Weight loss tips

llen

Hello all

Having read the recent threads on ideal weight and the benefits of shedding weight for cycling i thought I'd start a new one on weight loss tips.

I'm 5'10 and currently tip the scales at 93kg. My weight has increased from 87kg in the last 3 months due to a combination of no training and poor diet. I've entered the dragon gran fondo in june next year and ideally would like to be considerably lighter by then - say 80kg.

I've never been a skinny type but at 87kg I could be described as athletic - think rugby player build. I can usually squeeze in 3 turbo sessions in the week and a long ride on the weekend.

Does anyone have any dieting tips that can help me shift this weight pretty quickly whilst ensuring i have enough energy to train? Is there such a thing as a cyclist diet i could use?

I'm pretty focussed and committed when i want to be but i enjoy having a structured plan to follow.

Many thanks in advance for any tips that you guys can provide me with.

Llen

Pseudonym

there's really no secret - just eat less (which needs discipline) and train more (which also needs discipline). Eat smaller portions, more fruit/veg and skip the late night snacks...

Mr Dog

Soup and high protein main meals. 8)

plankton_brain

Rugby player build?

Cut out the alchohol for a few months, keep up with the training, watch it drop off

spinndrift

Htree three things I've done to get down from over 20 stone are:

1 Controlling the calories - as mentioned this takes discipline as does not thinking that after a long ride you can stuff your face.

2 Splitting my calories across 5 meals throughout the day - means less time between meals to feel hungry.

3 Giving up the booze - initially hard but on the rare occasional I go out drinking now its a cheap night.

nhoj

Oh, oh, the cyclist diet? I thought that was eat everything you see.

I tried to gain weight once, put on a stone, but I fell back to my old habits and it dropped off. Gaining or losing weight is simple: either eat more and do less or eat less and do more. What neither of them is is easy. Simple, not easy. For want of a better word, you need a "lifestyle" change. Motivation helps. Having signed up to an event six months away is great motivation in itself. Smaller meals, maybe four or five a day, plenty water, treat yourself now and again, don't do too much too quickly (six months is nothing; you've got the rest of your life), and remember why you're doing it. And forget about dieting over Christmas! :-)

richa

Llen,

More excersize, less calories is a given.

I have benefited from logging my calories (i.e. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/) so that I can ensure that I have a sufficient deficit (1,000 KCals/day) to lose 2 Lbs / week. I generally aim for 500 KCals from exercise, 500KCals from diet.

Eric Cartman

Ride more and eat less, dont get hung up on it

I dropped from 13 stone to 10.5 this summer without any drastic changes in diet, just exercising more and cutting the inbetween meal/ watching tv snacks out (that was about 800-1000 calories a day straight away).

martincashman

After initially losing weight through cycling, I was alarmed to find it was going back up, I was doing a lot of cycling and couldn't figure it out. I was worried about how I could continue to train and try to start a diet... but when I tried to figure it out, it was quite simple. I wasn't a pro cycling every day, I was doing 3 or 4 days a week max but eating the same amount every day. So I cut down on the days I'm not cycling and feed well before and after training.

When I really needed to shed the kgs, I concentrated on cutting back on the off days... it does take discipline to go to bed hungry some nights... but by making sure I ate well on training days. I still had the energy I need. Got it wrong a few times and suffered but you learn from these things.

Also, weigh yourself everyday... there is natural variation and you should not expect to see the weight go down everyday but the trend will go down or stay stable, the last thing you want to do is jump on the scales and see you've gained 3 or 4 kgs since last time, this can happen if you do it too infrequently.

Last but not least, don't become a weight obsessed lettuce munching waif.. met a few cyclists like this during the year, one particular guy worried about every calorie, sure he hadn't enjoyed a proper meal in 10 years and yet he was shoving powerbars and gels in on the rides like they were going out of fashion, and this wasn't racing.

keef66

well I seem to be getting into the Christmas spirit already. Parked the bike in the garage after my evening pootle, only to be tempted by the mountain of booze we've got stashed out there.

