I do know its all about "move more – eat less", cut down on booze, crisps, chocolate and fatty foods etc., and thats what the next few months will be all about.

But.

Is there any science behind when to excersize, for how long, what intensity, when to eat etc.?

I am also asking this from a general fitness perspective i.e. getting a blubbery pie eater towards acceptable fitness, not a top flight athelete/ whippet looking for that extra tenth of his lap record.

cheers

S

No idea, but I've been eating less for months now and not shifted a pound.

exercise is a rubbish way to lose weight. One small Mars bar is enough to lift you and bike 200m vertically. Much easier not to eat the Mars bar than work it off after. Also exercise increases appetite.

Get a Polar heart rate monitor and use it while exercising to keep your heart rate in the optimal zone for fat burning (it'll tell you what it is).

I don't use it for that since I go as fast as I can everywhere, but I can see how it would be useful.

After 45mins exercise you start burning fat, typically. Long duration, low intensity exercise is best for fat burning.

Exercise is an ace way to lose weight, and the only way in my experience. Not eating seems to do nothing, yet I can drop pounds in a week if I exercise and eat normally. One small mars might be enough to lift you through 200m vertically if you're 100% efficient and your subsequent calorie use returns to normal, but in actual fact youre ~25% efficient and your bodys increased metabolism keeps chugging through the cals over the next 24 hours or so.

Eat like a king in the morning and like a pauper in the evening. Or however the saying goes.

And eat little and often rather than two or three big meals.

Exercise is a great way to loose weight.
If I didn't then they're be 5000+ calories of delicious fat and beer I'd have to cut out of my diet a week 🙂

I've been quite interested in the heart rate zone fun stuff, because it seems to me that I virtually can't stay in the fat burning zone as I can bearly ride that slowly, my average heart rate on a normal road ride is 156 and on anything where I'm not stopped or going downhill I sit around 165-170 for 2-3 hours. This is way above my FBZ, but I'm curious as to whether you're just burning a lower % of fuel from fat, but still burning more fat due to higher intensity.

Also exercise increases appetite.

Also increases your metabolism so not a linear calculation

I find the early morning [pre-breakfast] 1hr runs keep the weight off

My wife has had weight issues and you name it she tried it, I felt sorry for her because it was not as if she sat round all day and was lazy which is a common misconception

So she has been on a Lighterlife diet plan which is only about 500 calories a day which she has followed to the letter and she has lost a steady 3lbs a week totaling hell of a lot in 3 months and her bmi has dropped 13 points

She looks fantastic and she is alot happier in herself

losley speaking 2 ways to go about it.

slow steady exercise will burn %wise more fat.
moree intense exercise will tend to burn more calories but more of these will be gylcogen and be replaced. (could burn more fat in a givwen time that the fat burning method though)

in practice i find it's best to mix it up a bit. some slow some fast. also it's good to change exercise about a bit – i find it impossible to lose weight cycling – i'm too efficient at it. go running and it falls off.

500 calories a day is wrong and dangerous and will mean that as soon a she stops the diet the weight will just go back on again. She has put her body into starvation mode which is not healthy at all

The only sensible way is to eat less and move more

Exercise before breakfast helps, particularly if you've had a low-carb, high-protein dinner the night before. So don't eat anything before you ride into work!

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0334.htm

before we go too far down the fat burning zone bullshit road

drink lots of water, don't drink calories, avoid white food, and have some discipline and determination

allow yourself to feel hungry, most of the world population do it every day

TJ

The only sensible way is to eat less and move more

Agreed but when you have tried everything and get no where but miserable you do get desperate

but she is happy and she deserves that it is not as if she is anorexic her bmi is still over 25

One small mars might be enough to lift you through 200m vertically if you're 100% efficient and your subsequent calorie use returns to normal, but in actual fact youre ~25% efficient and your bodys increased metabolism keeps chugging through the cals over the next 24 hours or so.

sorry, I'd already allowed for muscular efficiency (20%) in that figure, and the bit about the metabolism chugging away after is rubbish :o)

i was 13 10 three months ago i cut down my meal size cut down on bread too and did a bit more on the bike im now bang on 12 stone and its staying there. Just need lots of new cycling kit that fits again lol

drink lots of water, don't drink calories, avoid white food

Racist!

