Weight loss through cycling

[michelle_s]

Thanks guys that's helped out a lot. I'm 28 and I'm not overweight but am ten kilos over what I was last year. I eat pretty healthy here is what I eat daily,

Breakfast - 3 weet bix sprinkled with a bit of sugar ha! Which I've cut down to two

Snack - 2 boiled eggs recently cut down to one

Lunch - either boiled chicken breast or half a steak and steamed vegies

Snack - apple and plum

I used to snack on muesli bars and mixed Lollies or a choc milk which I'm trying to cut out.

Alcohol is the worst tho.. Thursday Friday and sat nights are usually BBQ nights with beers. The BBQ food is generally steak lamb cutlets or chicken.

[michelle_s]

Summernight I used to ride race horses and had done since I was a kid so have naturally broad shoulders from it and big arms which I can't seem to get rid of despite not having ridden for years. I don't want to be skinny skinny and I definitely don't want Anna meares legs ha!

[michelle_s]

Tony6463 I don't have a heart rate monitor but am slowly saving for a garmin 810

[Summernight]

Summernight I used to ride race horses and had done since I was a kid so have naturally broad shoulders from it and big arms which I can't seem to get rid of despite not having ridden for years. I don't want to be skinny skinny and I definitely don't want Anna meares legs ha!

I got the broad shoulders from swimming and water polo (still do both too). Then again we just might naturally have the broad shoulders irrespective of the activity we did when younger. I don't think horse-riding gave me big arms but then again I don't have to deal with a crazy thoroughbred who doesn't have a stop button unless you're putting your whole weight through your arms onto the reins. I would have thought you would have grown huge calves and quads after being in the jockey position all the time instead of huge arms.

My other concern was huge swimmer's shoulders but even though I've been doing that (swimming) since I was a kid they aren't that bad and I don't think they'd become bad unless I trained like an elite swimmer.

I know my shoulders aren't body building size (thank the gods!) and that was a concern I had about starting weightlifting (not that I'm doing it) but when I heard that it is almost impossible to turn butch unless you are spending significant amounts of time (and protein shakes) to turn that way, then I stopped worrying.

[Venus62]

Tony6463 I don't have a heart rate monitor but am slowly saving for a garmin 810

There are some really good prices out there on the 500 bundle. Is there any functionality you particularly need on the 810?

I agree with previous posts that its all about the diet. I've lost 10kg this year and I think the weight loss has helped my cycling more than vice versa.

[michelle_s]

I've heard the 810 is the best!

[michelle_s]

Summernight I seem to gain muscle in my arms pretty quick and I really don't like it

[Venus62]

I've heard the 810 is the best!

I suggest you look into the capabilities of the various units and see what you actually need. You might find the 500 does everything you want.

[michelle_s]

Good idea

[isabella24]

Hi Michelle, I'm similar age to you - 30yo. I haven't tried loosing weight by cycling as I was 47kg when i started and didn't need to. But i have had had experience with my legs (thighs) getting bigger. When I started I'd fit into a size 6 jean, but now, almost 2 years later, I need a size 8 jean. Waist is still the same size but my thighs just don't fit into a 6 anymore - I can't literally pull the jeans up!! Weight wise, I've actually gained 1-2kgs, which is a big deal for me as my weight had not budged from 47kg since I was 16yo.

Don't be worried about the thighs though - as other posters have said, you won't get Anna Meares legs, mine have just gone from skinny but wobbly, to still relatively skinny but nice and toned. I ride a similar amount to you - around 200 or so km's a week.

Regarding the alcohol, like you, I enjoy a drink on a Friday/Saturday night but I have noticed that I don't drink to excess these days (not like my early 20s at uni!!!) as I want to feel fresh enough to go cycling the next morning!

Good luck with the weight loss, sounds like you're taking the right steps.

[michelle_s]

You sound very similar to me isabella24. I don't want to drink too much anymore as I don't feel that good the next morning and don't want to ruin my ride. My waste hasn't changed by too much but my legs have so I'm finding I need to buy larger jeans as they won't go past my thighs!

