Gym circuit to complement cycling
Comments
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MFP links to strava like others have said although i dont like this feature as it adds back on the calories burned from the workout to the total meaning if you are not paying attention you could easily go over so I just leave it un connected.
Strava is the best for sports tracking and MFP for food logging so cut down to two apps, its not the one single one you wanted but it is what you need
The macro tracking on MFP is brilliant and allows you to see the holes in your macro intake such as protein etc.
It has customisable splits for fats carbs protein etc too
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Just signed up with MyFitnessPal. It's pretty cool and a real eye-opener! What I've done is link Endomondo to it - they're both owned by the same parent company, UnderArmour. The link-up works really well with Endomondo showing calories consumed as an overlay graph in the fitness statistics section - the calories consumed is taken from MFP.0
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A quick update on MFP and Endomondo. I added my gym workout in Endomondo manually this evening and it was already synced up in MFP when I looked in there - 832 calories had already been subtracted from my daily calorie goal. Very impressed!
So it looks like today I consumed 1,355 calories and burned 832 in exercise. That has left me with 1,187 calories to reach my goal today as I had told MFP that I wanted to lose 0.25KG per week. However, I won't be eating any more today and one thing I've seen is that I'm just about at my daily limit of sugar but well under my daily limits for everything else - so something for me to look into more carefully and adjust in my diet going forward.
I have a thing for Penguin bars...0 -
Two updates to report for anyone following this thread. Firstly, get MyFitnessPal. Thanks to the recommendations for it from some forum members earlier in this thread. It is quite scary and eye-opening. The amount of sugar and salt in so many foods is horrific.
I've set it up to help me lose 0.25KG per week (2KG per month). It's actually very hard not to exceed the 1,710 calories per day that MFP thinks I should consume to stay on track for my target weight loss - particularly if you don't do any exercise. 1,710 calories is met by a surprisingly small amount of food. I'm finding that my sugar intake needs to be addressed (reduced) and my protein intake needs to increased quite a bit - to the point that I'm considering protein powder but I'd rather eat natural food. Everything else is okay.
What I'm doing is exercising daily to burn 500-1000 calories so that I can easily meet the 1,710 calorie goal as the calories burned during exercise are then added to the goal.
MFP has added a completely new dimension to my fitness regime and I'm now making even more changes to my diet. Yoghurt and frozen berry smoothies are taking the place of chocolate bars these days!
Finally, I managed my first 10K run today. It was on the treadmill in the gym at a steady jogging pace but I've never run 10K in my life before, so I'm fairly chuffed about it!0 -
Two updates to report for anyone following this thread. Firstly, get MyFitnessPal. Thanks to the recommendations for it from some forum members earlier in this thread. It is quite scary and eye-opening. The amount of sugar and salt in so many foods is horrific.
I've set it up to help me lose 0.25KG per week (2KG per month). It's actually very hard not to exceed the 1,710 calories per day that MFP thinks I should consume to stay on track for my target weight loss - particularly if you don't do any exercise. 1,710 calories is met by a surprisingly small amount of food. I'm finding that my sugar intake needs to be addressed (reduced) and my protein intake needs to increased quite a bit - to the point that I'm considering protein powder but I'd rather eat natural food. Everything else is okay.
What I'm doing is exercising daily to burn 500-1000 calories so that I can easily meet the 1,710 calorie goal as the calories burned during exercise are then added to the goal.
MFP has added a completely new dimension to my fitness regime and I'm now making even more changes to my diet. Yoghurt and frozen berry smoothies are taking the place of chocolate bars these days!
Finally, I managed my first 10K run today. It was on the treadmill in the gym at a steady jogging pace but I've never run 10K in my life before, so I'm fairly chuffed about it!
I can almost guarantee that this figure of calories in is too low, although MFP is a great tool its calculations for calories in and specifically macros are not very good at all. Especially given your level of physical activity I would say 1700 is way to low, i would look into planning and getting some number from a 'flexile diet' site there are many online and these allow you so select your level of activity and also your goals and provide more realistic free numbers you can work to including macro split, although a good 33% across the main three is not far off the mark to start with but I have adjusted mine more so. Give it a go . . . otherwise your training may suffer as a result and you may also struggle to get the required protein in to repair.
