Start smoking - End of thread.
Personally the not eating before exercise thing doesn't work for me at all it just means I feel like crap doing the exercise (unless its very minimal) then get insanely hungry afterwards.
I think there's a degree of adaption involved. I used to be fuelled almost entirely by carbs it seems, and I had the same issues as you. I could never conceive of riding without breakfast. However, after iDieting it for a bit, and doing some rides following the 45 minute rule, it started to get much better.
I still don't think I can be quite as free from fast carbs as some folk manage though - I'm calling it genetics.
[i]I dispute that it's MORE important than exercise.[/i]
And there you are calling other people [i]ignorant[/i] 🙄
Diet is very important, we all agree on this. Furthermore, diet, eating food, is an habitual behaviour. We tend to go back to eating foods from quite a short list of foods we have come to prefer. However, those preferences aren't always very [i]healthy[/i] or conducive to maintaining a good B/F %. So establishing good habits, establishing a tendancy to choose to eat the right foods, dare I say it, [i]healthy[/i] foods. Is more important than exercise.
A good diet will nourish your body as it requires, a good diet will reduce systemic inflammation and bring your body into a better state of homeostasis. Its not just about Strava, diet is about nourishing your body correctly. Then, left to its own devices, on a good diet, a person's body should enjoy a moderate B/F %, when everything is working correctly ! on a good diet, you should't be over weight.
That's why diet is important, because, no matter how active you are, throughout different stages in your life. If you are nourishing your body correctly, you shouldn't suffer excessive B/F.
Now, that your diet is sorted, one shouldn't overlook that exercise is an important facet of daily life. We're designed to move about a bit, and theres lots of evidence that its really quite good for us.
Exercise is an essential addition to a life lead while consuming a good diet. And on a good diet, a person should be able to sustain a moderate level of exercise, enough to again support a good degree of physical [i]health[/i].
So, that ^^ is about people who, imo, should seek to eat well and exercise a bit in order to enjoy a [i]healthy[/i] lifestyle.
I am not describing people who wish to enter competition. This is a different goal which requires a different strategy. looking at specific dietary needs and specific structuring of exercise / training programs to achieve a certain level of physical performance to enable a person to compete.
Now, as per the title of this thread, the subject is about controlling or reducing body fat. Therefore I suggest that diet be the first port of call, supplemented with exercise.
To suggest that a poor diet is of no matter, so long as exercise is elevated into the stratosphere is cobblers !
😀
Most people call it cake....
Ofc it's about calories in vs calories out. HIIT raising BMR post-exercise is still part of that equation.
2300 is too much for the amount of exercise you're doing given that you're trying to lose weight. What you cut that down to depends on a lot of factors but no harm in reducing it gradually (say to 2000 for a couple of weeks and see how you get on).
There still seems a lot of crap being typed about burning fat to, that's irrelevant for someone trying to lose weight - it's burning calories that matters. The fat burning zone is NOT about burning fat for weight loss it's about training the efficiency of your fat burning so you don't have to switch to carbs as your exercise fuel source.
You still use fat anyway at higher intensities, you just use less as a percentage of meeting your energy requirement as your body starts burning more carbs to keep up with the demands.
I'd say try and get three sessions in a week, one 3-5 hour ride at the weekend at a steady pace, one 2 x 20min interval session mid week (overall session is about an hour inc. warm-up & down) and one HIIT interval session (using a tabata protocol or similar) so can be done in under 30 mins. Just make sure you have at least one rest day between the interval sessions. If you feel fine doing that on 2000 calories then maybe try dropping more but if you feel hanging then don't add more calories too readily - switching to interval training takes a while for your body to adapt anyway so can feel rough no matter how much you're eating.
To suggest that a poor diet is of no matter, so long as exercise is elevated into the stratosphere is cobblers !
That's why I'm not suggesting it!
FuzzyWuzzy's advice is mostly good, but don't overlook the type of calories you are eating. 2000 calories of 50% fat, 40% protein and 10% carbs will have a very different effect on your body and your riding than 10% fat, 30% protein and 50% carbs.
[i]I dispute that it's MORE important than exercise.[/i]
weight loss is about 60% diet and 30% exercise
I'm intrigued... what's the other 10%?weight loss is about 60% diet and 30% exercise
[i][s]weight[/s] [b]Fat[/b] loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise[/i]
🙂
[i]Ofc it's about calories in vs calories out. HIIT raising BMR post-exercise is still part of that equation.[/i]
To achieve what ?
