# Cycling & Weight loss



## Leodis (3 Apr 2012)

Afternoon everyone,
Just looking for some advice or experience on fighting the belly. Anyone got any tips on fighting back the years of booze & takeaways through cycling or will cycling only lose so much and running or a gym is needed?

Thanks in advance.


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## spen666 (3 Apr 2012)

Consume less calories than you burn up and you will lose weight



There is no complicated science to why we put on weight.


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## gambatte (3 Apr 2012)

Its true
I was 14st I should be 11.5-12
I've got down to 12st 4... but I put some back on. All last year I hovered about 12-12, now its just over 13.
I swim, run, cycle
The only problem is conflicting hobbies and targets.
I aim to get fitter and in the process lose weight.
The wife has reignited her interest in cooking and baking...... unfortunately she's good at it
I'm going to have to exercise more portion control.


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## Leodis (3 Apr 2012)

I started out using MyFitnessPal and cycling, I've lost some but thought with cycling and eating well but its the weekends which are killing me .... Hmmm.. Beer....


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## smokeysmoo (3 Apr 2012)

Seek out gb155 of this parish to see what cycling can do for weight loss. From 39 stone, (I kid you not), to around 13 stone.
He's an inspiration to many 

You can check out his blog here; theamazing*39stonecyclist*.wordpress.com/
or contact him directly via CC here; http://www.cyclechat.net/members/gb155.3910/


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## spen666 (3 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> I started out using MyFitnessPal and cycling, I've lost some but thought with cycling and eating well but its the weekends which are killing me .... Hmmm.. Beer....


 Unless you are dedicated and change your habits you will have little long term success in losing weight. I know I fail at this


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## jdtate101 (3 Apr 2012)

Depends upon how much cycling you do and how much effort you put in. I was 18.5st in May last yr, I'm now 12st 12lbs. Thing is I've really hit it hard and done loads of miles and go out hunting for hills. If you really want to shift that belly, then you have to put in the effort. I don't really diet at all, as if you're doing loads of exercise dieting is not good, but rather I've CHANGED my diet to more fruit/veg/fibre, lean meats and fish and have smaller portion sizes rather than cut anything out.


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## DCLane (3 Apr 2012)

The first thing is an honest appraisal of the calories that's going in.

The second is working out what needs to be cut out to manage it.

Then, and only then, can the exercise you do reduce that.

Vernon's doing great this year with progress. Me, I'm on a 'maintenance' after last year and it's going well.

For me, I cut out alcohol completely and only had occasional treats. That, combined with lots of cycling, meant I lost 1-2lbs a week for 6 months = 3 stone+ lost.


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## ianrauk (3 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> I started out using MyFitnessPal and cycling, I've lost some but thought with cycling and eating well but its the weekends which are killing me .... Hmmm.. Beer....


 

Well it is quite simple. If you are serious about losing weight then cut right back on the beer. And I mean right back... to one or two pints a week if that.


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## gambatte (3 Apr 2012)

I think I'll have to bite the bullet.
I packed up smoking. Decided I wasn't a smoker, so I didn't need to leave home with enough for a pack of ten in my pocket.
When I'm at work I have my wallet on me. Despite the fact that I take snap into work, I can still hit the vending machine or order a bacon butty at lunch.
Today was a Snickers 271 calories....
Going to have to decide what I'll have and leave the wallet at home.


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## smutchin (3 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> I started out using MyFitnessPal and cycling, I've lost some but thought with cycling and eating well but its the weekends which are killing me .... Hmmm.. Beer....


 
I'm the same. My weight goes steadily down during the week while I'm cycling to work every day and keeping an eye on my food, but often goes back up following weekend "socialising"...

But your body weight can easily vary by +/-2kg from day to day for all sorts of reasons, which is why you shouldn't look at short-term fluctuations and instead focus on the long-term trends. I record my weight daily in an Excel chart but I don't read anything into the daily measurement - instead I plot the figures into a graph based on a ten-day rolling average, which smooths out the daily fluctuations nicely.