Speak soon0 -
^ Thanks for the advice - I'll check that out. Yes, I am very active now and it's a real struggle to eat such little amounts of food during the day. I think I've cracked the protein issue with lots more lean chicken and fish.0
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Another quick update - as I've got a little lighter now I've incorporated some bodyweight exercises into my weekly routines - things like press-ups, pull-ups and so on. As no prep or equipment is required for these types of exercises, they're convenient to do.
Basic plank and side plank for core strength is having good effects too.0 -
Spiderman press ups are good - does both core, upper body and legs at the same time.
see example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8mvMLg_wDc&t=7m28s0 -
I completely agree with the poster who suggested 1700 calories sounds too low; it is 1000 a day less than the broad brush recommended daily amount for an adult male. I eat about twice that a day.
I do walk for transport as much as I can (including to the supermarket); I cycle at least twice a week, and I go to the gym 5 times a week.
That way I can eat what I like - fortunately my family make me home cooked food so very little sugar, but I make up for that with about a box of chocolates a night.
Best of luck with your gym routine, muscle burns more than fat, always take the stairs, always walk if its less than 2 miles. Small changes are easier to accomplish than big ones, so set yourself progressive, achievable goals. You seem to have been doing really well, as this thread has been going for a few months.
and don't beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon over Christmas. Just get back on it in January.0 -
I was travelling over the last week so couldn't really do my daily workouts so I watched what I ate carefully and noticed that I still lost 0.4KG over the past 7 days. I think diet is playing a huge role in weight loss as I'm very, very careful over what I eat every day now.
The 1710 calories that MFP calculates for me is to lose 0.25KG per week with no exercise. MFP adds on the calories burned through exercise to the 1710 calories so I usually end up with having to eat around 2,400 calories per day to achieve a 0.25KG weight loss with an hour's worth of exercise per day.
Obviously over the festive season I'm going to enjoy my food as I'm very comfortable with the weight loss and nutrition at the moment so I know I'll achieve my target weight by next summer.0 -
diet is 70-80% of weight loss. You can't out exercise over eating easily. Based on my exercise level my calorie needs are around 2,700 per day. I'f I dropped that down to 1 or 2 times a week, I'd only be down about 400kcal per day.0
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diet is 70-80% of weight loss. You can't out exercise over eating easily. Based on my exercise level my calorie needs are around 2,700 per day. I'f I dropped that down to 1 or 2 times a week, I'd only be down about 400kcal per day.
Indeed. I'm absolutely realising this! What I've done over the last couple of months is switch foods that are unhealthy to healthier foods. For example, when I'd eat an entire packet of Jaffa Cakes with a cup of tea, I'll now replace all of that with a yoghurt and berries smoothie. It tastes delicious and is a bit healthier. Where I'd eat several slices of fried/tpasted bread with loads of jam, I've replaced that with a large bowl of porridge with flaked almonds and a dash of manuka honey.
I'm quite enjoying experimenting with food 'swap-outs' as I do like my food so any healthier food I eat needs to taste good.0 -
Low GI foods work well as they fill you up and take longer for the calories to be absorbed.0
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As I'm running a bit more these days I experimented with using some of my cycling gear for running in the winter months. The bits of cycling gear I used were:
- merino base layer
- gilet (had to tuck the tail upwards before fastening the zip)
- merino socks
- skull cap
The above kept my body quite warm after the first few minutes. Standard running gear was my tracksuit bottoms and running shoes.
Some additional accessories that worked well for night running were:
- Run light (ordered from Decathlon: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/run-light-id_8283426.html - this is a great light on a body harness and is very comfortable to wear. The front light at chest level lights up a fair few metres of the ground in front of you and the rear light on you back is a bright, flashing 3-LED light).
- OneLifeID wristband - in case I don't make it back home!
- Running belt - attaches around your waist and you can secure your keys and a mobile phone in it. It's this one here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Running-Belt-Waterproof-Expandable-Adjustable/dp/B00XUKMPI2/ref=sr_1_13?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1450900467&sr=1-13&keywords=running+belt0
