Help with shedding the weight!

Gabbo

Before I started cycling, I was absent from competitive sport for about 3 years when I was previously a distance runner. As a runner, I use to train about 4-5 times per week clocking up to about 35 miles per week. At the time, I weighed about 77kg and didn't really go below that. My appetite from what I remember was quite healthy.

Now as a cyclist (not yet competitive) I started off at about 90kg or maybe a shade over. I now weigh about 84kg and have been stuck there for a couple of months now. I feel as if I'm getting fitter and faster, but the weight remains the same. For someone who is 6'1 I personally consider this heavy in the context of this sport. If I was to lose that extra 7kg of bodyweight and return to 77kg, I would like to believe that my performance would increase significantly.

Problem is, I seem to be finding it difficult to lose further weight. Am currently cycling 4-5 times per week being 1-3hrs per ride depending on the day.

Okay, I'm going to partially answer my own question here: I still eat rubbish food every now and then, but not always. I also eat a lot after a ride, and sometimes during. Not sure whether this is necessary or not. I want to lose weight, but not to the point where it negatively impacts my training. There is still some flab here and there that I would love to lose. Is it a case of increasing training hours, changing diet by eating less or healthier, or both? Arrrrrrgggggggghh

Thanks

jgsi

It can be done !
from this

to this

Now, the burning question as to performance.. well the weight drop helps in feeling 'lighter' on the bike of course and my recent tests have shown power up, but I have been training v. intensively, but the weight loss is 100% down to diet and diet alone.
Yes the food logs show very little 'crap' going in .. I am a great believer in assuming that sugars (artificial sugars the worst) are the beasts in the room, and controlling them has been key to success.
I have more or less also cut out British refined bread - substituting for soda bread for occasional treat of a bacon and egg butty.

smoggysteve

Do some interval training over a shorter training period but in hard fast stints, 1 hour is enough. Running or cycling. Also weight training with low weight and high reps will help alot.

I went out to Afghanistan on a 6 month tour end of 2011. I weighed just over 80kg. I had a training regime of interval training, and weights every other day resting on Sundays only and I came back weighing 66kg. I wasn't doing a particularly physically demanding job like patrolling with lots of kit in the heat every day so the gym was all I had help me. So long as you keep rubbish food to a minimum and eat regular healthy diet weight should come off easily.

Gabbo

JGSI,

That is a lot of weight to lose in the space of 6 weeks. Can I ask how tall you are?

So it seems that a bad pattern of eating could be the culprit. But am not sure whether I am consuming too many carbs or not.

Hmmmm, I'm always hungry too :-(

smidsy

Drink plenty and you will feel less hungry. Good hydration is key.

phreak

Try and keep a food diary. It won't ever be 100% accurate but try and be as honest as you can with it, especially with regards to the calories many calculators say you burn during exercise.

Add up your intake each day, and then subtract your basic metabolic rate and any you burnt during exercise. It'll give you a reasonable idea of your daily 'balance'.

Once you have that info then you can start to plan accordingly.

jgsi

Gabbo wrote:

JGSI,

That is a lot of weight to lose in the space of 6 weeks. Can I ask how tall you are?

So it seems that a bad pattern of eating could be the culprit. But am not sure whether I am consuming too many carbs or not.

Hmmmm, I'm always hungry too :-(

6' 1" and I only checked back a few days ago (food logs an absolute must) - that I was underachieving protein by about 20 to 30% daily.... now corrected !
I do get 'hunger pangs' admittedly, but nothing really untoward .. its all in the mind in many respects water (soda) or an espresso helps
Also keeping a very good hold on the training and how I have been feeling before, during and after keeps things on the rails as to not overdoing things and becoming weaker .. which is the opposite of what you actually want.
I do also mention that someone like Gesink at more or less the same height still got lbs on me at 150... I'm happy to stay at 165.... whether he does anything this season is a moot point... I picked him a few times in the 2012 PTP without much success

stueys

From my experience of losing weight I found it 70% diet. Calorie count what you eat and also look at the splits between carb, protein and fat. Aim for no more than 12-15% of calories from fat and an even split between protein and carbs. If you can tip the balance more towards protein it will help. Myfitnesspal is free and will show you a nutritional split on your food. Remember to add calories burnt in exercise to your daily target.

