losing a belly!

What? – edit resulted in double post ??

Interesting thread.

I’ve lost about half a stone this year, but have plateaued at about 14:10-12. Keen to start the downward trend again, so have upped exerices frequency and intensity and also am starting to look a bit more carefully at diet…

Anyone considered a balanced diet?

Have lived my life believing this – but really, what is a balanced diet?

Out of interest, and based on a post ^^, I downloaded the myfitnesspal app and dialled in my details for yesterday.

Calories in = 2464
Calories out = -593 (specific exercise, not just gen calorie burn…)
Net = 1871
Goal = 1890

Not much different from what I expected – circa 2500 cal for an adult male etc.

The BIG SURPRISE was the “balance” of my dietary intake – which I thought was fairly well balanced – and also thought that as a family we don’t have a very high fat diet.

WOW – BIG ERROR
Carbs = 40%
Fats = 42% 😯
Protein = 18%

Just goes to show how far out that balanced diet can be

I have a new diet idea.

It will be called the iCaveman diet.

Rules are simple and you can eat as much as you can:

All food must be caught, dug or picked
No food can be purchased or farmed

I reckon follow that and everybody would loose weight and be fitter.

HTH

Jeepers is this still going!

I thought it was going to be a simple answer!

However, I saw a cap in the gym the other day.
Old as the hills and heavy.
His movement was stiff and restricted, while he struggled to move weights.
Is he going to be able to be active enough to lose the few excess stones in weight, he was carrying ?.

errr. i hate to generalise my ideas and everything. but are you serious? naturally if you are too old/unable to exercise then you mihgt not be able to work away a belly…

Apologies:
I’ve not read one and couldn’t give a tinkers cuss.
Apologies from some types are as hollow as they are.

Awww… I really have upset you… do you want a hug?

i simply fail to believe you can’t exercise yourself thinner.

Totally disagree – but accept it will be diffrent for everyone.

Most periods of extended exercise / really stressing my body that I have undertaken during my life have resulted in weight gain

i hate to generalise my ideas and everything.

I put it to you sir, that your comment:

i simply fail to believe you can’t exercise yourself thinner.

was a mahoosive generalisation.

😉 😉 😐 😡 😯

As molly says, we’re all different but without careful attention to diet as well as regular exercise, the weight wimply won’t shift.

rkk01.

Not all fats are bad for you and avoiding fat wouldn’t be the way I’d choose to lose weight.

Or as I read somewhere on some twitter feed…

“You can spend all day doing abs exercise but your six-pack will still be hiding behind that inch of flab” 😀

Boys, are you still stressing about your beach bodies?

You’ll be comparing spray tan soon LOL.

i hate to generalise my ideas and everything.
I put it to you sir, that your comment:

i simply fail to believe you can’t exercise yourself thinner.
was a mahoosive generalisation.

but that’s **** stupid. the fella in that example CAN’T EXERCISE. it’s akin to telling me the theory of cycling yourself fit doesn’t work cos your mate can’t ride a bike.

Boys, are you still stressing about your beach bodies?

You’ll be comparing spray tan soon LOL.
😆
Spooky, There were a few boys in the gym last Friday.
The usual chatting more than doing..
Then another walks in and its..
“Hi, how you doing, you look brown, been to Tenerife ?”
Conversation then descends into talk about tans and that one of their absent crew, has had an injection.
Getting injected to get tanned.
FFS, its the world and its going MAD.

DD.
I am in awe of your clarity and observations on the topic.
Have you swollowed an iKnowledge pill ?.

Wind your neck in Nick.

The point stands.

Exercise, alone, isn’t the sustainable solution to reducing body fat.
In my humble opinion and experience.

Establish good habits as early as possible and reap the rewards.

but that’s **** stupid

It’s not. Honestly. (and I’m not looking for an argument)

Diet should be all about eating healthily and keeping simple carbs to a minimum, and at least replacing some of them for more complex carbs. Small steps…replace white for brown stuff etc. Cut out sugar as much as possible.

Exercise should be about getting out there and feeling good about life.

If you exercise simply to lose weight, you will end up feeling disappointed…and we know what happens when we feel disappointed don’t we? We eat biscuits and cake. 🙂

Solo, Yeti and I have been doing protein shots – brainfood, if you like.

Totally disagree – but accept it will be diffrent for everyone.