[Marty Moose]

Michelle go back and read Winstonw's post again the answer is on there. It'd suggest a book from calorie king.com their calorie counter book, they also do a diary and are very cheap. Buy some scales and re educate yourself the way you eat.

My wife did this after "dieting" and “calorie counting" for years while getting frustrated. She was 92kg (fat) now she is 55kg and had been for 14yrs.

Writing down accurately what you have eaten is essential which is why the scales are needed at the start. skip the beer and cutlets for a bit

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[jcjordan]

Alcohol is the worst especially on the weekend.

I know, but then I say to myself, why cycle if I cannot have a few beers! and some good red wine

It also provides an excellent reason for th we long weekend ride to burn of the calories so that you can justify yhe consumption of those rewards.

[jcjordan]

Michelle go back and read Winstonw's post again the answer is on there. It'd suggest a book from calorie king.com their calorie counter book, they also do a diary and are very cheap. Buy some scales and re educate yourself the way you eat.

My wife did this after "dieting" and “calorie counting" for years while getting frustrated. She was 92kg (fat) now she is 55kg and had been for 14yrs.

Writing down accurately what you have eaten is essential which is why the scales are needed at the start. skip the beer and cutlets for a bit

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I would recommend my fitness plan over calorieking.

CK tend to be more heavily waited towards US products (even thw Australian website) which results in a far heavier data input.

Plus MFP has a much better smartphone app

[Marty Moose]

Yeh tried both prefer the calorie king book from the Aussie site. I think mfp is better once you have learned to eat well as the calories for foods vary as they are user uploaded. I do agree the app is nice though;)

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[silentbutdeadly]

Just as an aside or two...

1) Some people don't have the physiology or genetic predisposition to loose weight through exercise no matter how much they try...they end up fitter but not thinner...you may be one of these people.
2) What makes you think you are overweight in the first place? Is it a fact based on medical advice or simply your own opinion or that of others?

My own experience was that cycling did not significantly change my diet or my lifestyle - I still eat and booze as much as I always have (there is still too much booze in my life at 4 to 8 standard units a day) but riding less than a 100 kms a week as a means of improving cardiovascular fitness in order to keep up with the young one as I get older also saw me loose about 15 kgs over an eight months period.

[queequeg]

Fitting into Jeans is a problem for me too. If I buy a size to fit my waist, I can't get my legs into them. If I buy for my leg size, the waist is about 3 sizes too big. So, I have to use a belt on the larger sized jeans.
I wonder if anyone does a line of jeans cut to take large legs/small waist into account? I am by no means huge. It must be a nightmare for sprinters to find clothes that fit!

[michelle_s]

I use myfitnesspal just not on the weekends :p

[clackers]

Michelle, those beers at the barbecue three nights a week are most likely undoing all your exercise.

A stubby probably contains 18g of alcohol at a massive 7 calories per gram.
Put down three or four of those and it's like three or four of the energy gels you see the pro riders take to get through the Alpine stages!

As an ex fat cricketer I know how difficult it is to change routines when they're also social - everyone else is quenching their thirst and wolfing down the burnt snags!

[michelle_s]

I'm not overweight at all just don't fit into my jeans anymore and am about 8 kilos heavier than this time last year. Maybe it's just age I went to the mines to work for six months and that's where the kilos piled on and having exercised regularly and diet change significantly from the mines albeit still snacking less than the mines, I still can't seem to shake it after a year.

I do have the same problem with the jeans though. Will fit around the waste but not the legs.

[michelle_s]

Someone please tell me low carb beer is a great way to lose weight

[Pravda]

Someone please tell me low carb beer is a great way to lose weight

Better than non low carb but light beer and midstrength are better.

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[clackers]

Someone please tell me low carb beer is a great way to lose weight

Hate to dash your hopes, Michelle, but it's only about 30 calories or so less.

http://www.perfit.com.au/does-low-carb-beer-make-you-fat/

Drink three and it's like two full strengths anyway.

Substituting water for every second drink is another way of getting through the evening.

[Marty Moose]

Make a stand Michelle forget the beer The mines are a trap, too much food on offer and the I must
drink beer to fit in attitude.
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[michelle_s]

Yeah I gave away the mines. Not worth the money.