Some help pleasssseeee

mants1

Hey all,

I'm new to the forum, i've recently bought a Cube Peloton and i'm new to road cycling.

I have a few questions:

1 I'm looking to lose weight around the belly to help with the cycling as carrying extra weight i feel is holding me back, i'm around 14 stone, 6 foot and 25 years old.

2 What foods would you recommend to help losing weight, foods that actually fill you up at breakfast, lunchtime and meals at dinner? Keeping in mind I dont eat fish of any sort and im not a fan of salads as they just dont fill me up.

I've been out on the bike 5 times, each time around the 70 - 95km area (I'm living in Australia at the moment but orginally from UK)

For now thats all i can think of, but im sure I will have alot more questions.

ut_och_cykla

It's pobably not so much about what you eat (tho' cutting out/really reducing empty calories like beer, chocolate etc is a good idea) more about how much. Really focus on portion size- log it all by hand or on a site like Livestronng's my plate for a week or so. For breakfast porridge or muesli with no added sugar is a good idea with low fat milk and perhaps a hard boiled egg on a fullcorn slice of bread is a good start.
Alter your diet bit by bit - more full corn products (no fluffy white bread or boiled to death pasta) more veg raw or cooked, not too much fruit. Drinl plenty of water during the day.

GiantMike

^^^^^

What he said. Don't eat crap.

Warwickshire Whizzer

Yep,

Porridge for breakfast, bit of fruit for a snack.

Less processed foods and more natural foods.

Log your calorie intake for a few weeks to get the quants right, adjust for burn on the bike to prevent starvation.

neilo23

And remember: you can't pick and chose from which body parts you lose weight so be prepared to look better all over and not just around your belly.

mants1

Thanks for the replys guys.

I've cut out eating so much crap that i was eating, making better food for dinner, fresh ingredients instead of all frozen stuff.

My biggest downfall is bread, i only eat brown bread now, toast in the morning, brown rolls for lunch, toast for supper. Im not into salads as they just dont fill me up and end up eating crap cause im hungry.

So i find it really hard to think of anything else that is actually nice for lunchs.

What would eat for a snack inbetween times?

Cheers

Pigtail

I only eat fruit for lunch during the week. For about 20 years I had bought shop sandwiches in summer, hot food in winter from shops at lunchtime.

My local Spar started selling 5 items of fruit for £1. I've rarely had anything but that for lunch for the last year and a half. I'm now 5 stone lighter.

If salads aren't filling you up then you aren't doing them properly. A salad for me isn't about low calories, its about getting a huge range of nutrients. I usually have pickled herring or smoked mackerel and some generous lumps of cheese in addition to fruit and mixed salad leaves, peppers. mushrooms, olives, nuts etc and a salad is just as filling as anything else.

mants1

I only eat fruit for lunch during the week. For about 20 years I had bought shop sandwiches in summer, hot food in winter from shops at lunchtime.

My local Spar started selling 5 items of fruit for £1. I've rarely had anything but that for lunch for the last year and a half. I'm now 5 stone lighter.

If salads aren't filling you up then you aren't doing them properly. A salad for me isn't about low calories, its about getting a huge range of nutrients. I usually have pickled herring or smoked mackerel and some generous lumps of cheese in addition to fruit and mixed salad leaves, peppers. mushrooms, olives, nuts etc and a salad is just as filling as anything else.

I was never a big lover of fruit either, its only recently ive started eating apples along with my sandwich at lunch.

I dont eat any fish at all, just dont like them never have done. Cheese i do like and could eat loads of that but thats bad for ya as well. peppers i like and mushrooms is another thing ive only started to eat within the past few months, olives dont like those either, and nuts i do like but then again they are bad for you if you to many as usually end up having a right few handfuls.

Really dont know what to do, For instances todays lunch was 3 brown baps each with 1 slice of ham 1 slice of salami small bit of ceddar cheese and a handful of lettuce leaves, and an apple, with that im just about full up.

ut_och_cykla

Lunches - get wholegrain bread - not just brown! Cut down on the baps - 3 sounds like a lot if you're eating a good breakfast and eating a good evening meal.

Make/buy a vegetable soup to take with you - in a thermos perhaps if you can't warm stuff.

Take sticks of any veg you can put up with . carrots, brocoli, zuchini (washed/peeled ready to eat) Eat fruit that takes a while to eat - apples, oranges you have to peel.

Eat more protein containing foods instead - a hard boiled egg for example, a good wadge of cooked turkey breast, source a low fat cheese or use cottage cheese.

And if this still isn't enough consider drinking a protein drink (based on milk - not just whey - which will have a better filling effect) with your lunch instead of eating a bap.

A large part of losing weight is getting used to eating less but better - fix your lunch before you go to work - measure out stuff the evening before - even a few almonds to crunch on is ok as long as it is only a few - like 5 or so!

In my opinion good frozen veg is as good as fresh veg that has languished on supermarket shelves for days by teh way.