Also, don't worry if it's not going down very quickly. Play the long game. It's more sustainable to lose weight at a slower, steadier rate - crash dieters are usually yo-yo dieters. Losing half a pound a week is a very achievable target and though it may not sound much, if you can keep it up for six months, you'll have lost over a stone.

d.


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## Leodis (3 Apr 2012)

Thanks for the advice and guidance, I generally am under my 1500 cals a day and not always eating back my exercise cals but I need to really cut down on the beer on weekends which is killing me and push myself more on the bike rather than once or twice a week and the rest just pootling along home.


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## smutchin (3 Apr 2012)

ianrauk said:


> Well it is quite simple. If you are serious about losing weight then cut right back on the beer.


 
Or compensate by riding more...

The way I look at it is: one pint of standard strength beer is roughly equivalent to half an hour of moderately intense cycling.

Although beer doesn't make very good cycling fuel as your liver can't metabolise alcohol into glucose.

d.


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## ColinJ (3 Apr 2012)

Assume 1 pound of weight loss per 100 miles of cycling, provided that you don't take in many extra calories to fuel that! It might be a bit more or a bit less but it won't be too far out.

Restrict yourself to 1 take-away a week maximum and don't take the opportunity to completely pig out when you do have one! Cut the booze intake right down. A maximum of 3 or 4 pints once or twice a week, preferably less. 

Greatly restrict junky snacks, preferably eliminate them.

If I ride 100 miles and drink no more than 5 pints of beer in a week, I lose about 2.5 pounds. If I cut the beer out altogether and do more than 100 miles, I can lose 3 pounds in a week. I'm not currently doing that, but I've done it in the past a couple of times and lost 3 stone in less than 6 months.

I don't have a problem with food. I eat lost of steamed vegetables, salads, tuna, low fat cottage cheese and so on. I don't eat meat, and can't have bread or full fat cheese in the house because I am fatally attracted to them! (Toasted cheese sandwiches and the like are treats at cafe stops on forum rides!)


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## smutchin (3 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> I generally am under my 1500 cals a day and not always eating back my exercise cals


 
Be wary of this - if you're doing lots of exercise, you need to make sure you consume enough calories to provide the energy to keep you going. Don't let yourself go hungry.

The thing about alcohol is that it's "empty" calories - you should count it "below the line", ie not as part of your daily 1500 target (if you're using myfitnesspal, that 1500 will already factor in the daily net calorie deficit you need to meet your weight loss target, so going under is extra deficit).

However, it's also worth bearing in mind that myfitnesspal does tend to overestimate the number of calories burned in cycling...

d.


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## gambatte (3 Apr 2012)

Always makes me laugh how people can justify spending £200 more on a bike because its 500g lighter, when they would be better off saving the cash and losing 500g off their waistline.
This of course coming from someone who could do with losing several times 500g


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## TheSandwichMonster (3 Apr 2012)

Control weight with diet.
Control fitness with exercise.

Overly-simplistic, and obviously exercise will boost weight loss, but it's all about looking at the situation as a whole, rather than thinking about the various components in isolation.

Like you, my biggest nemesis is the booze. Since starting cycling, I've lost around 2.5 stone, but I've now reached the stage where I've pretty much plateau'd. I eat pretty well, but I'm over-fond of a few beers at the weekend and it's all dead calories. I eat well/healthily for the majority of the time, but there comes a point where you have to decide where your priorities lie. Losing weight is an endurance event: If you want to do it, you have to be prepared to be hungry!


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (3 Apr 2012)

> I generally am under my 1500 cals a day and not always eating back my exercise cals


1500 is extremely low for an adult male. It's not much more than the average women's intake. That sounds as if you didn't fill in your profile honestly on MFP.



smutchin said:


> Be wary of this - if you're doing lots of exercise, you need to make sure you consume enough calories to provide the energy to keep you going. Don't let yourself go hungry.
> 
> The thing about alcohol is that it's "empty" calories - you should count it "below the line", ie not as part of your daily 1500 target (if you're using myfitnesspal, that 1500 will already factor in the daily net calorie deficit you need to meet your weight loss target, so going under is extra deficit).
> 
> ...