And I can confirm that a can of 'draught' guinness does a passable impersonation of a recovery shake

MarksMintness

spinndrift wrote:

Htree three things I've done to get down from over 20 stone are:

1 Controlling the calories - as mentioned this takes discipline as does not thinking that after a long ride you can stuff your face.

2 Splitting my calories across 5 meals throughout the day - means less time between meals to feel hungry.

3 Giving up the booze - initially hard but on the rare occasional I go out drinking now its a cheap night.

Totally agree with this. I dropped a good stone this year by simply splitting my calories into about 5 smaller meals. Still watched what I ate and made most of it healthy, and stopped snacking full stop in the evenings. Combined with even just a couple of rides or runs a week, the weight fell off. I felt so much healthier and wasn't hungry, although when I stepped up exercise I got hungrier, so just dial up a few more healthy calories across the day.

Good luck!

triggmiester

I have dropped my weight from 11.5 stone to 9.5 stone in the last 18 -24 months. Yes, eat less excercise more but it takes will power. I do not eat chocolate, crisps, I dont drink fizzy crap, I haven't has alcohol in 13 years.
I bought smaller plates so when you do have a meal it fools your brain into thinking you are full,I haven't really changed what I eat, very rarely get a take away but everything is home cooked. I will munch occasionally on biscuits as a treat. I weigh myself everyday and do not worry about the occasional pound weight gain as it could be water retention or maybe I havent eaten something slightly different in the day.
I limit myself to 1700 calories a day using the Livestrong App and I ride between 150-200km per week, mostly to work but also the club run on a Saturday morning,you would not believe how much easier I find the hills now.

t.m.h.n.e.t

MarksMintness wrote:

spinndrift wrote:

1 Controlling the calories - as mentioned this takes discipline as does not thinking that after a long ride you can stuff your face.

2 Splitting my calories across 5 meals throughout the day - means less time between meals to feel hungry.

3 Giving up the booze - initially hard but on the rare occasional I go out drinking now its a cheap night.

Totally agree with this. I dropped a good stone this year by simply splitting my calories into about 5 smaller meals. Still watched what I ate and made most of it healthy, and stopped snacking full stop in the evenings. Combined with even just a couple of rides or runs a week, the weight fell off. I felt so much healthier and wasn't hungry, although when I stepped up exercise I got hungrier, so just dial up a few more healthy calories across the day.

Good luck!

Work out your bmr http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Then your daily needs based on the calcs: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calcu ... -equation/

Then do the quote ^

LightningTony

It is also possible you have an allergy or intolerance of some kind. When I gave up wheat a few years ago the weight dropped off, and I wasn't riding much at the time, nor worrying about calories. A friend that I coach has been struggling with weight for years; everything he tried didn't make any difference then we found a medicine he was taking had side effects of weight gain.

On the face of it the formula that the other posters refre to is correct, eat less, do more, or both. However in about five % of cases there may be underlying factors at work. If wheat is a factor it is really easy to find out, because improvements are rapid. However maintaining wheatfree is quite hard, especially if you have to eat out. It is in so many things apart fdrom the obvious; fish in batter and breadcrumbs, rusk in sausages etc.

Otherwise it seems that you have the right idea, timing of meals to make sure you have enough carbs and proteins during exercise, and going easy on rest days is good advice. Check out the sports nutrition book by Anita Bean, linked to on my website see below.
Cheers Happy Christmas

Richj

spinndrift wrote:

1 Controlling the calories - as mentioned this takes discipline as does not thinking that after a long ride you can stuff your face.

2 Splitting my calories across 5 meals throughout the day - means less time between meals to feel hungry.

3 Giving up the booze - initially hard but on the rare occasional I go out drinking now its a cheap night.

+1

I found hunger pains went after a couple of weeks and if I ate a big meal I just felt bloated and uncomfortable. Something that was a real eye opener for me was I started weighing out food (porridge, pasta and rice mainly) I was shocked at how my "couple of handfuls of pasta" were way over the recommended amount on the packet for a meal. I also cut down my bread intake as I found it just left me hungry.

t.m.h.n.e.t

Richj wrote:

spinndrift wrote:

1 Controlling the calories - as mentioned this takes discipline as does not thinking that after a long ride you can stuff your face.

