Building up the miles

[ColinJ]

Congratulations on losing all of that weight!

Serious illness gave me a huge headstart! I decided when I was recovering that I needed to start looking after myself better so (a) I gave up my 6 pints a night booze habit and (b) it would be a terrible shame to get fat again so I started eating sensibly too.

How heavy does one have to be before losing weight to be left with excess skin after he or she has lost weight? I don’t think I’m going to be left with excess skin because I’m just over 13 stone and I want to ideally lose two stone

You will probably be okay with that. I had a massive beer belly so it was inevitable that I wasn't going to get away without loose skin and stretchmarks. I look I've had 3 or 4 sets of twins!

 

[Racing roadkill]

Do squats to develop your abs, and trim yourself up around the midriff. Develop a penchant for bulletproofs ( butter coffee with medium chain triglycerides ) and California rolls, and ride as much as possible. The weight will fall off pretty quickly.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Four pints in one evening is a lot.

Every night absolutely , once a week I don`t think so. Each to their own though.

 

[bikingdad90]

Bulletproof coffee; planet destroying palm oil and coconut oil (MCT) with 2tbsp of butter (chloresterol) and coffee... no thank you!

And as for California rolls; who ever liked sushi?

 

[LemonJuice]

I have had the following today:

Breakfast - a bowl of Special K and a cup of tea with no sugar and a little bit of milk.

Dinner - a tin of salmon with a little bit of coleslaw and a few small tomatoes

Tea - a few bits of chicken breast, a few eggs and some lettuce with a cup of tea.

Throughout the day I have been drinking more water. Yesterday when I went shopping I bought a few bottles of Evian natural mineral water.

As soon as I woke up I did some sit-ups. After my dinner I went for a walk.

I feel a lot better in myself and realise that cutting down on the calories will make all of the difference. Until I get the bike sorted, should I just continue doing what I am busy doing?

 

[boydj]

I’ve just had my dinner. I had four carrots, some lettuce, a few small tomatoes with a small glass of pure orange juice. Is eating those things and drinking orange juice going to help me?

My wife and I are going shopping later. Should I buy mainly fruit and vegetables? What else should I buy?

If that's your main meal of the day, then it's in crash diet territory. Cutting out sugars and processed carbs is good, but you need to be eating enough to cover (most) of your energy requirements, for e.g a brisk walk.

I know you are full of enthusiasm now, but you're on a long-term project so you are looking for sustainable lifestyle changes. Make it a sufferfest and you're more likely to fail. While it's great to see the weight fall off, if it comes off too quickly, you'll lose muscle as well as fat and lower your metabolism, meaning weight will go on more quickly again as your diet eases. Somebody else has already said you don't want to be on a diet, you want to be eating better. Your target is where you want to be in six months time at a weight, exercise regime and diet you'll be able to sustain in the years ahead. Be patient and be consistent and you'll get there.

 

[boydj]

I think you are being unrealistic and your target is actually an unhealthy weight for someone your height, especially if you are going to be building muscle by exercising. More muscle is good as it boosts your metabolic rate.

When I was a student, I was the original 8-stone weakling. Then I started playing football regularly and weight and circuit-training and put on almost 2 stone and would lose a few pounds in the summer when football stopped. When I got too old for football, I got into athletics fairly seriously, running several marathons and was seriously fit until I burst a hamstring playing 5-a-side in my mid-40s. I never got back to the same standard, but I've never stopped exercising.

I'm now 70, 5'6" and still fit a 30" waist trouser, as I did when I was 21, and I'm not on any medication. I haven't weighed myself in years, but I'm probably still round about the 10st mark, or just over, as my stomach is still pretty flat. I've cycled just over 1100 miles this year so far, and I'm looking forward to getting back to golf again tomorrow. I eat too many biscuits and have the odd glass of red wine (medicinal) and, maybe a couple of times a week, a pint of stout.

No special diet, no self-denial, just a sensible diet and lots of exercise - 30 hilly miles today.

Long-term health is achieved by eating a healthy diet, in moderate quantities and getting plenty of exercise. Do that and everything else takes care of itself.

 

[LemonJuice]

I think you are being unrealistic and your target is actually an unhealthy weight for someone your height, especially if you are going to be building muscle by exercising. More muscle is good as it boosts your metabolic rate.

Why am I being unrealistic? Until a few years ago I was the same weight for all of my adulthood, it only changed over the last few years when I started drinking way too much.

I can’t do any cycling until just over a week‘s time so I’m trying to cut down how many calories I have daily and walk further and then when I start cycling my body will hopefully be adapted to consuming few calories and then I can burn off calories and see a change in a couple of months and not a year.