There is a lot of sense in this post


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## ColinJ (3 Apr 2012)

T.M.H.N.E.T said:


> 1500 is extremely low for an adult male. It's not much more than the average women's intake.


It's actually about 500 Cals/day _less_ than what an 'average' woman should be taking in!

Clarification (given that the 'average' man/woman in the UK is probably overweight these days) - I'm talking about the number of Calories that a woman of average height and build would need to stay the same weight if she had a fairly sedentary lifestyle and wasn't overweight to start with.


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## redcard (3 Apr 2012)

Why not just have your five pints on the Friday, kebab on the way home, puke it all up on the neighbours patio. 

It's win-win. Particularly if your neighbour's a turd. 


---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?hu3id0


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## Thomk (3 Apr 2012)

Diet, calories, booze, intake, weekends etc etc etc. It's all pretty much a smokescreen hiding the elephant in the room (excuse the pun). You need to live the life of a thin person not pretend to copy it. Make your life require exersise (bicycle commute, walk, run, sell your car) and not 3 times a week for 30 minutes but every day. If booze is still part of your lifestyle then you've made your choice, it's yours to make. People used to be thinner because their normal everyday diet was better and their life REQUIRED far more exersise. Forget the gym. It's not having a bookcase which makes you smart but reading books.


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## PurplePoodle (3 Apr 2012)

I'm an all or nothing kind of person.. I'm either a pig or I'm 100% healthy. I'm back to being 100% healthy and I won't even let myself have a tiny bit of chocolate because I know I will just think 'O another won't do any harm...' and so on. I did say I was going to treat myself to an egg on Sunday but I don't know if I can do it! Also my birthday next week so the temptation of cake and a take away


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## Lard Armstrong (3 Apr 2012)

BTW, what's 'snap' ?


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## Sittingduck (3 Apr 2012)

redcard said:


> Why not just have your five pints on the Friday, kebab on the way home, puke it all up on the neighbours patio.
> 
> It's win-win. Particularly if your neighbour's a turd.


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## smutchin (3 Apr 2012)

Lard Armstrong said:


> BTW, what's 'snap' ?


 
Portable scran. HTH.

d.


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## srw (4 Apr 2012)

spen666 said:


> There is no complicated science to why we put on weight.


As you well know, that isn't true. There's plenty of complex psychology and physiology involved in weight gain and loss, even if it ultimately comes down to the energy equation.


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## srw (4 Apr 2012)

Thomk said:


> Diet, calories, booze, intake, weekends etc etc etc. It's all pretty much a smokescreen hiding the elephant in the room (excuse the pun). You need to live the life of a thin person not pretend to copy it. Make your life require exersise (bicycle commute, walk, run, sell your car) and not 3 times a week for 30 minutes but every day. If booze is still part of your lifestyle then you've made your choice, it's yours to make. People used to be thinner because their normal everyday diet was better and their life REQUIRED far more exersise. Forget the gym. It's not having a bookcase which makes you smart but reading books.


I'm in danger of repeating my sig quote....

It's perfectly possible to live the life of a thin person and remain overweight. Losing weight requires more than just that.


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## Leodis (4 Apr 2012)

> 1500 is extremely low for an adult male. It's not much more than the average women's intake. That sounds as if you didn't fill in your profile honestly on MFP.


 
I am 5' 8" and weighed 205lbs, I commute 10.5 round trip 5 days a week taking me 55 mins each day, I have a Sedentary job and the 1490 is what MFP gave me to burn 1.5lbs a week. I eat pretty well and eat back roughly 50% of my burnt cals. I did fill my profile honestly.



> Why not just have your five pints on the Friday, kebab on the way home, puke it all up on the neighbours patio.
> 
> It's win-win. Particularly if your neighbour's a turd.


 
This sounds like a plan...


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## amaferanga (4 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> I am 5' 8" and weighed 205lbs, I commute 10.5 round trip 5 days a week taking me 55 mins each day, I have a Sedentary job and the 1490 is what MFP gave me to burn 1.5lbs a week. I eat pretty well and eat back roughly 50% of my burnt cals. I did fill my profile honestly.
> 
> 
> 
> This sounds like a plan...