dexty

I too have been trying to loose weight and just find it impossible. Went to the bike and tri show today though and found out a few things i didn't really know. Nutirients are very important to the body, I mean the Vitamins etc, the stuff u get from fruit and veg, your 5 a day. It is recommended we need more than double the 5 a day to get the values we need. But my question is, I thought fruit that we get our 5 a day from fruit were natural sugars and really bad for, like mentioned above? I have been avoiding fruit the past while when in fact I should of been tucking in?!! What's the best alternative to get all the nutirents we need to start the engine for the Proteins, Carbs and fats to make us stronger/leaner?
So i'm gonna try to change 2 things. More protein @200gs over the course of the day starting first thing in the morning with no more than 25gs at a time. And second I am going to get my nutrient levels (is that the correct terminology btw?) up. Should I go by the RDA's on the levels i need on those vitamin pill boxes? How much is enough?
With regards training, after a ride I am gonna have a good recovery drink immediately after but after that just the regular 25g protein throughout the day, this will reduce carbs and calories. It's said we need carbs post ride but is that just immediately post ride or continuiously post ride like Protein? How do u know when u have repleinished your carb/glocogen levels and hence stop/reduce the carbs and concentrate on the protein?

Finally there is such a vast difference between all these recovery drinks. Some contain unbelievealbe amounts of sugar! a 500ml bottle today has 55gs of sugar! yet another one has 5g but the same value of carbs! So i thought all supplements were the same just marketed differently!!! Obviously not!

I tell you, all this nutriational stuff is a minefield!!!

Anybody any opinions on the above?
Cheers,
d

poynedexter

for a post ride drink, try milk. its tasty and natural and full of good stuff i hear.

also my advice is keep it simple. avoid sports gels drinks and energy products. eat real food instead. avoid processed food and eat plenty of fruit and veg.

ps. dont confuse a lack of energy with a lack of fitness. if you eat well and are struggling at 40 miles, its fitness is getting you, not carbs.

Not Another Hill

I lost a stone in weight in the space of about 7 weeks with an obsessive tracking of the calories vs exercise I was doing. I found MyFitnessPal app for the IPad excellent in being able to quickly calculate the calories I was eating in all the foods I had. You can get it for the PC as well.

I set a a limit of 2000 cal a day. Ate very healthily. Exercised 3 times a week. The weight has stayed off 7 months down the line. I went from 11st 10lbs to 10st 8lbs.

I would avoid eating too many carbs and high GI foods as these tend to give you sugar cravings.

Not Another Hill

Not Another Hill wrote:

I lost a stone in weight in the space of about 7 weeks with an obsessive tracking of the calories vs exercise I was doing. I found MyFitnessPal app for the IPad excellent in being able to quickly calculate the calories I was eating in all the foods I had. You can get it for the PC as well.

I set a a limit of 2000 cal a day. Ate very healthily. Exercised 3 times a week. The weight has stayed off 7 months down the line. I went from 11st 10lbs to 10st 8lbs.

I would avoid eating too many carbs and high GI foods as these tend to give you sugar cravings.

It was 1800 calories a day that I set. Just checked.

team47b

To be the right weight at all times, requires you to eat the right amount of the right food at the right time.

Work out accurately the calories required for your metabolism/exercise level, percentage of fat/protein/carbs, then eat according to this, this will be the right amount for you.

Eat a balance of low and medium GI foods, eat 'real food' avoid processed food, ie white flour is a processed food, by all means restrict yourself to the 5 a day advice if this is an increase to your current diet, avoid eating more than 3 pieces of fruit as part of this balance. Look at how high the carb content of some fruit and root vegetables are and substitute these for lower ones as a way of reducing carbs. Look at the fibre type/content of the food you eat, fibre will reduce the fat in your system and help you feel full, meat doesn't have any fibre only available from plants.

Eat more often but small amounts, divide your daily amount over 3meals and 3 'snacks' to reduce feeling hungry, drink more water, get enough sleep.


Then eat like this for the rest of your life! The word diet comes from the Greek diaita meaning ‘a way of life.’

twotyred

If I was to lose that extra 7kg of bodyweight and return to 77kg, I would like to believe that my performance would increase significantly.

Well you'll be 7 minutes faster up Alpe d'Huez. I don't know whether you'd call that significant.

You say you eat a lot during and after a ride and you say you're not sure if its necessary or not. If you aren't hungry after a ride then don't eat. For rides up to 2 hours try not eating during the ride and see how it goes.

