Stop me if you've heard this one before...

thedirector135

first time caller and non sentient bikeler. Started on a stationary bike eight weeks ago. Was doing 25ks in 60 minutes everyday for a week and have gradually increased to 35-40 ks everyday in 90 minutes. Main reason for starting was my ever increasing concern with the old delta belly and omicron man Boobs. Started at a weight of 88 kilos and have got down to a fluctuating 82-84. Delta gut refuses to be tamed but omicron Boobs are no longer bigger than her indoors, which is good, I guess. Why am i not losing anymore weight? Any advice would be appreciated, if it doesn't involve bra fitment and sizes. Ta.

shirley_basso

Welcome, the director.

In short - when you pick up a new sport, the initial weight falls of quickly, then as you build fitness, it takes longer.

You've done extremely well to get this far - just keep it up, perhaps watch what you eat, then really start enjoying yourself outside when it warms up.

If you want to start mixing things up a bit - try playing with the intensity. 20 mins easy, 20 mins hard, 20 mins easy etc.

You can make it extremely structured and complicated, but for the time being the most important thing is to keep up the good work and be ready to hit the roads when the weather improves

What static bike are you using, as many have pre-programmed workouts to help build fitness / weight loss etc.

emanresu

You're eating too many calories so you're not losing weight. If you want to lose weight consume less calories

It's that simple.

pblakeney

It is simple.
Cut out alcohol, alcohol related snacks, carbonated drinks, fast foods, take aways, cake, biscuits, confectionary, sugar, crisps, etc, etc and the weight will fall off.
I didn't say it would be enjoyable. 😉

imposter2.0

Cycle for fitness. Diet for weight control. There is cross-over, but not very much - as you are finding out. If you want to continue losing weight, cycling on its own will not be enough.

seanoconn

pblakeney said:

It is simple.
Cut out alcohol, alcohol related snacks, carbonated drinks, fast foods, take aways, cake, biscuits, confectionary, sugar, crisps, etc, etc and the weight will fall off.
I didn't say it would be enjoyable. 😉

But pasties are ok right?

thedirector135

Geez, I dunno. I do graze for 16hrs a day. Maybe substitute a pastie for a mutton pie?

thedirector135

shirley_basso said:

Welcome, the director.

In short - when you pick up a new sport, the initial weight falls of quickly, then as you build fitness, it takes longer.

You've done extremely well to get this far - just keep it up, perhaps watch what you eat, then really start enjoying yourself outside when it warms up.

If you want to start mixing things up a bit - try playing with the intensity. 20 mins easy, 20 mins hard, 20 mins easy etc.

You can make it extremely structured and complicated, but for the time being the most important thing is to keep up the good work and be ready to hit the roads when the weather improves

What static bike are you using, as many have pre-programmed workouts to help build fitness / weight loss etc.

Hi Shirley. It's an old Health Stream Genesis. It's got various programmes, calorie counter, rpms, etc.

Have been looking for a road bike for a while now, soooo many choices! (and so expensive). Just might pull the Raleigh twenty out of the shed.

thedirector135

imposter2.0 said:

Cycle for fitness. Diet for weight control. There is cross-over, but not very much - as you are finding out. If you want to continue losing weight, cycling on its own will not be enough.

Thanks. I see a trend here. Calories. Dammit!

pblakeney

seanoconn said:

pblakeney said:

It is simple.
Cut out alcohol, alcohol related snacks, carbonated drinks, fast foods, take aways, cake, biscuits, confectionary, sugar, crisps, etc, etc and the weight will fall off.
I didn't say it would be enjoyable. 😉

But pasties are ok right?

Not sure about the value of the pastry.
I'm sure you can justify it. 😉

thedirector135

emanresu said:

You're eating too many calories so you're not losing weight. If you want to lose weight consume less calories

It's that simple.

But I'm burning up to nearly 900 calories a day (according to the calorie counter on the static bike). Lol. Honest dietry reassessment may be imminent. I really didn't think I ate that much!

pblakeney

I have caught glimpses of those diet programmes while the wife is watching.
What scares people the most is seeing their weekly consumption laid out on a table.
Try it. No cheating, no exemptions.

thedirector135

pblakeney said:

seanoconn said:

pblakeney said:

It is simple.
Cut out alcohol, alcohol related snacks, carbonated drinks, fast foods, take aways, cake, biscuits, confectionary, sugar, crisps, etc, etc and the weight will fall off.
I didn't say it would be enjoyable. 😉

But pasties are ok right?

Not sure about the value of the pastry.
I'm sure you can justify it. 😉

Oh, I'll justify it bro, I'll justify it.

thedirector135

Thanks everyone for the sage advice. I'm off for a pie.

masjer

When I get confused about pies and pastry, I always sing this little ditty:

Pies and pasties are weight gaining nasties.
Although they’re yummy they’ll put fat on your tummy.

