Looking for some advice

dinyull

Took up road cycling properly in Feb, been commuting for the past 2 years. I'm away on holiday mid-July and would like to lose a little extra weight for it.

Since Feb I've lost just over a stone - this was done by cutting out the crap I was eating and weekend rides (30 - 50 miles) until the clocks changed. When the clocks changed I started going out after work (19 miles) on the days I wasn't playing football. I've since upped the weekday rides to 30 miles and started commuting again.

Current Schedule:
Mon - Commute 11 miles - Football after work
Tues - 30 mile ride after work
Wed - Commute 11 miles - Football after work
Thu - Commute 11 miles - Football after work
Fri - 30 mile ride after work
Sat - 30 - 60 miles
Sun - sometimes a 30 - 60 mile ride

The problem I'm finding is I can't seem to shed any more weigh, have upped the nigtly runs and started commuting on day's I play football in the past 2 weeks because I've been @ 12 stone for a while.

Usual day's eating:
3 wheatabix (breakfast)
Usual dinner is Ham/Chicken/Tuna salad sandwich
3 wheatabix (when in from work)
Usual tea is pasta chicken pesto or backed potatoes tuna salad or rice chicken eggs etc
Yogurt
Slice of bread

On Fridays and some Saturdays I go out for a 'few' with the lads.

Any advice on how to lose a little more? Don't think I'm eating badly and I'm pushing myself when I can (average around 18-19mph on the 30 mile route), although I need to be more diciplined @ the weekends.

styxd

Too much bread/pasta/rice/wheatabix/potaoes

ut_och_cykla

styxd wrote:

Too much bread/pasta/rice/wheatabix/potaoes

+1 - skip the 2nd lot of weetabix and replace with a protein shake/fruit smoothie or soemthing much less rich in Carbs at least and preferably higher in protein

rick_chasey

Eat less.

rls

How tall are you?

If you're 6' and 12 stone then that isn't bad at all. Depending on your build 12 stone may be all you can realistically achieve without risking illness.

I'm 6' and 12 stone 10lb after losing a stone earlier in the year and although I'm still loosing weight it's slowed down a lot. I've pretty much just cut out the crap, even to the extent of dropping the spoon of sugar I'd have in my cuppa...

RLS

Pseudonym

Rick Chasey wrote:

Eat less.

+1

certainly you should eat less weetabix.....

dinyull

5'11 and hovering @ about 12 stone (somedays below somedays bang on).

I'm happy with where I am to be honest, would just like a flatter stomach for Holiday. Drink tea but don't have sugar, don't put sugar on the wheatabix etc.

The reason for the second lot of Wheatabix is because I've either been commuting and need to fuel myself for the 30 miler or football. Don't have any breakfast on the non-commuting days.

Slack

What type of miilk are you having with your cereal - skimmed?

How many cups tea/cofffee you having during a day?

If your weight has stabilised then you are eating the right amount. Given this, to loose more, cut the booze out for a few weeks. And when you're at where you want to be, perhaps re-commence the booze. Theorectically you should then stabilise at the new weight.

If pratical, cycle to work at a very low intensity on an empty stomach, and eat your breakfast after the ride. By the way, ditch the weetabix (full of sugar and salt) and take shreddies or porridge instead.

Slack

You need to eat breakfast everyday!

If it's a flatter stomach you're after, get yourself a yoga book and do some of the core stretches and twists.

styxd

The reason for the second lot of Wheatabix is because I've either been commuting and need to fuel myself for the 30 miler or football. Don't have any breakfast on the non-commuting days.

Pointless as you've already eaten a load of carbs for breakfast/dinner. 30miles is fuck all anyway, you dont need extra fuel for that.

huuregeil

Lots of minor nutrion details I could comment on, but the big one I agree on - less simple carbs (e.g. cut out the white bread, pasta, weetabix, rice), eat more veg and complex carbs and this will have quite a big impact. The other big one, make sure you get a decent breakfast before you leave, starting the day on an empty stomach does bad things to your blood sugar levels and hormone response. Check out how, e.g. lightweight rowers approach nutrition when getting close to a comp, it's all breakfast dominated, tea doesn't really feature.