 
How many kCal do you assume you burn on your 55min commute?


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## MattHB (4 Apr 2012)

I'm having trouble shifting the last persistent belly fat. Fat is coming off of everywhere else, even my hands! But refuses to go from around the middle.

Beer is the worst thing. I seem to find white wine effects me less, but I really aught to cut that out as well! Fiancée is a bad influence tho, literally holding me down and making me drink a bottle on a Friday night! 

Still, I've lost about 2 stone 5lb, 4 inches around my waist, 2 inches off my neck. 

Yesterday I carried the 3 year old and realised that i was carrying about as much weight as I'd lost! I don't know how I was even moving around!


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## just jim (4 Apr 2012)

MattHB said:


> I'm having trouble shifting the last persistent belly fat. Fat is coming off of everywhere else, even my hands! But refuses to go from around the middle.
> 
> Beer is the worst thing. I seem to find white wine effects me less, but I really aught to cut that out as well! Fiancée is a bad influence tho, literally holding me down and making me drink a bottle on a Friday night!
> 
> ...


 
That could be visceral fat you are meaning - which is hard to shift by all accounts, including my own!


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## Crankarm (4 Apr 2012)

It's pretty simple. Eat less, or eat more healthily, ie cut out all the shoot totally, be ruthless. Exercise more. This is it. The simplest plans are the best. The biggest obstacle to losing weight and keeping trim is lying to yourself about what you actually eat. You need to be single minded.


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## Scilly Suffolk (4 Apr 2012)

Crankarm said:


> It's pretty simple. Eat less, or eat more healthily, ie *cut out all the shoot totally, be ruthless. Exercise more*. This is it. The simplest plans are the best. The biggest obstacle to losing weight and keeping trim is lying to yourself about what you actually eat. You need to be single minded.


Amen to that!

Posting on forums, fiddling with "apps" etc etc are all diversions: you know what you need to do, so stop f'ing about and do it.

Do you really _want_ to lose weight or do you just think you _should_?

If it's the former then you will do it; if it's the latter, I guarantee that one year from now you will be posting on forums for weight loss advice.


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## Sittingduck (4 Apr 2012)

Perhaps some people _need_ to 'fiddle with an app' to get them to be disciplined enough to log everything consumed and to stick to their goals. Certainly this is the case, in my own experience.

My point is that it's all well and good for people to say stuff like, just get on with doing it and you don't need new fangled websites or calorie trackers but if it works for some people, why not...? Everybody needs different methods and I wish them success, regardless of how they go about doing it.


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## GetAGrip (4 Apr 2012)

Crankarm said:


> It's pretty simple. Eat less, or eat more healthily, ie cut out all the shoot totally, be ruthless. Exercise more. This is it. The simplest plans are the best. *The biggest obstacle to losing weight and keeping trim is lying to yourself about what you actually eat.* You need to be single minded.


That is just so true!! I should know, sometimes, I can't believe a word I say.


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## SquareDaff (4 Apr 2012)

Don't cut anything out - just eat smaller portions. No point in making yourself a miserable thin person by abstaining when you can be a happy thin person by just eating less of what you like and exercising.


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## Sittingduck (4 Apr 2012)

Buying an electronic food scale is a worthwhile investment.


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## srw (4 Apr 2012)

Sittingduck said:


> Buying an electronic food scale is a worthwhile investment.


 Probably the best single piece of advice here.


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## cloggsy (4 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> I started out using MyFitnessPal and cycling, I've lost some but thought with cycling and eating well but its the weekends which are killing me .... Hmmm.. Beer....


 
I'm a fellow MFP'er too... Perhaps you could add me there too (cloggsy71)?


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## Scilly Suffolk (4 Apr 2012)

Sittingduck said:


> Perhaps some people _need_ to 'fiddle with an app' to get them to be disciplined enough to log everything consumed and to stick to their goals. Certainly this is the case, in my own experience.
> 
> My point is that it's all well and good for people to say stuff like, just get on with doing it and you don't need new fangled websites or calorie trackers but if it works for some people, why not...? Everybody needs different methods and I wish them success, regardless of how they go about doing it.