I eat lots of sandwiches in the week as I can take them to work, have toast in the morning. What can I eat instead of bread? And I cant cut down on beer either.

Just lose the fat off the toast & in the butties

So she has been on a Lighterlife diet plan which is only about 500 calories a day which she has followed to the letter and she has lost a steady 3lbs a week totaling hell of a lot in 3 months and her bmi has dropped 13 points

She looks fantastic and she is alot happier in herself 500 a day sounds brutal, but well done to her for seeing it through. Surely she can nudge it back up to 1000 now?

What's an average figure for calories per day for a man – something like 2000?

Exercise before breakfast is a good tip and despite what Simon says (sorry Simon!) your metabolism is raised after exercise for several hours.
Some years ago I introduced a morning 30 min easy run to my schedule, in addition to my evening training. I was lean then but I lost more weight and actually had to consciously work on maintaining my weight.

IME using a a HRM as a fat burning tool is useless. As above they force you to exercise at too low an intensity.

Exercise is key along with a good diet.

Well I can second the exercise before breakfast tip. I read an article in CW some time ago which also suggested this as it forces your body to burn fat due to low blood sugar levels. Apparently it's doubly effective if you avoid/reduce your carbs intake in the evening.

Also I find that simply laying of the booze works wonders if I want to lose a few pounds, but then I do drink more than I should.

Read the Matt Hart article on weight loss in singletrack mag a few issues back. Cuts through a lot of the pseudo-scientific nonsense of the weightloss and fitness industries and gives simple, sensible advice.

It is easier to not eat something than it is to eat it then burn off the calories but you have to exercise to keep your metabolism up, if you just stop eating your body half shuts down and uses less.

I dont know whether the science behind it is good but i am loosing weight eating 3 toast for breakfast, soup and a roll for lunch, then a low/no carb dinner in the evening. maybe 3 or 4 times a week i walk the 2 hour walk from the train station to home rather than getting the bus. Walking is the best excercise for loosing weight because it doesnt tire you out so you dont stop after 45 minutes.

Also look for carbs that are low GI

Been trying to lose localised fat from around my gut for years with no joy. I've taken up my xc running again and now train every day wether it's running or biking and the weight is finally starting to shift of my stomach.
I'm also on smaller portions, but I do have weak moments. Alchohol intake is almost non existant.
I've also cut out certain things in order to find out what causes lots of phlem in my throat when I work hard.
Turning 50 has been a massive insentive though.

How much excercise do you need to do before breakfast to make this worthwhile? 25 minute fastish commute do the trick?

sorry, I'd already allowed for muscular efficiency (20%) in that figure, and the bit about the metabolism chugging away after is rubbish :o)

Fair play on the efficiency then, I didn't twiddle the numbers personally, but the metabolism isn't rubbish. Or at least not according to the clinical research doc I was discussing it and having tests on it with last week. If you take your resting metabolic rate while on a 2 week recovery break (normal day for most people) and compare it to the day after decent exercise you'll find you burn a significant amount more calories just sitting about doing nothing, as your body is repairing itself and remains somewhat raised.

How much excercise do you need to do before breakfast to make this worthwhile? 25 minute fastish commute do the trick?

Dunno cycling wise – I run for an hour 5 days a week [about 8 miles/day] & that certainly helps

Been trying to lose localised fat from around my gut for years with no joy.

It's impossible to "spot lose", you need to drop your body fat % very low to get shut of those areas.

and despite what Simon says (sorry Simon!) your metabolism is raised after exercise for several hours.

I'm going to have to see evidence for this. It sounds hopelessly inefficient. My observation is that a few minutes after stopping exercise my breathing and heartrate return to normal. How much exercise? If I exercise for an hour do I get a hour boost afterwards, or do I get the same afterglow from one minute of effort ?

I have recently lost 2.5 stone over a 3 month period.

Based on the simple process of eat less than you do now and exercise more has worked.

I used a web site called food focus to "map" what I ate each day and record my exercise.

It allowed me to "see" what I was eating and regulate it to a point where I know what feels wrong.

Initial I stuck to 1900 cal per day with moderate exercise (an hour per night), for a bloke it is under I know.

