    homers double wrote:
    Are you saying 30 minute turbo sessions are a waste of time then?

    In terms of weight loss, it's a waste of time. In terms of fitness, no. Theoretically, glycogen in the blood stream and glycogen stored in the muscle and liver can keep you going for a long time.

    Laterally, if improving your fitness helps you do longer rides, then yes.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,444
    Presumably that glycogen needs to be replaced from somewhere... So long as you don't eat loads more to compensate I'd think a 30 minute turbo session would be better for weight loss than not doing anything (seems that way from my experience anyway). Some of the food calories will go straight to replenishing your glycogen stores sure but if you've kept your food intake the same then that leaves fewer calories to go onto your beer gut.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,488
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    Presumably that glycogen needs to be replaced from somewhere... So long as you don't eat loads more to compensate I'd think a 30 minute turbo session would be better for weight loss than not doing anything (seems that way from my experience anyway). Some of the food calories will go straight to replenishing your glycogen stores sure but if you've kept your food intake the same then that leaves fewer calories to go onto your beer gut.

    "So long as you don't eat loads more to compensate..." Precisely.

    "You don't get fit on the bike, you get off it*" is a saying often used. It's in a similar vein to "You get a flat stomach in the kitchen and abs in the Gym". So it is critical what you eat post ride. It may seem odd but if you think about it, how you replenish in terms of nutrition, energy and fuel is crucial to how the body reacts to the exercise.
    Now, a turbo session put into context with everything else you do cycling wise in a week, will add to the overall energy expelled but a Turbo session taken in isolation won't be a fat burn.
    The direct to a turbo trainer session benefits are fitness and cholesterol reduction.

    Up the mileage until you reach critical mass...

    *Guaranteed i'll need to don my helmet with that one. Disclaimer: Regular exercise helps dilate the fine capillary's in the muscle which allows better access for glycogen oxygen and conditions the heart and lung. You cannot take the statement literally,

    Personally, the Turbo trainer is a torture device and can only be used for short(ish) periods of time. I prefer the rollers as you can sit on one for any length of time you like. It also helps maintain souplesse in a way that a tt cannot.
    If the prospect of yet another tt session eventually puts you off , then it's time to make a change.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 8,330
    Personally my favorite post ride (and I mean 50km plus not a regular morning 35km) is 2 x poached eggs on wholemeal bread based on getting protien from the eggs, fiber and carbs from the bread. I think this is about right.

    I also don't eat before the 35km regular morning loop.

    I've given up porridge (if you're eating lunch avert your eyes...) before riding as it seems to swell up inside my tum and make a speedy exit using gravity as an asisstant.

    It also does this if I eat it at work for breakfast so I've switched to plain old bran flakes with milk.
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 8,330
    Pinno wrote:
    Up the mileage until you reach critical mass...

    There aren't many fat GC riders and I guess they spend 6 hours a day riding, but for 99.9% of us that's a pipe dream.
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,488
    homers double wrote:
    Pinno wrote:
    Up the mileage until you reach critical mass...

    There aren't many fat GC riders and I guess they spend 6 hours a day riding, but for 99.9% of us that's a pipe dream.

    I hear ya but there's an awful lot of grey between black and white, in fact it's mostly grey.

    Providing you're sticking to a balanced diet and a reasonably fixed calorie intake, your current hypothetical weekly average is say 100 miles and you have reached a state of equilibrium, critical mass might be 101 miles. No one is saying that you need to train like you're going to do the TdF.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 8,330
    This magical critical mass thing, are you saying it's a point when your body goes "fliping heck, I'd better burn faster" and we start shedding the excess?
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,488
    homers double wrote:
    This magical critical mass thing, are you saying it's a point when your body goes "fliping heck, I'd better burn faster" and we start shedding the excess?
    '

    Critical mass' is just Pinnorology*. What I am referring to is the point when you consume less energy than you burn.

    *Patent pending.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • scott_w1987
    scott_w1987 Posts: 316
    This was taken in September 2009 at a VW car show, I'm in the white tshirt.
    0eZsRMr.jpg

    I've looked through here before but never considered contributing until now, scary looking back at old pictures from 6 or 7 years ago. There's some massive inspiration in here and it's great to see some many great achievements. Mine isn't as impressive as most because it's over such a long period.

    Pre road bike weight, around when the first picture was taken I'm sure I remember seeing about 115kg on the scales.