2 Splitting my calories across 5 meals throughout the day - means less time between meals to feel hungry.

3 Giving up the booze - initially hard but on the rare occasional I go out drinking now its a cheap night.

+1

I found hunger pains went after a couple of weeks and if I ate a big meal I just felt bloated and uncomfortable. Something that was a real eye opener for me was I started weighing out food (porridge, pasta and rice mainly) I was shocked at how my "couple of handfuls of pasta" were way over the recommended amount on the packet for a meal. I also cut down my bread intake as I found it just left me hungry.

Less likely to feel the need for sugar and binge out on crap. Eating like this ^ stabilises your blood sugars(insulin is essentially a fat storage hormone) which means you don't get that mid afternoon craving for coffee with 3 sugars

llen

Thanks to all that have posted for the hints and tips.

I'm raring to go now but will wait until after Xmas as this will be a recipe for disaster. I'd like to lose about 26lbs or so. Using the formulas above and setting a 1000 calorie deficit per day this would result in a 2lbs reduction per week. So about 3 months to lose the full amount - that seems sensible enough.

Cheers
llen

styxd

Using the formulas above and setting a 1000 calorie deficit per day this would result in a 2lbs reduction per week. So about 3 months to lose the full amount - that seems sensible enough.

I dont know loads about this sort of stuff, but thats half of what you're supposed to eat per day! You'll end up wasting away and losing lots of muscle aswell, surely?

I think the average person needs somewere around 1700 cal's just to maintain weight if sitting on the sofa all day.

I'd say just eat sensibly (i.e. lots of lean meat and veg) and ride your bike/do your turbo sessions as you would.

llen

Sorry styxd - I think i may have confused everyone.

Using the formulas in teh previous message my daily net calorie intake to maintain my current weight is approx 3,000. By reducing that to 2,000 per day this would result in a 2lbs per week weight loss.

I think i've read and understood that correctly.

But you are absolutely right, suggested min calories is about 1,800 per day.

t.m.h.n.e.t

llen wrote:

Sorry styxd - I think i may have confused everyone.

Using the formulas in teh previous message my daily net calorie intake to maintain my current weight is approx 3,000. By reducing that to 2,000 per day this would result in a 2lbs per week weight loss.

I think i've read and understood that correctly.

But you are absolutely right, suggested min calories is about 1,800 per day.

Wouldn't do any harm to tweak the numbers a bit if needed. 2300 -2500 if not more would be reasonable if you are regularly exercising/active. I stopped counting cals because it was becoming obsessive,I maintain easily enough though so it's not all bad.

Still have a bit to go before I give triathlon a go. 6 months and counting

Thebigbee

Basically just cut down on fat and escpecially refined sugars and saturated fat.

For years I was around 12 - 12.5 stone. I used to do a lot of exercise and eat a lot of carbs and eat low fat meals and hardly any sugar.

I probably used to only eat between 20-30 Grams of fat a day - if that. The RDA is 70 grams.

From what you have described I think I have the same physique as you which as a rugby player is which is technically known as a mesomorph.

I am 6'2 and now weigh 15 stone which is too much and after Christmas I intend to lose the flab and aim to get down to 14 stone and back into a 32" jean. When standing I can "pinch an inch" and probably a bit more. That is how I know I am overweight.

Apparently muscle weighs more than fat so your actual weight shouldn't matter that much.

Lots of carbs and high fibre foods to fill you up - pasta, brown bread, rice, potatoes etc - lots of fruit, veg, lean meat and cut out the things with high saturated fats such as butter, cream, cheese, crisps, takeaways, beers and ciders, refined sugar and sweets and "full fat" carbonated drinks - basically all the things that taste nice and the weight will come off naturally!

Don't be a complete martyr to it though. An occasional takeaway, cake or can of coke isn't going to do you any harm if you consistently eat healthily.

Will start doing what I know in the new year!