setup advice sorry

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Comments

  • ashleydwsmith
    ashleydwsmith Posts: 693
    On the drop drops fine, but when in the curve needing to use the levers they are too high. So may need to mov e them down a touch. Also when retaping can the tape be re-used. As I dont want to keep buying tape when experimenting with setup.
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    ashleydwsmith wrote:
    On the drop drops fine, but when in the curve needing to use the levers they are too high. So may need to mov e them down a touch. Also when retaping can the tape be re-used. As I dont want to keep buying tape when experimenting with setup.

    It depends on the tape. Some has a sticky back to it which tends to stick to the bars. Other types are fine and can be re-used. Peel a bit back and see what sort you have got. Just move your levers down a tad.
  • ashleydwsmith
    ashleydwsmith Posts: 693
    Cheers cam.
  • styxd
    styxd Posts: 3,234
    As abov,e some tape can be reused, even if it has a sticky back to it. It depends what it's made from - the foamy type stuff like the deda embossed tape, tends to tear apart when you peel it from the bars.

    You're best off buying a new rolls of tape from ebay, it's only a fiver or just over. Play about with bar/lever position before you retape them aswell!
  • ashleydwsmith
    ashleydwsmith Posts: 693
    Come to think of it when I was out the other day it felt like my natural hand position was approx 2cm back from where the hoods are. Does that make sense? Should I reduce the stem thats 110mm at the mo?
  • akc42
    akc42 Posts: 43
    ashleydwsmith wrote:
    Land ash is fine :-)

    I do need to lose weight, just need to do it. Its the whole salad thing that does me. Trying to find the right foods and when to eat is my problem. If I have a routine im usually pretty disciplined I just need to fine the right things to eat.

    I've been trying to loose weight for years. Then last summer I saw an Horizon programme about starving every alternative day. That was a bit much for me - but at the end of the programme they mentioned the 2 days out of 5 diet. I started following that just about a year ago now. I also bought a bike about a year ago. I was 102Kg

    This is the only diet I have stuck to - normally Monday and Wednesday, but sometimes Tuesday and Thursday and occassionally Monday and Thursday. I have about 300 calories for breakfast (Bowl of Meusili, Orange Juice and Black Coffee). Drink Water and Black Coffee During the day, skipping lunch and then another about 300 calories Fish and Vegatables (no Potatoes or Rice) in the evening.

    Nothing much happened to my weight over the winter - but then in May I started riding the bike - maybe just once a week at first but increasingly frequently as I got strong enough to climb the hill out of where I live without stopping 2 or 3 times for a rest. By the end of July I had reached the low 90s Kg

    On 3rd August I rode up to London for the Ride London event and back again (round trip 40 miles) and then started to try and push myself - doing just short of 50 miles two of the following weekends and 40 miles the others. I last weighed myself last week at 83.5Kg.

    The advice around the web is that the short hard mid week rides have increased my metabolism, and the long ride at the weekend burns the fat. My experience is after the starvation day following on the Monday I have continued to loose weight as part of the benefit from the weekend.

    I am 62 and have been overweight since my mid 30s. This is the first time weight loss has been effective and its seemed easy. I just get a bit hungry on my 2 starvation days but its also the only diet I have managed to hold for more than a few weeks - just over a year now so it seems not so bad in the long view. Incidentally I have also - almost automatically cut down on things like alcohol (such as wine with meals) and chocolate mid afternoon snacks.
  • ashleydwsmith
    ashleydwsmith Posts: 693
    That's brilliant, but im not really sire about the feeling so hungry thing! But need to try something! Do you ride on your fasting days?
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    If you want to go that route another way to do it is work out roughly how many calories your body needs a day and just stick to that. You bike riding will eat up some of the calories and you will lose weight. As long as you don't keep eating high calorie fast food it will happen easily enough. I was in KFC recently and was amazed that most of their meals are 1000+ calories ;)
  • akc42
    akc42 Posts: 43
    ashleydwsmith wrote:
    That's brilliant, but im not really sire about the feeling so hungry thing! But need to try something! Do you ride on your fasting days?

    Not normally - but today is a fasting day and I went out this morning as I hadn't had a chance since the 8th Sept. Did 14 miles.

