Discussion
Well I really want to get fit and mainly lose a fair bt of weight. Here is some info that will no doubt be needed to give good advice!
24 years old
Non active job
6ft
16.8 stone
My diet -
No breakfast at all
Pasta with a tomato sauce for lunch, I'd consider it o be a large portion
Dinner varies, sometimes I have a chicken salad sometimes I have 2 burgers and chips
I eat a lot of snacks, pack of revels once a day, at least one kebab a week etc
It goes without saying that I need to change my diet quite dramatically.
The main thing I want to discuss is the exercise.
Now I plan to cycle 6-7 days a week starting at around an hour and building it up by going further in that hour.
Any tips at all?
It's a MTB I've got and will be doing a mix of road riding and riding in the woods.
Thanks in advance guys
24 years old
Non active job
6ft
16.8 stone
My diet -
No breakfast at all
Pasta with a tomato sauce for lunch, I'd consider it o be a large portion
Dinner varies, sometimes I have a chicken salad sometimes I have 2 burgers and chips
I eat a lot of snacks, pack of revels once a day, at least one kebab a week etc
It goes without saying that I need to change my diet quite dramatically.
The main thing I want to discuss is the exercise.
Now I plan to cycle 6-7 days a week starting at around an hour and building it up by going further in that hour.
Any tips at all?
It's a MTB I've got and will be doing a mix of road riding and riding in the woods.
Thanks in advance guys
OneDs said:
An hour on a bike is a start but you really need to be riding for two hrs at a time to have a big impact on weight loss. Going faster will make you fitter and stronger but not have a huge impact on fat reduction.
2 hours for fat loss? I think that 30 minutes of interval training will be just as productive towards fat loss and will likely be a period of time which is sustainable by the OP. Your overweight because of your diet
1. Eat breakfast
2. Cut the snacks
3. Be sensible with main meals and instead of eating a bowl of pasta with sauce, eat some meat with a small portion of pasta.
4. Bike will be good for you, I think anything over 30 mins at a time is enough (I lost two stone from my commuting and it's only 40 mins each way)
1. Eat breakfast
2. Cut the snacks
3. Be sensible with main meals and instead of eating a bowl of pasta with sauce, eat some meat with a small portion of pasta.
4. Bike will be good for you, I think anything over 30 mins at a time is enough (I lost two stone from my commuting and it's only 40 mins each way)
OneDs said:
An hour on a bike is a start but you really need to be riding for two hrs at a time to have a big impact on weight loss. Going faster will make you fitter and stronger but not have a huge impact on fat reduction.
Anything which bumps up the metabolism will be just fine, if combined with the right attention to the diet (which would seem to be the main issue).There's no need for that to be hours & hours on a bike - I'd guess that an hour 2-3 times a week would be sufficient in the short-medium term, if not just trundling along and combined with a concerted effort on the diet front.
Seti said:
OneDs said:
An hour on a bike is a start but you really need to be riding for two hrs at a time to have a big impact on weight loss. Going faster will make you fitter and stronger but not have a huge impact on fat reduction.
2 hours for fat loss? I think that 30 minutes of interval training will be just as productive towards fat loss and will likely be a period of time which is sustainable by the OP. 2 hrs faster/harder wins easily on more total calories burned.
DON'T GO MAD!!
The biggest mistake most people make is going totally banzai. They'll only eat two pieces of lettuce once a week, and take on a ridiculous exercise routine from having done nothing whatsoever for many years. Their body lets them get away with for a short period of time, and then says "no thanks" and gets injured or psychologically chucks in the towel. If you try to change everything at once then you are highly likely to give up, and revert to where you were - which is gaining weight over time, when what you want to do is lose weight over time. That means changing your routine, and the habits that govern your day to day life.
Start by eating breakfast. It should probably be the biggest meal of the day in terms of calorie intake. Think about slow burn calories like brown bread, whole grain cereals etc. By all means start riding a bike but don't worry about how far, or how fast you are going. BUT you have to do it regularly, by which I mean at least 3 times a week initially. Once you have established some good habits keep doing them, and then build on them, by cutting something else out of your diet, or moving to 4 cycling sessions a week, aiming for a better average speed, riding further etc etc.
