Ok, I’ve been doing a little experiment……….

I moved into my new house 3 weeks ago, so this coming weekend is 4 weeks of eating less and doing more. Over the last few weeks I’ve not snacked at work (eaten less), had sensibly healthy meals (eaten less) and ridden and ridden most weekday evenings (done more).

Based on the usual ‘healthy ballance diet’ idea most calories have been from complex carbs like pasta, bread, museli etc.

Breakfast – museli, plain yogurt and spoonfull of jam if the museli is unsweetened.

Lunch – Sandwich, ocasional packet of crisps, or soup some days.

Dinner – whatever I fancy, and always a good mix of vegetables, protein and carbs.

The only unhealthy things are……

Tea – milk, one sugar, 4-5 cups/day
Coffee – double esspresso, 100ml skimmed milk, 1 sugar, once a day

1 king sized mars bar (consumed post a nightride as I was too knackered to even drive!)
1 king sized snickers (consumed during a night ride as I was flagging)

1 packet of chocolate rich tea biscuits, so thats averageing 1 a day ish with my home from work cup of tea pre going for a ride.

I’m not a big fruit eater, so only the occasional apple/bannana/pear/etc, but plenty of veg.

Basicly, you could find faults in my diet, but on the whole it’s pretty healthy and probably arround 2000calories/day, my BMR should be arround 3000calories/day (based on height/weight/sex/age) and I’ve burnt on average 7000calories a week through cycling.

So it’s not the most scientific of tests; there’s only me, I’ve not kept a diary, and iDave’s getting slopy seconds next month so if I’ve lost this month then it’ll be harder to lose next month, etc. Muscle gain/loss shoud be negligable as the exercise hasn’t been too disimilar to what I did before and I’ve used no supplements, however I took bodyfat% readings at the start for comparison anyway.

Next month I’ll be following a hashed together diet and training reigime based on iDave (diet), the 4HB (assorted bits like cold showers, but probably not Gym work), Lance Armstrong Performance Program (‘training’).

So how much do you reckon I’ve lost this month…………..

Next month, higher or lower……………..

(starting at 181cm, 94.6kg, bf=29%, 37″ waist)

Let the fatty bashing commence!

So how much do you reckon I’ve lost this month

Not much, but maybe you’ve got rid of some fat and gained some muscle?

Not much, but maybe you’ve got rid of some fat and gained some muscle?

I dont think I will have gained any muscle, I’m certainly ot any faster on the bike which would imply any weight loss has lost a proportionate ammount of muscle. And the ‘do more’ bit is only realy relative to the previous month which was largely spent in a hotel, so muscle might have bene un-toned at the start but should still have been there.

A few months ago you were averaging 18mph on a single speed mountain bike off road.

This month you averaged 12mph on your road bike.

Dont know about weight, but you’ve lost plenty of pace! 😉

yea, we determined that cateye was measuring speed in Mph but average speed in kmph, but displaying the same units for both (so average speed was just under 12mph on the mountain bike).

p.s. I genuinly have no idea what the result is and have no preferance for either diet/method, just want to lose my spare tyre.

muscle tone. Yeah, that’s what I meant I s’pose.

muscle tone.

😐

i reckon so far you have lost a kilo, however that may not even register depending on your hydration levels at the time of weighing.

i also think you will have lost 1″ off your waist, mostly by tightening the tape measure!

the fact that you are still 1/3 fat will be the tell tale that nothing has changed

Are you measuring the bf through some of those resistance scales? I don’t think they are accurate even between readings of the same person .. hydration levels seem to have an effect on the reading.

Not that I’m exactly svelte, but I’d recommend lunch time swimming – the combination of a cool lido pool and being a terrible swimmer means a real workout for me at least in 30 minutes. Doesn’t feel too much like exercise too .. till I get out and am all light headed and barely able to walk.

Given the amount of carbs you’ve eaten, and the fact that you havent actually recorded your calories, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had put weight on.

It depends on what you were doing previous to this. Impossible to say.

are we going to get an answer today or do we wait till you have been on the beanz for a month?

*presses F5*

I like how everyones made excuses for me* already 🙂

*or the diet

I wouldn’t say my diets been high carb, prety much everyone has cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and a meal at dinner time, I’d go as fas as to say thats the staple diet of prety much the developed world and the general consensus is that cyclists should if anything eat more carbs.