    I had the standard breakfast - and then went for the ride from about 7:15 to 8:35

    I haven't eaten since - I am due for my evening meal in about 90 minutes and I am not feeling hungry yet. But I have been busy all day and into this evening so not had too much time to think about it

    I got through about 1/2 of my 750ml water bottle on the ride (with those Zero Calorie tablets) and used up the rest during the day instead of eating.
  • jane90
    jane90 Posts: 149
    ashleydwsmith wrote:
    I do need to lose weight, just need to do it. Its the whole salad thing that does me. Trying to find the right foods and when to eat is my problem. If I have a routine im usually pretty disciplined I just need to fine the right things to eat.
    ashleydwsmith wrote:
    I think I need to be more disciplined with what I eat. I never have breakfast, so already there, but go and spoil it by having stupid food intake.
    Camcycle1974 wrote:
    Routine for me includes a 16h fast. No breakfast. Normal lunch at 12 (no need to just eat salad) afternoon snack and dinner before 8. Repeat. Been 75kgs for the last 10 yrs with an athletic rather than skinny build (39 now). Try it for a month. I predict you will lose about a stone. This is a lifestyle, not a diet. Google intermittant fasting if you want more info.

    The trouble with diets in general (in the commercial sense of the word) is that they're only effective for as long as you keep practicing them. Unfortunately, the physiology of an overweight person reacts to a sustained calory deficit that brings them back within a BMI range of someone with a healthy weight in exactly the same way that the physiology of a normal person would react to being starved. Your body has a fiendish bag of tricks up its sleeve to store all that excess energy that it thinks it needs, hence why, a year after they start, most people who start a diet and give up (ie everyone) will usually weigh 10% more than when they started.

    A lot of people have had initial success with various "diets", e.g the 5:2, eating only pink grapefruit while standing on one leg or logging everything on myfitnesspal apps, but before embarking on one of them, you should ask yourself if you're prepared to do this for the rest of your life. Personally, I couldn't think of anything more dreadful than logging every mouthful on my phone app forevermore, or never being able to eat again on a Thursday.

    So what's the alternative? Rather than counting calories or fasting periodically, I find that a more sustainable strategy is to focus on WHAT I eat and WHEN I eat with the aim of regulating blood glucose levels and managing the release of the hormones insulin and letpin. When you have a spike in blood glucose levels, the pancreas reacts by absorbing it and producing insulin which prevents fat from being used as energy (ie storing fat), as well as making you feel lethargic and more hungry, which is obviously the situation to be avoided.

    An important way of regulating your blood glucose is to eat regularly. That doesn't mean gorging yourself every 5 mins (there's no getting away from the overall calories-in vs kilojoules-out equation) but a common mistake is not eating enough early in the day which results in an insulin spike which manifests itself later on in a big attack of the munchies. I try to eat six times a day and a typical snack might be a cup of green tea with a piece of fruit and a handful of almonds.

    What are the best things to eat? A good place to start is to google "glycemic index", there's a lot of information out there on specific foods, but the general rule of thumb is that when you're exercising hard (and for an hour afterwards) you can eat foods that are high GI (sugars and starches in food are metabolised quickly into blood glucose) but otherwise low-GI foods are better for regulating insulin production as they release their energy slowly and steadily. High fibre foods are your friend, the body can't break down fibre so it has no calories and it also acts as a lattice in the intestine, allowing time for every cell in the body to metabolise the carbohydrates. It's especially important when you're consuming foods high in fructose (fruit juice, biscuits, Ben&Jerrys) as the liver is the only organ that can metabolise fructose and this causes a large spike in insulin levels.

    Processed foods should be avoided for this reason, especially those labelled "diet" or "low fat". They're usually full of fructose corn syrup and low in fibre. The hypothesis that high dietary fat leads directly to increased body fat doesn't have any evidence to support it but supermarket diet ranges contain high amounts of fructose instead to compensate for the lack of taste. Avoid saturated fats, but don't be afraid of "good" fats such as the monounsaturated fats in avocados or olive oil. Refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, white pasta) have had the fibre milled out of them and are higher GI than wholegrains (brown rice, brown pasta etc).

    You should also aim to eat enough lean protein. Protein has a greater satiety than carbohydrates or fat, ie it makes you feel fuller for longer. Studies have also shown that higher protein diets lead to reduced visceral fat (the fat deposits around the organs that can lead to various health issues).

