Help - I need to lose weight, fast!

[Augustine]

screenman's recommended website (www.livestrong.com/myplate/) is fantastic. You can enter your current weight, your target weight and then the speed at which you'd like to lose weight (somewhere between 1/2 to 2lbs a week) and then it calculates how many calories you should be eating a day to achieve that target. It also takes into account the exercise you do each day and it has a huge database of food stuffs so you can enter what you eat for each meal and it tots up how many calories you've had and have left, etc. And it's free! ;-)

I've just started with it and I'm finding it really easy to use. Worth a try!

 

[Crankarm]

It's surprising what magazines suggest you should eat, compared with what the race pros eat.

Admittedly, this is going back 12 years.
Four weetabix with full milk. Full English breakfast with white bread toast covered with runny honey. 1 litre of coffee and three Danish pastries. More toast with marmalade.

In the mussette, - Honey sandwiches, penguin bars, Danish pastries and a small bottle of glucose syrup.

It may sound 'oldie worldie' but the chap who I witnessed eat all this went on to win the Tour de France in 1999 and then another six times.

It was all calorie counted of course. One won't win races if one is overweight!!

Yeah but a TdF Pro rider can't eat enough as they are burning 8-9,000 cals or more a day aren't they?

Bananas are a staple of diet IMHO. They are rich in potassium and slow release sugar which your body does need if you are exercising at intensities greater than sitting on a sofa .

 

[Speicher]

I do not think I have lost much weight following advice on here.

I might have lost a couple of pounds. But my scales are very wobbly/wonky. However, I do feel a lot more energetic, more clear-headed, and more motivated to do more.

This in turn should lead to me taking more exercise, and keeping up the good habits. I can see this might be a slow process.

 

[screenman]

Have you really acted on any of the advice given? Unfortunately losing weight is not easy and takes more determination than most people can muster, a walk through any shopping centre looking at the different shape and size can tell us that. Personally I feel that if we do not know how many calories we are eating then we are only guessing, generally we will be under guessing the amount we take in.

If take on board only 250 calories per day less than we use up then it will take 14 weeks to lose 10 lb of FAT. Trouble is most people have no clue about how many calories they take on board, certainly I did not have a clue until I started using My Plate.

I know I nag about weight loss, this is because I feel the benefits and want others to do the same.

 

[benb]

screenman's recommended website (www.livestrong.com/myplate/) is fantastic. You can enter your current weight, your target weight and then the speed at which you'd like to lose weight (somewhere between 1/2 to 2lbs a week) and then it calculates how many calories you should be eating a day to achieve that target. It also takes into account the exercise you do each day and it has a huge database of food stuffs so you can enter what you eat for each meal and it tots up how many calories you've had and have left, etc. And it's free! ;-)

I've just started with it and I'm finding it really easy to use. Worth a try!

+1, it's great.

 

[yello]

Bananas are a staple of diet IMHO. They are rich in potassium

Not according to Mrs Magnatom they aren't. It's an 'urban myth' apparently!

 

[yello]

It may sound 'oldie worldie'

Of late, I've been wondering if 'meat and 2 veg' is the best diet for us! Obviously depends on the veg, portion size, how it's cooked etc.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Of late, I've been wondering if 'meat and 2 veg' is the best diet for us! Obviously depends on the veg, portion size, how it's cooked etc.

Looking at a lot of folks I'd guess it's -

Veg - none
Portion size - extra large
How cooked - deep fried

 

[jimboalee]

Yeah but a TdF Pro rider can't eat enough as they are burning 8-9,000 cals or more a day aren't they?

Bananas are a staple of diet IMHO. They are rich in potassium and slow release sugar which your body does need if you are exercising at intensities greater than sitting on a sofa .

That's what they would like you to think.

About half that if they are drafting for most of the stage.

It is unusual for a TdeF team to breakfast in a public environment. I could have been a mole for an opposing team looking to spy the rider who was eating more than the rest. He would be the one who is likely to mount a breakaway.

Young riders who believe 8,000 kCals per day for a 200km roadrace will soon gain weight if they spend a lot of distance sucking their opponent's wheel.

Something else noticeable was the morning 'weigh-in'. Despite what is believed, muscle gain doesn't effect weight gain as much as fat gain.
An athlete on a rigourous exercise regime will IMMEDIATELY store ANY excess calories.

If half a pound is gained, food intake is reduced. A system that works quite well !!!

 

[jimboalee]

I've done some calcs.

A 147 lb rider on a 16 lb bike drafting a group of >3 other riders along a flat road for 200km through still air at 20 C will use…

3500 kCals.

There will be hills and short periods of riding on the front, so add on another 50% of this and the TOTAL calorific requirement is 5250 kCals.

For this 'flat stage', if the rider ate 7000 kCals, he would be eating 1750 kCals OVER requirement and would see a resultant weight gain of ½ lb.

The team coach and dietician analyse the route, works in the hills and tells each rider how and whereabouts in the group he should be riding. After years of cycling for sport, the riders should know how many calories are contained in everyday food items. It has been their life and career. The riders eat what the dietician prescribes.

 

[screenman]

Would the other calories not be used up in normal daily routines? if this is so then there might not be a loss or gain.

 

[jimboalee]

Would the other calories not be used up in normal daily routines? if this is so then there might not be a loss or gain.

After a 200km stage in a multistage roadrace, the riders DO NOT do anything else that might require calories.

There is a saying in cycling which goes...

"Why stand up when you can sit down... and why sit when you can lie down."

Straight onto the team bus, straight to the hotel. 60 seconds in the shower, lie down and get massaged.

Evening meal.

Sleep.

 

[Babs]

screenman's recommended website (www.livestrong.com/myplate/) is fantastic. You can enter your current weight, your target weight and then the speed at which you'd like to lose weight (somewhere between 1/2 to 2lbs a week) and then it calculates how many calories you should be eating a day to achieve that target. It also takes into account the exercise you do each day and it has a huge database of food stuffs so you can enter what you eat for each meal and it tots up how many calories you've had and have left, etc. And it's free! ;-)

I've just started with it and I'm finding it really easy to use. Worth a try!

I tried the myplate website and it was reeeeally slow - maybe just my computer working to rule? Anyone else found the same?

 

[NigC]

I tried the myplate website and it was reeeeally slow - maybe just my computer working to rule? Anyone else found the same?

I gave it a go and did find it was taking an age to list up suitable foods after typing the first word

It does look like a good site though. However, I found I just couldn't be bothered to phaff around each time I drank a glass of water or ate my lunch. My plan ATM is to just keep off the junk food, up the exercise a little and eat the same main meals as I always have, so I'm not overly concerned about precisely measuring my intake just yet. Of course that may change in the future.

 

[screenman]

jimboalee, I think you burn between 50 and 53 calories per hour when sleeping , depending on how much you move about, Traveling in a coach you will use even more per hour.