Weight loss and muscle toning

suzygarbo

Hi I'm new to road biking and have taken it up as a way to get regular exercise as my jobs means I'm sat down pretty much all day long. I'm not over weight (10.5 stone) but I must admit I've got room for improvement and would love to tone up my thighs. Is it true that everyone looses weight / tones up when cycling?

suzygarbo

Hi I'm new to road biking and have taken it up as a way to get regular exercise as my jobs means I'm sat down pretty much all day long. I'm not over weight (10.5 stone) but I must admit I've got room for improvement and would love to tone up my thighs. Is it true that everyone looses weight / tones up when cycling?

dannyharris

It is true.
I weighed in just over 14 stone a year ago.
Now I'm down to 11 stone. Leg muscles are toning up nicely. And losing excess baggage around my waist.

arran77

suzygarbo wrote:

Is it true that everyone looses weight / tones up when cycling?

To a point I'd say its true but obviously if you're shoving loads of cr@p down your throat you won't see as much benefit as if you're being generally healthy with your lifestyle.

Cycling is certainly a good way of getting healthy but for me that's just a positive plus from something I really enjoy

suzygarbo

I do eat very healthily generally trying to get my five a day most days. I have really enjoyed cycling so far, I've done 65 miles in a week and a half and can't wait till I'm fit enough to cover more miles!

Thanks for the replies I'm excited lol

dannyharris

I commute 120 miles a week then my leisure rides on top.
Feel great and trying not to sound too big headed. I'm starting to look good too. (Muscle definition and weight loss)

Mikey41

Yep, it's true. I was only borderline overweight, but I still lost 5kg, which leaves me at a much more healthy-feeling 70kg (11st). Body fat has noticeably declined and I feel much stronger and have more energy than before.

Wirral_paul

I'd say it isnt necessarily true - if you build some muscle and have no fat to lose, then you might even gain weight. It is quite possible to be too light for your own good really - and i certainly know that from my younger days when i was underweight and always getting ill.

Fursty Ferret

suzygarbo wrote:

Is it true that everyone looses weight / tones up when cycling?

No. I started off at 14 stone 4 and two years later on I'm 14 stone 4. But I'm a hell of a lot fitter, quicker and healthier. The latter being the most important thing.

benhodds

I started cycling in Feb and appear to buck the trend!! I started off at under 14 stone and now weigh in at stone heavier!! I do eat alot but healthy and my waistline has shrunk down to 34 inch. I keep telling myself its all in the muscles of the legs.

suzyb

No. At least not just by doing a few miles a few times a week. It needs to be a fair effort plus eating less it seems.

I have a desk job so am also sitting all day. Like you i got (back) into cycling to get fit and loose weight (which I have plenty extra of) but my efforts have been in vein till this summer when I increased the distances I was doing and the effort I was putting in and cut down on the amount I am eating. Still only lost a half dozen pounds but its more than I've lost the past few years.

Just thought I'd post in case you are of the same mistaken opinion I was and thought just doing a little exercise would see the weight drop off. Doesn't seem to be that easy

Toning up, at least of your thighs is a different story. It was only about 4 weeks after I started cycling again that I realised my thigh muscles had emerged from under the fat they'd been buried under for 10 years. It's quite a nice feeling to scratch your leg and realise you can feel muscle and not fat

suzyb

Since you posted the question in both forums I might as well post my response in both

No. At least not just by doing a few miles a few times a week. It needs to be a fair effort plus eating less it seems.

I have a desk job so am also sitting all day. Like you i got (back) into cycling to get fit and loose weight (which I have plenty extra of) but my efforts have been in vein till this summer when I increased the distances I was doing and the effort I was putting in and cut down on the amount I am eating. Still only lost a half dozen pounds but its more than I've lost the past few years.