And really consider eating some kind of fish - mashed tinned sardines with some vinegar & salt, tinned mackerel, tinned tuna, tinned salmon all make good sandwich fillers. Or fresh/frozen fish for dinner?
Good luck

lef

I wouldnt get too hung up on bread, just cut out the butter, as mentioned eat the wholegrain stuff and dont eat late into the evening. Eating carbs after 7-8pm should be avoided (admittedly I struggle with this). If you have to then keep it to a minimum and drink water to help fill you up.

Raising your heart rate twice a day will boost your metabolism. I'd recommend doing something first thing in the morning, doesnt have to be long, it will all help and then maybe something in the evening. Check out vibrant vegan on youtube. they have some great core strengthening workouts, think there are 6, which if done everyday will help pull that belly in as well as get you're heart rate up and they only take about 10mins. Do them before you eat.

CakeLovinBeast

If you're not eating a lot of fish (and I'm exactly the same, TBH, I'm not a fish person), then one thing that you can do is to get some flaxseed from your local health food shop (Holland & Barratt sell it) and add a couple of tablespoons to salads, etc. It's a good source of both fibre and the same Omega-3 fatty acids that you would get from eating fish.

As for salads - here's what I always used to eat: Couple of big handfuls of rocket, spinach and watercress leaves, add a chopped, grilled or griddled chicken breast some chopped mango and a couple of tablespoons of flaxseed. For a dressing: 3 tablespoons of good olive oil, a dash of balsamic, the juice of a lime along with a finely chopped chilli. Give it all a good shake together and pour over the top.

Your mileage may vary, naturally, but I bought a book called "The Abs Diet" (which isn't really fair, as it's not a proper diet as such), but I found the discussion on good foods and superfoods to be really useful, as well as having some lush recipes in the back for cracking breakfast smoothies.

styxd

Why do you want to be "full up"? Surely thats the problem? Just eat enough so you dont feel hungry.

As for all the stuff you dont like, eat it anyway, its good for you and you'll grow to like it. Or cook it in a way that means you do like it

mants1

Being full up or eating enough so im not hungry i would say they probably mean the same thing to me.

styxd

You could always do this, but theres no bread allowed, just nutrional food.

mants1

Only seeing this now, all the not allowed things are so nice

What ive started doing is recording what im eating each day on an app on my phone called my diet diary.

Does this sound right for one day?

Basal metabolic Rate (BMR) = 2966
Exercise (Mountain Biking) = 1601
Food = 1436

2966 + 1601 - 1436 = 3131

Any help with this would be great.

ut_och_cykla

According to the Livestrong tracker I use your calories for maintaining your current weight with only light activity every day would be around 2300. For me to use 1600 kcal exercising I'd have to be puffing away for about 3 hours. You're a big young chap (as opposed to a chubby 50 + girly!) but I think you're tending to overestimate your calorie needs which would explain why weight is not moving down.
Reduce tour portion size slowly - over several weeks and see how you go.

mants1

ut_och_cykla wrote:

According to the Livestrong tracker I use your calories for maintaining your current weight with only light activity every day would be around 2300. For me to use 1600 kcal exercising I'd have to be puffing away for about 3 hours. You're a big young chap (as opposed to a chubby 50 + girly!) but I think you're tending to overestimate your calorie needs which would explain why weight is not moving down.
Reduce tour portion size slowly - over several weeks and see how you go.

This is what yesterdays was:

2966 + 2071 - 1131 = 3906

That was with 1hr 58min of cycling on the mtb and then 20 lengths of a 50m swimming pool.

What way would i bring down the 2966? To be honest im not 100% sure how it all works.

Here is todays lunch is it too much?

2 Brown rolls, 1 slice of ham in each, 1 slice of salami in each, abit of cheddar cheese, lettuce, an apple and some unsalted peanuts.



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t.m.h.n.e.t

mants1 wrote:

Being full up or eating enough so im not hungry i would say they probably mean the same thing to me.

Eat less but higher quality foods more often. Stops you feeling hungry and keeps metabolism higher as youre always processing food..

I eat 5 times a day in smaller portions + exercise =3.5stone off since Jan and still trying to lose the last 10lbs.

ut_och_cykla

How active are you generally - ie if you didn't cycle/swim? BMR is basic needs for staying alive lying in bed. Add to that a factor for your general daily activity (eg at work, college etc)
And ditch those baps.They look like mostly fluff (says I a recently converted whole grain nut)

mants1

ut_och_cykla wrote:

How active are you generally - ie if you didn't cycle/swim? BMR is basic needs for staying alive lying in bed. Add to that a factor for your general daily activity (eg at work, college etc)
And ditch those baps.They look like mostly fluff (says I a recently converted whole grain nut)

During the day my job is at the desk, so from 7.30am - 1 im just either sitting at the desk or the short walk to the toilet.

Then at lunch out for a short walk, then back to the office sitting until 4.30pm then home.