    Personally I aim to balance my diet by eating approximately 20% protein, 30% fat and 50% carbohydrates. Remember that fruit and vegetables are carbohydrates, so you don't need to get your fill of these just by eating starchy foods like bread or pasta. During a typical day, I might have porridge (excellent complex carb) with blueberries for breakfast, fruit and nuts as a snack, a tuna and avocado salad for lunch, a slice of rye bread toast with peanut butter as a snack, chicken or fish with lots of plant vegetables for dinner (spinach, broccoli), either with or without brown rice depending on how much training I'm doing, and then another snack of greek yoghurt with fruit. Obviously, that's just an example and there's a huge amount of variety you can implement whilst following a similar pattern.

    OK, that was a bit of a rant. In case you've skipped to the bottom, let me summarise. Regulate your blood glucose by eating a little, often. Avoid processed supermarket foods in favour of lean proteins (chicken, fish), fresh fruit and vegetables and low-GI carbs (wholegrains). Avoid saturated fats but embrace foods with mono-unsaturated fats (olive oil). If you do this and are sensible with portion sizes (handful of grains, vegetable portions the size of a fist), there's no need to count every calory and it's a way of eating that soon becomes second nature.

    Once you've detoxed your body from all the high fructose corn syrup flavoured junk that's out there, you'd be amazed how much your body starts craving more natural, healthy alternatives.
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    jane90 wrote:
    Regulate your blood glucose by eating a little, often. Avoid processed supermarket foods in favour of lean proteins (chicken, fish), fresh fruit and vegetables and low-GI carbs (wholegrains). Avoid saturated fats but embrace foods with mono-unsaturated fats (olive oil). If you do this and are sensible with portion sizes (handful of grains, vegetable portions the size of a fist), there's no need to count every calory and it's a way of eating that soon becomes second nature.

    Once you've detoxed your body from all the high fructose corn syrup flavoured junk that's out there, you'd be amazed how much your body starts craving more natural, healthy alternatives.

    ^^^ The proper way to do it IMO. :)
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    Jane. Sensible advice in your post. IF is not a fad diet however. It is a lifestyle which can be easily maintained. The whole point of IF is that you don't count calories. Macros are adjusted according to goals. Admittedly the IF set-up I use was designed by and for body builders but the principles still apply. As I stated in my earlier post the reason I do IF is down to simplicity. No calorie counting and cycle macros according to activity levels. A 16h fast with sensible eating as you outline above can be a very effective tool for weight loss. There are of course many ways to lose weight depending on what best suits the individual. I have no need to lose weight but I use IF as a tool to maintain my current weight and condition. 5-2 was a sham in my opinion. The whole point of a fast (and by definition) is that YOU DONT EAT ANTYTHING! Btw eating little and often has no basis in science. A myth perpetuated by the fitness industry.
  • jane90
    jane90 Posts: 149
    Hi Camcycle,

    You're right, IF isn't a fad diet and I'm sorry if it came across as if I was implying that it was. My point was simply that anyone thinking of adopting it should think of it as a long-term strategy, not something to be tried just for a month or so (as you originally recommended to the OP). Personally, as I said, it's not something that I could continue with indefinitely but everyone is different and if you're happy with it as a lifestyle choice then I wish you good luck.

    Re your point about eating little and often, medical science still had a very imperfect understanding of our human physiology, so I'd beware of concluding from the fact that there's no conclusive proof of a causal connection that any hypothesis is, de facto, a myth - in the same way that the tobacco companies, for example, maintained for decades that there was no causal connection between smoking and lung cancer until Sir Richard Doll finally presented the scientific evidence. In the meantime, there's plenty of opinion and best-practice from respected doctors and nutritionists in favour of eating little and often, not least Nigel Mitchell, who is regularly quoted as saying he believes it to be the most important factor in maintaining bodyweight levels.
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    Hi Jane, I agree it is not wise to dismiss something as a myth.
    However, from an evolutionary perspective how does it make sense that we, as humans, should eat every three hours? We would have died out thousands of years ago. I personally found eating small, regular meals time consuming and difficult to manage. I just haven't got the discipline to eat that way. The 6 small meals a day regime is just one way of weight management. For a lot of people this becomes 3 regular meals and three snacks which invariably leads to too many cals being consumed and resultant weight gains. I found when eating small meals at regular intervals I was constantly hungry. On IF I don't experience this. I have never been fat but found managing my fat % levels much easier on an IF regime.

