Diet recommendations

[jonesie]

I am new to cycling (properly) and I am also a little overweight 5'11" and 14 stone 4 pounds so could do with losing a bit of weighy to get me down to about the 12-12.5 stone mark. I am cycling between 50 and 80 miles a week and that will slowly improve over time but I am also trying to change my diet for the better to aid the weight loss.

My question is what sort of diet would you recommend that has worked for youin terms of weight loss but has given you enough energy for the cycling. I've done a few before and I must admit they sometimes leave me feeling a bit lack lustre. I am terrible when given choice so I would love to follow a specific routine i.e i get told what to eat morning, noon and night.

I know the old adage about just eating healthily and exercising more but I just feel i need more structure.

Any advice greatky received.

Jonesie

 

[screenman]

I am 5ft 7 and was 16 stone and now 12 and a bit. I used my www.livestrong.com/myplate It worked for me and it has worked for a lot of people I know.

 

[Garz]

Reduce portion sizes and try to incorporate more fruit/veg to fill you instead of snacking. Eat pasta based meals or porridge on the day of the ride so you can get some energy. After all if your trying to lose weight you don't want too many carbs or sugary foods. Try not to make too many changes and gradually adjust the diet to be more healthy. A couple of pounds a week is far more sensible than crash dieting or yo-yo effect.

 

[The Jogger]

I know were you are coming from, I have exactly the same stats as you and have had for quite a while unfortunately.

 

[tyred]

I lost about 4 stone without really cutting out anything I liked. Just tried to balance it a bit more by eating more of the healthy things I liked and less of the unhealthy things I liked. I viewed weight loss as a long term project rather than a quick fix.

 

[subaqua]

sensible weight loss starts with a sensible breakfast. complex carbohydrates ( porridge , shreddies bran flakes etc. ) fuels your brain all morning and fools your stomach into feeling fuller longer so no snacking)

sensible sized portions


lean chicken, white fish etc grilled never fried , not too much red meat , very little alcohol . lots of fresh veg and fuit etc. low GI stuff

I worked out what calories were in each food i ate- weighing stuff for the first few weeks does get boring- and worked out what i was burning per day ( virgin health clubs website can help here http://www.virginactive.co.uk/Tools/Calories.aspx ) and consumed less than i burned . weight gets l;oss and you don't feel sapped in strength

 

[Dan B]

If carbs and protein are each worth about 4 kcal/g and fat is worth 9, I wonder how far out you'd be just by weighing your food and multiplying by, say, 6. Obviously it'd be better to work it out properly, but supposing one was too lazy to do that (I certainly am!) I'd be interested to know how far the approximation would go

 

[darkstar]

Go vegan for a month, it has a massive impact on weight from my experience.

 

[amaferanga]

If carbs and protein are each worth about 4 kcal/g and fat is worth 9, I wonder how far out you'd be just by weighing your food and multiplying by, say, 6. Obviously it'd be better to work it out properly, but supposing one was too lazy to do that (I certainly am!) I'd be interested to know how far the approximation would go

Dunno, but if you're going to weigh your food it'll only take about 5 minutes to then use e.g. Livestrong's myplate to actually work out calories proper. And assuming you eat similar things week on week you quickly get a good idea as to how many calories you're consuming on the days you can't (be bothered) to work it all out.

In my limited experience of trying to shed a few pounds (to get to my racing weight) I think that it mostly comes down to portion control as most people (myself included) will generally just eat what's put in front of them without thinking whether or not they actually need to eat that much.

 

[Sara_H]

I am new to cycling (properly) and I am also a little overweight 5'11" and 14 stone 4 pounds so could do with losing a bit of weighy to get me down to about the 12-12.5 stone mark. I am cycling between 50 and 80 miles a week and that will slowly improve over time but I am also trying to change my diet for the better to aid the weight loss.

My question is what sort of diet would you recommend that has worked for youin terms of weight loss but has given you enough energy for the cycling. I've done a few before and I must admit they sometimes leave me feeling a bit lack lustre. I am terrible when given choice so I would love to follow a specific routine i.e i get told what to eat morning, noon and night.

I know the old adage about just eating healthily and exercising more but I just feel i need more structure.

Any advice greatky received.

Jonesie

Hello Jonesie, To cut a long story short in January this year I had a good look at myself - I was 3 stone overweight and my eating habits had gone completely to pot.

I joined Slimming World late Jan and have lost just over a stone since then. I know some people frown on slimming clubs, but like you I need the structure - I needed someone to tell me exactly wat to do, to reset my eating habbits if you like.

I feel full of energy and have started cycling every where when possible - I make sure I have fruit with me all the time to stave off hunger pangs.

 

[eldudino]

I use www.weightlossresources.co.uk and have lost 7 stone. The benefit is that it basically is a huge database of food so it's easy to programme in what you're eating, essentially doing all the hard work for you. You gain extra calories to eat if you exercise so you don't get low on energy. It was featured in Cycling Active a month or so ago with another CCer as the case study!

 

[subaqua]

Go vegan for a month, it has a massive impact on weight from my experience.

i like bacon too much.

 

[darkstar]

i like bacon too much.

You can't go one month without it? Seriously?

 

[Garz]

I agree one month is pretty tough even though I managed it (wife did it too). The chief gripes were your intake of cheese goes through the roof and options when eating out are severely limited dependant on location. I would say three weeks is ideal.