Building up the miles

[LemonJuice]

Another weekend without any alcohol.

I have been going out for a ride in the morning and the evening. I prefer going out in the morning because there are hardly any cars on the roads where I live.

I have noticed that riding the bike is becoming easier and after a ride I feel like I can push myself a little bit further the next ride.

After I have been cycling, I have a cup of tea with no sugar, is that okay? Also, I have only one or two cups of coffee a day these days.

 

[boydj]

You're doing well. Don't be too hard on yourself with the diet - stopping the beer is a huge improvement in the diet and you do need fuel for the cycling. Tea and coffee are fine without sugar. Drink lots of water as well.

Listen to your body on the cycling - don't be afraid to take an occasional day off or have a particularly easy day. This allows your body to recover and helps the building of new nerve and muscle. In particular, don't push hard if you feel tired.

Having said that, try on one day a week - maybe at the weekend - to do a longer run and build up the length of that run over a period of weeks.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

After I have been cycling, I have a cup of tea with no sugar, is that okay? Also, I have only one or two cups of coffee a day these days.

Why on earth wouldn’t it be ok?

 

[LemonJuice]

Why on earth wouldn’t it be ok?

Well too much caffeine is bad for you. Also, I was wondering whether drinking coffee or tea would affect me trying to lose weight.

 

[PaulSB]

Well too much caffeine is bad for you. Also, I was wondering whether drinking coffee or tea would affect me trying to lose weight.

Yes, it will. Caffeine is a diuretic. Two cups a day is fine. Drink water.

 

[boydj]

Well too much caffeine is bad for you. Also, I was wondering whether drinking coffee or tea would affect me trying to lose weight.

Don't overthink things and don't look for things happening quickly. Keep the diet sensible without being too strict. As I said before, your goal is a sustainable lifestyle change, rather than a crash diet and you should be looking at where you want to be in six months time - lighter, fitter and in better shape, so settle in for the long haul. The best thing you can do now is to work on gradually building up your cycling and improve your fitness.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Well too much caffeine is bad for you. Also, I was wondering whether drinking coffee or tea would affect me trying to lose weight.

A single cup of tea 🍵 especially if green will not have you overdosing on caffeine.

 

[Gibbo9]

Some fantastic replies on here, makes for great reading.

I'd echo most of the sentiments on here in regards to not worrying too much about how far you are going. I recall when I first started, it wasn't far nor pretty. Now I can comfortably push out 12 hours in the saddle on consecutive days and have done on numerous occasions for charity.

Take it easy and increase gradually, your body will tell you when it is time to rest. I used to plan my routes in figure of eights with the midway point being back at my house, this allowed me to stop halfway and finish if feeling tired or push onwards if feeling fresh (also allowed me to feed and fill water bottles).

Keep doing what you are doing, as long as you are enjoying it then the rest will come naturally.

 

[MntnMan62]

Some fantastic replies on here, makes for great reading.

I'd echo most of the sentiments on here in regards to not worrying too much about how far you are going. I recall when I first started, it wasn't far nor pretty. Now I can comfortably push out 12 hours in the saddle on consecutive days and have done on numerous occasions for charity.

Take it easy and increase gradually, your body will tell you when it is time to rest. I used to plan my routes in figure of eights with the midway point being back at my house, this allowed me to stop halfway and finish if feeling tired or push onwards if feeling fresh (also allowed me to feed and fill water bottles).

Keep doing what you are doing, as long as you are enjoying it then the rest will come naturally.

This is perfect advice. I do something similar. I do a 10 mile loop that gives me about 650 ft of elevation gain along roads with either a wide shoulder for safety or through a large 2,000 acre park for a scenic ride. I generally follow a long ridge and most of my loop ride follows the ridge. But there is a road halfway along the oval shaped loop that traverses up and over the ridge. So, once I feel strong enough to do that climb I'll do the figure 8 as you describe which will have me traversing the ridge twice. I'll be interested to see how much additional elevation gain I will get from going over the ridge twice. The figure 8 loop will give me about 13 miles per loop. I've been doing just the oval and lately I've been trying to up the mileage so I'll stash an extra water bottle at my house and when I go by my house before the third loop I'll grab it so I'll have enough water. I tend to drink about a bottle per 10 miles on the hotter days. It can get a little boring doing the same loop but I'm trying to work up to a level where I can join some group rides. Right now this loop is my training ride.

 

[LemonJuice]

I have a question about eating in moderation and treating yourself.

if you decide to treat yourself once in a while and eat a big pizza, a big packet of smarties or Maltesers, a Chinese or Indian takeaway, etc, does it mean that you will put on weight straightaway? Or, is it only if you start making those things your diet and eat then pretty much every day?

I haven’t had a drink in a few weeks now and the pubs are more than likely going to be open in the next few weeks, would I be hindering myself if I were to have a few pints with my mate?

As long as I don’t eat much during the day, am I going to be okay eating a takeaway in the evening when watching a film with my wife?

Perhaps I’m overthinking the whole counting the calories, but I just want to make sure that one treat isn’t going to make all of my hard work result in nothing.

Do the pro cyclists still eat technically speaking junk food?

Is it just the case of treating yourself but remember to go for a ride the next day and burn off the calories?