I didn't say you don't need them: if it _helps_, then all well and good.

_My point_ is that no amount of gadgets will actually lose weight: a healthy diet and exercise will.

The cold, hard truth is that weight loss is a long, slow process that requires strength of character to see it through.

Without the willpower and determination to achieve your goal, there is nothing with a battery or a .com on the end that will do it for you.


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## Leodis (4 Apr 2012)

amaferanga said:


> How many kCal do you assume you burn on your 55min commute?


 
MFP states 550 but I usually put 450 as Endomondo states around 430


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## amaferanga (4 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> MFP states 550 but I usually put 450 as Endomondo states around 430


 
If that's for the round trip (55min) then that's a very sensible estimate. If that's each way though then I think it's probably over - Endomondo can be very optimistic with its figures.


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## jowwy (4 Apr 2012)

*Slower-Speed Cycling*

You will burn 355 calories every 30 minutes if you weigh 185 lbs. and travel at a speed of between 12 and 13.9 mph.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/294355-calories-burned-while-cycling/#ixzz1r4Lg77Mi​


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## lanternerouge (4 Apr 2012)

DCLane said:


> The first thing is an honest appraisal of the calories that's going in.
> 
> The second is working out what needs to be cut out to manage it.
> 
> ...


top effort that DC. Need to do same


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## DCLane (4 Apr 2012)

MattHB said:


> I'm having trouble shifting the last persistent belly fat. Fat is coming off of everywhere else, even my hands! But refuses to go from around the middle.


 
That's because it's usually the last fat to go. I've lost everything else but a bit that hasn't shifted there.

It'll go eventually!


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## Crankarm (4 Apr 2012)

Sittingduck said:


> Buying an electronic food scale is a worthwhile investment.


 
An electronic food scale? Right, down to Argos on saturday morning.


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## smutchin (4 Apr 2012)

MattHB said:


> Fat ... refuses to go from around the middle.
> ...
> I've lost ... about 4 inches around my waist


 
The evidence shows you're actually doing pretty well at shifting the belly fat. It's just that you've got, y'know, quite a lot of it to shift... you're obviously doing the right things though, so you just have to keep it up. It will go eventually.

d.


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## smutchin (4 Apr 2012)

Leodis said:


> 1490 is what MFP gave me to burn 1.5lbs a week.


 
1.5lb a week is a pretty ambitious rate of weight loss. Bear in mind that's the equivalent of going without food altogether for two days a week. All the more reason to make sure you use up all your daily calorie allowance.

Also, don't worry if you go a bit over the 1490 some days - you're 750 calories under your base rate every day, so if you consume, say, 1800 calories one day, that's still a substantial net deficit.

d.


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## Leodis (4 Apr 2012)

amaferanga said:


> If that's for the round trip (55min) then that's a very sensible estimate. If that's each way though then I think it's probably over - Endomondo can be very optimistic with its figures.


 
Yeah its the round trip, 23 going and 32ish uphill back. Though it doesnt take into consideration the weight in my backpack.



> 1.5lb a week is a pretty ambitious rate of weight loss. Bear in mind that's the equivalent of going without food altogether for two days a week. All the more reason to make sure you use up all your daily calorie allowance.
> 
> Also, don't worry if you go a bit over the 1490 some days - you're 750 calories under your base rate every day, so if you consume, say, 1800 calories one day, that's still a substantial net deficit.


 
Yeah I have lowered to 1lbs a week after checking my BMR and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) which leaves me with cycling at 2300 (roughly) cals a day and on non cycling days at 1780.


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## amaferanga (4 Apr 2012)

jowwy said:


> *Slower-Speed Cycling*
> 
> You will burn 355 calories every 30 minutes if you weigh 185 lbs. and travel at a speed of between 12 and 13.9 mph.
> ​Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/294355-calories-burned-while-cycling/#ixzz1r4Lg77Mi​


 
No you won't. 700 kCal an hour equates to a power output of around 200W. It doesn't take 200W to travel at 12mph, or even 14mph, unless it's up hill all the way. Also, the difference between cycling at 12mph and 14mph would equate to quite a significant difference in power output and therefore calorie expenditure.