Most periods of extended exercise / really stressing my body that I have undertaken during my life have resulted in weight gain

Stress (in the life collapsing around you sense) can have very weird effects on people’s weight – some shed weight and others gain weight (a response to hormones, AFAIK).

But, continuous heavy exercise* also creates a similar stress response. I used to ride c170 miles a week just commuting, and I never lost any weight. It clearly wasn’t the 2 hours of riding a day (which would leave me shattered and not enjoying the weekend or evening rides), but it was my diet (which involved a lot of simple carbs). At best the exercise allowed me to maintain weight, but it didn’t force automatic weight loss.

I climbed off the bike a year ago through illness (there’s a surprise) and my weight ballooned.

*I’m also of the view that this caused my heart problems.

Exercise should be about getting out there and feeling good about life.

Very well put, I like this.

Solo, Yeti and I have been doing protein shots – brainfood, if you like.
Well, at least its working for you.
😉

DD – you need to lay off the shots… with posts like that you’ll end the thread.

Stress (in the life collapsing around you sense) can have very weird effects on people’s weight

Sorry – didn’t mean stress as we tend to use in a work / lifestyle sense…

Stress, as in constantly subjecting your body to a physically demanding regimen, day in / day out.

The main examples I have experienced have been on expeditions – 6 weeks, in the wild, 100-120 lbs rucksacks, under canvas the whole time, all weathers, all food having to be packed in by re-supply relays.

Places huge demands on the body, which I’m pleased to say has always adapted relatively quickly…

…but, has always upped the overall body weight quite considerably

I would never have thought myself so “weak”, but periods of under-exercising (or in other words, being a lazy arse) coincide with periods of eating shitty food.

Coincidence? I don’t think so.

OK, back to the calories…

If calories in < calories out = GOOD

Then what sort of a daily deficit is good, without feeling utterly shit / hungry / exhausted etc?

Glitcheroo

OK, back to the calories…

If calories in < calories out = GOOD

Then what sort of a daily deficit is good, without feeling utterly shit / hungry / exhausted etc?

Molgrips.

You’re good at explaining this.

Damn, no wonder there are so many fat bastards out there.

There is no “secret” to losing weight, its simple.

There is one thing you need to know, your total daily energy expenditure* (TDEE), eat less than this and you will lose weight.

Get yourself a calorie counting app like Myfitnesspal (probably the best one)

3500 calories = 1 lbs of fat, aim for 500 calories less than your TDEE per day and you will lose roughly 1 lb a week, any more than this and you risk losing muscle too.

You will need to eat a healthy well balanced diet so your body gets the macro and micro nutrients it needs. Low calorie high fibre foods are a must (lots of vegetables, salad etc) you can eat more of them so you will feel full for longer.

Also no simple carbs, only brown grains.

* Plently of websites with calculators to work this out for you.

Also no simple carbs, only brown grains.

So, it’s not that simple then is it?

SW.

While I disagree with you on a few things.

I am curious to know how Joe Bloggs ascertians their ‘TDEE’

I’m not a science boffin.
But to know how many calories you are burning, don’t you need to know something about your VO2s, etc ?.

I’m not a science boffin.
But to know how many calories you are burning, don’t you need to know something about your VO2s, etc ?.

Online calculators will be more than accurate enough for Joe Bloggs. They obviously work on averages but most of us aren’t that different despite what we’d like to think.

I am curious to know how Joe Bloggs ascertians their ‘TDEE’

Yep – calorie estimnates for specific exercise is one thing – how much burnt for general up and down the stairs “living & breathing” stuff is a bit trickier…

Accurate Calorie Calculator

Use that, be honest about your exercise/daily activities.

If you know your body fat percentage use the Cunningham research model as its the most up to date.

Edit: Or you can just keep guessing, dismissing any info from people who try and help you, and continue to be a fat bastard.

rkk01 – how much do you weigh… my guess is you BMR will be about 1800.

SW.

Calories from Protein and calories from carbohydrate.
Dealt with in the same way within the Human body ?.

About 14st 10-12, aiming for 14st 7

ETA the myfitnesspal app gives a goal calorie intake of 1890 per day – but presumably that represents a target net of exercise / exercise fuel 😉

Yesterday:
Calories in = 2464
Calories out = -593 (specific exercise, not just gen calorie burn…)
Net = 1871
Goal = 1890

Today – cycle to work day, so calories expended through exercise will be more like 1500

Someone’s got ants* in their pants.

