looking to lose weight,get leaner and a lot fitter....

ianbar

hello. there are a few reasons for all of this, one i am getting married in may, two, i want to make big strides this year after my first year of road cycling.

i am 6'3" and currently nearly 16st 6lbs.i was aiming for about 14 stone( i made it down to close to 15st last summer).
i have in the past done some running (4 great north runs) so i have a decent level of fitness inside somewhere lol. i do work nights so the short days limit my cycling to the weekends. my training aims are as follows...

2 good rides over the weekend, at this time around an hour long. during the week i aim for certainly 2 runs of about 30-40 mins. other than that i may have a turbo session during the week too. i would like to fit a little resistance training too if i can find the time.

certainly at this time of year we have a lot of veg mainly from the slow cooker so my main meal is generally very good. i think for work i am taking porridge ad top with blueberries, walnuts. some days i will take weetabix with some greek yogurt on.

i just wonder if anyone has any pointers to where i could tighten this up at all? or if anything seems strikingly wrong! thank you.

sungod

sounds like you need to up the exercise and probably cut/change the food intake, unless you create a real defecit you won't drop weight

if you can commute on the bike, do it

otherwise, try doing a *hard* morning run/cycle with just water before, warm up for 15, go hard for 15

instead of two one-hour rides, try making it two three-hour rides at a steady pace, limit intake beforehand

get your body used to burning stored fat

avoid excess alcohol, some ends up as fat, but most gets used for energy in preference to your body fat

overall reduce carbs, focus on veg and fish/lean meat, use no-fat milk on your cereal etc. etc.

speaking as a crisp, wine, beer and port loving chocaholic with a longing for fry ups, i know this is not easy, but it works

Secteur

The fact that you got down to 15st last SUmmer, but then rebounded back to above 16st suggests you aren't being strict with your diet / exercise over the winter.

Calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate - google for calculators) - this is your daily calorie requirement to maintain weight. Make sure you choose a BMR calculator that factors in your activity level.

Keep a food diary - people who do this are 50% more successful at weight loss.

Ensure you have a daily calorie deficit through dieting and exercise. Many of the online BMR calculators will help you calcuate a sensible daily calorie deficit to achieve weight loss.

Roughly speaking 1lb of fat contains 3500 calories, or put another way, if you burn 3500 calories then you will lose 1lb of fat.

Calculate your intended wieght loss in terms of lbs, and then how long you want to lose this over. Then adjust your daily calorie defecit (through diet & exercise) so that you achieve this.

Clear as mud?

Stop drinking alcohol, dont binge or eat silly foods and just be sensible. Oh, and of course exercise!

Remember, running may be more efficient at calorie burning than cycling for you. I do a combination of both.

ianbar

when i was 15st i had just done my first sportive and was out on the bike maybe 5 days a week, then it was nicked and took ages to get the new bike through! i did try too start again before x-mas but lets face it it is x-mas! so now all the treats are gone i can be strict, does help the o/h starts a diet monday too so less temptation there too.

lucan

ianbar wrote:

... does help the o/h starts a diet monday too so less temptation there too.

I'd suggest that as she loses weight there will be even more temptation, not less

PostieJohn

If you have a bike computer with cadence.
Try maintaining your current pace but with more rpm.

Today I rode the same route as last Sunday but averaged an extra 12 rpm, over 32miles.

I certainly felt the workout, and will now try to maintain my upped work rate.

MattC59

Do you use a heart rate monitor ?

IIRC, lower intensity exercise is better for fat burning. I seem to remember that keeping your heart rate at about 65% of max is optimum. If you can plot out a ride, where you can keep your heart rate around this for an hour, you'll burn more calories of fat than if you go hell for leather for an hour.

ianbar

Thank you for your replies, I have an edge500 with heart rate monitor so may look into that, I have heard things like that before. My weekend rides are only an hour at the moment till I get some fitness back then I will start building them back up. Back in fom work now, had 2,weetabix with a little Greek yog on top, big long sleep today then up green tea, and have pork for tea then to work and my first session of the week after that!

ptr_

Start lifting weights, you'll raise your resting metabolic rate and burn more calories in everything you do.