As for the accuracy of resistance based fat measurement, everything I’ve read** has said no method is accurate, if you had a DEXA scan, used callipers (by any of the algorythms avaialable), weighed yourelf underwater, stood on some electrical resistance scales and used a handheld device you’d get as many different answers as methods you used, non being any more likley to be correct than another, but all failry repeatable and likley to show up a trend.

**apart from STW, which hates them, but then “turkeys don’t vote for christmass” may as well be changed to “middle aged men dont vote for easily available body fat measurment”

are we going to get an answer today or do we wait till you have been on the beanz for a month?

*presses F5*

Weigh in on Sunday.

Yeah, this “weighing in” is bollocks though isn’t it. Look in the mirror? Measure your waist? That’s what matters, not your weight.
IMO, loik.
😐

As the lovely track I am listening to at this moment says “Look at Yourself” eh Jamie.

I think there’s also some logic in the “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince(?) and supper like a pauper” adage. I.e. power up with your complex slow-release carbs in the morning, sustain yourself in the afternoon (with small amount of carbs), then wind down with no carbs (or very minimal).

Couple with a good amount of exercise, I reckon you can lose a steady and recognisable amount of weight (fat) each week. I guess if you’re a good deal overweight in the first place then the initial loss could be 200-300% more than that later on.

Plus things like doing certain weights is supposed to add fat burning.

So all in all I reckon you’ll lose a kilo or two per week to begin with then see it level of.

As the lovely track I am listening to at this moment says “Look at Yourself” eh Jamie.

Why?

I wouldn’t say my diets been high carb,

I would.

prety much everyone has cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and a meal at dinner time, I’d go as fas as to say thats the staple diet of prety much the developed world and the general consensus is that cyclists should if anything eat more carbs.

And therein lies the problems the western world has with obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Why?
You put me on to it! (Synkro?) 🙄

I think there’s also some logic in the “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince(?) and supper like a pauper” adage. I.e. power up with your complex slow-release carbs in the morning, sustain yourself in the afternoon (with small amount of carbs), then wind down with no carbs (or very minimal).

Its probably bollocks depending on when your doing a good amount of exercise.

Tonight I’ll go and hammer the road bike for an hour and a half or so. I want some food when I get back!

Why one versus the other?

If you want my observation – based on 10 weeks of the iDave eating plan (with pretty major transgressions, like beer wine & whisky 5 days a week and a whole weekend off, not just one day, and sugar in coffee twice a day) one of the natural consequences of the diet is that calorie intake is reduced. Not because you restrict yourself – but because you don’t feel the same need. Last night I made spag bol for the rest of the family. They had it with pasta, I just had it with a nice big salad and enjoyed it as much if not more.

I’ve not been hungry, or had cravings more than a couple of times and I’ve only run out of energy once on a ride – and that was just my stupidity in not having anything to eat that day. And I feel healthier and more energetic too.

Over the 10 weeks I’ve lost 7kg and my gut has disappeared. Clothes that once didn’t fit look fine. A beautiful suit I bought 9 years ago, which I regretted at the time because I knew it was too tight even then fits beautifully. Well. OK the trousers could do with taking in a bit…and today I bought a Tshirt size large, not XL. I didn’t know they made them!

It’s really not a diet in the sense “I’m on a diet” (yes, love and next month it’s all going back on with interest) it’s a very sensible plan of eating that I can see no reason for not sticking to for life.

Except next week, when I’m in Turkey, windsurfing, mountain biking, wakeboarding, dinghy sailing, snorkelling etc. and those baklavas, yogurts, rice pilavs, flatbreads and pides are going to take a beating.

You put me on to it! (Synkro?)

Ah I see. Sorry.

BigJohn – Member
my gut has disappeared

😆

And therein lies the problems the western world has with obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Yes, but the western worlds survived on that diet for thousands of years, its only now we dont get any excercise and suplement it with KFC that its a problem.

Why one versus the other?

Becasue I’m bored, I can, and it’s funny waching the regulars fight/squirm as they religiously defend their chosen side. The eat less/do more crowd will tell me I’ve eaten too many carbs which is odd as removing the carbs would leave me with the alternative, the idave deciples will ummm and ahhh over whether I had milk in my tea. Me? I’ll be happy if I lose a stone over the 8 weeks.

Yes, but the western worlds survived on that diet for thousands of years, its only now we dont get any excercise and suplement it with KFC that its a problem.

Only for the last 7000 years, for the 45000 years before that the available evidence shows that we didn’t eat very much carbohydrate.

