Newbie need advice regarding fitness

Start-again
Start-again Posts: 11
edited September 2008 in Women
Hello :D

I am on a VLCD (Cambridge), after my first weigh in last night I had lost 9lbs, which is great, I have another 57 to go. I had lost inches off my waist, arms and hips, but nothing off my thighs, now I have thunder thighs and I would like to try and help this area along.

I have a bike (granted not very good and I have only rode it once), but I would like to start biking. If I find a take to it well I will invest in a more decent bike, but I want to withhold spending the cash until I know it's something I am going to take too.

I am very unfit and 32 years of age.

How long should I bike to start with, bearing in mind I am on little over 400 calories a day and have not intention of eating more at the time.

My ideal dream would be to build up condition and be able to ride to work and back which on mutimap says the walking route is 11.13 miles, so a round trip of 22 miles a day.

I am aware I am trying to run before I can walk but I have to have a goal in mind so I can work toward it.

My partner rides to work and back everyday and is quite a keen biker, I would love to be able to join him on some rides on the weekend.

Anything you can help me with tips etc would be great?

I hope i've put this is the right section :oops: :D

Comments

  • tamatie
    tamatie Posts: 9
    hi there....well 32 has got nothing to do with it, they say life starts at 30... :D
    Ok, so im 32 too....i would not suggest doing the 11 miles to work and back for starters.....this might only get you negative if its hard.....what always works for me, if i had a break off the bike, is not to think of miles......BUT.....to think of....Time In The Saddle.....if you very unfit, try for a few nites, or mornings while its summer, to cycle from your home, out 15 minutes, and then turnaround and to the same route back.....AND...try and do that in 15 minutes too. See how you go along.....and when you feel youre getting fitter, and can do more.....add another 5 minutes each way.....while youre doing the 15 minutes out .....try and put 3 little intervals in your ride,,,,,ride hard for 15 seconds, every now and again....not too much, maybe every 4 minutes. What hels a lot too is a heart rate monitor, as it will show calories burnt.....excellent motivator !!!

    Im not an expert, but this helps fo rme...
    HAPPY MILES
    Tash
  • This is brill, thank you. I'll do a 15 minute ride on Sunday. My partner is going to sort my bike out ready for me for then, so hopefully it will be ready for me by then. I am really excited, it will probably finish me off :lol: . If I do the same thing again on Tuesday, then Thursday hopefully I'll be able to bring up my fitness level :D
  • Mrs Toast
    Mrs Toast Posts: 636
    Definitely start off with shorter rides - if you're not used to biking, then your backside might be in for a shock! I'd recommend getting a good pair of padded cycling shorts (I speak from experience!). ;) Make sure that your bike is actually the right size for you, and that your saddle is set to the right height, etc, as it can be very draining and/or uncomfortable riding a bike that's not suitable for you or for your type of riding.

    And I hate to sound like a nag, but are you sure that dropping to 400 calories is wise, particularly if you're starting a new fitness regime? I'm worried you'll just end up feeling a bit drained and ill!
  • Eating only 400 cals aday is your problem from the start, you need to be eating at least 2,500 . For weight lose you can eat less cals but when exercising you,ll find 2,000 will be enough. If you eat less than 1,500 a day your body thinks its been starved so every thing you eat it hold on to it, so therefore putting weight on. an your metabolic rate will so slow well more or less not working so no weight lose.
    You should start a food diary making sure that you get the right amount of clas in. You need to eat to lose weight i know it sounds daft but its true, if you don't fuel your body how can you expect it to work, you wouldn't expect your car to run with no petrol. So same with the body.
    I do know wht i'm talking about as i work in the fitness indrustry, also work in weight management.

    Have you notice how the thinner a person is the more they tend to eat?
  • Thanks for the advice guys, I'm not actually eating any food at all, the cambridge diet is only fluids, it works out at around 400 calories but there is no energy in the drinks at all, so your body eats fat, it might be all spin though :shock: and I could be doing myself more harm :( , but so far I feel quite good. I am hoping to be able to reintroduce food slowly so not to have a weight gain.

    Well I never got to go out yesterday, but my partner had to met his friend tonight, so I went with him. I did 8 miles, not a lot to you guys, but I am bloomin shattered, have not rode a bike for years, I had to tell you as I was exicted, there was big hills too :lol:
  • chuckcork
    chuckcork Posts: 1,471
    400 calories a day, and wanting to take up cycling? I would burn maybe 1100-1200 a day just in my trip to and from work, and find I have to eat and drink sufficent so I don't feel faint during the day, with just a regular diet I occasionally bonk on the way home and so carry spare food with me as a precaution.