Just thought I'd post in case you are of the same mistaken opinion I was and thought just doing a little exercise would see the weight drop off. Doesn't seem to be that easy

Toning up, at least of your thighs is a different story. It was only about 4 weeks after I started cycling again that I realised my thigh muscles had emerged from under the fat they'd been buried under for 10 years. It's quite a nice feeling to scratch your leg and realise you can feel muscle and not fat

suzyb

Threads have been merged I see

Baby Trek

It depends on the type of cycling you are doing, intensity, flat or hills, mileage and effort put in. I have lost weight and toned up - particularly bum and legs. But I cycle in hilly Derbyshire and do anything up to 80 miles a week, sweat loads and make sure I put effort in up the hills. I come out of my front door and am hit by a 1.5 mile hill at ave gradient of 8% before I even start!

pinkteapot

Whether you lose weight or not will always depend on whether you are consuming more or less calories per day than you're using. You burn a base number of calories, even if you just sit down all day. Then you burn more doing exercise (including cycling, but also any other physical exercise).

I lost 2.5 stone with Weight Watchers, then realised that MyFitnessPal does exactly the same thing and is free! You can use it online or there's an app, and you log all your food and drink (once you get the hang of it, it only takes a few minutes a day). You put in your weight and how much per week you want to lose. It'll then tell you how many calories per day you're allowed, and you 'earn' more by doing exercise and logging it. Weight Watchers uses points rather than calories but the principle is exactly the same - put less fuel in than you're using and you'll burn fat. I'd really recommend MyFitnessPal - it's a real eye-opener seeing how many calories you're eating where during the day!

davecara

I can vouch for myfitnesspal, I'm currently sitting at 13st 9lbs and was waaay over 17st when I first started using it around 12 months ago!
Weight loss is pretty simple provided you can disciple yourself, eat well but sensibly and get some miles in on the bike and everything will firm up in no time, and even if you've got no weight to lose you'll FEEL a hell of a lot better

pinkteapot

MyFitnessPal and cycling did slightly ruin my life. I haven't had a large Dominos pizza all to myself since I realised that you need to do a 60 mile bike ride to burn it off. :shock:

suzyb

pinkteapot wrote:

MyFitnessPal and cycling did slightly ruin my life. I haven't had a large Dominos pizza all to myself since I realised that you need to do a 60 mile bike ride to burn it off. :shock:

That's where I failed when using that site. I'd have the pizza telling myself I'd eat less and exercise more to make up for it but never actually do :oops:

It also doesn't help that I wouldn't know sensible eating if it bit me in the @ss and have the discipline of a puppy.

The Real Gromit

I did an alpine sportive recently and when I went back to work,still eating for England, my office mate told me I was eating 'like a teenage boy'! It was after I had just gone out to get a pastry because my lunch hadn't been big enough. Healthy eating is grossly over rated if you ask me. :oops:

awavey

but dont forget as you increase the amount of exercise your doing, youll actually find you start to feel alot hungrier afterwards, as your body starts freaking out about the decreased calories it has available and the muscles are all in recovery/repair mode, so youll probably at the very least just eat back all the calories you burned out, and thats why you wont lose much (if any) weight.

worse though actually you generally end up eating far more to compensate, because you get hunger cravings after an extended ride (probably why so many rides end up finishing with cake) and youll end up putting more weight on

all thats usually recommend really to get on top of the binge eating post ride thing, is drinking water,as sometimes its really a thirst signal not actual hunger, or trying some post ride protein shakes/smoothies as theyll make you feel full and are meant to be good recovery foodstuffs anyway.

Little Miss

Depends if you are after 'weight losss' or 'fat loss'. Cycling will tone you up, and will burn fat, helping you to lose inches, but you may then end up heavier due to extra muscle. So don't be down hearted if when you cycle, or workout a lot, you put weight on. The general attitude is always 'must lose weight', when really if you are working hard, toning up and losing inches, who cares about the weight??

pollys_bott

awavey wrote:

but dont forget as you increase the amount of exercise your doing, youll actually find you start to feel alot hungrier afterwards, as your body starts freaking out about the decreased calories it has available and the muscles are all in recovery/repair mode, so youll probably at the very least just eat back all the calories you burned out, and thats why you wont lose much (if any) weight.