 

[Gibbo9]

I think you are overthinking this a little. Everything in moderation is absolutely fine.

For example: I have been on a bit of a fitness drive since May 1st, this is usually out on the bike every day (20k per day and then around 60k on Saturday morning). This is not always possible due to weather, so on those days I will do some work on the cross trainer in the gym, up to about an hour. Now I've not missed a single day since I began but then I have always been relatively fit being ex military.

I eat healthily during the week for the most part, I do have the odd ice cream or slice of cake for example and certainly would not think twice about ordering in, it's the done thing out here. I have an Iwatch which calculates calories I burn per day and I regularly burn over 1200 comfortably. Our weekly routine sees us visit our local watering hole every Saturday where I will have about 6-7 pints and some hot wings.

Since beginning on 1st May I have lost 1 1/2 stone and am keen to drop another stone taking me down to 11 1/2, a target I have set myself to reach by Christmas.

I don't necessarily deprive myself of anything, I just put the work in on the bike or at the gym.

Just get out there and keep riding, you'll soon be going further and faster each time and you will notice that the weight should take care of itself.

Good luck with it all.

 

[PaulSB]

I have a question about eating in moderation and treating yourself.

if you decide to treat yourself once in a while and eat a big pizza, a big packet of smarties or Maltesers, a Chinese or Indian takeaway, etc, does it mean that you will put on weight straightaway? Or, is it only if you start making those things your diet and eat then pretty much every day?

I haven’t had a drink in a few weeks now and the pubs are more than likely going to be open in the next few weeks, would I be hindering myself if I were to have a few pints with my mate?

As long as I don’t eat much during the day, am I going to be okay eating a takeaway in the evening when watching a film with my wife?

Perhaps I’m overthinking the whole counting the calories, but I just want to make sure that one treat isn’t going to make all of my hard work result in nothing.

Do the pro cyclists still eat technically speaking junk food?

Is it just the case of treating yourself but remember to go for a ride the next day and burn off the calories?

The questions you ask in several threads suggest to me you have already over thought this whole thing to the point of becoming obsessive over both diet and cycling.

All you need to do is be sensible. A takeaway isn't going to hurt but starving yourself through the day to "allow" yourself the treat is daft. It ceases to be a treat because you're making yourself believe you've "earned" it, effectively working for it. This is something which was discussed in relation to calorie counting and additional exercise "earning" extra calories. It's utter nonsense. Just enjoy a treat, that's why it's called a treat!!

Have a night out with your mate and if you're concerned restrict yourself to a couple of pints rather than a "few."

Follow the very good advice you've already received, allow yourself treats as in moderation these will have no impact on your efforts. Enjoy them without guilt, they are treats.

What will effect your efforts is this constant worry or concern about riding, diet, treats etc. Don't let the whole exercise and diet thing rule your life. If you carry on like this you'll eventually fall off the wagon. Making it too hard and being too hard on yourself is the road to failure.

 

[Gibbo9]

The questions you ask in several threads suggest to me you have already over thought this whole thing to the point of becoming obsessive over both diet and cycling.

All you need to do is be sensible. A takeaway isn't going to hurt but starving yourself through the day to "allow" yourself the treat is daft. It ceases to be a treat because you're making yourself believe you've "earned" it, effectively working for it. This is something which was discussed in relation to calorie counting and additional exercise "earning" extra calories. It's utter nonsense. Just enjoy a treat, that's why it's called a treat!!

Have a night out with your mate and if you're concerned restrict yourself to a couple of pints rather than a "few."

Follow the very good advice you've already received, allow yourself treats as in moderation these will have no impact on your efforts. Enjoy them without guilt, they are treats.

What will effect your efforts is this constant worry or concern about riding, diet, treats etc. Don't let the whole exercise and diet thing rule your life. If you carry on like this you'll eventually fall off the wagon. Making it too hard and being too hard on yourself is the road to failure.

This right here is excellent advice. I couldn't have put it better myself, and indeed didn't with my first attempt :-)

Just have fun and enjoy the riding, honestly the rest will look after itself.

 

[screenman]

As long as you understand you cannot outrun a bad diet, it could take up to 3 hours of solid cycling to burn off a pizza.

 

[LemonJuice]

When I first got my road bike fixed I was somewhere between 13-14 stone. I weighed myself earlier today and I am exactly 13 stone.

My diet at the moment is a small bowl of porridge in the morning for my breakfast, 2-4 slices of wholemeal bread with the French paste pate or something similar on them for my dinner and a small tin of salmon or lean meat with a few vegetables for my tea. Sometimes I have a banana and strawberry smoothie with my breakfast or tea. Every couple of days I’ll have a packet of dates over the day as well.

I have no idea how many calories all of that is and what I am therefore consuming on a daily basis.

At the moment, I am going for a ride at about 5am for 30-60 minutes at a fairly quick pace and on the evening I go out for 60+ minutes and change my pace frequently.

I understand that I’m not going to be able to lose 21 pounds in a couple of weeks, but how much more time and many more miles on the bike in order to keep losing the weight?

I’ve heard that one loses weight quickly in the first couple of weeks and then it becomes more difficult to lose weight. Is that true?