Weight Problem

devon inbred

I have a bit of a dilema with which i need a little help i am more than a little over weight but i still have a very good base level of fitness i routinely complete 15 to 30 mile mountain bike rides and compete in enduros a couple of times a year, so fitness is not a problem, shifting the rack of tyres around my waist is despite adjusting what and how much i eat i dont seem to be able to shift the weight.
i have spoke to a few friends one of which is a nutritional nut? and he has recomended argenine as an aid to help me shift the fat, but i am apprehensive about taking any pills.
can any one help?

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Simon K

An hour in the woods cures a day in the office!

Nicko71

I'm not sure pills are really necessary fo 99.9% of people.

But I would suggest reducing carbohydrate intake!!

Over the years I have tended to simply eat too much - rather than eating an excessive amount of fatty foods etc.!!The biggest weight losses I have achieved however, have been through cutting out breads most importantly, but also reducing pasta, and even rice!!

I can eat fairly big meals with veges meat and a little bit of carbohydrate and combined with some good mileage, I seem to lose a bit of weight. The other advantage of eating low carbohydrate diets I think is that if you have along race on the weekend, you can have a carbohydrate loading, towards the end of the week, and the body seems to really respond!!

cheers and good luck

J-MAT

devon inbred:

There are two basic choices here.

One is to do more of your rides at higher intensity. The harder you ride the more calories you burn period.

Second, cut down on your portions. This is one of the best ways to lose weight.

It's overly harsh psycologically for most people to omit food they normally love to eat in order to lose weight. Eat normally, but eat less instead. Don't skip meals, and don't eat late at night. If you drink, cut down on alcohol.

Pills and the like aren't going to work. If they really did work, fitness centers around the world would be out of business overnight, since the vast majority of humans don't like to do any exercise. Save your money.

Since there are about 3500 calories in a pound of fat, if you cut out 500 calories a day, that's one pound of fat loss per week, or 52 lbs a year.

Good luck!!!

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patch70

I agree with Nicko71. Reduce the carbs, especially after lunch. The carbs you eat late in the day will not get burned. When you sleep, your metabolic rate slows and so all those calories will have to be stored (as more fat). If you have a lower carb intake, your pancreas makes less insulin. One effect of insulin is to encourage fat deposition.

Also, aim for long rides (ie several hours) with your heart rate at 65 - 75% of maximum.

ric_stern/RST

This is just a myth about the time of day you should eat carbohydrates. The *only* thing that is important is the actual amount of energy that you consume. Eat more than you need and you gain weight, eat the correct amount and yiour weight stays the same, eat less than your needs and you lose weight.

Carbohydrates are particularly important for cyclists (and all athletes) as most exercise levels burn a good percentage of carbohydrates.

The idea of pancreas producing too much insulin and encouraging fat deposition is just incorrect. It's vitally important that you produce the insulin and your carbs are stored (primarily as muscle and liver glycogen). It's only an excess amount of energy that is stored as fat.

There aren't any supplements available that allow you to lose weight (there are actually some, but these all have very negative side effects) and certainly there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that arginine increases fat loss.

To loose weight you need to create a negative energy balance. This can be done by upping your training (volume, intensity, frequency or a mixture of), decreasing your food intake, or a combination of the two.

Each ~0.5 kg (1 lb) of fat is ~ 3500 kcal, thus a daily negative energy balance of ~ 500 kcal is needed to loose ~ 0.5 kg / 1lb of fat per week. For people who are moderately overweight or only need to loose a few kg this is a sensible amount to aim for.

You should aim to cut out some of the less desirable foods out of your diet, e.g., cakes, chocolate, candy, excess alcohol consumption, fatty foods (e.g., pies, crisps/chips, etc) and sugary foods (e.g., sugar, sweets, etc), whilst increasing your intake of starchy low fat type foods (e.g., pasta, rice, veg, fruit, lean meats, bread, etc).

Remember, if you want to train (especially regularly for fitness, racing or weight loss) you *need* carbohydrates.

Ric

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HellonWheels

What Ric Stern said is 100% correct!
BTW Ric, you have a great website, just looked at it.

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ric_stern/RST

Thanks, glad you like it!

Ric

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patch70

>This is just a myth about the time of day you should eat carbohydrates. The *only* thing that is important is the actual amount of energy that you consume. Eat more than you need and you gain weight, eat the correct amount and yiour weight stays the same, eat less than your needs and you lose weight.

As stated in the other thread, go and watch type 2 diabetics when they are put on insulin injections for the first time.

There is more to it that just energy balance. Yes cyclists need carbohydrates. But if your goal is weight loss, then reducing carbs, particularly late in the day will make a difference. This can be done without affecting your cycling training. Before a long ride, do carbo loading the night and morning before the ride. On days where you are either doing light sessions or not riding, then cut right back on the carbs particularly the night time ones.

This type of diet (ie no carbs after lunch) is followed by many body-builders to avoid fat gain and loss of definition. I have seen it work in many endurance athletes also provided they do eat sufficient carbs leading up to longer rides or races.

ric_stern/RST

Originally posted by patch70, i responded with >>

>This is just a myth about the time of day you should eat carbohydrates. The *only* thing that is important is the actual amount of energy that you consume. Eat more than you need and you gain weight, eat the correct amount and yiour weight stays the same, eat less than your needs and you lose weight.

As stated in the other thread, go and watch type 2 diabetics when they are put on insulin injections for the first time.

>>eh!? since when were we talking about diabetics?



There is more to it that just energy balance. Yes cyclists need carbohydrates. But if your goal is weight loss, then reducing carbs, particularly late in the day will make a difference. This can be done without affecting your cycling training.

>>sorry, but this is utter rubbish. there is no evidence to support this.

Before a long ride, do carbo loading the night and morning before the ride. On days where you are either doing light sessions or not riding, then cut right back on the carbs particularly the night time ones.

>>assuming we aren't talking about people with certain diseases this is rubbish!

This type of diet (ie no carbs after lunch) is followed by many body-builders to avoid fat gain and loss of definition. I have seen it work in many endurance athletes also provided they do eat sufficient carbs leading up to longer rides or races.

>>and since when were body building and cycling similar? lots of body builders take drugs to cut the fat as well, but i hope you don't advocate that?

Ric

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