Why aren't I losing weight?

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  • dw300
    dw300 Posts: 1,642
    johnmcsorley wrote:
    The problem for me is, if you are going out at the weekend and doing say, 60 miles on the Saturday and another on the Sunday is that you need to eat carbs (lots of!) to fuel these rides. Without carbs in your body, your body has no fuel, right?

    Ehhhh .. most of your energy should be coming from bodyfat unless you are riding around in Z4 or higher all day, which may well be what you mean.
    johnmcsorley wrote:
    But how can you eat just enough carbs to fuel the distance and lose weight at the same time? I don't think for a moment that this will be solved here because everyone is different and it's all trial and error (more a rhetorical question).

    You shouldn't need lots of carbs to fuel a 60 mile ride. Perhaps if its a race. But even solo, that's maybe 3.5hrs .. for me that'd be about 2000kcals, and if I'm riding in Z2 and Z3, I'd guess that maybe 750kcals or less is from carbs and 1250kcals from fat. I'm guessing those numbers. What's important is to realise its more fat, less carbs at that intensity. But to be honest, because you store 1500-2000kcals worth of glycogen you shouldn't really need to eat any extra carbs pre or during the ride if your diet is already keeping you topped up.
    johnmcsorley wrote:
    There are lots and lots of threads and blogs and posts about carb loading before an event which compound the fact that a high intensity exercise like cycling your body needs fuel to perform, if not then you are asking for trouble and the bonk will find you ! :D

    This suggests you're probably in the higher zones when cycling. But I'd guess a lot of people are bonking because they are in a calorie deficit in order to loose weight and have low glycogen levels when they start a ride. The best way to loose weight and train well is to eat in a deficit when training, say, during the week when you're riding less than 2 hours in an evening .. not long enough to bonk. Then feed up for a couple of day prior to rides where you are in the saddle for 2-8hours and you'll definitely need a full glycogen compliment before you start.
    All the above is just advice .. you can do whatever the f*ck you wana do!
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  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    bockers wrote:
    Well said DiamondDog

    Your metabolism does change but not by much. What does change as you get older is your activity levels and the amount you eat. The eating issue is normally portion size and also "forgetting" the snacks eaten throughout the day. Much as I like to think I do more exercise now that I did in my teens I also know i do a lot more sitting on my ars* doing nothing too. When I was a a teen I never sat still for a second and all that nervous energy adds up to burning calories far more than I do now even on a busy weekend.

    It also does not take much to gain weight. 5% reduction in metabolic rate say, 5% greater portion size and over a week that pobably adds up to 1/2 a pound. That's way over a stone a year and very easily done without even noticing.

    This is the truth. Metabolism does not "slow down" much. Muscle mass starts to decrease after about 50, and people become more sedentary and probably eat more. A gradual creep over time rather than the body saying "right I am 40 now and my metabolism must slow down"! Intermittent fasting helps to preserve metabolism and prevent unwanted weight gain. Some resistance training can help to minimise loss of muscle mass.
  • johnmcsorley
    johnmcsorley Posts: 42
    Apparently Watermelon is good for speeding up your metabolism and has lots of lycopene:

    http://my.dietpower.com/features/watermelon_diet.php

    Other benefits are:

    This just in: A researcher at Texas A&M University reports that watermelon may have a Viagra-like effect on men.
    :D

    But great to see so much advice on here, some of which totally contradicts what I've read in Cycling Plus, Cycling Weekly and Cycling Fitness magazines, by so called, 'top nutritionists', 'Doctors', 'Health Scientists' etc. they must all be Gillian McKeith types!
    :wink:
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    johnmcsorley wrote:
    Apparently Watermelon is good for speeding up your metabolism and has lots of lycopene:

    http://my.dietpower.com/features/watermelon_diet.php

    Other benefits are:

    This just in: A researcher at Texas A&M University reports that watermelon may have a Viagra-like effect on men.
    :D

    But great to see so much advice on here, some of which totally contradicts what I've read in Cycling Plus, Cycling Weekly and Cycling Fitness magazines, by so called, 'top nutritionists', 'Doctors', 'Health Scientists' etc. they must all be Gillian McKeith types!



    same as the dogma of 6 small meals a day, no carbs after 6pm and protein every 2 hours or your muscles will fall offoff! all broscience of the highest order with no basis in fact. burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight. simple
    :wink:
  • neilo23
    neilo23 Posts: 783
    It was some time since I wrote the original post.

    I am still none the wiser seeing as I haven't done any sport for 3 months. I've been eating very unsensibly, chocolate and cakes are back on the menu, been drinking alcohol regularly, doing all of the naughty things that an athlete (cough, cough) should definitley not be doing.......and haven't put on a gram of weight. Still several kilos heavier than 10 years ago as I originally wrote, but not any more than I weighed 3 months ago.

    Now I can't understand a) Why wasn't I losing weight with a healthy diet and lots of sport? (the original question), and b) Why have I not been putting on weight with a (relatively) unhealthy diet and no sport?
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Your diet is the same as when you first posted hence no weight gain, you are just maintaining the extra kilos plus it takes a lot longer to lose it than put it on. It needs to be diet change, exercise and a lot of willpower over a longer period than you have given it, but it's your life do with it as you please.
  • poynedexter
    poynedexter Posts: 283
    neilo23 wrote:
    It was some time since I wrote the original post.

    I am still none the wiser seeing as I haven't done any sport for 3 months. I've been eating very unsensibly, chocolate and cakes are back on the menu, been drinking alcohol regularly, doing all of the naughty things that an athlete (cough, cough) should definitley not be doing.......and haven't put on a gram of weight. Still several kilos heavier than 10 years ago as I originally wrote, but not any more than I weighed 3 months ago.

    Now I can't understand a) Why wasn't I losing weight with a healthy diet and lots of sport? (the original question), and b) Why have I not been putting on weight with a (relatively) unhealthy diet and no sport?

    because fat gain/ loss is less about calories eaten and calories burnt than you realise. if it was, then weight loss would be so easy!

    its about the TYPE of foods you eat, how your body responds with hormones to that food, and how your body uses food as fuel.

    this is why different people respond differently to diet and exercise.

    IF it was purely about CALORIES, and you are the same weight now as x months ago, what are the chances that you have eaten and expended the the same number of calories in that time? you would need to be one serious calorie counter to do that, right?????

    your body regulates its body fat levels using hormones. this is why you are the same weight. once your diet becomes so bad that the hormones are being f**%ed up, then you get fat and sick.

    does this make sense?
  • poynedexter
    poynedexter Posts: 283
    ghrelin: a hunger regulating hormone
    leptin: a fat level regulating hormone
    insulin: a fat storage hornone

    these 3 hormones work as a part of the bodyfat machine.

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