Ideal weight
shedhead
Posts: 367
Hi,
I have been on a low carb / zero carb diet for the last few weeks & i am now 95kgs (lost 4kgs thus far), i am 6'2" (i'm 43 by the way) & well built, ie: never have been a racing snake since i was about 15 ! I have just been on an ideal weight website (an nhs one) & it advises my weight should be about 80 KGs !!! Gulp, i'm fairly well muscled & played semi-pro football & i was only 87 kgs then. Is this weight correct do you think & do i need to staple my mouth shut for a few months ? :shock:
I have been on a low carb / zero carb diet for the last few weeks & i am now 95kgs (lost 4kgs thus far), i am 6'2" (i'm 43 by the way) & well built, ie: never have been a racing snake since i was about 15 ! I have just been on an ideal weight website (an nhs one) & it advises my weight should be about 80 KGs !!! Gulp, i'm fairly well muscled & played semi-pro football & i was only 87 kgs then. Is this weight correct do you think & do i need to staple my mouth shut for a few months ? :shock:
'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts'.
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do teh mirror test - alone!! strip off infront of full length mirror. jump up & down a bit. Some bits should wobble - others shouldn't. Decide for yourself what needs to go!!( and I'm not joking - the mirror test sorts out flabby from fit even if you're in teh right BMI etc0
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I'm 5'9" and 74kgs. I don't know what that makes me in terms of BMI, but I train/race/eat/live how I like and that's the weight I've ended up at (down from 84kgs 3 years ago). If I weighed 70kgs or less or 85kgs or more I'd probably hit some kind of health warning parameter.
Keep up the good work regarding weight loss. Why do you want to lose weight?0 -
Good advice on the mirror/wobble test. You shouldn't really aim for a certain weight but aim to be as lean as possible, 8-12% body fat. Some people are tall and skinny, some are tall and broad, this obviously affects your weight. As a cyclist I wouldn't read too much into that BMI thing. 80kgs sounds about right, I'm 6'4" and 76kgs but on the thin side of the build spectrum.0
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ut_och_cykla wrote:do teh mirror test - alone!! strip off infront of full length mirror. jump up & down a bit. Some bits should wobble - others shouldn't. Decide for yourself what needs to go!!( and I'm not joking - the mirror test sorts out flabby from fit even if you're in teh right BMI etc
Like it, do you think they'll mind if i do it in Marks & Sparks?
If I'm honest, i know i need to lose a bit, which will obviously benefit my health, training, appearance etc. I just didn't think it would be so much. I'll probably get down to my old 87kgs & see how i feel, although xmas is getting nearer, oooh, get those selection boxes away from me !!!'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts'.0 -
The BMI is a load of tosh for athletes in general.. according to the BMI every 100metres olympic sprinter is obese
Bradley wiggins is 6'3 and weighs 69kg!0 -
trickydisco wrote:Bradley wiggins is 6'3 and weighs 69kg!
Fat b@stard!0 -
80kg for your height would be a decent weight - but it depends on WHY you want to weight that 'little'. If you want to race, then it will help you to be lighter. If you just want to be healthier in general, then you don't need to go as low.0
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I'm not going to be racing, i think i'm too old for that, so i think you're right Pokerface, 80kg is a bit low. However i'm going to get down to 87/85kgs then take a view on it from there. Maybe i'll get to like the mirror test & just keep jumping up & down in front of that naked when i've hit my target.
Pokerface, when you went on your diet, how long did you stay with the low/zero/eca method for ?'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts'.0 -
Sorry shedhead, you can't use your age as an excuse not to race. You're only 43 for goodness sake! Will you be saying you need a rug over your knees next?shedhead wrote:I'm not going to be racing, i think i'm too old for that, so i think you're right Pokerface, 80kg is a bit low. However i'm going to get down to 87/85kgs then take a view on it from there. Maybe i'll get to like the mirror test & just keep jumping up & down in front of that naked when i've hit my target.
I've said this before and no doubt I'll say it again - I know literally dozens of strong racing cyclists in their 50s, 60s and 70s. There are whole organisations dedicated to running races for the over 40s. Have a Google for the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists and the Veterans TT Association. That's not to say you can't be competitive in British Cycling events too - my clubmate who is 51 just got his BC 2nd-cat licence last season and a local vet regularly wins the seniors race at our cyclocross league. If you don't want to race that's a different matter.
On the weight issue - even if you don't want to race, if you'd like to be a good endurance cyclist then being lighter will make a huge difference. Being 80kg will be much much better for your cycling than 85kgs - but you are going to look very skinny compared to when you were 99kgs!
Ruth0 -
If your cloths start to get looser, the ride up hills quicker and you have the energy and a desire to ride often, dont worry about what some machine is telling you.0
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Thanks for the encouragement guys, Beaconruth, is that a little reverse psychology being applied there?
