#1
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Biker's Diet
I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am
desperate. Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night. Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet feel as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I need a sensible solution. I keep reading how complex carbs are important for athleticism, but where do I draw the line? How many complex carbs are too much? Maybe I am just eating the wrong kinds of carbs after a day in the saddle. I pretty much feel like I am gaining back everything I burn off in a matter of one or two days, and more! HELP! |
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#2
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Biker's Diet
On 10 Jul 2006 18:47:45 -0700, "ackfugue" wrote:
I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am desperate. Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night. Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet feel as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I need a sensible solution. I keep reading how complex carbs are important for athleticism, but where do I draw the line? How many complex carbs are too much? Maybe I am just eating the wrong kinds of carbs after a day in the saddle. I pretty much feel like I am gaining back everything I burn off in a matter of one or two days, and more! HELP! First off, if you're feeling stronger and healthier, that's better. Lots of us ride because we love riding and we love eating. I've reached a similar equillibrium at 220 pounds. A lot of the guys who ride competitively will eat low carb and low fat except for breakfast, during a ride and immediately after. You should see my mountain bike club. Looks like a bowling league with huge ripped calf muscles. Ron |
#3
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Biker's Diet
ackfugue wrote: weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my earl y teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I c ouldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet f eel as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I need a sensible solution. 1. At 6ft, 190lbs, if you really are encased in layers of fat, then you must have very little muscle. Some weight training would be in order, perhaps via incorporating more hill climbing into your rides. I agree you might be a littl e on the heavy side, but surely you are no Walter Hudson. 2. Water cycles weight up and down as you get hydrated and dehydrated, but, except in pathological cases, you don't get actual weight gain with water as you would with say, too many cheeseburgers. 3. You are doing plenty of riding. Ride more because you enjoy it or to get to and from destinations, not to lose weight. 200 miles a week is plenty for weight loss. 4. It seems evident that you eat a terrible diet: cheeseburgers, fries, steak and cheese subs, commercial American pizza: you are drowning in calories and in trans fat, the deadliest and most fattening kind. It should be illegal. A recent article in, was it Nature or Science or elsewhere, reported research that for identical minimalist diets of 1600 daily calories, except one had, what was it, roughly 8% of the fat as trans fat (don't remember exactly), resulted in that group gaining loads of weight, most of it around the belly, the worst site. 1600 calories per day is roughly what a small sedentary person needs; one Burger King Double Whopper with cheese and a large order of Freedom Fries and you are already over it- and you haven't even had your Coke yet. And worse, its loaded with trans fat. So, the logical thing solution to your problem is to learn how to eat healthily and to do so. That means no fast "food", as it is euphemistically called. I don't know what books to recommend, apart from anything by Jaques Pepin (e.g. "Fast Food My Way"), but you really should learn about both nutrition and good eating. You may have to re-educate your palate a little but it will not take long before you begin to appreciate how crappy and tasteless the food you are eating now is, and how great and healthy real food is. Really, the best thing would be to take a cycling-cooking school vacation in Italy for a few weeks. It can be done. g |
#4
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Biker's Diet
ackfugue wrote:
I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am desperate. Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night. Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. My experience is that with a long ride on a hot day, I can lose a lot of weight through water. On one recent hot ride I figured I drank ~100 ounces (6 lbs) of liquid, and was still about 3 lbs lighter when I got home (yes, I really did weigh before and after that day, on a whim). I should add that I sweat like crazy. Also, sometimes I find a water "bounce" afterward - particularly if my legs are sore (swollen??) - my weight after the ride goes up for a day or so, then settles down a few lbs. As another poster said, even if you aren't losing weight, you are getting fit - converting fat to muscle. Adopting long-term exercise habits will do you good; overdoing and burning out (from despair of the results) won't help. Good luck, Mark |
#5
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Biker's Diet