Most people, when they embark on a "diet", or "get healthy" binge think that they can do it for a few weeks/months and then revert to their old ways, so the weight goes straight back on again. It took you many years to get to 16 odd stone, so think about it taking a similar period of time to get it back off again. If you can change your lifestyle you will feel fitter, stronger, be healthier and add back some of those years to your life that you are currently not likely to see.
The biggest mistake most people make is going totally banzai. They'll only eat two pieces of lettuce once a week, and take on a ridiculous exercise routine from having done nothing whatsoever for many years. Their body lets them get away with for a short period of time, and then says "no thanks" and gets injured or psychologically chucks in the towel. If you try to change everything at once then you are highly likely to give up, and revert to where you were - which is gaining weight over time, when what you want to do is lose weight over time. That means changing your routine, and the habits that govern your day to day life.
Start by eating breakfast. It should probably be the biggest meal of the day in terms of calorie intake. Think about slow burn calories like brown bread, whole grain cereals etc. By all means start riding a bike but don't worry about how far, or how fast you are going. BUT you have to do it regularly, by which I mean at least 3 times a week initially. Once you have established some good habits keep doing them, and then build on them, by cutting something else out of your diet, or moving to 4 cycling sessions a week, aiming for a better average speed, riding further etc etc.
Most people, when they embark on a "diet", or "get healthy" binge think that they can do it for a few weeks/months and then revert to their old ways, so the weight goes straight back on again. It took you many years to get to 16 odd stone, so think about it taking a similar period of time to get it back off again. If you can change your lifestyle you will feel fitter, stronger, be healthier and add back some of those years to your life that you are currently not likely to see.
peopel often quote the old adage that breakfast is the most important/biggest meal of the day and it no longer holds true. it was fine when we all worked in manual labour in the fields or down't pit but habits and working patterns have changed dramatically so there is no point loading up in the morning just to sit at your desk. breakfast should ideally be something small and light, cereals are good because they offer a mix of slow and fast burning calories, something to pick you up immediately and something to keep you going until your 10am banana 
more fruit when you are hungry in the afternoon. i just dont get peopel who say they dont like fruit. there is so much variety that there is something for everyone. peaches, nectarines, plums...
you need to reduce the carbs you take on at lunch, salad and chicken or fish is ideal. if you just eat pasta, and again sit back down at a desk, you are loaded up on carbs and doing nothing to burn them off. salad is pretty cheap, i worked out that a friend who was paying £4 per day on shop soup and pre-packaged anemic looking sandwich was paying about £5 more than me and i was eating fresh salad with nice added things like chicken breast, croutons etc
for your sweet tooth, just try to find a healthier alternative, i have a bag of raisens, peanuts and choclate chips. if thats not enough, mix in a bag of sweets too and munch on that throughout the week. have a look at the go ahead bars or something like that, the fruit filling is pretty sweet but they are ok.
as for training, running and cycling are great fat burners. as others have siad, interval training is ideal (quite simply, moderate, slow, fast, moderate, slow fast.....for 30 mins) but mixing it up with a run before and after is a great way of really pushing yourself. you will push yourself harder if you are in a group, try spinning classes or run/cycle with some mates. finally, dont be surprised if you start eating more if you start training hard, its natural, just make sure what you are putting in is the right fuel!
finally, although kebabs alone are bad its the x pints before hand that could be the bigger problem. alcohol is full of calories...
more fruit when you are hungry in the afternoon. i just dont get peopel who say they dont like fruit. there is so much variety that there is something for everyone. peaches, nectarines, plums...you need to reduce the carbs you take on at lunch, salad and chicken or fish is ideal. if you just eat pasta, and again sit back down at a desk, you are loaded up on carbs and doing nothing to burn them off. salad is pretty cheap, i worked out that a friend who was paying £4 per day on shop soup and pre-packaged anemic looking sandwich was paying about £5 more than me and i was eating fresh salad with nice added things like chicken breast, croutons etc
for your sweet tooth, just try to find a healthier alternative, i have a bag of raisens, peanuts and choclate chips. if thats not enough, mix in a bag of sweets too and munch on that throughout the week. have a look at the go ahead bars or something like that, the fruit filling is pretty sweet but they are ok.