CyclingObsession

If you can go on weekend rides try go after breakfast eat porridge or weatabix make the ride last until lunch if u can. Get home and have a healthy lunch full of fibre which fills u up, u don't really need to eat when riding if you are losing weight, I trained my body to use up the fat reserves my not eating while riding, you could also try cycling hard one day and then get back running the next, it's important to calorie count, try using myfitnesspal.com it's an online logger, u would b surprised how much ur eating without realising it, try some weight training also more muscle meens u burn more calories, when u get lighter mayb add weight into a backpack and cycle or run with that as when u become lighter it becomes harder to burn calories, mix up your workouts different routes etc. don't eat back the calories u burn exercising, drink lots of water also as this helps weight loss. This is what I did so I hope it helps u

jgsi

CyclingObsession wrote:

If you can go on weekend rides try go after breakfast eat porridge or weatabix make the ride last until lunch if u can. Get home and have a healthy lunch full of fibre which fills u up, u don't really need to eat when riding if you are losing weight, I trained my body to use up the fat reserves my not eating while riding, you could also try cycling hard one day and then get back running the next, it's important to calorie count, try using myfitnesspal.com it's an online logger, u would b surprised how much ur eating without realising it, try some weight training also more muscle meens u burn more calories, when u get lighter mayb add weight into a backpack and cycle or run with that as when u become lighter it becomes harder to burn calories, mix up your workouts different routes etc. don't eat back the calories u burn exercising, drink lots of water also as this helps weight loss. This is what I did so I hope it helps u

I really don't know about training your body to eat its own fat... all I know is, after 80 miles today, without eating at all much on the ride, my legs felt pretty damned empty at the end...now thats a sign I probably used up all availably useful glycogen? If it had been a race, I'd have been stuffed for a sprint

smoggysteve

Read up on training zones with a HRM. Any sport using one will help you lose weight if you train in the right zones.

jane90

In case anyone missed it, there was an interview with Nigel Mitchell, head of nutrition with BC and Sky in Cycling Weekly a couple of weeks ago. He was asked if there was one thing that could be changed in a reader's diet for better health, what would it be? He replied:

"I think it would be eating patterns. Are they eating regularly and not missing meals? Basically, by eating regularly, you are helping to maintain even blood sugar levels. It's the big changes in blood sugar levels that cause people to binge and overeat. If we can maintain good blood sugar levels and stop them swinging, that makes a huge difference.

"All that means is breakfast, a little snack in the morning, lunch, another snack mid-afternoon, an evening meal and maybe a little something before bed. As long as you think and plan a bit, it should be easy to achieve. A lot of people feel food cravings for biscuits and things like that and it's usually because they haven't eaten as well as they should early in the day. Our bodies have a constant requirement for energy, so if we don't supply regular little bits of carbohydrate, our blood sugar drops and we start to have cravings."

AlahDamIt

+1 Myfitnesspal

Great app, ive managed to loose 20lb in 6 week along with interval training 4 or 5 times a week and a club run on a Sunday. The great thing about the app is gives you the split between your Carb, protein and fat intake.

ut_och_cykla

lose weight - eat slightly fewer calorioes than you need - make sure you have a deficit on rest days, and eat moderatley on exercise days. Its easy to overestimate how much you need. Also look at timing - eat post exercise- and food content - fats in food carry many calories - easy to reduce slightly - proteins are filling (but often associated with fats), carbs - there is a limit to how much you can eat before they are stored as fat.....

jgsi

ut_och_cykla wrote:

lose weight - eat slightly fewer calorioes than you need - make sure you have a deficit on rest days, and eat moderatley on exercise days. Its easy to overestimate how much you need. Also look at timing - eat post exercise- and food content - fats in food carry many calories - easy to reduce slightly - proteins are filling (but often associated with fats), carbs - there is a limit to how much you can eat before they are stored as fat.....

I'm wondering if OP has made a start on this?
I'd like someone else to feel the 'discomfort' of slightly underachieving calorie intake
I'm still managing to stay at or under 165lbs .. rode 80 miles yesterday on basically feckall... I have to admit the system was pretty damned empty at the end of it.
It proves to me that I can get away with it, but I wouldnt recommend if I was honest --- that doesn't excuse chomping away every other mile on an 'energy' bar.

Gabbo

I have kind of made a start on this. Yesterday I cycled for 60 miles and needed two energy bars during the ride. Prior to the ride I ate 3 crumpets and post ride I had two recovery shakes being protein and carbs. Didn't eat a great amount yesterday as I was busy afterwards. Still missing the essential meals such as porridge for breakfast, a nice jacket potatoe for lunch and chicken/salad etc for dinner. Also had a fish finger butty and peanut butter on 2 slices of toast yesterday. That was about it. Not very good in my opinion :-(

gubber12345

CyclingObsession wrote:

, drink lots of water also as this helps weight loss. This is what I did so I hope it helps u

stupid question maybe but why does drinking loads of water help with weight loss.....is it that it makes u feel full so as you dont eat?

smidsy

Some of the time when people think they are hungry it is actually because they are not sufficiently hydrated.