But really, looking at your training structure, you're neither doing the big miles on the bike that will make you drop large amounts of weight (it's all relatively short blasts), nor are you doing anything strength based. Either

1. You want to lose weight e,g. so you go faster on the bike. Ride less frequently but ride for longer/harder, e.g. you could build up to getting out both saturday and sunday, a century one day, intervals the next, while happily binning the friday ride.

2. You want to lose body fat (and not necessarily weight) so that you look more buff on the beach. In this case you should hit the gym and do some strength work, without a doubt. Putting on muscle mass in the right places is a very effective way to reduce body fat, because it changes your metabolic balance. The bonus is that your football will really benefit from weights. You should focus on the big whole-body exercises, e.g. squats, deadlifts, push-ups, pull-ups. Single leg work for footie is also really beneficial and this will improve speed around the pitch, kicking power/accuracy, and help in reducing the risks of knee and hamstring injuries in particular. You might not lose weight, you might not get faster on the bike, but you will get more buff!

trickydisco

Lots of minor nutrion details I could comment on, but the big one I agree on - less simple carbs (e.g. cut out the white bread, pasta, weetabix, rice), eat more veg and complex carbs and this will have quite a big impact.

100% agree. I've dropped 6kg since following this principle (75kg down to 69kg)
I don't eat cereal, crisps and bread anymore and have milk once a week.

Mainly following the 4 hour body diet

I'm actually eating more than i was before but i'm much leaner

The whole eat less, move more.. calories in principle is a bit basic IMHO. It's what you eat that counts and the effect this has on the body (the glucose response)

dinyull

Thanks for all the input.

I honestly thought I was eating just enough - seems like I'm taking in too many carbs. Hopefully cutting down on this combined with the longer runs on the bike will get me to where I want.

Cheers

ut_och_cykla

Dinyull wrote:

Thanks for all the input.

I honestly thought I was eating just enough - seems like I'm taking in too many carbs. Hopefully cutting down on this combined with the longer runs on the bike will get me to where I want.

Cheers

Also think about timing when you eat - directly after hard exercise - so that what you do eat has best chance of being stored in the right places.

cyclopsbiker

I agree with the comments on nutrition but thinking about your training schedule....when you rest?? Rest and recovery activity is just as important as training, if not more so because the muscles have time to recover from the stress and strain they are subjected to. Your schedule looks ambitious. You should be having at least 2 days recover and a full day of rest (i.e. NO activity) a week. on your schedule you're barely getting one day's rest and no recovery, given that some days yr cycling and playing football. Since I've incorporated 3 hard days, 2 rest and 2 recovery into my schedule I've dropped a kilo in a week....and that's with no adjustment to my diet.

amaferanga

cyclopsbiker wrote:

I agree with the comments on nutrition but thinking about your training schedule....when you rest?? Rest and recovery activity is just as important as training, if not more so because the muscles have time to recover from the stress and strain they are subjected to. Your schedule looks ambitious. You should be having at least 2 days recover and a full day of rest (i.e. NO activity) a week. on your schedule you're barely getting one day's rest and no recovery, given that some days yr cycling and playing football. Since I've incorporated 3 hard days, 2 rest and 2 recovery into my schedule I've dropped a kilo in a week....and that's with no adjustment to my diet.

Think that's OTT.

cyclopsbiker

on recovery days you still exercise, but not hard/max. my recovery today was 45mins steady on the turbo keeping HR at about 70%max

amaferanga

cyclopsbiker wrote:

on recovery days you still exercise, but not hard/max. my recovery today was 45mins steady on the turbo keeping HR at about 70%max

I wouldn't consider riding at 70% HRmax to be a recovery ride.

cyclopsbiker

everyone's different!

amaferanga

cyclopsbiker wrote:

everyone's different!

True, but recovery ride should cause minimal stress. So why would you ride at what is generally considered the endurance zone instead of keeping the intensity much lower to ensure you stress your body as little as possible?

cyclopsbiker

ok, I'm not claiming to be a training expert, and maybe my estimation of 70% was too high...all I know is that recovery should be steady pace and not maxing out, as you say, keeping the intensity much lower to avoid stressing the body.