as for training, running and cycling are great fat burners. as others have siad, interval training is ideal (quite simply, moderate, slow, fast, moderate, slow fast.....for 30 mins) but mixing it up with a run before and after is a great way of really pushing yourself. you will push yourself harder if you are in a group, try spinning classes or run/cycle with some mates. finally, dont be surprised if you start eating more if you start training hard, its natural, just make sure what you are putting in is the right fuel!
finally, although kebabs alone are bad its the x pints before hand that could be the bigger problem. alcohol is full of calories...
As RockSteadyEddie says, a diet is for life not just for a beach holiday.
"Quick result" diets are largely a waste of time, you lose the weight, you put it straight back on again (and more).
You get disillusioned and reach the conclusion (ie excuse) that you've got a slow metabolism, an over-active fat gene (it's actually an over-active fork arm) or that fatness runs in the family (this is often true; overeating parents usually create overeating offspring by inappropriate feeding).
My wife has tried at least 50 diets and found them all lacking/unsustainable.
Until now.
She's been on the puzzlingly deceptive named "17 Day Diet" for just short of ten weeks and has gone from 12st 7lbs to 10st 6lbs.
She KNOWS that she will reach her target weight of 9st 7lbs comfortably within eight weeks.
She says she's never hungry and is eating more enjoyably than before.
Two periods of exercise a day are recommended.
Again as mentioned by RS Eddie, breakfast is very important and should be of the "slow burn" nature, carbs can only be eaten at certain times (preferably not after 2pm) and in general, all eating should be done before 7pm.
While you can loosen-up at the weekend, six pints and a kebab doesn't figure too highly.
In the final analysis, the fundamental of dieting is simple and obvious; If you use more calories than you eat you WILL lose weight, if you don't you won't.
Simples.
Disclaimer.
I am not a dietician - a fact that can be substantiated by a quick look at my arse.
The foregoing is based on the somewhat tenuous premise that my wife used to be a bit of a porker but thanks to the 17 day diet she isn't any more (and I miss some of it).
The fact that she found it necessary to spend three hundred and something quid (that I know about) on Saturday proves two things; 1) The diet works
2) Her credit card no longer does
The fact that this is being typed one-handed while I devour a sausage bacon and egg sandwich in no way compromises the efficacy of The 17 Day Diet.
"Quick result" diets are largely a waste of time, you lose the weight, you put it straight back on again (and more).
You get disillusioned and reach the conclusion (ie excuse) that you've got a slow metabolism, an over-active fat gene (it's actually an over-active fork arm) or that fatness runs in the family (this is often true; overeating parents usually create overeating offspring by inappropriate feeding).
My wife has tried at least 50 diets and found them all lacking/unsustainable.
Until now.
She's been on the puzzlingly deceptive named "17 Day Diet" for just short of ten weeks and has gone from 12st 7lbs to 10st 6lbs.
She KNOWS that she will reach her target weight of 9st 7lbs comfortably within eight weeks.
She says she's never hungry and is eating more enjoyably than before.
Two periods of exercise a day are recommended.
Again as mentioned by RS Eddie, breakfast is very important and should be of the "slow burn" nature, carbs can only be eaten at certain times (preferably not after 2pm) and in general, all eating should be done before 7pm.
While you can loosen-up at the weekend, six pints and a kebab doesn't figure too highly.
In the final analysis, the fundamental of dieting is simple and obvious; If you use more calories than you eat you WILL lose weight, if you don't you won't.
Simples.
Disclaimer.
I am not a dietician - a fact that can be substantiated by a quick look at my arse.
The foregoing is based on the somewhat tenuous premise that my wife used to be a bit of a porker but thanks to the 17 day diet she isn't any more (and I miss some of it).
The fact that she found it necessary to spend three hundred and something quid (that I know about) on Saturday proves two things; 1) The diet works
2) Her credit card no longer does
The fact that this is being typed one-handed while I devour a sausage bacon and egg sandwich in no way compromises the efficacy of The 17 Day Diet.
