the biggest loser

I caught a few minutes of "the biggest loser", and from what i gathered,
there was a couple who were trying to get in shape. The husband went to
a bike shop (in Portland OR) and bought himself a road bike- it was
obviously a specialized even though they blurred out the name (the logo
was still visible on the stem). Then, the wife is all depressed because
now she works out alone. The guy is talking about how he wants to get in
shape... in the meantime, there he is riding his bike, no gloves,
wearing sneakers, and street clothes. He's not going to be doing very
long rides dressed like that! As for the wife, i felt like telling her,
stop bawling, and get a bike!

Marlene Blanshay wrote:
:: I caught a few minutes of "the biggest loser", and from what i
:: gathered, there was a couple who were trying to get in shape. The
:: husband went to a bike shop (in Portland OR) and bought himself a
:: road bike- it was obviously a specialized even though they blurred
:: out the name (the logo was still visible on the stem). Then, the
:: wife is all depressed because now she works out alone. The guy is
:: talking about how he wants to get in shape... in the meantime, there
:: he is riding his bike, no gloves, wearing sneakers, and street
:: clothes. He's not going to be doing very long rides dressed like
:: that! As for the wife, i felt like telling her, stop bawling, and
:: get a bike!

He might be doing 10 miles every day. Of course, he should have gotten a
mountain bike with knoby tires to do those 10-mile road trips. That woud
burn some calories.

Marlene Blanshay wrote:


snip
The guy is talking about how he wants to get in
shape... in the meantime, there he is riding his bike, no gloves,
wearing sneakers, and street clothes. He's not going to be doing very
long rides dressed like that!

there you go dissing the transportaional cyclists ;-)

"Marlene Blanshay" wrote in message
...
I caught a few minutes of "the biggest loser", and from what i gathered,
there was a couple who were trying to get in shape. The husband went to a
bike shop (in Portland OR) and bought himself a road bike- it was obviously
a specialized even though they blurred out the name (the logo was still
visible on the stem). Then, the wife is all depressed because now she works
out alone. The guy is talking about how he wants to get in shape... in the
meantime, there he is riding his bike, no gloves, wearing sneakers, and
street clothes. He's not going to be doing very long rides dressed like
that! As for the wife, i felt like telling her, stop bawling, and get a
bike!

I dislike pretty much all 'reality' shows. They are either degrading to
people as a species or simply stupid. This one however I don't mind so much.
I still don't watch it except for the last few minutes if I'm watching the
next show on that channel - just dislike the genre. But it is such a
positive show; helping people directly and indirectly confront the biggest
health issue of the era. Compare that to the degrading 'Fear Factor' and
there is no comparison.

But one thing I wonder about from my own experience: After an initial
weight loss [nothing like the amounts of the people on the show] I started
gaining weight. My doctor dismissed any sort of concerns I had. I was
replacing lighter fat with denser muscle. My weight started to increase but
my physical condition was improving.

Regarding the show I wonder about focusing on raw poundage rather than body
fat and general fitness. The boilerplate cautions that all contestants are
under the care and supervision of qualified medical, nutritional and physio
professionals. I'm sure the contestants are not in danger but using just
weight loss as the determining factor seems like a bad meter.

Marlene Blanshay wrote:
there he is riding his bike, no gloves,
wearing sneakers, and street clothes. He's not going to be doing very
long rides dressed like that!

The last few summers I regularly took 25 mile rides in sneakers, regular
shorts, and a tee shirt.

Rich

"cycle-one" wrote in
:

But one thing I wonder about from my own experience: After an initial
weight loss [nothing like the amounts of the people on the show] I
started gaining weight. My doctor dismissed any sort of concerns I
had. I was replacing lighter fat with denser muscle. My weight started
to increase but my physical condition was improving.

Regarding the show I wonder about focusing on raw poundage rather
than body
fat and general fitness. The boilerplate cautions that all contestants
are under the care and supervision of qualified medical, nutritional
and physio professionals. I'm sure the contestants are not in danger
but using just weight loss as the determining factor seems like a bad
meter.