But it allowed me to loose 2lbs per week which is the maximum recommended by many nutritionists.

Have a look at the site and see what you think, works for me:

Food Focus clicky

I started boxing and its been really good. It's a really good workout, something different from cycling. Builds muscle that helps with bike control and strengthens core. Not lost any weight mind you, but % body fat and waist size has dropped which is the important thing.

Since June I have managed to lose 6 kgs (started at 85kgs, am now 79kg) by adjusting my diet and by hitting the weights.

My breakfast and evening meals consist of smoothies containing Whey Protein, Berries (the frozen UNSWEETENED one you can get at Asdas), Low fat yoghurt, Almonds, Flaxseed and ice cubes. These are really filling and quit tasty. You will lose more weight consuming food in a liquid form that you will in a solid form. Dont ask me why but it is a fact.

The best way to get your body to burn off fat is by building muscle (hence the whey protein). The best way to do this is to hit the weights. Join a gym if you can, if not go and buy yourself some basic equipment. I try to do at least 20 minutes a day, bicep curls, bench press, military press, chin ups etc etc.

You should also try and avoid consuming carbs after 6pm.

The first four weeks I didnt lose anything but after that the weight just fell off me. I'm hoping to get down to 75kgs which is what I was before I turned 30.

I can really recommend the following. It's only a fiver and it contains some really great tips.

I took up Jive dancing 3 years ago and now teach. Excellent way to stay in shape!

Different things work for different people, it is easier to lose weight when you are fat and unfit and have a high starting point shall we say than when you are fit and bascially tinkering. This comes from personal experience.

Lighter Life ? Very dodgy, a friend of mine did that, and yes it addresses the calorie intake thing but does nothing to address the lifestyle issue e.g. eating being an emotional response that is quite a common thing in women. Put all the weight back on as went back to normal food and all the same habits.

Things that have worked for me:

Running – seems to burn more calories than biking, I have no idea of the science but works for me. Slow 1 hour runs not short sharp sprints.

Bonk training – not as fun as it sounds, but go out and exercise 20-30 mins in the morning on an empty stomach.

Dairy is the Enemy – cut out all dairy. Don't replace it with full fat mayo.

Oh yeah and don't drink every day.

And if you get really desperate 6 hour road rides.

Good luck !

I'm going to have to see evidence for this. It sounds hopelessly inefficient. My observation is that a few minutes after stopping exercise my breathing and heartrate return to normal. How much exercise? If I exercise for an hour do I get a hour boost afterwards, or do I get the same afterglow from one minute of effort ?

I cant quote research etc, or not without a lot of digging. I have read from more than one source that the effects of a steady run, say 4 ish miles in 30 mins has the effect of raising the rate for several hours afterwords. My own experience however (based on a sample of 1!) was conclusive. It had quite a significant effect.

How much excercise do you need to do before breakfast to make this worthwhile? 25 minute fastish commute do the trick?

In short not much. Its unusual to be able to exercise at intensity first thing in the morning and most athletes that I know use it as a boost for their mileage and as a recovery session from the previous days/evening workout.

Good to see the old "fat burning zone" myths get trotted out as usual (that and sfb feeling the need to contribute to a subject he patently knows very little about).

On the contrary, the best way to lose weight is actually to do high intensity exercise, as that gives you the biggest metabolism boost. Not sure if there's any science behind it, but I also find personally that earlier in the day is better, in order to give you the metabolism boost during waking hours. Not so convinced by the before breakfast idea though, as being completely out of glycogen as your body is at that stage doesn't help (you're kind of returning to the "fat burning zone" idea with that one).

Assuming it's fat loss rather than weight loss you're after, the other thing to do is build a bit of muscle – high intensity stuff works for that, but better is to do some gym work (most cyclists could easily put on some upper body muscle, and core strength will also help with the cycling). More muscle raises your daily energy needs.

Running – seems to burn more calories than biking, I have no idea of the science but works for me.

I agree – seem to get the effect even at the same heart rate as biking (and that's as a well trained runner – those who aren't should get even more effect). My vague theory is that it's something to do with the post exercise metabolism thing, as your body has more repairing to do after running.

Dairy is the Enemy – cut out all dairy.

Wrong – latest info I've seen is that dairy helps prevent you absorbing dietary fat.