Thanks so far guys!
May I ask why breakfast is so important?
As said I have an office job so don't 'need' the energy to get me through work, my first bit of food is always lunch, never snack etc in the morning.
The way I'm seeing it is I am not replacing snacky food that I eat in the morning with a healthy breakfast, all I'm doing is adding calories into my diet, does this make sense?
May I ask why breakfast is so important?
As said I have an office job so don't 'need' the energy to get me through work, my first bit of food is always lunch, never snack etc in the morning.
The way I'm seeing it is I am not replacing snacky food that I eat in the morning with a healthy breakfast, all I'm doing is adding calories into my diet, does this make sense?
pablo said:
you need to reduce the carbs you take on at lunch, salad and chicken or fish is ideal. if you just eat pasta, and again sit back down at a desk, you are loaded up on carbs and doing nothing to burn them off.
Just a general carb reduction without going all Atkins works well. I've changed very little about my diet and weekends are still free-for-all (and the scales tell me so on Monday mornings).What I have done is reduce carbs in the evenings by about 75%. Mostly we'll have a salad with cooked meats and pasta/potato salad, etc but Meat/Fish and a large portion of greens works as well.
It's not the way to go for a fast reduction but slow and steady and still enjoying life is worth it.
OP - if you really want to kick start things totally nerf your carb intake for 5 days. You can still ahve big portions but just avoid the pasta, bread, rice and potato.
Original Poster said:
May I ask why breakfast is so important?
There's an old saying "Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince, dine like a pauper". The theory runs (although as Pablo says has been refuted recently) that if you go to bed on a full stomach, your body doesn't work it off, and is more readily stored as fat. I prefer the theory that at breakfast time you have not eaten for between 10-12 hours and therefore your body is crying out for food. It's the flip side of exercising before breakfast which turbo-charges your metabolism for the day. In the same way little and often is a much better way of eating than "three square meals a day" although you have to be careful you're not eating just as much at meal times and then piling snacks on top.
Original Poster said:
Thanks so far guys!
May I ask why breakfast is so important?
As said I have an office job so don't 'need' the energy to get me through work, my first bit of food is always lunch, never snack etc in the morning.
The way I'm seeing it is I am not replacing snacky food that I eat in the morning with a healthy breakfast, all I'm doing is adding calories into my diet, does this make sense?
You do realise your brain needs calories function don't you - that's why breakfast is important. Another thing that you need to think about is that if you're dehydrated you tend to feel hungry, so make sure you drink plenty of water.May I ask why breakfast is so important?
As said I have an office job so don't 'need' the energy to get me through work, my first bit of food is always lunch, never snack etc in the morning.
The way I'm seeing it is I am not replacing snacky food that I eat in the morning with a healthy breakfast, all I'm doing is adding calories into my diet, does this make sense?
Re the exercise, do not start with hour sessions 6-7 times a week. You'll be sick of it within a week.
The key goal of maintaining a routine is for it to be fun at the start so that you don't end up resenting every second you spend on the bike. I would seriously recommend you do only 30 minutes twice during the week and one 1hour ride at the weekend for a couple of weeks. You need to finish the ride and feel like you could do some more when you first start. Getting off the bike having bonked is a sure fire way to put you off. After 2-3 weeks, increase your duration to 45mins and then after another couple of weeks to an hour, with commensurately longer weekend rides. Your weight loss will be slow doing this but, trust me, you will stand a greater chance of stiking with it.
Eventually your body will start to crave exercise and you can start to push yourself - you'll find that you want to start fitting in additional sessions, rather than forcing yourself. The carrot is always better than the stick when it comes to sustaining an exercise programme.
Edited by rhinochopig on Monday 22 August 10:18
cycling alone will not fix your body fat issue, exercise is inefficient for body fat burning when compared to a good diet.