Hope this helps.

veronese68

masjer said:

When I get confused about pies and pastry, I always sing this little ditty:

Pies and pasties are weight gaining nasties.
Although they’re yummy they’ll put fat on your tummy.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, I sang that to myself as I polished off the last of the mince pies

masjer

Tut, tut, tut............you just can't help some people.

Munsford0

imposter2.0 said:

Cycle for fitness. Diet for weight control. There is cross-over, but not very much - as you are finding out. If you want to continue losing weight, cycling on its own will not be enough.

Wot he said^ And ignore the calorie counter on the bike. I always failed at 24-7 calorie counting; gets boring very quickly and around food I have the impulse control of a labrador.
Only thing I found worked for me was 5:2 eating. I can manage to stick to 600 cals a couple of days a week by eating nothing till 6pm. I eat like that pretty much all the time now and maintain a healthy weight regardless of exercise.

I'm also persuaded of the apparent benefit of intermittent fasting on blood lipids, gut flora etc

shirley_basso

How long does it take to get accustomed to eating nothing until 6pm?

It often feels like I am dying by 11am!

Munsford0

I was astounded by how easy I found it. Better if I'm able to keep busy at work;
trickier if I'm at home with access to food. I do start to feel a bit cold as the afternoon wears on, but I'm not feeling hungry or unable to stop thinking about food.
Colleagues tried doing it that way but couldn't manage it.

shirley_basso

Will try next week. I am with my parents tomorrow and friday so not likely to succeed!

lesfirth

pblakeney said:

It is simple.
Cut out alcohol, alcohol related snacks, carbonated drinks, fast foods, take aways, cake, biscuits, confectionary, sugar, crisps, etc, etc and the weight will fall off.
I didn't say it would be enjoyable. 😉

It really is that simple and seeing your weight fall off is very enjoyable.
For me it is simple .I buy and cook my own food. There is no crap in the house for me to eat because I don't usually buy any. Over Christmas I have had visitors, kids and grandchildren staying so I have all sorts of stuff I don't normally buy. If there is crap in house I just have to eat it!
You need to change what you eat on a permanent basis.
However if "her indoors" does the shopping and is not on this weight loss with you, you will find it very hard. Having kids make it even harder.

shirley_basso

Her indoors is the worst. I constantly tell her not to buy it but she does anyway.

Infuriating

carbonclem

thedirector135 said:

I'm off for a pie.

And so I ate one
It became four
And when I fell on the floor
I ate more.

webboo

thedirector135 said:

emanresu said:

You're eating too many calories so you're not losing weight. If you want to lose weight consume less calories

It's that simple.

But I'm burning up to nearly 900 calories a day (according to the calorie counter on the static bike). Lol. Honest dietry reassessment may be imminent. I really didn't think I ate that much!

You might find the calorie counter is over estimating the amount of calories burnt. I find I’m burning between 500 to 600 an hour when riding hard outside. However on the turbo it’s about 300 an hour.

thedirector135

carbonclem said:

thedirector135 said:

I'm off for a pie.

And so I ate one
It became four
And when I fell on the floor
I ate more.

THE best one!!!!

Defblade

Agree completely with calories out has to be higher than calories in, one way or another.

Be wary of just comparing weight, though - as you're losing fat, you will also be building muscle, which is denser, so you be getting thinner but not necessarily lighter.

Also, give it time. I started getting fitter around 10 years or so ago (took up karate and discovered how fit I wasn't!). I was 38" waist heading for 40" at the time; it took about 9 months of regular karate and near-daily cross trainer use before my 38s were getting too loose and I had to go out and buy 36s.

thedirector135

veronese68 said:

masjer said:

When I get confused about pies and pastry, I always sing this little ditty:

Pies and pasties are weight gaining nasties.
Although they’re yummy they’ll put fat on your tummy.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, I sang that to myself as I polished off the last of the mince pies

Lollol

navrig2

Some great advice here.

Counting calories does become boring however it is worth doing it for a short period of time. Most people have a distorted understanding of the calorific value of food and exercise often under estimating how many calories are in food and over estimating how many calories are burnt during exercise. This is understandable because a Mars Bar can be eaten easily and quickly but a fast 25km ride can feel hard. 2 or 3 weeks of religiously recording EVERYTHING you eat will help that distortion. The foods which astonished me were oils. The calorific value of olive oil as a salad dressing is very high, even if you don't eat much.

Assessing calories burned is hit and miss unless you have decent monitors on your exercise equipment and/or body. A power meter, HRM and cadence monitor will help enormously for a static setup. For out and about measurement GPS, HRM and cadence will help. Make sure the app you use knows your weight for out and about measurement.

I did the 5+2 routine 5 or 6 years ago and it worked with me losing 6kg but it was not sustainable. So if you go down that route do it for a quick hit whilst you establish something more regular with a 7 days per week lower intake routine.