[i]There still seems a lot of crap being typed about burning fat to, that's irrelevant for someone trying to lose weight[/i]
Very relevant though for a thread titled
"[i][b]Another "why am I fat" thread...[/b][/i]"
[i]it's burning calories that matters.[/i]
Surely the source of those calories is important ?, ie, to source as many spent calories as you can, from your fat deposits, ie, reduce your body fat.
I'm intrigued... what's the other 10%?
Arguing on the internet will push your heart rate and metabolism up enough to account for that. 🙂
@solo:
To achieve what ?
To burn more calories...
As for the rest - the important thing is to create a calorie deficit, you'll then lose the fat stores anyway - you don't need to specifically target burning fat during the exercise. In fact that can be detrimental to weight loss, especially to someone with a limited amount of time to exercise as if, for example, they only have 5 hours a week to train they'll burn a lot more calories from doing the 3 sessions I posted earlier than just doing 5 hours z2 and they'll lose weight faster as a result.
the important thing is to create a calorie deficit, you'll then lose the fat stores anyway
Yeah but your body could make that much harder for you if you have lots of insulin floating around your blood stream.
Nice one fuzzywuzzy. What about leading up to an endurance event though? I don't want to lead the thread into something specific about this, but I'm doing BORS on May 12 (132k MTB. It strikes me that during the tapering week I should be eating more cals in order to load up and forget the diet for a bit.
Or should I?
zilog6128 - Member
I'm intrigued... what's the other 10%?
Nothing special, and certainly not a "one size fits all answer": that "other" is personal and varies for individuals.
Could include drugs, hormone levels, stress, ...
Won't be exactly 10% for everyone, but it's a near enough figure.
The point was that diet's most important, exercise next, but there can be other significant factors too.
[i]To burn more calories...[/i]
where are the calories coming from ? baring in mind that there are more cals stored in fat per unit of weight than in protein or carbohydrates.
Also, the OP wants to lose some B/F, hence the phrase in the thread title "[i]why am I fat[/i]".
[i]you don't need to specifically target burning fat during the exercise.[/i]
The OP wants to reduce B/F. What else do we want to be [i]burning[/i] ?
[i]In fact that can be detrimental to weight loss[/i]
You're saying burning fat is detrimental to losing weight. So if you're not burning fat, in order to lose weight, what are you [i]burning[/i] so as to lose weight ?.
Not withstanding that the OP wants to lose.... some body fat.
🙂
Indeed ^^.
This describes me perfectly:
I'm that annoying "skinny fat" where I look fine with clothes on but without I have a fair bit of fat lurking on the stomach...
Did I mention I've a 36" waist? 😯
Kryton57: Are you me?
SaxonRider - Member
Kryton57: Are you me?
I don't know, *looks in mirror* maybe?
Embarrasingly last night I picked up a pair of club bibs from a guy the same size as me. He wanted rid becasue they were to saggy around his waist. The fitted me perfectly. 😐
I must admit, after 2 days with lower carbs (yet still clean) I'm feeling a bit more "awake" than has usually been of late.
I'm following this thread with interest. I started a diet 3 weeks ago and have lost just over a stone so far. 2 more to go. I've done it by limiting my calories to under 1000 for 5 days a week with 2 free days. Also riding 80 odd miles a week (spread over 5 days) as fast as I can courtesy of strava. Make sure that my food is good, clean basic ingredients with lots and lots of greens and lean meat.
I feel great, bloody fantastic actually. The reduction in calories only really affects me in the last hour at work where I stride round looking for things, people, anything to eat. 🙂
I suppose that my diet is one I've sort of made up with elements from a variety of others. Do other people do this or is that not a good idea?
I started with the iDiet, yossarian, and modified it to suit my riding. In fact, I have followed the general principles of reducing insulin when it's not needed, by reducing high GI foods, and to fuel the training I want to do I eat high GI foods at the right times.
It works, but my biggest issue is finding time and a routine.
If you understand the principles behind a diet or training, you can make food and exercise work for you. If you don't you have to follow the recipes to the letter I suppose. The fasting diet that people were talking about probably works for the same reasons as the iDiet does, even though the recipe is different.
Interesting that the people losing weight on this thread are doing it counting calories, and the people arguing the toss, aren't....