So i guess apart from the cycling i dont get to do awhole lot, weekends i get out on the bikes both days for a few hours.

ut_och_cykla

I think that would count as sedentary on most calculators. If you're on your feet all day its light activity. So you might well be using less than 2300 a day + your cycling/swimming. So the 2966 is too high as a daily basis for calculations according to Liveströng site.
Ditch the salami too BTW - take more ham it has more protein, less fat and fewer calories per slice (although slalmi is much tastier.....

mants1

Got myself another app called my fitness pal.

Ive adjusted to sedentary now and the reading for yesterday was:

Goal = 1390 + Food 1737 - Exercise 443 = Net 1294

Calories Remaining = 96

Does this sound right?

ut_och_cykla

Yes that sounds better but now perhaps teh goal is a bit low? You might find you suffer doing hard exercise regularly on so few calories adn nutritionally you will be challenged to get sufficient Vitamins & minerals etc. And be careful not to eat those 96 calories everyday - thta's probably just teh margin of error in your logging andexercise levels.
I would guess you should go down on 1700 kcals a day, and 1390 is too low for sustainability

Cannon71

All this talk about diet is great, but what about the cycling?

Surely more here than just myself would advocate the zone-1/2 Heart Rate rides? (Training in these zones teaches your body to burn fat as opposed to carbs. Burning fat will a) help you lose weight, and b) allow you to ride longer (as we can store more fat than we can carbs.)

High Intensity rides (hills, sprints, speed-work etc.) won't help as much as long, slow endurance rides will.

milese

For me I cant limit the quantity I eat, but I do try and regulate the quality.

I dont count calories (which are needed for exercise), but I count fat which isn't. That doesn't mean I eat loads of sweets etc, but I'm not going to let calories determine the quantity of (eg) fruit or pasta that I eat.

I try to avoid foods that are high in fat, particulary saturated fat (the salami and cheese in your rolls).

So (try to) avoid cheese, anything with pastry, cakes and biscuits, processed frozen food, cream based sauces and pretty much anything else that is half price in Morrisons.

I go through stages of being very strict and very lax with the above! When strict it works very well for me.

mants1

Been looking at the app over the last couple of days and heres the figures:

Wednesday: Goal: 1390 Food: 1737 Exercise: 443 Net 1294 Cals remaining: 96

Thursday: Goal: 1390 Food: 1479 Exercise: 1164 Net 315 Cals remaining: 1075

Friday: Goal: 1390 Food: 1502 Exercise: 97 Net 1405 Cals remaining: -15

Saturday: Goal: 1390 Food: 2402 Exercise: 2314 Net 88 Cals remaining: 1302

What do i need to change? Ive been walking cycling playing squash and swimming throughtout this week and thats the figures.

Any suggestions would be good.

Cheers

Alex_Simmons/RST

Cannon71 wrote:

All this talk about diet is great, but what about the cycling?

Surely more here than just myself would advocate the zone-1/2 Heart Rate rides? (Training in these zones teaches your body to burn fat as opposed to carbs. Burning fat will a) help you lose weight, and b) allow you to ride longer (as we can store more fat than we can carbs.)

High Intensity rides (hills, sprints, speed-work etc.) won't help as much as long, slow endurance rides will.

That's a myth, although b is correct.

Our bodies already know how to "burn" fat. Apart from diet (you burn what you eat), the best thing we can do to improve the relative proportion of fats we use as a fuel substrate is train in a manner that increases our power output at threshold.

That includes doing some work in and around threshold power levels (even though such efforts are almost exclusively fueled by carbs) as that type of effort provides the maximum stimulus for such adaptations.

So I would suggest that a diet of lower level riding only isn't necessarily going to be effective to raise the power one can sustain while still using a high proportion of fats as a fuel substrate (and thereby improving our endurance and the rate of calorie metabolism).

Finally, it's total calorie deficit that matters, not the fuel substrate mix utilised during exercise. Carbs will still be replenished from the fat stores (and what we eat of course).

If you don't have much time, then lift the intensity, even if that doesn't use much FFA as fuel.

ut_och_cykla

mants1 wrote:

Been looking at the app over the last couple of days and heres the figures:

Wednesday: Goal: 1390 Food: 1737 Exercise: 443 Net 1294 Cals remaining: 96

Thursday: Goal: 1390 Food: 1479 Exercise: 1164 Net 315 Cals remaining: 1075

Friday: Goal: 1390 Food: 1502 Exercise: 97 Net 1405 Cals remaining: -15

Saturday: Goal: 1390 Food: 2402 Exercise: 2314 Net 88 Cals remaining: 1302

What do i need to change? Ive been walking cycling playing squash and swimming throughtout this week and thats the figures.

Any suggestions would be good.

Cheers

do 2 whole weeks - acccording to your log you should be creating a deficit - and go down in weight. if you don't the info you're putting in is wrong - either too many calories in or too few out.
Good luck! And remeber this is a cycling site. Perhaps you'd get more help on a dieting site with this particular issue!