    I've road bike for 5 years now, first few years was tame but I did lose a fair bit of weight. The last two have been fairly serious and I've lost a great deal more. My current weight is around 76kg and I aim to be about 74/75 for the first race of the season. I'm quite a wide build and fairly tall at 6ft1 so I'll probably not go below 74, if I even reach that goal!
    This was taken on the 31st of December 2016 at Christmas weight - probably circa 79kg
    2H8x4DN.jpg
  • imafatman
    imafatman Posts: 351
    Age:32
    Starting Weight: 146 kg (December 19th) and 55% bodyfat
    Current Weight: 132 kg - 35% bodyfat

    Started going to the gym 3 times a week and eating well, I have a great gym with a personal trainer who measures my body fat every 3 weeks and helps me with nutrition and tailoring my workout. He suggested I set a goal and I always wanted to do the London2Brighton so I booked my place and have been training for that ever since.

    The great thing with skin fold tests is seeing my body composition change. Although I have lost only 12kg of weight I have lost 20% of my body fat and at the same time put on lean mass.

    ptk15Me.png?1

    I finally got a road bike last week and took it out on holiday with me and have been enjoying some beautiful rides here in the south of France.

    Todays extremely tough climb...

    sI60xiM.png?1
  • imafatman
    imafatman Posts: 351
    Quick question on nutrition:

    Given that I want to lose weight but also go on long rides - how do you all balance eating enough food for cycling but not over-eating so that you don't lose weight?

    The ride I posted above says 2500 calories....

    If I want to keep riding every day like this will I need to be eating significant amounts of food to keep my energy up so I can keep riding?
  • pinno
    pinno Posts: 52,488
    imafatman wrote:
    Quick question on nutrition:

    Given that I want to lose weight but also go on long rides - how do you all balance eating enough food for cycling but not over-eating so that you don't lose weight?

    First, what's a 'long ride' ?
    Second, Loose some weight by not replacing the calories burnt when you get off the bike. Well, that's not entirely true but see #5 and it relates to #1 and #6.
    Third. Weigh yourself often.
    Fourth. maintain the equation: more calories burnt than consumed. This isn't on the days you cycle necessarily, this is overall. Take note of the calorie intake and find a level that is reducing your weight. On the day's you intend to cycle, fuel up and think about repair and nutrition when you come off the bike. Not 're-stocking'. Everyone is different so what works in terms of fuel and what you need in terms of nutrition is unique to you but there are some rough guidelines to send you on the right track.
    Fifth. Think about blood glycogen. This is the converted food into sugars you have in your bloodstream (and your liver stores a lot of it). Before you burn fat, you need to start depleting glycogen. If you are big, you can have a lot of stored glycogen and it may take some time to start burning fat. Through exercise and a good diet, you can condition the body to burn fat quicker (a complex area which will take some research). Fasting rides are used to do that. I don't do fasting rides but many do.
    Sixth. The intensity of rides will have a bearing. If you're glass cranking and you have decent stamina, you may not burn much fat at all. If you are eating/consuming an energy drink on the ride, this can have an effect too but this goes back to #4: Better to keep note of the calorie intake all the time and see where you can reduce/improve your nutrition and have quality rides not running on some empty tank serving penance.
    Seventh: Up the mileage/intensity at every opportunity.

    I have come to the point where I can just about eat anything and not put on weight. If I reduce the miles, it''ll go the other way. However, I do watch what I eat and I don't 'eat anything'.
    seanoconn - gruagach craic!
  • vysie
    vysie Posts: 34
    I started on my quest if you can call it that last year I traded my mtb with a pal for his road bike, at that time I was just under 17st I'm 5.10 tall and was a good 38" waist. I started on the bike and managed to do steady miles on it then I decided I needed a better bike so my birthday last year bought a better bike with the best gear set I could afford, some 10 months later I'm now 14.2 I'm gutted as iv just got back from a family holiday and on leaving I was 13.9 but all inclusive it was and I couldn't not !!!
    I struggle really badly with diets as I work permanently on nights so I'm the other way round dinner at 6am etc most of my rides are done on a Friday I normally have a couple of hrs sleep then go out for 3hrs tend to do 45 to 50 in a ride with some hill work, I'm still not happy with my weight but if a few years ago you had said you will be doing triathlons and running races I would of lol at you but compete and complete I have,
  • Phattlad
    Phattlad Posts: 11
    count me in
    49,knackerd knees and nearly 19 stone
    just got a bike and have started cycling to work,3 miles each way
    baby steps lol

Categories