You are, of course, correct. The correct measures of "overweight" are
body fat percentage and fat distribution. Weight and height are used to
calculate BMI (body mass index) which is only a "pretty good" estimator
of body fat percentage.

Speaking as a five year lifetime member of weigh****chers and an avid
cyclist, the big question basically boils down to "what size pants am I
wearing?"

--ag

"gds" wrote in news:1137694230.462961.180580
@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:


there you go dissing the transportaional cyclists ;-)

Thanks for beating me to the punch. I get in about 15 miles a day in
civvies, but _with_ a helmet and gloves.

--ag

"andy gee" wrote in message
7.142...
"cycle-one" wrote in
:

But one thing I wonder about from my own experience: After an initial
weight loss [nothing like the amounts of the people on the show] I
started gaining weight. My doctor dismissed any sort of concerns I
had. I was replacing lighter fat with denser muscle. My weight started
to increase but my physical condition was improving.

Regarding the show I wonder about focusing on raw poundage rather
than body
fat and general fitness. The boilerplate cautions that all contestants
are under the care and supervision of qualified medical, nutritional
and physio professionals. I'm sure the contestants are not in danger
but using just weight loss as the determining factor seems like a bad
meter.

You are, of course, correct. The correct measures of "overweight" are
body fat percentage and fat distribution. Weight and height are used to
calculate BMI (body mass index) which is only a "pretty good" estimator
of body fat percentage.

Speaking as a five year lifetime member of weigh****chers and an avid
cyclist, the big question basically boils down to "what size pants am I
wearing?"

Funny thing. I used to have an old pair of shorts I used for swimming. At
the beginning they were a little tight around the waist and lose in the
legs. Well by the time I threw them out they were lose around the waist and
tight in the legs. All that pedalling did a number on my upper leg muscles.

cycle-one wrote:
:: "Marlene Blanshay" wrote in message
:: ...
::: I caught a few minutes of "the biggest loser", and from what i
::: gathered, there was a couple who were trying to get in shape. The
::: husband went to a bike shop (in Portland OR) and bought himself a
::: road bike- it was obviously a specialized even though they blurred
::: out the name (the logo was still visible on the stem). Then, the
::: wife is all depressed because now she works out alone. The guy is
::: talking about how he wants to get in shape... in the meantime,
::: there he is riding his bike, no gloves, wearing sneakers, and
::: street clothes. He's not going to be doing very long rides dressed
::: like that! As for the wife, i felt like telling her, stop bawling,
::: and get a bike!
::
:: I dislike pretty much all 'reality' shows. They are either degrading
:: to people as a species or simply stupid. This one however I don't
:: mind so much. I still don't watch it except for the last few minutes
:: if I'm watching the next show on that channel - just dislike the
:: genre. But it is such a positive show; helping people directly and
:: indirectly confront the biggest health issue of the era. Compare
:: that to the degrading 'Fear Factor' and there is no comparison.
::
:: But one thing I wonder about from my own experience: After an initial
:: weight loss [nothing like the amounts of the people on the show] I
:: started gaining weight. My doctor dismissed any sort of concerns I
:: had. I was replacing lighter fat with denser muscle. My weight
:: started to increase but my physical condition was improving.
::
:: Regarding the show I wonder about focusing on raw poundage rather
:: than body fat and general fitness. The boilerplate cautions that all
:: contestants are under the care and supervision of qualified medical,
:: nutritional and physio professionals. I'm sure the contestants are
:: not in danger but using just weight loss as the determining factor
:: seems like a bad meter.

When you're really fat, scale weight is sufficient. Once you get down to
human weights, then it's more important to think about body composition and
things like LBM vs Fat %.

Well, it's a start. I didn't buy any special clothes when I started
cycling, and got by wearing whatever I had on for the day. I got a
good workout, too. If this guy has been sedentary for a long time, he
can probably get a good workout riding for twenty minutes at 10-12 mph.