Just read the “potential” thread and it made me think that I still have the same potential as years ago. How can I realise my potential?

I’m in my mid twenties and about 6’1″. There was a time in my late teens/early twenties when I was a huge heffer – give or take 20 stone. I went on a bit of a diet and started to ride more and lost the best part of 4 stone quite gradually in a couple of years.

Over the last 2 years I’ve ridden more and more and about a year ago I was down to about 15 stone. I’ve since upped my riding even more – if I get out at the weekends I’m doing about 150 miles a week (110 miles on my Cross bike and about 40 on the mtb), but I’m still the same weight (give or take, I would say my fat % is down though) as last year despite doing more and more exercise and eating relatively “well”. I also swim about 2-3 times a week too.

I’m happy with the way I look apart from my flabby belly and love handles, I just can’t shift them!

Any ideas on diet or specific exercises I could/should be doing? I don’t have a gym membership and don’t want one. I have trails on my doorstep, access to an indoor pool (at her parents’) and a Wii fit :s

search idave

road biking.

i started the road biking diet last jan, and since then can eat whatever the hell i like, and have been steadily losing weight ever since.

and i SERIOUSLY eat.

never been fitter either.

so there we go, to sum up. ride more. ride harder. ride until you have teeth marks on your bar tape and you cry every time you go out.

I’d be wary of increasing exercise levels – you’re doing a fair bit and you can over do it.

I’d look at reducing calorie intake – do you drink much alcohol?

iDave is all you need to know.

It sounds like a fad diet with loads of fanbois, but that’s cos we’ve tried it and it’s incredibly effective in most cases. I’ve just touched 10kg lost since late March, and I’ve not gone hungry once. And I was a fit active fast biker before I started this.

You sound exactly like me – loads of riding, not taking the piss with eating and still not thin. I discovered that my diet was causing my body to produce a lot of insulin, which works to keep me fat(ter).

https://docs.google.com/a/custard.org/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bw_T87IBJ5crZTE0YmU1OTMtOGM0Yy00MTk5LTk1OGUtMjY5NzY1NDk4YWNi&hl=en_GB&authkey=CNeXx-wG

If you search the forum you’ll find tons of success stories and a lot of unrelated waffle from some enthusiastic forum members.:)

iDave is all you need to know.

*sigh*

search idave

Who?

honestly there is no need to ‘go on a diet’

calories in must be lower than calories out to lose weight. fairly simple.

if you can’t stop etaing (like me) you need to ride/excersize more.

for me, mountain biking is too social, and varying terrain means its harder to maintain constant effort – i also think its easier to slack while riding.

for me, road biking murders you from the second you get on, to the second you get off, there is no hiding…

thus

more road/high intensity biking = more weight loss.

I have a very slow metabolism, even when I was young I was never one of the kids who could scoff happy meals whenever I wanted. I’m not diabetic but have thin-ish blood (get haemotomas often and easily) and according to the docs that can lead my body to craving sugar.

To give you an idea today I’ve eaten 2 slices of toast with marmite, some pasta, small packet of mini cheddars and 2 bananas, I’ve also got 2 homemade cereal bars (from the river cottage book, they’re amazing!) which will be eaten before I get home. coupled with 22 miles on the bike and probably a 45 minute swim when I get home.

I do drink, not a huge amount, but regularly. I will probably have 5-6 pints a week on average.

I’ve seen the iDave diet banded around, perhaps I’ll give it a go.

EDIT: I would say my commute is quite high intensity despite not being that long. It is about 5 miles on road and the other 6 on Bridlepath. I always make sure I can feel that I’m working myself.

ride them 22 miles harder.

that can lead my body to craving sugar.

Have an apple then.

If todays menu is indicative of your regular food, you may benefit from upping your vegetable intake, and putting a lid on the processed carbs a bit.

I have a very slow metabolism

Not being dramatic but I would get a blood test and get your thyroid checked, I have an under active thyroid which stopped me losing weight, now take thyroxin daily and my weights dropped.

I recommend giving idave a go though.

calories in must be lower than calories out to lose weight. fairly simple.

Except it’s not, because the things that govern ‘calories out’ are complex and mysterious.

Become unemployed.Eat 2 weetabix at about 10 o’clock.Do 4 hours riding.Eat a microwave pasta’n’sauce at 6 o’clock.Repeat everyday for a month (so far).Lost 4 kilos….and i was’nt exactly fat before.

You should go on the ‘put down the damn fork’ diet.

Works wonders.

it is FAIRLY simple.

thanks for the advice, it’s good to band ideas around, especially with some people who may have/may be experiencing similar.

I don’t eat a lot of processed foodstuffs generally. I bake my own bread and although I do find pasta easy to eat during the day, I do tend to use wholewheat as it is generally lower in carbs. I would normally eat 3 portions of veg in an evening meal, and we grow most of our own veg so I can see where it’s coming from.

Last check up I had was last may and I had bloodtests done then, nothing irregular appeared, but I guess that doesn’t mean things haven’t developed since.

A good way to increase your metabolism is to increase your muscle mass – get lifting some weights!

I don’t eat a lot of processed foodstuffs generally. I bake my own bread and although I do find pasta easy to eat during the day, I do tend to use wholewheat as it is generally lower in carbs. I would normally eat 3 portions of veg in an evening meal, and we grow most of our own veg so I can see where it’s coming from.

I was much the same as you regarding the diet, eating what I thought was a good diet. I started reading the labels and changed the wholewheat pasta and brown rice for lentils or beans. I cut all alcohol. I ate a lot of fruit and drank a lot of water, and the weight fell off. Now I’ve just got a bit more to lose until I have no visible (excess)fat.

it is FAIRLY simple.

You only say that because you don’t know how complicated it is 🙂

it is FAIRLY simple.