I think the OP doing the right thing with his calorie estimate - its probably an underestimate, but better that than a hopeless overestimate.


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## jowwy (4 Apr 2012)

amaferanga said:


> No you won't. 700 kCal an hour equates to a power output of around 200W. It doesn't take 200W to travel at 12mph, or even 14mph, unless it's up hill all the way. Also, the difference between cycling at 12mph and 14mph would equate to quite a significant difference in power output and therefore calorie expenditure.
> 
> I think the OP doing the right thing with his calorie estimate - its probably an underestimate, but better that than a hopeless overestimate.


as you can see i've just copied and pasted that from the LIVESTRONG website


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## smutchin (4 Apr 2012)

jowwy said:


> as you can see i've just copied and pasted that from the LIVESTRONG website


 
And we all know that Lance is never wrong.

I estimate 500cals/hour for 15mph.

710cals/hour for 12mph does seem a bit on the high side.

d.


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## jowwy (4 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> And we all know that Lance is never wrong.
> 
> d.


i'm pretty sure that lance isnt writing the stuff - but if you wanna hate for it be my guest


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## Thomk (4 Apr 2012)

srw said:


> I'm in danger of repeating my sig quote....
> 
> It's perfectly possible to live the life of a thin person and remain overweight. Losing weight requires more than just that.


Of course it does (or more accurately sometimes can), that goes without saying (obvious to most people). This is a forum though and one needs to assume some common sense from the reader as time is limited and precious.


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## smutchin (4 Apr 2012)

jowwy said:


> i'm pretty sure that lance isnt writing the stuff


 
Is he not? Oh.

d.


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## MattHB (4 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> The evidence shows you're actually doing pretty well at shifting the belly fat. It's just that you've got, y'know, quite a lot of it to shift... you're obviously doing the right things though, so you just have to keep it up. It will go eventually.
> 
> d.



 I'm proud of how I've done. I'm just very self critical I suppose. I did have a lot to shift too!


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## spen666 (4 Apr 2012)

Sittingduck said:


> Buying an electronic food scale is a worthwhile investment.


 Great for measuring out the drugs to ensure you get maximum profit for your drugs


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## vernon (9 Apr 2012)

Cycling alone does not make you any thinner. I know so because for the past seven years I've been doing 100km and 200km audax rides, done five or six coast to coast cycle tours, LEJOG, JOGLE, Channel to Med, Eurovelo six in two installments from Nantes to Passau all as unsupported cycle camping tours and the best i managed to do weight loss wise was to lose two punds during a LEJOG.

This year I bit the bullet and joined Slimming World. I follow their Extra Easy eating plan - no calorie counting, no ingredient weighing but pleanty of fruit and veg, lean meats eggs and fish. There is an absence of sugar, beer, biscuits, sugary fizzy drinks, sweets, butter and oils but to be honest the change is barely noticeable. 

The only thing that I truly miss is pies.

The results have been great. I have lost three stones and two pounds in thirteen weeks. I've never felt hungry and I've enjoyed my 100km audaxes - six since February. Fellow members of Slimming World express surprise when they put on weight at the weigh in - they are simply kidding themselves when they say that they have stuck to the eating plans religiously. I don't think that there's any mistique behind the Slimming World Extra Easy eating plan - it's packed with low calorie but filling foods that avoid the carb spikes that cause insulin to be released creating hunger pangs and a further craving for calories.

I expect to have put a few pounds on over the past week or so as I've had a birthday, eaten out a few times and am currently feeding a cold with whisky and tasty comestibles. It will be back to the Extra Easy eating plan today - egg, bacon, beans and mushrooms for breakfast, spinach and lentil dahl for lunch and steak, chips and salad for the evening meal with fruit for snacking.