    All anecdotal of course but IF is becoming a more mainstream weight management tool and you will find plenty of doctors who advocate its use. In the fitness industry you often find it is supplement companies who push the idea of eating 6 times a day as the only way to live a healthy lifestyle which is of course not true. IF doesn't help to sell products though!
  • jane90
    jane90 Posts: 149
    I don't really want to be dragged in to yet another discussion on the pros and cons of the 5:2 diet. There's reams of information, point and counter-point, out there for people to be able to make an informed choice as to whether it would suit them. I have nothing against it, but it isn't for me and I've outlined an alternative strategy for eating and living healthily which some people may or may not find easier to implement.
  • akc42
    akc42 Posts: 43
    jane90 wrote:
    A lot of people have had initial success with various "diets", e.g the 5:2, eating only pink grapefruit while standing on one leg or logging everything on myfitnesspal apps, but before embarking on one of them, you should ask yourself if you're prepared to do this for the rest of your life. Personally, I couldn't think of anything more dreadful than logging every mouthful on my phone app forevermore, or never being able to eat again on a Thursday.

    All I can do is repeat what I wrote above. I started the 5.2 last September. And I am still doing it. To me its no different to the lifestyle change that you advocate and it is the only diet in 30 years that has been effective (coupled with the exercise involved with cycling). I was 102Kg and I am now 84Kg and intend to get lighter and intend to keep it up. I think you statements about logging calories and not eating anything are over emphasising the issue. Once I had worked out what works on a 600 colorie day its easy to stick to it and doesn't need monitoring and the only thing I think is missing on those days is my lunch - so its not a hard decision to just not have it.

    I don't disagree with other stuff about general improvement in diet - I had moved away from red meats towards fish and our household has always been strong on fresh fruit and veg. I have never had a particulary sweet tooth - so (I presume) insolin spikes are not the issue.

    Theoretically I don't have to be as thinking about a diet on my 5 "other" days. What I find most interesting is that as I have been successful and watching the weight come down rapidly (sometimes loosing a Kg/week during August when I was doing one long ride at the weekend combined with 3 or 4 shorter rides for the other day of the weekend and rest of the week), is that my motivation to not have that extra food during the non-starvation days has increased. Most days I just add a single round of a brown bread sandwich and an apple for lunch and that is it. And I now very rarely have alchohol, whereas prior to me starting all of this I would have a glass or more of wine nearly every day.
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    jane90 wrote:
    I don't really want to be dragged in to yet another discussion on the pros and cons of the 5:2 diet. There's reams of information, point and counter-point, out there for people to be able to make an informed choice as to whether it would suit them. I have nothing against it, but it isn't for me and I've outlined an alternative strategy for eating and living healthily which some people may or may not find easier to implement.

    Fine with me. I don't follow 5-2 as it's not actually a fast :wink: My wife does however and it's working for her.
  • pilot_pete
    pilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    Ash

    You have more PM.

    PP
  • styxd
    styxd Posts: 3,234
    Camcycle1974 wrote:
    5-2 was a sham in my opinion. The whole point of a fast (and by definition) is that YOU DONT EAT ANTYTHING!

    When I first read about it that's exactly what I thought. It's not fasting at all, it's just marketed as such, when in reality it's just a way to get biffers to eat a bit less for two days.

    I thought the point of fasting was to make your body more efficient when doing exercise. Half of the cycling I do is fasted, dunno whether it makes me more efficient, but I know I dont bonk very often.
  • Camcycle1974
    Camcycle1974 Posts: 1,356
    styxd wrote:
    Camcycle1974 wrote:
    5-2 was a sham in my opinion. The whole point of a fast (and by definition) is that YOU DONT EAT ANTYTHING!

    When I first read about it that's exactly what I thought. It's not fasting at all, it's just marketed as such, when in reality it's just a way to get biffers to eat a bit less for two days.

    I thought the point of fasting was to make your body more efficient when doing exercise. Half of the cycling I do is fasted, dunno whether it makes me more efficient, but I know I dont bonk very often.

    It's just calorie restriction dressed up as something else. It works because you are ingesting less calories on two days a week which results in weight loss. Personally I would rather fast 16 hours a day just by missing breakfast which has proven physiological benefits. I too don't have a problem training fasted; 2 hour training ride yesterday having eaten nothing since the night before. no fall off in performance, in fact I think the fact I am not digesting food whilst riding helps me go faster! On anything longer than 2 hours I would eat something before/during but commute to work and train often on an empty stomach with no adverse effects.

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