The weight I have put on is all on my belly and I want a flat belly. Do you think I’ll naturally lose more weight if I stop drinking altogether? I normally have four pints of lager on a Saturday night. Will those four pints make such a difference overall?

I’m aiming for a look similar to Bradley Wiggin’s height and weight - he is 6’2 and has been between 11-12 stone.

 

[boydj]

Why am I being unrealistic? Until a few years ago I was the same weight for all of my adulthood, it only changed over the last few years when I started drinking way too much.

I can’t do any cycling until just over a week‘s time so I’m trying to cut down how many calories I have daily and walk further and then when I start cycling my body will hopefully be adapted to consuming few calories and then I can burn off calories and see a change in a couple of months and not a year.

The weight I have put on is all on my belly and I want a flat belly.

I’m aiming for a look similar to Bradley Wiggin’s height and weight - he is 6’2 and has been between 11-12 stone.

Well, either you exercise and build up some muscle and gain a bit of weight that way while improving your body shape, or you diet and lose weight off an already sparse frame. Cutting out most of the beer will help with the belly in the short term. A sensible diet and plenty of exercise will see your body establish an equilibrium, which might not be the same as you were when you were younger. The only way to make a permanent change is a slow and steady lifestyle change which is sustainable. Your posts suggest an almost crash diet approach, which is not sustainable, especially as you are proposing an exercise regime which will need to be fuelled properly in order to succeed.

As I said before, it's a long-term project and a dash for quick wins could be counter-productive. If you crash-diet, you lose muscle as well as fat and end up with a slower metabolism and a lower calorie requirement which only makes it harder to keep weight off.

 

[BrumJim]

Ditch the Evian. Literally wasting money. Stuff that comes out of your taps is just as good for you and doesn't waste plastic.

You are missing a 5k run and some cake. Not much point in one without the other.

Some great slow-release carbs will help you through the exercise.

 

[vickster]

I have had the following today:

Breakfast - a bowl of Special K and a cup of tea with no sugar and a little bit of milk.

Dinner - a tin of salmon with a little bit of coleslaw and a few small tomatoes

Tea - a few bits of chicken breast, a few eggs and some lettuce with a cup of tea.

Throughout the day I have been drinking more water. Yesterday when I went shopping I bought a few bottles of Evian natural mineral water.

As soon as I woke up I did some sit-ups. After my dinner I went for a walk.

I feel a lot better in myself and realise that cutting down on the calories will make all of the difference. Until I get the bike sorted, should I just continue doing what I am busy doing?

Special K full of sugar. Change for natural porridge oats made with a mix of milk and water. Slow release / low GI unlike processed cereals whatever the ads allege

 

[boydj]

Forgot to add - Wiggins at his best was an elite athlete, with a very carefully regulated diet necessary to fuel his massive workloads. He would lose weight for the big tours to help with the major climbs - in fact he would underfuel carefully in the days leading up to big climbs in order to lose weight. For track racing he would put on weight to improve his power outputs. He may not have had a beer-belly, but he was no 'skelf'.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The weight I have put on is all on my belly and I want a flat belly. Do you think I’ll naturally lose more weight if I stop drinking altogether? I normally have four pints of lager on a Saturday night. Will those four pints make such a difference overall?

The important thing to realise is the human body stores fat however it thinks fit. You don't get to pick and choose which bits of your body the fat comes off when you lose weight. Your body does. Any diet or exercise regime that suggests you can target specific body areas for fat reduction is talking bollox. When you lose body fat you lose a bit from everywhere, the reverse of how your body decided to store it in the first place. If you have a significant amount of fat around your middle, which is how men generally tend to store fat, you may have to lose a lot from other bits of the body where it isn't so noticeable before it will disappear from the most visible areas.
Four pints of beer is likely to be around 900 calories, which equates to a quarter of a pound of stored fat. You will only lose that quarter pound if you don't substitute the beer you give up with something else. Personally I think you have the wrong attitude to be able to lose weight successfully. You seem to be in a rush to do everything and expect quick visible results. As others have said, weight control is a long term regime and is something done over years, not just for summer.

 

[ColinJ]

Forgot to add - Wiggins at his best was an elite athlete, with a very carefully regulated diet necessary to fuel his massive workloads. He would lose weight for the big tours to help with the major climbs - in fact he would underfuel carefully in the days leading up to big climbs in order to lose weight. For track racing he would put on weight to improve his power outputs. He may not have had a beer-belly, but he was no 'skelf'.

And of course, we have what Wiggo himself had to say on the subject...

“I’ve put 10 kilos on because I was severely underweight as a 6ft 3in man. Stop this rubbish!”

LINK

Eating disorders in the pro peloton.

 

[ozboz]

If all fails , get down to M&S !