ackfugue wrote: I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am desperate. Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night. Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet feel as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I need a sensible solution. I keep reading how complex carbs are important for athleticism, but where do I draw the line? How many complex carbs are too much? Maybe I am just eating the wrong kinds of carbs after a day in the saddle. I pretty much feel like I am gaining back everything I burn off in a matter of one or two days, and more! HELP! I had a similar situation. I balooned up to about 270 of flab in my inactive period, but have no come down to a stable much more muscular 220. Here is my "recipie" for weight loss: Diet changes, starting out with very minor changes. If your weight has been going up slowly for many years, your calorie surplus isn't very big. A few hundred calories at most. This means there are only small changes needed to make the surplus a deficit. So there are really only 30 seconds per day where you are eating "wrong". Find those 30 seconds. For me it was fruit-flavored sweetened yogurt, which I used to eat a fair amount of. I gradually switched to plain yogurt instead, and that was all it took. Once the weight started coming off it became easier to incorporate other healthful diet changes as well. I've settled on a high-protein "zone-like" diet that has served me well. As for riding, all riding will burn fat. Hard riding will also burn more carbos too, with the harder you ride, the more carbos. After a hard ride, your body wants to replenish the carbos and you feel hungry. So you eat, and it is hard to make sure you only eat enough carbos to replenish what you just burned, and often you eat more making it hard to loose weight. So I focus on long steady rides at 70-75% of max heart rate. This burns less fat than riding hard, but it really burns less carbos. This means I can go on a 3 hour fat buring ride (water only) and be no more hungry when I am finished than if I spent those 3 hours in front of a computer. This allows me to keep a more consistent diet where there are no big fluctuations of calories each day wether I ride or not. So the short version: High protein diet modify one high calorie meal per day to be less calories but just as satisfying as long as possible steady (not necessarily slow) distance rides More upper body muscle mass helps consume calories in the long run too. So some weight training or other whole-body sport may help too. In the winter I XC ski and this has made for some upper body development which if nothing else helps round out the package. Good luck! Joseph |
#6
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Biker's Diet
Hi,
I feel your pain. I've probably dropped 80 lbs since I started riding (over probably 5 years) and would like to drop another 30. Loosing the weight is a battle, even when I ride a lot.. I tend to like junk food, too. My weakness is the sweet stuff: cookies, doughnuts, etc. I've succeeded when I am good at changing to a healthier diet and really keeping track of what I am eating. I shoot for negative calorie consumption of about 1000/day, which would yield a loss of about 8 lbs/month. When I can do that, I loose weight. Unfortunately, I don't do that as much as I would like. The scale is frustrating. In the last month, I have swung as much as 9 lbs from Friday to Monday. I think hydration/dehydration is a big part. Also, how full my digestive system is can make a difference, too. I basically look for my low weights to keep dropping and kind of look at the overall trend. One more thing, there are a lot of "calories burned" calculators that aren't very accurate. A lot treat weight as proportional- a 300 lb rider should burn twice as much as 150 lb rider and that just isn't accurate. They also don't do a good job of factoring in speed, which makes a huge difference because of the changing wind resistance. The best one I've seen is: http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm As one other poster mentioned, small changes can make a big difference. I figured out once that my 150 lbs of weight gain averaged out to about 100 calories/day of overconsumption over the years I gained it , less than a Coke a day. Lyle "ackfugue" wrote in message oups.com... I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am desperate. Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night. Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet feel as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I need a sensible solution. I keep reading how complex carbs are important for athleticism, but where do I draw the line? How many complex carbs are too much? Maybe I am just eating the wrong kinds of carbs after a day in the saddle. I pretty much feel like I am gaining back everything I burn off in a matter of one or two days, and more! HELP! |
#7
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Biker's Diet
"ackfugue" wrote in message
oups.com... I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am desperate. Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night. Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet feel as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I need a sensible solution. I keep reading how complex carbs are important for athleticism, but where do I draw the line? How many complex carbs are too much? Maybe I am just eating the wrong kinds of carbs after a day in the saddle. I pretty much feel like I am gaining back everything I burn off in a matter of one or two days, and more! HELP! You are doign OK, but you need to basically stop eating all the junk foods, and eat healthy. Stop drinking carbonated soft drinks too. Skip all the fried fatty foods for sure. |
