maintain weight when commut riding

yendor65
yendor65 Posts: 8
edited March 2010 in Commuting chat
I have a quick question I do around 60 miles a week. I'm trying not to lose any weight but obviously this will still happen.
I'm 6 5 and 14.5 st and been riding since last august, do you have a tips on maintaining my weight as I don't need to lose any weight just making my heart happy and fitness level up to scratch?

any ideas?
Transeo 3.0, 23.4"

Comments

  • dav1
    dav1 Posts: 1,298
    Eat halthy and as much as you need to keep yourself sustained and feeling well.

    Your body will find its own weight from there.
    Giant TCR advanced 2 (Summer/race)
    Merlin single malt fixie (Commuter/winter/training)
    Trek superfly 7 (Summer XC)
    Giant Yukon singlespeed conversion (winter MTB/Ice/snow)

    Carrera virtuoso - RIP
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    yendor65 wrote:
    I have a quick question I do around 60 miles a week. I'm trying not to lose any weight but obviously this will still happen.
    I'm 6 5 and 14.5 st and been riding since last august, do you have a tips on maintaining my weight as I don't need to lose any weight just making my heart happy and fitness level up to scratch?

    any ideas?

    I wouldn't necessarily assume that you'll lose weight. I find that I generally just eat more to compensate!

    Cheers,
    W.
  • Buy a cycle computer which works out how many grams of fat you've burnt, then adjust your pie consumption to compensate. Make sure that the number of pies added is over and above what you would have eaten, or you won't get all the benefit.
    :D
  • pst88
    pst88 Posts: 621
    I for one can say I haven't lost any weight by cycle commuting (in fact gained some). Just eat like a pig and you'll be fine.
    Bianchi Via Nirone Veloce/Centaur 2010
  • My top tip is to make sure your pie arm is faster than your metabolism

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  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Eat something before you set off in the morning and graze on good stuff throughout the day. My weight plateaued out after a few months.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    Mine never really dropped I just got a bit leaner, I probably replaced what fat I did have with more muscle, I do notice my appetite rocket when I am cycling a lot.
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    TBH I wouldn't expect to lose anything at that milage. Before we moved house, I was doing about 85 miles a week and gaining, since the excecise generated a bigger hunger than I was using.

    Then we moved and I think I'm now finally shifting some lard.
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    Looking at it another way:

    60 miles, let's assume you do this over 5 days and travel at 12 miles an hour (coz it makes the maffs easy)

    That's just one hour of fairly moderate excersise a day.
    Depending on how inactive you were before you started, that's not really that much excercise.
  • vorsprung
    vorsprung Posts: 1,953
    will3 wrote:
    Looking at it another way:

    60 miles, let's assume you do this over 5 days and travel at 12 miles an hour (coz it makes the maffs easy)

    That's just one hour of fairly moderate excersise a day.
    Depending on how inactive you were before you started, that's not really that much excercise.

    I'd assume at that sort of speed that the additional calories vs sitting in a car or on the bus are about 300 for the hour

    300 calories isn't much to add to your diet without even noticing
  • dav1
    dav1 Posts: 1,298
    I went from 70 to 65 Kg when i started seriously cycling. My weight has been pretty much stable for 3 years now. Ony seems to change after going mad over christmas :lol:
    Giant TCR advanced 2 (Summer/race)
    Merlin single malt fixie (Commuter/winter/training)
    Trek superfly 7 (Summer XC)
    Giant Yukon singlespeed conversion (winter MTB/Ice/snow)

    Carrera virtuoso - RIP
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,484
    Since moving out to Carshalton and adding 4 miles each way on to my previous 10 mile commute, my weight dropped quite alarmingly quickly to start with, but has now levelled off at about 65kg. I have upped my food intake by:

    1 x extra weetabix (3 instead of 2)
    1 x extra slice of toast (2-3 in total depending on thickness/size of slice)

    1 x extra sandwich/roll at lunchtime (I have started making my own rather than buying form the sandwich shop to cut down on the price and over use of crap mayo).
    1 x banana

    slightly larger portion at dinner time.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    Swap your body for mine. Then you could cycle to the moon and back whilst eating the same amount of food as always and not loose a thing :evil:
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    suzyb wrote:
    Swap your body for mine. Then you could cycle to the moon and back whilst eating the same amount of food as always and not loose a thing :evil:
    To the moon... Priceless. :lol:

    +1 in fact. I cycle a fair bit but my weight is a fixed constant. Maybe it's through assuming that a commute to work paves the way for a glass of wine, which the wife doesn't really fancy so I polish the lot off of an evening.

    I wouldn't worry about it tbh. I know I don't.

    Fatty.
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    I'm 6'3" and about 80kg and my weight stays pretty constant whether I cycle a lot or a little, run or go to the gym. In fact I think since I have been cycling and going to the gym (mainly weights) 3 times per week, I have gained muscle mass and am actually heavier. A couple of years ago I was about 73kg but I'm certainly not fatter now, my waist size has dropped.
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  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 27,484
    suzyb wrote:
    Swap your body for mine. Then you could cycle to the moon and back whilst eating the same amount of food as always and not loose a thing :evil:

    Oi! leave off! I don't come and whinge on the New Year weight loss thread. We all have our neuroses, you know. :P
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • lnr
    lnr Posts: 4
    FWIW I went from a 1 mile each way commute to a 4.5 mile each way commute about 18 months ago, and found I didn't lose any weight as a result: in fact I was still gaining, despite not noticeably eating much differently.

    And my other half commutes 6.5 miles each way and hasn't lost an ounce in the same time. If you eat when you're hungry it'll probably even itself out.
  • ex-pat scot
    ex-pat scot Posts: 939
    I have put weight on since upping the cycling.

    It's probably the fact that i eat like a horse...
    Commute: Langster -Singlecross - Brompton S2-LX

    Road: 95 Trek 5500 -Look 695 Aerolight eTap - Boardman TTe eTap

    Offroad: Pace RC200 - Dawes Kickback 2 tandem - Tricross - Boardman CXR9.8 - Ridley x-fire
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    I have lost weight since I started work and riding to/from.

    gone from 14 and a bit to 12 and a halfish.

    But my work is busy busy so I'm on my feet getting people out and about. so that has more effect I would guess.
  • yendor65
    yendor65 Posts: 8
    Cheers peeps, so a resounding no, and I'm not likely to lose that much weight.

    I didn't mention that I go gym twice a week, weights only and try to cycle 2 to 3 tmes a week but completely f*&%$£ by the end of the week.

    So will be stuffing myself silly.

    Also tried making my own smoothies natural yog with blueberries, raspberries and honey for that energy boost.
    Transeo 3.0, 23.4"
  • gbsahne001
    gbsahne001 Posts: 1,973
    I do around 150 (fast) miles a week and have still yet to notice any real difference, Ok the legs are much thicker but that seems to be the only difference