I AM going to make this drastic drop & then hopefully my riding will go to another level & will be totally different for me & spur me on to great things ! 'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts'.0 -
Everything in moderation - if you lose too quickly/much you might find you lose power/speed too - and look rubbish too, or worse be prone to irritating injuries & illnesses.Get down to 87 kgs and see how you feel/bike. If you're happy stop there - if not - go further but keep an eye on general wellbeing - no point in being a snake with a permanent cold!0
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rock_hopper wrote:As a cyclist I wouldn't read too much into that BMI thing.
weeelll I dunno - it's as good a guideline as there is around at the moment - along with fat %
Ok, it's not going to be spot on for everyone - but it's amazing how 95% of the people who rubbish BMI are the ones whose BMI is higher than they want it to be.
I would say in general that most (serious) cyclists should aim to be in the lower half of their normal BMI range, ie., 22 or under?0 -
Cough splutter!...
You do not want be admitting to ECA method on here, as a WC!0 -
I didn't use the ECA method. I didn't even know what it was when I previously posted!
I was endorsing the zero-carb and low fat diet that I used.
I know what the E and C are - what is the A?0 -
If you're moderately fit it's pretty much impossible to get a meaningful "ideal weight" figure from any sort of general guidelines, chart, index or whatever, people are just too different. You just need to cotton on to it over the years by paying attention to any fluctuations and how they correlate with how you feel and perform. I'm 5'9" and around 62-63kg, my "ideal" is probably 60-61, and when I'm 64-65 I can see wobbly bits around my kidneys/love-handle zone. Problem is that my measured weight varies from day to day within about the same range due to hydration etc (not to mention accuracy of the scales), so noticing any real gain or loss over weeks is sort of a gestalt thing. Other people who are exactly my height could be completely lean and fit and weight 10kg more (and that's just looking at cyclist-type physiologies, upper-body muscle men could be a lot more!)0
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neeb wrote:I'm 6'9" and around 62-63kg, my "ideal" is probably 60-61, and when I'm 64-65 I can see wobbly bits around my kidneys/love-handle zone. Problem is that my measured weight varies from day to day within about the same range due to hydration etc (not to mention accuracy of the scales),)
Wow, 6'9" & 62ish kgs, is that not a bit low for your height?'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts'.0 -
Yes, I'm actually a Martian, much lower bone density due to lower gravity and we're all pretty lanky...shedhead wrote:neeb wrote:I'm 6'9" and around 62-63kg, my "ideal" is probably 60-61, and when I'm 64-65 I can see wobbly bits around my kidneys/love-handle zone. Problem is that my measured weight varies from day to day within about the same range due to hydration etc (not to mention accuracy of the scales),)
Wow, 6'9" & 62ish kgs, is that not a bit low for your height?
Original post now edited... I meant 5'9"... 0 -
Thank god for that, i thought i was going to have to get down to about 50 kgs ! :shock:'Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts'.0
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Well, I was wondering how you could be that weight and have wobbly bits. (I did wonder if you were actually saying you could see your kidneys wobbling.)neeb wrote:Original post now edited... I meant 5'9"...
It's one of the nice things about cycling that amongst my general acquaintances I'm always being called skinny (6ft and 73kg), but amongst cycling friends I'm fairly average. And on that BMI thing - I'm slap bang in the middle of healthy. Which is quite remarkable, given how much I eat.0 -
It's curious that calling someone skinny, or similar, seems to be more socially acceptable than calling someone fat.0
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Why is it curious, nhoj?nhoj wrote:It's curious that calling someone skinny, or similar, seems to be more socially acceptable than calling someone fat.
Ruth0 -
nhoj wrote:It's curious that calling someone skinny, or similar, seems to be more socially acceptable than calling someone fat.
I'm a cyclist and get called a fat twat all the time."A cyclist has nothing to lose but his chain"
PTP Runner Up 20150 -
What's wrong with calling someone you don't know fat? Why would these same reasons not apply to calling someone you don't know thin?BeaconRuth wrote:
Why is it curious, nhoj?nhoj wrote:It's curious that calling someone skinny, or similar, seems to be more socially acceptable than calling someone fat.0 -
Cyclists tend not to aspire to be fat. But because it's often a huge advantage to an endurance cyclist to be thin - especially if they race - many cyclists aspire to be thin (within reason). I think this is why, on a cycle training forum, people seem to find it socially acceptable to suggest people are 'skinny'. Do you feel there is something wrong with that?nhoj wrote:
What's wrong with calling someone you don't know fat? Why would these same reasons not apply to calling someone you don't know thin?BeaconRuth wrote:
Why is it curious, nhoj?nhoj wrote:It's curious that calling someone skinny, or similar, seems to be more socially acceptable than calling someone fat.
Ruth0 -
ut_och_cykla wrote:do teh mirror test - alone!! strip off infront of full length mirror. jump up & down a bit. Some bits should wobble - others shouldn't. Decide for yourself what needs to go!!( and I'm not joking - the mirror test sorts out flabby from fit even if you're in teh right BMI etc
Good idea this, stops the focus being on a set weight, which may start to increase as you get stronger. So which bit typically is last/hardest to stop the jelly shuffle?MTB HardTail: GT Aggressor XC2 '09
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