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## MattHB (9 Apr 2012)

I have to partly disagree with vernon that cycling doesn't make you thinner. If your lifestyle stays the same but you inject high levels of exercise the calorie burn will have an effect, how much of an effect will differ from person to person.

To make a decent go of it though you do really neeD to change diet as well. For me a change in diet was almost a byproduct of cycling as the fitter I got the healthier food i started to crave. My fruit intake went up dramatically and replaced everything I used to snack on.

The fact of the matter is is that different people respond differently to excercise, some people super respond, some don't and have to do loads more on top. I think I'm one of the lucky ones.


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## Sittingduck (9 Apr 2012)

Cycling will help you lose weight, providing you do not eat a lot more, thus neutralising extra calories burned during the rides. This is the key thing. 

You need to be careful about food intake - that doesn't mean cutting out anything, just being careful and honest about your consumption. If your food intake remains pretty much the same (small increase is ok) then going from no exercise to cycling regularly will help but all too often people start cycling, lose a stone or two then think this is great and easy. They start to eat more and the loss ceases and in some cases turns into a gain.

It's a great way to burn calories and obviously the benefits extend to fitness other than pure weightloss. Vernon is right in that cycling alone will not miraculously make you lose weight. You need to take diet into account... big time!

Good luck wit the plans, Gents


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (9 Apr 2012)

Diet is far more important than the quantity or frequency of exercise.


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## Sittingduck (9 Apr 2012)

I would say it's a balance of the two. If you can do a serious amount of exercise then you can still lose even if you eat a fairly normal diet. I eat around my maintainance calories but lose week in, week out because I do a lot of diverse exercise.

If your diet is very bad though, it's a different kettle of fish. So yes - it is very important... a balancing act!


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## gixerlass (9 Apr 2012)

I droped from 119 kgs to 73 kgs in 7 months through eating less, not necessarily better mind, and combined gym and swimming!! still losing now thou with just cycling and sensible calorie intake and beer is a killer so moved over to vodka instead which doesnt have the same effect, lol ;-) 

Sent via Turniptalk


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## vernon (9 Apr 2012)

Sittingduck said:


> Cycling will help you lose weight, providing you do not eat a lot more, thus neutralising extra calories burned during the rides. This is the key thing.


 
That's where I went wrong in the past.

My maxim used to be:

Do more miles - eat more pies!


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## Sittingduck (9 Apr 2012)

Me too but replace pie with pizza and you get the idea 


Well done gixerlass, that's awesome progress. Cutting out beer is win/win


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## gixerlass (9 Apr 2012)

Sittingduck said:


> Me too but replace pie with pizza and you get the idea
> 
> 
> Well done gixerlass, that's awesome progress. Cutting out beer is win/win



Thanks  next goal is 60 kgs!!! 

Sent via Turniptalk


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (9 Apr 2012)

gixerlass said:


> I droped from 119 kgs to 73 kgs in 7 months through eating less, not necessarily better mind, and combined gym and swimming!! still losing now thou with just cycling and sensible calorie intake and beer is a killer so moved over to vodka instead which doesnt have the same effect, lol ;-)
> 
> Sent via Turniptalk


Excellent work


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## gb155 (9 Apr 2012)

T.M.H.N.E.T said:


> Diet is far more important than the quantity or frequency of exercise.


 

I'm actually coming round to this way of thinking now myself TBH


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (9 Apr 2012)

gb155 said:


> I'm actually coming round to this way of thinking now myself TBH


Gotta give the fire enough coal otherwise it goes out


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## gb155 (9 Apr 2012)

T.M.H.N.E.T said:


> Gotta give the fire enough coal otherwise it goes out


 

here here


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## Banjo (9 Apr 2012)

I think these guides as too how many calories you burn cycling are seriously flawed.

A fat unfit person of for argument sake 14 stone will burn a lot of calories cycling 30 mins at 13 mph will arrive back hot and sweaty. A muscular fit person of the same weight will barely break out in a sweat and achieve the same ride with far less energy burned up.


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## david k (9 Apr 2012)

i was toldd when losing weight 80% comes from improving diet and 20% from increasing exercise. IME this seems about right


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