Well, a lot depends on what you eat - I used to eat loads of refined carbs and was permanently hungry and it wasn't until I upped my protein intake that those hunger pangs subsided. Instead of a bowl of pasta post-long ride I'll now have a few scrambled eggs and a tin of tuna on a couple of bits of toast - keeps me full for much longer and you have the bonus of not being tempted to snack on rubbish because you don't feel hungry. More chicken, fish, eggs, beans, nuts in the diet - I now have a box of mixed dried fruit & nuts on the desk at work to graze on during the day, much better than munching my way through a big bag of Red Sky

To the OP - well done on getting on yer bike, hope you're enjoying it as much as my wife who has spent most of the last six weeks commuting the 7 miles to work and getting out for rides of up to 25 miles at a weekend. We're signed up for a 45 miler the first w/end of October..! :twisted:

And as others have rightly said don't get too hung up about overall weight - according to BMI charts every member of the England rugby team is grossly obese, as was my missus when she rowed her last race down the Tideway in an elite cox-less four with a former national champion & a former vet world champion :roll:

ClaireEllison

My mom doesn't care about my weight, I can't go walking by myself because I'll get in trouble. I know i'm going to die, and i'm honestly so scared for my life. She knows I need to lose weight, but she doesn't care. I can't be healthy because she buys the food in the house.WHAT CAN I DO TELL ME FRIENDS ? Did Adele lose weight? visit website She looks rather thin in her recent pictures

fat daddy

how old are you ????

without trying to belittle you, Unless you are a locked in your room and fed like a foie gras goose every few hours, there is a lot you can do.

(1) eat less
(2) exercise more
(3) talk to your GP

I am guessing if your mum is force feeding you then you still go to school ? ... that's 7 hours a day that she doesn't control your life, time to exercise, time to eat well

keef66

We are all going to die, that bit is unavoidable. But unless as already stated you're being force-fed, you should get to choose what / how much you eat.

If your Mom is keeping you locked in the house and deliberately feeding you junk food, is there somebody at school you can talk to?

homers_double

They have wi-fi in cellars now?

SuziRider

If you are trying to lose weight, eat around 1300 cal/day (1500 for men or if over 200lbs) and then 40-50% of whatever calories you burn exercising (which gives you more motivation!). I usually burn 400-500 cal/hr cycling at an overall average of 12mph. So if I ride 2 hrs, I eat an extra 400 calories that day. Yum!

Eat extra carbs BEFORE the ride (or the huge hills), when you know you'll burn them up soon, then high protein AFTER for muscle recovery. Extra carbs at other times just get converted to fat, as does ALL fructose and some sugar-alcohols.
Generally keep carbs low except for racing and long & fast multi day rides, since aerobic exercise (by definition) burns mostly fat for energy, especially if carbs are low (which they are after about the first 45 minutes of riding). Adding coconut, olive, or MCT oil to your food helps the most for long-term energy. It takes a few weeks of low-carb eating to train the body to mostly use the fat stores instead of whatever carbs are in your stomach, so many people give up before the body adapts to this different energy pathway. Once it fully adapts, you won't feel as hungry and won't get as much lactate build-up (burning) in the muscles. It also helps decrease moodiness and fatigue, and reverse any pre-diabetes.

MyFitnessPal can track it all, but the free version doesn't do the 50% calc, so do it in your head. Under Goals, see what your Macros are, and set protein at 20%, carbs at 40%, and fats at 40% to start. If you are used to high carb, knock off 5%/week and add 5% to fats until you start losing 1-2 lbs/wk.
I lose weight on 10% carbs, maintain at 30%, gain at 40%. Your body may differ.

The good thing about the above plan is that you won't gain if you don't get out on your bike that week.

Maintence is adding a little more complex carbs and calories week to week until you maintain your desired weight.

If you use a Heart Rate Monitor, you can track actual calories burned, which differ from the online estimates, which do not account for flatness or hills.
You will still need to work side planks to stabilize the core, upper body exercises with weights or bands, and do some walking to build bone density and strengthen the upper body. A study of bicycle racers showed that they were all developing osteopenia in the spine, and that bicycling does nothing for the upper body muscle tone or bones.