Losing weight

ImprezaRob

Afternoon fellas,

I've been back in the saddle for just over 2 years now after taking a break for a couple of years before.

I ride on average about 10-12 hours a week, bit of XC, bit of street, DH the lot.

Trouble is, although I know my fitness has improved drastically, my weight loss hasnt happend, and I dont feel slimmer!!

Dont get me wrong, I'm not some monsterous porker! I weigh 11stone 3lb and am 5'8" short.

I overeat - a usual days involves cereal, sandwiches and a packet of crisps, and a balanced dinner. Not too much coffee or tea, and don't drink to excess more than 3/4 times a month.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to lose weight?

I havnt put any on since I started riding, but just thought it was odd that I drink a LOT less than I used to, and am a lot fitter yet there has been no slimming down or weight loss!

Help!

gtwanabee

I think you are exercising enough, so take a look at the hidden kj/kcal in food.

lovewales

ImprezaRob wrote:

Afternoon fellas,

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We're not all blokes :evil:

gtwanabee

You eat too much junk basically.

Stop moaning and throw it in the bin and replace with healthy foods.

Or carry on scoffing.

Your Choice!

ImprezaRob

Your quite right LoveWales, apologies.

The point of my post GT wannabee, is that I don't eat too much junk - a salad sandwich on granary bread, and a packet of quavers hardly constitutes junk.

Thanks for your thoughts though.

gtwanabee

Cereal is a big culprit and I used to eat loads.

Might sound tedious, but seriously add up what you have eaten and compare it against your BMR to get an idea where you need to work at.

You might find its fine, under or generally over.

I was consuming 3000kcal easily and now lost a stone in a month.

If you eat moderately, there is no need to get rid of certain foods if you exercise 800kcal easily per hour on a ride.

grant.smith

You may also want to slow down, no seriously, its well know fact that to burn fat the most efficiently you should be excising between 68% and 79% of you maximum heart rate.

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fatburn.htm

I have the same issue as you and I decided to try my best to get down to a body shape I am happy with. To do this I'm going to cut out drinking and see how I get on, I don't really want to get into calorie counting but if that's what it takes.

On the bright side this form of exercise is also perfect base training.

Let me know how you get on...

tuxpoo

Good link!

Think this answers a few questions for me.

If I cycle for 30 mins at fat burn HR, I burn 220 calories 110 from fat
If i cycle for 30 mins at higher level, i burn 330 calories but still 110 from fat.

BUT... if i cycle at the higher level , i get to my destination 5 mins early. so only burn 264 calories aprox 87 from fat.

So if you do a specific loop/commute, you are better doing fat burn HR.
But at the gym you are better doing higher level for a set time.

correct?

Tux

ImprezaRob

Thanks for the replies guys - very useful.

I'm going to check out that link at lunchtime, should also give me a few ideas!

MarvintheAndroid

Down to my LBS to get a HR monitor then........

Marv

Panhandling Prince

Riding at the weekend supported by 4 sessions in the gym a week was my cure.

Pumping out 30 km a day in the gym combined with other CV and weights sessions I went from 16 st 5 lbs to 15 st 8 lbs in 8 weeks.

I found that it is not always what you eat (I have an ok balaced diet) its about the effort you put in and pushing that extra bit harder.

Feel so much lighter on the bike now, its great.

Cutting out the junk food anf picking at crap at work worked wonders to. One of the hazards of riding a desk.

tuxpoo

I got a heart monitor yesterday and cycled this morning to work with it.
Very quickly realized if I kept in the fat burn zone, i wouldnt get to work until lunchtime :shock:

Im 40 and avg about 140, maxed about 172 sprinting a climb.

Great day to benchmark my commute... no wind, dry, cool.
avg 15.8Mph 46 mins on MTB

Ill drop it to 1 hour tommorow and see what my avg hr is.

Tux

MarvintheAndroid

OK, so I got this new HR monitor thing. Now can somebody tell me how to work out my ideal fat burn HR "zone" for my size / weight ?

Marv

Atz

Also, don't forget that fat weighs less than muscle so if you're getting fitter, you're almost certainly increasing muscle mass which often counteracts the weight you've lost from the fat burn without much noticable "upgrade" in definition.

Panhandling Prince

Check out your Body Fat %.

This might be lower than before even though you dont notice it pshyically.

I check this every week and keep an excel spreadsheet of my training/ development.

Record weight (st and kg), bmi, waist measurement, neck measurement, body fat %.

See how they inprove over time.