    I hope you have cleared this with your GP first? Sounds like your diet is extreme for taking up strenuous exercise, particularly cycling given you need your wits about you when your on the road, being half starved for fuel tends to make me lose mine.
    'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze....
  • I hate to be the one who tells you Start Again, but you'll put weight on and even more than your trying to get off on that CRAZY diet.
    Being in my line of work hearing about these kind of diets worries me as god knows wht your doing to your body besides Abusing it.
    You need to forget about these stupid diets that are about and learn to just eat health, which will be more beneficial.


    I had a watch which was programmed just for me, i used when i went out on the bike and depending on wht route an how long i was out for i'd burn of any thing up to 3,000 cals. Which is 1 pound of fat.
    3,000 = 1 pound of body fat burned off...
  • I

    Power Up Your Metabolism
    To lose body fat, one thing you'll need to do is to increase your metabolism. By taking a few simple steps and creating some consistent and healthy habits, you can keep your metabolism working and burn more calories:
    Eat more frequently. What's the first thing you do when you're trying to lose weight? If you said eat less or skip a few meals, you're not alone. The problem with that kind of thinking is that, by skipping meals and leaving yourself hungry, you actually set yourself up for failure. Our bodies are designed to protect us from famine so, when you starve yourself, your body kicks into protective mode and holds onto the fat. Instead, eat more frequently which will provide energy and help you maintain an efficient metabolism.
    Cardio exercise. Exercise not only helps you burn calories during your workout, it also raises your metabolism for a period of time after your workout, depending on the type of workout and your intensity.
    Lift weights. By increasing your muscle, you also give your body more metabotically active tissue, which means you'll burn more calories all day long.
    Eat more nutrient-dense foods. A calorie really isn't just a calorie. Yes, you do need to reduce your calories to lose weight, but what you eat is critical for keeping your metabolism going. As Thyroid Guide Mary Shomon suggests in her article Do You Need to Increase Metabolism?, you can increase the thermic effect of food by eating complex, high-fiber carbs and getting enough quality protein.
    More Resources to Rev Up Your Metabolism

    Rev Up Your Metabolism
    Exercise and Resting Metabolism
    12 Ways to Boost Metabolism
  • Thanks for your advices guys and I do appreciate it genuinely.

    This is where the BUT comes :lol::lol: ....I have weighed up the pro's and con's before embarking on a extreme diet.

    My diet before wasn't unhealthy, many people think that is you're overweight that you spend you're time eating chocolate and cakes etc. This is not the case at all with me, I am a vegan and have been for many years and before that a veggie. So I never touched or will touch, meats, fish, dairy, eggs and basically anything that comes from animal products. My original diet was very carb heavy even though I didn't particularly overeat, granted, my portion sizes could of been smaller, but when you're so restricted with food there is very few stuff you can eat anyway.

    I know very well that if I ate now my body would hold onto it, but I haven't eat anything in 12 days and am very much in ketosis (I test my urine so know for sure I am burning fat).

    I know this way of dieting isn't conventional and don't get me wrong, I have tried and failed many times on the healthy eating, but I got to a point where I was eating too many energy rich foods like pasta, bread, potatoes and I was so lethargic I could not burn them off.

    I was incredibly down, I certainly wasn't clinically depressed or anything like that, but I couldn't get on top of things and the only way forward for me was to take such extreme methods.

    I know when the time comes to introduce food into my diet that there is going to be a fine line between maintaining and weight gain, I will be careful and will hopefully be able to take on bike riding as a means to maintain that. I am starting now, but only light journeys to help me along the way.

    This diet is prescribed by doctors it is extreme, yet not as extreme as living in misery and dying eventually of heart failure/stroke or any of the other illnesses associated with obesity.

    I have felt the happiest and most positive I have felt in years and I have more energy than since I can remember. This time last month I would never had dreamt of biking it anywhere and that's how much positive my mental attitude and even energy levels have changed.

    When you have a lot of weight to lose and you embark on a healthy eating programme you can become extremely disheartened very quickly and end up, eating more when you don't see a weight loss as quick as you would like.

    I am really bypassing the waiting and I know it's not a great way to do it, the ideal scenario would have never of got to this stage in the first place, but feeling like I felt before and looking like I felt before, I could no longer go on like that, I would also never of found the courage to start exercising.

