Evening all,

I’m getting a bit on the porky side and constantly knackered and am wondering if my unhealthyness is partly to blame.

The story goes….. I would normally ride three to four times a week. Once with my local club.

We have recently bought a new house as a project which I work on in the evenings. I have also a two year old that sleeps okish but I struggle to wake up in the morning which is leaving the other half to sort her out with breakfast which is rubbish as I am loosing time with her which I should be enjoying.

So bearing in mind I work in the evenings for a couple of hours the only chance I have is in the mornings.

I’m currently up at 6:30am – 7:00am and am in bed by 10:00pm I then lay awake thinking about complete nonsense for about an hour or two before finally drifting off.

I think I’m being slack and am now unfit therefore lethargic.

Been contemplating attempting a 5:30 wake up. Run for 30 minutes. Shower and then sort the little one out. Does that sound sensible???

Also sorting the diet. No more sugar in tea and drinking water now instead. Salads for lunch and fruit for breakfast. I am however a chocolate monster and beer on Friday.

Just wondering if I’m losing the plot and should embrace the chub.

Be interesting to hear what anyone else does for their morning excercise routine. I can’t commute at the moment due to picking the little one up from the nursery which is 20 miles from where we live but near my work. Normally I would commute 🙂

Cheers for any input!

Cut gluten out. Increase activity. 2 weeks you’ll see and feel a difference.

Buy a turbo? They’re not much fun but 30 minute HIIT sessions are pretty good for those short on time. You could do it either in the morning or night or whenever you’ve got some time. Also, what about doing something at lunch? Depending on your job, most of us can sneak out for a 30 minute run if needed.

Embrace the chub absolutely not. Yup try the early rising and excersize, even if not aerobic then some stretching / pushups etc and / or mix and match. I’d also say try a bit less bread/pasta/rice/spuds. Beer is bad for putting on weight but life’s dull without some luxuries. Chocolate just try and cut down

What have you got to lose? If you can’t get off your arse and give it a go at this time of year when it’s light at 5:30 then you’ll just put it off till next year. Getting out of bed at 5:30 and getting out the door in the dark, cold and wet ain’t gonna happen

HIIT at lunch time, would that be possible? Might be a local Insanity class that you can do. Also exercise doesn’t have to be everday

Are you just having fruit for breakfast? That might give you a sugar high and not last you to lunch. Porridge is awesome and actually ok if made with water. Add a bit of milk but you don’t need much. Avoid sachet flavoured porridge

Weigh or measure carbs, such as pasta, and stick to a sensible portion.

You can also cut milk out of tea and coffee too. Coffee is easy but has to be Earl Grey tea if no milk for me

Fastest this game food wise
Bin the choclates and sugar, it’s not something you are needing and it’s on top. If you need something to boredom eat try carrots or apples.
Cut some beer down.
Look at portion size (the my fitness pal stuff will give you an idea)
Turbo would be good bang for buck exercise but potentially noisy at 5am.

About 12 months ago, I forced myself to get up at 06:30 rather than 07:30, basically so I could get to the gym. It took about a month for that to stop being a struggle.

To get off to sleep earlier, I aim to do some stretching or a 20-minute pilates routine off of the Youtube, then shower, then do something which doesn’t involve the telly or my phone, in bed, lying down, with the lights down.

All well worthwhile in terms of getting the exercise and rest in. 🙂

Bin the chocolates

Indeed. I think the “Nicorette patch of chocolate” is probably small but staggeringly expensive 85% cocoa chocolate bars, consumed 1-2 squares a day and calmly instructing yourself to wrap the remains of it back up and putting it away when again when you’ve broken your ration off.

🙂

If you didn’t have problems with weight and you’ve cut back on activity but still eat the same then you will put on weight.

I’d suggest going for it and see if you can get the activity levels back up. Might have to cut back a little on the calories to lose what you put on but once you get into a routine again it should all work.

Re: cutting out gluten, one of those foody programmes did a test, giving a load of subjects a gluten free diet plus a powder to add, one batch was nothing, the other was gluten.

Both groups were convinced they had the gluten diet but the questionnaire results were the same, outcome was that unless you are intolerant, there are no advantages by cutting out gluten.

there are no advantages by cutting out gluten.

except giving you something to shout about on the internet

.

Did you get up?

get up at 5.30 and train. I get up at 5.30, do some kettlebell/core work, pooh, get dressed and go for a run with the dog. back around 6.30, sh*t, shower, shave, make the kids breakfast, (while mrs. sovereign gets ’em dressed), finish the lunchboxes, and leave for work at 7.45.
at least if you can’t train in the evening, you’ve done a good morning session. it’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

If you have any history with back problems morning exercise may not be a great idea as your spinal discs are tightest at this time.

I have lost 5 stone 9lbs in 46 weeks by cutting out grain containing products.
like Bread pasta rice etc and eliminating sugary foods and soft drinks (including diet!) from my diet.

If you want to lose weight you need to focus on your diet. Initially I binned off exercise and focused on getting plenty of sleep and letting my body adjust to the changes. My energy levels went up very quickly and I gradually reintroduced exercise. The key with exercise is sustainability there is no point going balls out one week then doing nothing the next it just makes it harder to get your food intake right.