#8
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Biker's Diet
ackfugue wrote: I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. You crave food but barely pee. Try drinking more water. And get the idea out of your head that you are storing water and that's why you weigh too much. |
#9
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Biker's Diet
"Mark" wrote in message . .. ackfugue wrote: I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am desperate. Fat weighs less than muscle. Soft fat less dangerous than hard. Drink water before you are thirsty. Aerobic activity burns fat better than any other exercise. Stretch before and after a ride. regular better than sporadic and weekend warriors program. Heart rate is best indicator to see if you are impoving and maintaining aerobic fitness. Any fitness book can teach you the basics about monitoring your heart rate. (no equipment needed alas) I think it is 75% max 3-4 times a week. See your Doctor to appove any program if you are over 55 or have a medical condition. 220- your age is your Max heart Rate. I think, actually, they just changed that to 200- your age. Am I right? Take your vitamins. Eat raw fruit and vegables more or only. Fills you up, 100% nutritious and no fat, transfat content. Prevents Cancer as well as letting your stomach do what it was made for. Be alert however, too much a good thing is still bad. Fibre can actually cause intestinal complications too. Less is More. Moderation is key. Think Thin. Lock the Fridge haha Not get movin' You do not need a fitness coach but it is easier to exercise in groups if you are unmotivated. The latest thing is a video game by CATEYE attached to an exercise bike. They had people staying on the thing for 3 hours and had to be told to get off. hahaha Might be worth looking into It is on sale somewhere i know. cheers Shirley |
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Biker's Diet
ackfugue wrote:
I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am desperate. Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night. Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism finally caught up up me and ran on past me. I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes. I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ... "Nothing, I just started bicycling." So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting, frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find none. I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about 4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking, you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like a sponge and storing it all up. And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting, also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a thread after a long ride in the saddle. The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet feel as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I need a sensible solution. I keep reading how complex carbs are important for athleticism, but where do I draw the line? How many complex carbs are too much? Maybe I am just eating the wrong kinds of carbs after a day in the saddle. I pretty much feel like I am gaining back everything I burn off in a matter of one or two days, and more! HELP! Your "friends" did not lose weight by bicycling alone. Unless they were training for RAAM. Bicycling is too efficient of an activity to burn many excess calories unless you are watching your calorie intake. Roughly 700 calories are burned going 18 mph. Roughly. In the US eating excess calories is very easy since there are so many high calorie processed foods around. Many people gain weight on RAGBRAI. Riding 500 miles in 7 days is far more than anyone but professionals ride in a week. Yet RAGBRAI riders gain weight because they eat more calories than they consume. A fast and furious evening ride of two hours (40 miles) consumes about 1500 calories. But if you drink a couple Pepsis before the ride (300 Cal) plus a couple granola bars (220 Cal) to make sure you have enough energy to get through the ride, and after the ride you re-energize yourself with an extra Big Mac (500 Cal, you eat supper at McDonalds) and lo and behold, you merely burned 500 calories net during your two hour fast and furious ride. Do that every single day and you will lose 1 pound in a week. So you will have to increase your weekly mileage from 200 to 280 and make sure you are riding racer fast for all of those miles to take off 1 pound a week. To lose weight you must reduce the number of calories you consume. Exercising is great and fun and should be done too. But you have to reduce the calories you consume to lose weight. You have to run roughly a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose 1 pound. So to lose 1 pound a week, you have to eat 500 fewer calories a day than you burn. I think a Big Mac has a bit over 500 calories. So for lunch you could skip the Big Mac and just eat the french fries, and diet Coke. I'm sure what types of food have some impact on weight loss. Maybe eating all fat or all protein or all carbohydrates matters some. But a balanced diet of healtyhy foods is probalby best for most people. And in the end no matter what types of calories you consume, the key aspect is eating fewer calories than you burn. You also have to stay on your diet/meal plan forever to keep the weight off. Reducing weight permanently involves a permanent lifestyle change. A permanent change in your eating habits. |
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