No it’s not, it’s:

…complex and mysterious.

…..apparently.

i bow down to your wiseness. 😉

The basics always remain the same – to lose weight you need to have a calorie deficit.

The NHS websites will give you what the medical consensus is now. There are a series of theories about what foods are better to eat to make this easier to do. iDave diet has adherents on here. this is another theory http://giveupsugar.com/. You have low and high GI diets, atkins, carb counting etc etc

The key thing is its not a “diet” – you have to change the way you eat for your lifetime or else you will Yoyo which is very bad for you.

One thing to really look for is hidden calories – soft drinks contain huge amounts, some savoury food is stuffed with sugars, sports drinks can be full of sugars.

molly… do tell me if i’m being an idiot (i enjoy being an idiot at times, it keeps me young) but no matter how complex, mysterious and magical the human body is at processing different foods/chemicals/products….. surely when you break it down to a simple summary it is as simple as calories in need to be less than calories out?

yes you can eat certain foods that promote certain responses within the body, you can speed up your metabolism in many magical ways, you could set fire to yourself to burn off the extra fat… but in the end its the simple… calories out vs calories in?

(EDIT – sorry for crowbarring that question into the thread… the idave diet has seen a LOT of success on here and its a clever diet, i just wanted to ask molly that question)

The key thing is its not a “diet” – you have to change the way you eat for your lifetime or else you will Yoyo which is very bad for you.

Generally speaking I agree, especially in the case of severe diets, but I think there is a negative feedback mechanism that tends towards keeping us at the same weight, in some of us at least.

I seem to remember reading that fat cells release a hormone that inhibits fat cell growth…

sports drinks can be full of sugars

Which is the point 🙂

Oh, I would just like to add I do not just come onto iDave threads and poo poo for no reason. I have tried it and found no major benefit over a regular calorie controlled and healthy diet.

….for a laugh tho I am thinking of trying full Keto for a couple of weeks while I am out of action with a back injury. I expect rapid water weight loss for a week or so, then for it to all flood back on as soon as I have an apple 8)

surely when you break it down to a simple summary it is as simple as calories in need to be less than calories out

Yes, but that’s like saying the secret of financial security is to make lots of money. True, but unhelpful and tautological (I recently looked up the real meaning of this word 🙂 ).

How to get calories in down and calories out up sustainably and effectively CAN actually be quite hard, and can be mroe difficult than ‘put down the pies fattie and get on yer bike’ – at least when it comes to the last 5% of bf that you want to lose.

I have tried it and found no major benefit over a regular calorie controlled and healthy diet

I’ve tried (and succeeded with) both, and found iDave to be massively more effective. Staggeringly so. Of course, Jamie will probably assume that I was doing the traditional way wrongly. However – he has his body, I have mine, they are both different.

All I will say is if you lose nearly 2 stone Molgrips, why no after pics? 😉

Of course, Jamie will probably assume that I was doing the traditional way wrongly.

Harsh, man. I have only picked you up when you have been doing something wrong. iDave and muffins don’t mix.

make it go away

Apologies, Jamie, but that’s what people usually assume.

make it go away

You have opened Pandora’s Box.

I’ve eaten 2 slices of toast with marmite, some pasta, small packet of mini cheddars and 2 bananas, I’ve also got 2 homemade cereal bars

Carbs, carbs and more carbs. And some saturated fat.

That’s exactly the sort of diet that got me in the overweight state I’m in.

A vegan diet. But add meat and fish if you want.

surely when you break it down to a simple summary it is as simple as calories in need to be less than calories out

Yes

save this thread TJ!!!

When I was 22 stone I found that the amphetamine lifestyle diet was the best way to lose weight.

You have to be prepared to stay out for two or three days on end, hang out with interesting people, and sleep at strange hours.

It works really well if combined with a choice of dancemusic.

4 weeks ago i took an honest look in the mirror and said ‘phillips you fat barsteward’ 13st 10lbs and a shade under 5′ 10″.
so I did the idave thing for a week and dropped a bit but it never felt like i was enjoying my eating and as teej says its about lifestyle changes not diets and for me staying on that regime wasn’t going to be sustainable.
So I know have a bowl of porridge for breakkie with water and honey/raisins/sugar (delete 2 of them but it changes to what i fancy) lunch is now salad and meat/fish and dinner i’ll eat whatever the rest of the family is eating but minus the pasta/pots/white rice.(whatever we eat is cooked from scratch and no packet mixes etc)
yesterday i weighed 12st 11 and over the last month have done very little exercise due to way too much D.I.Y on my extension, once i get back running and cycling regularly I’m expecting more weight loss faster.
I was a serial snacker and crisps/biscuits were my downfalls, now snack on very small portions of nuts/seeds/raisins and drinking litres of water per day, I can honestly say ive never felt better and now have no temptation to reach for the crisp cupboard anymore.
its nowhere near as much fun as quirrels dietary advice but it works for me.

What’s working for me is the following. Unless you’re a nutcase you won’t be able to stick to it 100% but try. Have one day off a week where you eat whatever you want. If you feel genuinely lethargic or listless have a wee bit of carbs.

You may recognise this as a rough version of Ferriss’ ‘slow carb diet’. I am not a doctor but I have lost a kilo a week for the past 7 weeks doing this in conjunction with exercise and have never felt better. YMMV but I’m sure many have had success with a similar plan. Good luck!

EAT/DRINK

Lean protein
Vegetables
Legumes
Lots of water
Lots of green tea

DON’T EAT/DRINK

Flour (Bread, Cake, Biscuits etc)
Rice
Sugar
Fruit juice/fizzy drinks
Alcohol

That ^^^ is basically the iDave diet, more or less.

Ferriss who?