Problem with trying to get a good diet... We are SO used to quick fix fast carbs and processed grains etc., that a good proper diet that doesn't overload us with unnecessary carbs and sugars is difficult to swallow (pun intended). Three quarters of the battle is psychological and getting you mind and body around what a good diet feels like (I struggle still with this although am better than I was)
Cutting down on crap foods and doing loads of exercise will only get you so far, for some that's far enough as they're not looking for slim and healthy, just losing enough to feel more comfy with their weight. To do this is simple, cut down on sugary stuff, quick fix snacks and exercise a fair bit to help boost the calories burn a bit ( exercise and diet combined work well as the reduced carbs/sugars mean you'll be forcing the body to burn fat)... Doing this and the simple act of monitoring your weight to be conscious of it will get you losing.
If you're looking to be slim... i.e, under 16% body fat then it's a different proposition... You need to train yourself mentally to understand and feel what a good diet is like. After trying various methods the best I found that worked for me, and that I still use, is the 4 hour body by Tim Ferris... Really it's a collection of good ideas with a basic slow carb diet but reading the book, getting the ideas and following the SCD for a few weeks gave excellent results with a much greater understanding of what's going on in your body (especially things like insulin sensitivity, how muscles use carbs and protein,etc.,). These have stuck and I've not piled weight back on unlike previous attempts.
I'm now keeping to the ethos of the diet but flexing it up and down depending on what I'm doing and listening to my body, still have another 4% BF to lose though.
All depends on what you want to do.......
I also believe breakfast is a very important part of getting your metabolism going and ensuring your body is burning efficiently as soon as possible, eating a beakfast of grains, wheat, pastries isn't the best way to do it if you follow the SCD, instead grill up some bacon and scramble some eggs.... Much healthier and tasty
Problem with trying to get a good diet... We are SO used to quick fix fast carbs and processed grains etc., that a good proper diet that doesn't overload us with unnecessary carbs and sugars is difficult to swallow (pun intended). Three quarters of the battle is psychological and getting you mind and body around what a good diet feels like (I struggle still with this although am better than I was)
Cutting down on crap foods and doing loads of exercise will only get you so far, for some that's far enough as they're not looking for slim and healthy, just losing enough to feel more comfy with their weight. To do this is simple, cut down on sugary stuff, quick fix snacks and exercise a fair bit to help boost the calories burn a bit ( exercise and diet combined work well as the reduced carbs/sugars mean you'll be forcing the body to burn fat)... Doing this and the simple act of monitoring your weight to be conscious of it will get you losing.
If you're looking to be slim... i.e, under 16% body fat then it's a different proposition... You need to train yourself mentally to understand and feel what a good diet is like. After trying various methods the best I found that worked for me, and that I still use, is the 4 hour body by Tim Ferris... Really it's a collection of good ideas with a basic slow carb diet but reading the book, getting the ideas and following the SCD for a few weeks gave excellent results with a much greater understanding of what's going on in your body (especially things like insulin sensitivity, how muscles use carbs and protein,etc.,). These have stuck and I've not piled weight back on unlike previous attempts.
I'm now keeping to the ethos of the diet but flexing it up and down depending on what I'm doing and listening to my body, still have another 4% BF to lose though.
All depends on what you want to do.......
I also believe breakfast is a very important part of getting your metabolism going and ensuring your body is burning efficiently as soon as possible, eating a beakfast of grains, wheat, pastries isn't the best way to do it if you follow the SCD, instead grill up some bacon and scramble some eggs.... Much healthier and tasty
goldblum said:
Seems to be a popular misconception that.30 mins of interval training vs 2hrs of going faster/harder.
2 hrs faster/harder wins easily on more total calories burned.
Pushing yourself in and out of the anaerobic zone will make you fitter but not burn fat effectively... A paced, longer exercise will be better keeping to a reasonable but not excessive heart rate.2 hrs faster/harder wins easily on more total calories burned.
dubbs said:
Pushing yourself in and out of the anaerobic zone will make you fitter but not burn fat effectively
That's not really true,as one effect of that type of training (intervals) will be a continued elevated heartrate and metabolism and so calorie burn for quite some time after exercise has finished.Running at higher intensity burns less fat cals in favour of glycogen but more total calories are used,as I previously mentioned.
Hence the more intense the exercise the more calories burned,the better for slimming.
Staying in the fat burning zone -c.60% MHR- is the easiest way,but not the best or quickest way to burn calories.
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