Energy drink questions...

[semaj]

Let's say I have a bit of weight hanging around and I want it gone, so I jump back on my bike, will using an energy drink hinder weight loss? The reason I ask is that if I'm trying to burn energy/fat I have, will I use the energy from the drink before that stored as fat?

 

[ASC1951]

will I use the energy from the drink before that stored as fat?

Yes, you will. The body generally goes for the most available fuel first. Energy drinks only feel like 'energy' because the contents are so quickly absorbed and so quickly accessible.

Of course you will only lose weight if you burn more calories than you ingest, so in straight physics it wouldn't matter a hoot what form you took your calories in, so long as you used them all up. The thing about drinks, though - and to a lesser extent sweets and choccies - is that you can shovel loads of calories in without noticing just how much you are getting.

If you want to lose weight by exercise, you will have to be very careful with the energy drinks. Far easier, IME, to do it by eating less and better when you aren't exercising.

Jimboalee will be along in a trice with chapter and verse...

 

[semaj]

Thanks, that's what I thought. So what do you put in your bottle then??

 

[yello]

Water.

 

[fossyant]

Depends..... over 30 miles then it's a full mix of energy drink. Under that it's water.

Also watch heat - so if hot take extra liquid.

Everyday riding will drop weight off you pretty quick.

 

[semaj]

As of last Thursday, I've done about an hour a night, need a new battery for my computer, but I fear I'll get competitive with myself (not sure if that's a good thing or not). I reckon I'm doing between 12-15 miles.

I put some sugar and salt water, to replace losses, think I'll go with just water from now!

 

[ASC1951]

So what do you put in your bottle then??

Water; if I'm feeling adventurous, a few mint leaves from outside the kitchen door as well.

I'm a trundler rather than a racing snake, so if I'm doing up to say 50 miles I'll just take water and no food; same for 100 milers, although I do stop halfway for beans on toast and on a hot day I have 50-50 Coke and water towards the end. If I was tearing up the tarmac at the speed of some forummers, instead of my sedate 14 mph average, I would probably need more fuel on the way.

Unless you are grossly tubby it is almost impossible to lose weight just by exercise. You will get fitter - A Good Thing - but not lighter. Regular daily exercise is what you need, especially early in the day, combined with less food and particularly less calorie-dense food. Avoid energy drinks and bars unless you are very sure that you are using up all their calories and more.

 

[jimboalee]

Yes, you will. The body generally goes for the most available fuel first. Energy drinks only feel like 'energy' because the contents are so quickly absorbed and so quickly accessible.

Of course you will only lose weight if you burn more calories than you ingest, so in straight physics it wouldn't matter a hoot what form you took your calories in, so long as you used them all up. The thing about drinks, though - and to a lesser extent sweets and choccies - is that you can shovel loads of calories in without noticing just how much you are getting.

If you want to lose weight by exercise, you will have to be very careful with the energy drinks. Far easier, IME, to do it by eating less and better when you aren't exercising.

Jimboalee will be along in a trice with chapter and verse...

Aha.

The balance of fat burn and carb burn depends on the intensity of the exercise.
Low levels of intensity where your HR is around 50%, the split is 50/50.
As intensity increases, the body takes more carbs until at almost maximum intensity, the muscles are using 100% carbs.

When our ancestors were out hunting and had speared an antelope, they would trot after it following the trail of blood. Their bodies would be sharing the fat/carbs that are available. They would not be using blood glycogen in totality.

Reason....

IF a Lion dashed out of the bushes, they would need INSTANT energy. Anaerobic by using the Creatine Phosphate supply within the muscle and after a few seconds when that's gone, the glycogen in the muscle and bloodstream in an anaerobic situation.

Having escaped the Lion the hunter will slow down and their system will return to aerobic where a mix of fat and carbs will provide fuel.


I am in the technical section?

BTW, someone argued that production of lactic acid leads to muscle fatigue. Yes, this is true. Maximal intensity can be up to two minutes before lactic acid is produced. Two minutes!

 

[Hont]

Just to add a bit to what Jim said, low intensity exercise does mean that you burn more fat and so for weight loss you should try and do long, steady efforts rather than short high intensity bursts.

You should also be aware that caffeine helps promote fat burning during exercise. Taking caffeine before exercise should help burn fat rather than sugars and may help to allow you to exercise longer without energy drinks. Coffee's no good though, apparently.

Just dug out this link for more info...

http://www.nutritionalreviews.org/caffeine.htm

 

[Bigtwin]

Just to add a bit to what Jim said, low intensity exercise does mean that you burn more fat and so for weight loss you should try and do long, steady efforts rather than short high intensity bursts.

You should also be aware that caffeine helps promote fat burning during exercise. Taking caffeine before exercise should help burn fat rather than sugars and may help to allow you to exercise longer without energy drinks. Coffee's no good though, apparently.

Just dug out this link for more info...

http://www.nutritionalreviews.org/caffeine.htm

Read several papers (literally - not on the web) that debunked this, finding that all the caffeine did was perk you up a bit to work harder - made no actual difference metabolically to burn rate or anything else.

 

[Joe24]

Thanks, that's what I thought. So what do you put in your bottle then??

Water and Tescos 'High Juice'

 

[jimboalee]

Let's say I have a bit of weight hanging around and I want it gone, so I jump back on my bike, will using an energy drink hinder weight loss? The reason I ask is that if I'm trying to burn energy/fat I have, will I use the energy from the drink before that stored as fat?

If you want to lose some fat from round your middle, you've chosen the wrong sport, mate.

Cycling, as many very clever chaps have stated, is the most efficient mode of transport known to man.

The trouble with it is it stimulates the appetite far too much for the energy outlay.

After a half hour bike ride, you may have burned off 300 kCals. BUT you think you deserve a big cake and a coffee totalling 400 kCals,,, so you eat it. You've just GAINED some fat, not lost it.

The ONLY way to lose fat by using a bicycle is to ride to work ( usually under an hour ) and then FORCE yourself to NOT eat anything sweet and tasty.

If you decide to do what I do, I ride for an hour to work and burn 600 kCals.
I then eat 25g of salted butter ( 200 kCals ). It lines the stomach and fools the brain into a feeling of satiaty. Then I eat a normal breakfast, lunch and supper.

I am 400 plus the 600 kCals (for the homeward trip) in deficit for the day. After four days, I've lost a pound.

Jobs a goodun.

 

[2wheelsgood]

In Blazing Saddles, Matt Rendell's book about the history of the TDF, there's a photograph from one of the very early Tours of a wild-eyed competitor leaping back on his bike clutching a large glass bottle of what Rendell calls 'a hops, yeast, malt and barley-based sports drink'....those were the days.

 

[jimboalee]

In Blazing Saddles, Matt Rendell's book about the history of the TDF, there's a photograph from one of the very early Tours of a wild-eyed competitor leaping back on his bike clutching a large glass bottle of what Rendell calls 'a hops, yeast, malt and barley-based sports drink'....those were the days.

I hold by hands up and admit to drinking the 'black stuff' during a Std 100 with the Birmingham North CTC.
The others drank Lager or Bitter and REALLY suffered back up and over Cannock Chase.

 

[Hont]

If you want to lose some fat from round your middle, you've chosen the wrong sport, mate.

As long as you are disciplined in what you eat, the efficiency of cycling means that you can keep going for a long time - and therefore use more calories. I've lost nearly a stone and a half since coming back to cycling, mainly through eating the same as I did before (give or take an energy drink or two).