*complex carbs

I’d guess at 2000 for your BMR add 10% for moving around. Add another load for your exercise then knock off 15% for weight loss and the fact that you will eat more than you realise.

You could try and make it more complicated, but it won’t make things much different. I don’t beleive in over-complicating things and it’s got me pretty lean.

Solo, you don’t need to think about cutting carbs until you get to roughly 10% body fat. Until then don’t worry about macro nutrient ratios, just include a lean protein (chicken, fish etc) and some complexed carbs with every meal. A fish oil or flax seed supplement would be beneficial to get your healthy fats, or a cook with olive oil, drizzle it on your salad, you get the idea.

Honestly think that if you genuinely tried riding every other day as i’m suggesting and didn’t lose any weight, then you needed to ride more

Much as I would love to ramble through the hills every day, I have this thing called a job, and another called a family – they both require a fair bit of my attention.

I’m sure you’ve heard about my long distance commuting experiment a few years back, but it seems relevant. I was working in Bristol so I decided to cycle there from Cardiff. I managed it usually between two and four times a week for about three months (the duration of the job). I ate normally except for plenty of carb supplements to fuel the large amount of riding – using the 1g/kg/h formula, minus a bit for moderation. I rode thousands of miles and gained about 2kg.

Also, I have met quite a few people who are somewhat overweight rather than obese, and decide to get thin by hitting the gym. They got fitter, stronger and felt better, but didn’t lose weight. It’s fairly common from what I hear.

I don’t think there’s any point in separating diet and exercise when it comes to health. They are both very important, and both need to support each other to achieve your aim. By that I mean if you want to get faster you need to train and eat to support that; if you want to lose weight then you need to change what you eat and exercise to support that.

Skywalker – I’m very sceptical that the average calculators are much use, to be honest. I don’t think the average Joe Bloggs is the most common Joe Bloggs – the mean is not helpful here. Just look at the enormous diversity of body types we see irrespective of diet. Plenty of tremendously skinny people who eat like crap and don’t exercise, and plenty of people who do a lot of exercise and are still 10kg overweight. There’s a chart at the end of that article I linked to showing the massive variation in people’s genetic ability to oxidise fat – so much so that it showed obese couch potatoes with the same fat burning ability as pro cyclists.

Also, I have met quite a few people who are somewhat overweight rather than obese, and decide to get thin by hitting the gym. They got fitter, stronger and felt better, but didn’t lose weight. It’s fairly common from what I hear.

That’s because a lot of people are under the impression that if they exercise they can eat as much as they want, which is pretty dumb.

You can always out eat your TDEE, in which case you will obviously not lose weight, you will put it on.

I think that many people who start exercising more, ‘believe’ they’re not eating more.

Skywalker – I’m very sceptical that the average calculators are much use, to be honest. I don’t think the average Joe Bloggs is the most common Joe Bloggs – the mean is not helpful here. Just look at the enormous diversity of body types we see irrespective of diet. Plenty of tremendously skinny people who eat like crap and don’t exercise, and plenty of people who do a lot of exercise and are still 10kg overweight. There’s a chart at the end of that article I linked to showing the massive variation in people’s genetic ability to oxidise fat – so much so that it showed obese couch potatoes with the same fat burning ability as pro cyclists.

Figuring out if you are an ectomorph, mesomorph or endomorph isn’t exactly difficult!

The calculators are pretty accurate, especially the ones that take your body fat percentage into consideration like the Cunningham research model.

Its pretty simple. Use it, eat the amount it says, if it works then fine, if not make adjustments.

Its definitely better than guessing that’s for sure.

Solo, you don’t need to think about cutting carbs until you get to roughly 10% body fat. Until then don’t worry about macro nutrient ratios, just include a lean protein (chicken, fish etc) and some complexed carbs with every meal. A fish oil or flax seed supplement would be beneficial to get your healthy fats, or a cook with olive oil, drizzle it on your salad, you get the idea

Whatever.
I’m not debating that with you.
You’ve jumped straight to Carbs, blah, blah.

You posted:
aim for 500 calories less than your TDEE per day and you will lose
roughly 1 lb a week,

I’m simply asking about Calories and their source and whether there is a difference, in your opinion.

Once we establish that not all sources of calories are handled the same.
Then we might reflect on how useful the advise of running a calorie deficit is, esp, wrt sustainability.
Or, maybe not.
😉

That’s because a lot of people are under the impression that if they exercise they can eat as much as they want, which is pretty dumb.

TSY to the forum… Oh !, hang on.