[Closed] weight loss advice

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It's not as simple as burning more calories than you take in, as if you drop your calorie intake too low when doing a lot of exercise it has been shown to be counter-productive, and the weight loss can stop, due to slowing down the metabolism.
It might alter the efficiency and physical symptoms that you see, but it won't stop the weight loss, otherwise no-one would ever starve to death You could try telling that theory to the concentration-camp veterans, they were really committed to the lie of severe weight loss while staved and made to exercise

The show I saw it on was a weight loss show and the people had dropped their calorie intake to around 600 calories a day, thinking that the less they take in the less they then have to burn off, but their weight loss plateaued. The trainer told them that because they were working out around 6 hours a day, they needed to take in at least 2000 calories a day to keep their metabolism working properly.

I'm only passing on what I heard, and it depends on circumstances, but its things like this that show it isnt as simple as often made out.

I wouldn't be able to get out of bed with 600 calories a day! did someone say donuts?

I was in the same position and couldnt lose the weight. Hit 15 stone 10 and decided to join. They work out how many points you need by means of a simple calculation using age, height and weight. Foods (except certain veg) and drinks are awarded a points value for a given portion and you eat what you want until you reach your daily points allowance.

Lost a stone in 6 weeks and my eating habits have changed. If i want a sweet or a takeaway, then i have it and deduct it from my points allowance. If I exceed my daily allowance then I use less for the rest of the week so it balances out.

molgrips - Member

Taz, that makes sense but I'm training 4 or 5 times a week usually... I kind of do what you said, but supplementing using carb and recovery drinks rather than big meals.

Have you stopped to work out how much sugar you are having a week? If you are having a couple of litres of maltodexrtrin based energy drinks and a litre of maltodextrin based recovery drink you could be getting thru more than half a kilo of sugar a week - maybe even a kilo

Blimey look at all this lot...

Long story short, I exercise too much and don't eat enough (mostly, although I'm working on it) I run maybe 30-40km a week, sometimes more, it's hard to tell, as now I'm running 'hours' rather than distances, and will regularly do 90km off road or 125k on road as well. My calorie intake according to my log over the last 7 days is 1700 give or take. Trust me, the weight falls off..

nickc - same problem here, i'm doing upwards of 25hrs a week of training at the mo with some big weeks where its 30+. I have 3 meal drinks a day as well as meals, between meal meals and snacks a plenty. Nuts, tuna, cold baked tatties etc to munch on. Can barely keep my weight on. Yes its a lot of training (and its running, trekking, kayaking and biking road/mtb). The occasional creme egg falls in and i drink beer 2 nights a week 🙂

for me, i cut out sugar about 6mths into when i started biking and the weight dropped off.....so much to the point friends thought i had an eating disorder!

the biking element helped me to tone up at the end of the day - i only get a chance to do any once every other week.

so the key is healthy eating (treats of junk food now and again!), a bit of exercise and patience 😉

I agree with the last few posts and is basically the same as Im doing although I write down everything I eat. Being a driving instructor doesnt help either because the hours dont leave that much time for training or allow set meal times !!!

Oh yeah and I don't drink.

[i]Oh yeah and I don't drink. [/i]

Thats cheating! 🙂

TJ, why should I believe you and not qualified and experienced sports fitness professionals?

The 'sugar' (actually maltodextrin, but ok) I consume is to replace the carbs I use whilst training. I usually take slighly less than the typical amount, so that'd be say three scoops in an hour. This is about 280 calories. If I am exercising hard then I might be using up 700 calories an hour, so you see there is a negative energy balance. Of course, if I didn't take the carbs I'd be needing to eat more to keep up the training (from practical experience).

Let me ask you something TJ - have you ever tried training for performance, rather than just riding for pleasure?

molgrips, for performance, yes these things can help, but I have a mouth full of fillings from years of using sports drinks in the early 90's when the link with dental health hadn't been made.... don't forget your toothbrush

also from a cost point of view, 50/50 water and orange juice with a pinch of salt and you have something as effective as a commercial sports drink.

Molgrips - just think how much sugar you are consuming. Maltodextrin is a mix of sugars.

How much in total a week? How big are these scoops?

Yes if you didn't take all that sugar you would need to eat more - but a balanced diet is much better for you.

You wonder why you don't lose weight.

TJ you are really getting on my tits now. You seem completely unable to process what I am saying.

When you eat pure carbs whilst riding, you are just replacing the energy you use at a point where it goes straight to your muscles as fast as possible. When you come home and stuff your face, you are also getting extra fat which you don't need, and it'll be harder to digest which means you won't get the carbs to your muscles for an hour or two.

Yes if you didn't take all that sugar you would need to eat more

So where does the weight loss come into it then?

And I do lose weight when training. I have managed f*ck all training this year due to lifestyle problems, which is why I am not losing weight currently.

Hey, TC's recommendation also has a lot of sugar in it - why don't you tell him he's wrong too?

Listen - I'm begging you. Please please please just LISTEN to what I am saying! Why do you just ignore everything I have to say? I mean come on. Are you the world's expert? Have you got huge experience in training nutrition? Where does your body of information come from? (please note I am not claiming to be an expert, but I have read aroudn the subject a fair bit and been coached). You're not even refuting my points, you are just telling me that sugar is bad. I'm not even drinking sugar!

TC - yep.. althogh I buy plan unflavoured maltodextrin powder at something like £15 for 5kg which works out at 22p/litre.. I find it hard to drink watered down OJ for some reason too.