Cardio alone is a very inefficient way to lose weight.

If you want some advice drop me a PM, I'd be happy to help.

gmacz

Just get out on the bike as much as possible and enjoy the bike.
The weight just falls off.
Got a spare hour during the week, get the bike out.

jgsi

ptr_ wrote:

Start lifting weights, you'll raise your resting metabolic rate and burn more calories in everything you do.

Cardio alone is a very inefficient way to lose weight.

If you want some advice drop me a PM, I'd be happy to help.

If you were in any way actually qualified to give such advice, you actually wouldnt!

Cycling is efficient hence the abilities to ride at a high pace for 5 to 6 hours when trained.
I do advocate actual road work over indoor work if at all possible.
You'll get there if you stick at it.

jim453

Get off the booze and on the bike. Forget about all the crap that you read. Spend time on your bike (a lot of time). Don't keep weighing youself. Look for signs, they will be there, your face getting a little thinner for example. Feel good about these very lttle things and get back out on your bike whilst you feel good about it, you'll work harder. Give it plenty of time and try to learn to enjoy the effort. Good look mate.

bails1310

I am not a dietitian and a newby to road cycling bit have managed to lose just over 2 stone from July '11 - Dec ' 11 and managed to keep things level over Xmas, in summary:

* increased comute from 10 miles - 28 miles per day [alternate stady or hard pace]
* breakfast - all bran, skimmed milk, bananna
* 10am - 'Go-ahead' type bar
* lunch - mackeral / chicken salad, 3 x peices of fruit
* 4pm - bananna or low fat yoghurt
* 7pm - diner of nothing fried, limited carbs, lots of salad, veg, good nuts, natural yoghurt ,honey

Stopped booze apart from very occassional, did have one smallish treat a week, just to stop me killing myself. I drank quite a bit of water in the day and made sure I eat something [healthy] every 3 hours and think this was my key.

I was always the 'big boned lad' [15.5st, now 13.5st] and blamed lots of things why I couldnt lose it. Was a bit of a bore but worth it when you start to see the results. All of a sudden I just found one day that my fittness was a lot better and then it's an upward spiral.

styxd

Just get out on the bike as much as possible and enjoy the bike.
The weight just falls off.
Got a spare hour during the week, get the bike out.

Sort your diet and do this. If you havent got much time, just make sure your sessions on the bike are as hard as possible, no pootling along in the "fat burning zones" or whatever you call them, just nail it.

Also, eat plenty of fruit, veg and meat. Avoid any shite food like cereal, pasta, rice, bread - if its man made, avoid it.

keef66

Ignore any advice about fat burning zones. If you have an hour to ride, you'll burn more calories the faster you go, and the harder you push yourself the longer you'll continue to burn calories afterwards too.

If you're burning more calories than you're taking in, you'll lose weight. It isn't rocket surgery.

MattC59

keef66 wrote:

Ignore any advice about fat burning zones. If you have an hour to ride, you'll burn more calories the faster you go, and the harder you push yourself the longer you'll continue to burn calories afterwards too.

If you're burning more calories than you're taking in, you'll lose weight. It isn't rocket surgery.

You're right, it's not rocket surgery, but unfortunately, what you have stated isn't correct.

styxd

From what I've read and what I've done, I completely agree with keef.

Go out for an hour and pootle along, you may burn 400cals.

Go out for an hour and hammer it, you'll perhaps burn double that. It'll be fat, carbs, the lot. You'll also have worked your muscles hard, so you get home and your metabolism will still be in overdrive, so you'll keep burning even more energy. Plus you'll get fitter doing this.

MattC59

styxd wrote:

From what I've read and what I've done, I completely agree with keef.

Go out for an hour and pootle along, you may burn 400cals.

Go out for an hour and hammer it, you'll perhaps burn double that. It'll be fat, carbs, the lot. You'll also have worked your muscles hard, so you get home and your metabolism will still be in overdrive, so you'll keep burning even more energy. Plus you'll get fitter doing this.