If you are serious about this the info these guys give out is a great help:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/blog

I was in a similar situation. I’d never really got my fitness back after a couple of ops on my ankle. I was going out once a week after work with a couple of the guys i work with but struggling to fit in any other rides. I didn’t want to over burden the wife or miss out on spending time with our two year old. A few of us from work went to Sherwood Pines for the day and I found it very frustrating as it highlighted that i used to be much fitter. I was making excuses to myself that i don’t get the time these days to get out and get fitter.
That’s when I decided to make time. Over the past couple of months, I’ve started getting up an hour earlier (5am instead of 6) and going for a 10 (ish) mile ride before getting ready for work. As mentioned above it’s the perfect time of year for it now as it’s nice and light in the mornings and so far I’ve been lucky that the weather’s been reasonable every ride so far.
I feel much more energetic during the day as a result and the fitness is slowly improving. I’ve found that logging my rides on Strava gives me a bit more motivation to keep at it when I don’t feel like getting up.
Give it a go and see how you get on.

do you have a shower at work ?

A 30 minute run at lunch time is another way to fit in some exercise.

Reading the OP, there are two things that struck me:

1. The OP goes to bed too early
2. The OP doesn’t like getting up – i.e. isn’t a morning person

I’m not sure recommending getting up at 5.30 am to exercise is going to be sustainable in this situation. Everyone has a preferred (if not ideal) time to exercise, which isn’t always in the morning.

It might be better to fit in a 30 minute turbo/kettlebells session/run/whatever activity immediately on return home from work and then do another 30 minutes of work on the house in the evening with a later bedtime

If you’re only falling asleep at 11-midnight, then go to bed some time between 11 and midnight and use the time before then usefully.

ETA: obviously weight loss and exercise needn’t be the same thing. Diet to get thin, exercise to get fit.

ETA: obviously weight loss and exercise needn’t be the same thing. Diet to get thin, exercise to get fit.

Does not compute . Both are HEAVILY related to each other.

good diet helps you get fit , getting fit helps you get thin.

not saying either cant be done on their own BUT they are hugely complimentary and will accelerate each other in unison. – and diet is a wide word it does not simply mean calorie restriction.

Does not compute . Both are HEAVILY related to each other.

good diet helps you get fit , getting fit helps you get thin.

not saying either cant be done on their own BUT they are hugely complimentary and will accelerate each other in unison. – and diet is a wide word it does not simply mean calorie restriction.

What I said was:

needn’t be the same thing

I think we’re in violent agreement.

I Like getting up early (6am) and getting to the gym for 45-60mins 3 times a week.

I enjoy lifting so it doesn’t feel like a chore though have a love/hate relationship with the rowing machine.

I exercise 3 or 4 times a week at other times too.

I am an advocate of early morning riding (road usually)due to family commitments, up at 6 on the road by 6.15 at the latest. Can get in 25-30 miles before work, I only have a ten minute commute. A good fat burner is steady riding in zone 4 with no breakfast and cold green tea to drink (speeds up the metabolism.
I have dropped my weight from 81kgs to 74kg by cutting out crap, bread, crisps, extra cake, no midweek beer. Being sensible with the diet is the most important bit.

As with instant hit, I get up an extra hour early to get a longer ride in rather than going direct by route 1, or running in and and enjoying some quiet time at my desk before all the interuptions start.

Used to hate early mornings, but stick with it and you’ll habituate to it and not only is it the best time of the day but that old alpinist’s saying of “an hour in the morning is worth two in the afternnon” becomes so true.

evilsovereign – Member
get up at 5.30 and train. I get up at 5.30, do some kettlebell/core work, pooh, get dressed and go for a run with the dog. back around 6.30, sh*t, shower, shave,

Two in about an hour, thats quite impressive.

hen lay awake thinking about complete nonsense for about an hour or two before finally drifting off

so just use that time for an intense 30mins to an hour on the turbo, or a run, in the evening and then you will hopefully also get a better nights sleep as well.

Just got to make sure your evenings work on the house is scaled appropriately to allow you to exercise after. House might take a bit longer to complete, but then you might also live longer to enjoy it.

Does not compute . Both are HEAVILY related to each other.

good diet helps you get fit , getting fit helps you get thin.

not saying either cant be done on their own BUT they are hugely complimentary and will accelerate each other in unison. – and diet is a wide word it does not simply mean calorie restriction.

What I said was:

needn’t be the same thing

I think we’re in violent agreement.

I can disagree, a bit. When I’m training really hard I find I have limited willpower to resist eating a lot in the evenings, so I probably carry a little bit more bodyfat compared to when I’m not getting ready for a big race.

If I want to fit in a ride, I go to bed early (for me…) at 11 then get up at 5am. On the bike at 520 (or as close as possible) and back by 640 for the morning routine with kids, etc.

It works really well for me at least though I don’t usually do it two mornings in a row.

And you get fantastic sunrises at some points of the year.

Afternoon 🙂

Thanks for all the replies. Hugely helpful.

I’m an electrical trainer so do not technically get a lunch of sorts as I’m always with engineers. Otherwise I would.

After having a read through in going to try running up to the new property and back each evening and then try and get up earlier for a 30 minute run so it’ll be a 5:30 wake up.

I should be so knackered my sleep might improve too.

so just use that time for an intense 30mins to an hour on the turbo, or a run, in the evening and then you will hopefully also get a better nights sleep as well.

Doesn’t always work, I sometimes find that exercise in the evening makes getting to sleep harder.

I have lost 13.2% of my body weight in just under two years simply by moderating what I eat (but definitely not dieting and still enjoy cake, cheese, crisps as well as a few drinks most nights) and going to the gym three times a week. Until the last couple of weeks the gym sessions were simply spinning bike sessions – 1 hour at a time + a few weights when I have more time at a weekend. I would say that I total (approx) 1.5 hrs on a Tuesday evening, 1 hr on a Thursday evening and 2.5 hours on a Saturday morning.

As I have now achieved my target weight (66kg) I am now doing more weights and am starting to see some visible changes too (ie, I have something more closely resembling a chest than breasts).

🙂

It is a bit addictive though!