[quote=nickc ]Interesting that the people losing weight on this thread are doing it counting calories, and the people arguing the toss, aren't....
I'm not counting calories at all and I managed to lose 1st in around 6 weeks. I'm now happy with where I'm at and maintaining it by [i]reducing[/i] my carb intake.
If you are a stone or more overweight, the weight comes off more quickly and easily than if you only need to lose a few pounds.
Interesting that the people losing weight on this thread are doing it counting calories, and the people arguing the toss, aren't....
I lost 2stone not counting calories, I just ate better with reduced quantity.
Interesting that the people losing weight on this thread are doing it counting calories, and the people arguing the toss, aren't....
Apparently not.
Tried MFP for a while and according to it's "highly accurate knowledge of my metabolic rate and my biochemical individuality" it was telling me, based on the calories in/out move more principle, that in 4 weeks I would be lighter than I've been since I was 14 and I'm now 45. Which just didn't happen. So something is clearly wrong with that oversimplified theory (for me).
Switched over to reducing my body's insulin response, aka idiet and lost a stone in next to no time.
What is obvious from this thread is that people are understandably very positive about what works for them, but there's zero guarantee that it'll work for someone else.
[i]not counting calories, I just ate better with [b]reduced[/b] quantity. [/i]
semantics...
[i]I'm at and maintaining it by reducing my carb intake.[/i]
so, eating less..?
What is obvious from this thread is that people are understandably very positive about what works for them, but there's zero guarantee that it'll work for someone else.
Careful now, when I tried to point out that people are very different, I got accused of thinking I was 'special' and making excuses.
I'm at and maintaining it by reducing my carb intake.so, eating less..?
Eating less carbs doesn't necessarily mean eating fewer calories now does it?
[quote=nickc ]
> I'm at and maintaining it by reducing my carb intake.
so, eating less..?
No - eating [i]different[/i]. More fat, more protein, fewer carbs.
Haven't read all of this, but posting height and weight is quite meaningless. Someone could weigh 14 stone at 6 foot and be under weight, someone else could weigh 13 stone at the same height and be fat.
Get a set of these body fat calipers , measure the same way each week in the morning after you've re-hydrated (2/3 glasses of water) and after urinating. Follow same routine each week - eg weigh 30 mins after glasses of water to ensure you are hydrated.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Accu-Measure-Fitness-Personal-Tester/dp/B000G7YW74
Also take a photo front and back, and measure - particularly your waist and hips.
You can tell from the pics/body fat charts if you are over weight. Anything over 15% body fat is going to make biking hard.
Use something like training peaks to measure your calorie intake.
If your'e not losing weight, increase your exercise/reduce your calorie intake gradually and you [b]will[/b] get to a point where you will start to lose weight.
Good luck.
🙂
You can tell from the pics/body fat charts if you are over weight. Anything over 15% body fat is going to make biking hard.
My scales say 23%. That's bad then?
I think 23% is slightly above average
Fit(ish) recreation cyclists probably in the region of 15-20%
14% and below is starting into athlete turf, and the plain old skinny
🙁
[quote=Kryton57 ] 😥
Those bathroom scales are notoriously bad at getting Body Fat measurements correct - so don't be too sad. Mine have an "Athlete" setting to compensate. I reckon I've moved from around 22% to around 16% this year.
For a more accurate test.
Stand in front of a mirror, lift up your shirt and do the truffle shuffle 💡
Gauge your fat levels by how many simultaneous ripples you can achieve.
Did I mention I've a 36" waist?
I'm a 32" waist and size small in everything and I still have belly fat/spare tyre and small moobs. It's so frustrating getting rid of this last bit. The keto is working a bit, just slowly. Not sure whether to switch to the iDiet which would possibly give me more energy to ride harder/lift heavier. But then wouldn't be in ketosis due to the amount of sugar in the fruit..
Haven't read all of this, but posting height and weight is quite meaningless. Someone could weigh 14 stone at 6 foot and be under weight, someone else could weigh 13 stone at the same height and be fat.
Back to what I said on page 1 find a better measure. I have been the same height all my adult life but my weight has varied by about 15kg. When I was lean and scrawny climbing all the time I was about 70kg and thought I was as fit as I could be, few years down the line with lots of biking I'm up over 80 and still as fit as I could be having spent 7 months not working and riding my bike every other day.