    I know this wouldn't work for everyone and I certainly don't advocate it, but it's working for me and now my body shape as started changing, I feel that no other way would of suited me. I couldn't of been fighting to lose 1lb here 1lb there over months it was honestly destroying me.

    I hope you understand why I am doing it this way and I have failed so many times in the past. We all know the fat girls who say they're on a diet and never lose weight, it happens all the time, I just don't want that to be me. I am still young enough to enjoy myself and I don't want the last few years of my young adulthood to pass me by being unhappy about my body imagine and not living life how I want to.

    I do really apprecaite your concern and had someone of told me they were doing the same thing as me six month ago, I would equally be as shocked. This is really working for me though. :)
  • Mrs Toast
    Mrs Toast Posts: 636
    I know that VLCD are sometimes recommended by doctors as a very short-term solution for bringing type II diabetes under control. I'd definitely have another word with your GP though, and inform them of your exercise plans, if you haven't done so already, as it might change their advice.

    Good luck with your weight loss and with the biking - if you can find a form of exercise you enjoy, then losing and controlling your weight will become a lot easier!
  • Thank you so much, I will have a word with the doctor and make sure I should be exercising with it.
  • I know just how it feels not be able to shift the weight, but has your Doc done test for Thyrode? as it took me 2 yrs of going back ward an forward to them and last October the Doc agreed with me about my under active THYRODE now i'm on Thyroxine, an the weight is slowly coming off. Thing is these days you have to fight for every thing which is very annoying.
    But the weight will shift it just takes time, but the slower it comes off the better.
  • No, not been tested for thyrode, what are the symptoms, are there any other than weight gain? I did like big dinners, but even still I wasn't that unhealthy to start with. There is a lot of people I know who eat so much rubbish that don't gain weight. I am a fairly active person, even though I do not take structured exercise.
  • Mrs Toast
    Mrs Toast Posts: 636
    edited August 2008
    According to NHS direct:

    "The symptoms of adult hypothyroidism are dull facial expressions and a low-pitched and hoarse voice. Skin is often dry and scaly, cold, thickened and coarse. Hair may be scanty, coarse and brittle. Often eyebrows are greatly thinned or even partly missing. The affected person may be lethargic, easily fatigued, slowed in body and mind and in many cases suffer from muscle aches, loss of menstruation, deafness, angina pectoris, heart failure, anaemia and constipation.

    The features of hypothyroidism include:

    * muscle weakness and cramps,
    * a hoarse voice or cry,
    * a slow heart rate,
    * dry flaky skin, and
    * weight gain. "

    Although that said, my ex's mother was diagnosed with an under-active thyroid, and she didn't have any of those symptons (not even weight gain) apart from lethargy/fatigue and loss of menstruation. She thought it was the menopause, but after a year or so she decided to get it checked out and voila! Underactive thyroid.
  • I will ask the doctor about it, I deffo have no other symptoms, so perhaps I've not, but it wouldn't hurt to check, thanks for that :D
  • If you go onto www.about.com you can look up the symptoms.
  • Thank you :D
  • Any news, results?
  • Hiya, well I have lost quite a bit of weight it's now been 47 days since I last eat and I am now down to a size 12. I was so excited the other week as I could fit into a size 16 and bought some work trousers in that size. They how bury me and I had to go and buy a load of size 12's last week. My boyf is looking for a cheapy decent bike for me, he said I would have a lot easier time on a bike that was better designed, mine is old and heavy. He rides a GT and a Orange, but they're too big for me as I could use one (although I have no chance of borrowing the Orange). I am looking for a decent second hand bike, any ideas?

    piccie of me in rather large 16 trousers

    03092008.jpg

    The not eating is hard sometimes, I could quite happily eat something. My boyfriend thinks I am crazy and says he misses his eating and drinking partner, but once I've done this I can up my level of fitness and maintain.
  • Hiya, well I have lost quite a bit of weight it's now been 47 days since I last eat and I am now down to a size 12. I was so excited the other week as I could fit into a size 16 and bought some work trousers in that size. They how bury me and I had to go and buy a load of size 12's last week. My boyf is looking for a cheapy decent bike for me, he said I would have a lot easier time on a bike that was better designed, mine is old and heavy. He rides a GT and a Orange, but they're too big for me as I could use one (although I have no chance of borrowing the Orange). I am looking for a decent second hand bike, any ideas?

    piccie of me in rather large 16 trousers

    03092008.jpg

    The not eating is hard sometimes, I could quite happily eat something. My boyfriend thinks I am crazy and says he misses his eating and drinking partner, but once I've done this I can up my level of fitness and maintain.