True, but if you're trying to lose weight, then you want to be burning your fat stores, not muscle glycogen. If you ride in zone 1 / zone2 (depending on how many zones you use) your body will be burning these fat stores first and you will be laying down a good base of training for the summer riding. Yes, it can be boring, but if you want to lose wright, then making sure that the calories you burn are those which your body is already storing as fat, is the best way of doing it. There's no point in buring off the calories which you intake as food, if you're not going to burn of the calories stored as fat first.

styxd

Yes, but surely we're burning fat all the time, in everything we do? Its our primary source of fuel isnt it?

suzyb

styxd wrote:

Yes, but surely we're burning fat all the time, in everything we do? Its our primary source of fuel isnt it?

Was this meant as sarcasm? :?

AFAIK fat is the last thing to be burnt as it's more difficult to burn. So I would assume no matter the exercise you'll burn muscle glycogen. However once the exercise is done and your body is recovering you'll start burning fat to replace the glycogen etc you've lost during the exercise. Unless you stuff you're face with more calories than you need.

Or I could have just made that up based on half information from a variety of wrong sites / TV programmes.

saunaboy

Carbs (first 20 min mainly) and fat are the primary energy source. By 'fat' I mean fatty acids in the bloodstream. Stored fat isn't readily convertible in the timescale of a ride at levels needed to keep going, hence a 'bonk' when all immediately available stores are gone & muscle sources come next.

IMO one of the best ways to get stored fat off is to put some lean muscle on. It's metabolically very active & will be burning calories after a ride when you're resting. The more muscle you have, the more calories it takes to maintain it & the more fat will slowly, but constantly, get burnt. Everyone is different, but I can lose & gain flab and muscle quickly. It goes fastest when I'm in the gym AND on the bike, so maintaining all round good muscle function.

By far the biggest deal for me keeping the poundage off when I'm not exercising is booze (or lack of).

Lion-O

have a black coffee before a long ride and no breakfast. the caffiene stops your body burning glycogen and forces your body to use fat stores. 3 hr rides on water and a scoop of high 5 in each bottle is the way to do it in the right zones!

ianbar

this has turned out a spicier thread than i ever intended! I'm sticking to my diet, been for a run this morning 35 mins.i think when i get in tomorrow morning i might have a bit of a weights workout, then back on the road thursday. hoping to get out on bike friday if not for sure sat and sunday

griffsters

Fat burning zones are a myth - in the way they are interpreted by many.

At lower intensities we burn a higher % of fat for the energy expanded, however at higher intensity we are burning many more calories of which the % of fat will be lower but the overall amount of fat is more...

Its certainly confusing but magazines and forums just like this are guilty of perpetuating this misconception.

Lion-O

ok im not a qualified coach or sports scientist so who on this thread is? or else its just opinion vs opinion so lets see who can talk the talk!

o btw my dad a senior qualified cycling coach taught me the 4 zones of training and black coffee before a long ride for fat burning has coached two divisional road race champions and had them at sub 20 min 10 mile tts. just thought id throw that in!

suzyb

If you don't like coffee would cola do?

MattC59

Only four training zones ? There have been five for a loooong time and people are now moving to six !!

MattC59

suzyb wrote:

If you don't like coffee would cola do?

as long as it's not Coke Zero

suzyb

MattC59 wrote:

suzyb wrote:

If you don't like coffee would cola do?

as long as it's not Coke Zero

Darn it, that's what I drink.

griffsters

Lion-O wrote:

ok im not a qualified coach or sports scientist so who on this thread is? or else its just opinion vs opinion so lets see who can talk the talk!

I'd say no-one reading it! But then there are facts out there for all to find so not necessarily opinion vs opinion either ...

The Man Chump

Suzy B is correct, The muscles have approx 2000 calories worth of Gylogen stored in them (30 miles or so approx) Glycogen is used mainly anaerobically though so if you can keep your workload aerobic you will burn more fat rather than glycogen, carb or even worse protein. Weight loss requires good sense in that if you are exersising well, eating well is ok (Even with the odd naughty day) but if you aren't expending those calories you have to be so tight on the intake.
I only know this from the book I just read, worth a read. The complete book of long distance cycling (Burke and Pavelka)