It appears that diabetes and obesity is a product of the western diet, and most of the current evidence points to high carbs as the problem (not high fat).

scruff – Member
BigJohn – Member
my gut has disappeared 😆

How are you going to be looking in 20 years then, buster? 8)

Quick google returns this, as I’v eaten pretty much the same every day these last few weeks I’ll count up todays numbers and see if they tally up.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends this distribution of energy nutrients:

Fat: 20 – 35% of total calories (average 30%)
Protein: 10 – 35% (average 15%)
Carbohydrates: 45 – 65% (average 55%

but all failry repeatable and likley to show up a trend

My Tanita ones still seem wildly variable in my experience, too variable to even detect a trend. But it’s not exactly a lot of effort to record what it tells you I suppose.

John,

dribbling and vacant probably !

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends this distribution of energy nutrients:
Fat: 20 – 35% of total calories (average 30%)
Protein: 10 – 35% (average 15%)
Carbohydrates: 45 – 65% (average 55%

Did you know that the FDA who sets these guidelines is strongly lobbied by the American Arable Industry?

the idave deciples will ummm and ahhh over whether I had milk in my tea

No, we’ll umm and ah over the GI of your diet.

There’s more than one way to lose weight. Some are easier than others though!

Awww, are the chattering classes obsessing about diets again? 🙄

I’ve lost two stone in around 9 months by doing the ‘eat less do more’ – going from a slightly pudgy 15.5 stone to a more respectable 13.5. I used a variation on the breakfast like a king… blah blah as a way of limiting my calorie / food intake aiming to halve the amount of calories for each meal ( ~1000 for breakfast; 500 for lunch; 250 for tea ) the only other material difference to my diet was to make a conscious effort to swap from white to wholemeal bread.

I mainly came up with it as it suits my lifestyle when I travel for work (full english in hotels on a morning; sandwich and drink for lunch; exercise and snack in the evening)

I’m sure it’s not for everyone; but it works for me 🙂

Breakfast:
about 80g of this probably (1kg has lasted a week and a bit)
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-dorset-cereals-breakfast-cereal-i71233
about 250ml of this
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-yogurt-plain-low-fat-12-i1117
and about 5g of sugar/jam

2/3 of this for lunch
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-asda-cheese-ham-blt-triple-i77963

2 rich teas

pasta bake
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-barilla-penne-dry-i113681
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-dolmio-pasta-bake-i75848
http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-chicken-breast-meat-only-i5064

So doing a bit of maths today I will eat……….
52g fat (468 cal)
216g carbs (864 cal)
116g protein (464 cal)

So assuming that anything I’ve missed out of that is in proportion I’m prety much 25% fat, 50% carbs, 25% protein intake, and thats assuming I had a double portion of pasta bake.

Sorry, 1 pack of chocolate biscuits PER DAY?

WTF?

dribbling and vacant probably !

Something I can beat you to.

No, we’ll umm and ah over the GI of your diet.

Please don’t tell me it’s GI we’re worried about, not insulin response. They’re not the same thing, are they?

And will I have to cut down my intake of V8 veg & tomato juice?

yeah 50% carbs is way too much. Given that your pancreas is at its most comfortable producing insulin for about 40g of carbs a day, you. like the rest of us, are overdosing.

Im trying the just LOTS more exercise plan. 🙂 Going to give it 3 weeks and see what the result is before I start abstaining from tasty food or the odd alcoholic beverage!

There’s more than one way to lose weight. Some are easier than others though!

Yep, I just thought I’d pick the 2 most quoted on here, well iDave is by far the most discussed, and usualy draws people in getting evangelical about how eat less/do more is the the only way and all diets are just a variation on that oversimplistic rule etc etc etc.

It appears that diabetes and obesity is a product of the western diet, and most of the current evidence points to high carbs as the problem (not high fat).

I’d argue that an asian diet is even higher carbohydrate.

I’d argue the first thing we send to developing countries when the crops fail is corn meal, not steak.

I’d argue that prehistoric remains often show evidence of eating oatmeal type foods and stone age skeletons have been found with the remains of what looks suspiciously like lasagne inside.

Did you know that the FDA who sets these guidelines is strongly lobbied by the American Arable Industry?

No, but I bet theyre also lobied by Macy D’s, the United States Institute for eating Steak and the Society for the advancment of vegetable based oils (if such groups exist).

Sorry, 1 pack of chocolate biscuits PER DAY?

WTF?

Where did you read that?