The missus paid up for one of those online diet/motivation/exercise plans. I ended up doing it too in part. The food was limited to 1200 calories for women and 1500 for men, coupled with lots of exercise. The food was balanced nothing completely excluded. It worked. The most important part was actually measuring stuff. It's too easy to guess what a portion is, only to find you have eaten heaps more than you needed to. The other good point was all the food was fresh and easy to make with nothing taking more than 30mins to prepare. Kicking out the normal excuse of I don't have time.
I looked after my parents place for 2 weeks and it was full of Ice cream, biccies, cheese, wine, all the good stuff. I promptly went a bit too relaxed and ate loads of stuff that I never usually can afford or really buy, cos it WAS THERE! that, and the comfy leather sofa, blazing fire and on-demand sky telly. . Put on a few pounds of gen-eew-iine blubber, because I changed my lifestyle for a bit.
If you live my 2 week excessive type lifestyle a lot, then you'll get very fat! That's it. People have to be really honest with themselves about what they are sticking in their gob. I reckon I was downing 4000 Kcals+ a day and feeling quite cosy and happy about that. Far too easy to make too much palatable energy available to yourself and not realise it.
Spin your ass off 100rpm sub 150bpm 100km a week x 2 minimum and eat half what you normally do. Go to bed hungry and ride without any breakfast. If you're serious MTFU.
[i]I stride round looking for things, people, anything to eat.[/i]
😆
[i]If you are a stone or more overweight, the weight comes off more quickly and easily than if you only need to lose a few pounds.[/i]
Yes, well you see, B/F is your body's survival insurance policy, because famine could be '[i]around the corner[/i]' so best keep something in reserve. (remember, we are stone agers living in the space age).
That reserve is body fat and the less you have, the more difficult your body makes it to lose any more.
[i]Eating less carbs doesn't necessarily mean eating fewer calories now does it?[/i]
Ha !, Excellent. The Troll, properly pwned.
😀
[i]Those bathroom scales are notoriously bad at getting Body Fat measurements correct - so don't be too sad.[/i]
Aye, I have scales that offer to measure all types of stuff. I just stick with body weight.
[i]But then wouldn't be in ketosis due to the amount of sugar in the fruit..[/i]
iDave diet cuts out fruit cept for your day off when a bit of fruit shouldn't damage any attempt to reduce B/F.
[i]Spin your ass off 100rpm sub 150bpm 100km a week x 2 minimum and eat half what you normally do. Go to bed hungry and ride without any breakfast. If you're serious MTFU.[/i]
Ooo. Thats tough.
😉
Ah it was the standard paleo diet I got the idiet confused with. Out of interest have you tried a standard keto (or cyclical keto) diet, and if so did you find the iDiet better for losing fat?
Again it still seems that you won't be in ketosis with the carbs from the beans, chickpeas etc but then does that matter if it provides you with the energy to work harder?
I'm having ice cream with cookies crumbled in it for breakfast. That's why I'm fat.
[i]Ah it was the standard paleo diet I got the idiet confused with. Out of interest have you tried a standard keto (or cyclical keto) diet, and if so did you find the iDiet better for losing fat?[/i]
I haven't tried the Keto stuff, if you have a link to a 101 style page on it, I'd be interested to read it.
The iDave diet worked very well [b]for me[/b]. I'm not predisposed to calorie counting, so iDave diet suited me. I wasn't massively heavy in the first place, but just wanted to shed some lard. It worked.
I'm now on a kinda loose hybrid of a leangains / iDave diet / paleo themed style of diet. I exercise mostly on the bike and move weights occasionally. Its all worked out to be a change that I can happily keep going. Some weeks I slack off on the exercise, others I'm diligent. But all the while, I'm happy about what I'm doing and eating and I'm leaner now.
[i]Again it still seems that you won't be in ketosis with the carbs from the beans, chickpeas etc but then does that matter if it provides you with the energy to work harder?[/i]
That's a loaded question. As I know very little about keto diets, I can't speculate on whether its a good thing to be in a state of ketosis, most of the time (if that's how that diet works). I feel some carbs in the diet is a good thing if for no other reason that it should prevent your body from seeing and using protein as an energy / carbohydrate source via gluconeogenesis.
As for working harder, are you referring to preparation to compete ?.
If so, then imo, thats a whole new ball of string. Preparing for competition, is going require a structured and focused approach to diet and exercise, imo.
🙂
