Author Topic: Weight Loss Discussion Thread  (Read 1252358 times)

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1250 on: 12 December, 2010, 05:13:23 pm »
Just aim for better fitness. Fitness is way more important than weight.
Before LEL I was around 63kg(and had been around that for at least 5 years, without cycling insane distances or sporting at all), after LEL my weight got up to 72kg in winter. I'd never been over 68kg before.
When I started cycling again it dropped under 70 again, but not as low as before LEL, I think 66 was the least. Just after Mille Miglia it was a bit less. It's 69 now, and I think that's fine as "winter weight". When I start cycling more I'll start eating more again, and lose weight anyway.
In my experience you can eat whatever you fancy when you cycle lots, and still lose weight.

As far as cycling is concerned I wouldn't aim too low, you never know when it becomes cold windy and rainy and you'll get hypothermic sooner with a larger skin area/mass ratio.

FWIW of course, since I'm a 29yr old male.

Oh, and for PBP you need a recent medical test(from January or newer iirc), you can include a fat percentage test in that. That might give you a better clue about whether it's wise to lose weight or not.
Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It has been too many days since I have ridden through the night with a brevet card in my pocket...

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1251 on: 12 December, 2010, 06:26:27 pm »
I'm with Arvid. Fitter is more important. 56kg is ridiculous for a grown woman, unless you're 5' nothing and have size 3 feet.
(just jealous as I doubt I've been 56kg since I was about 10...)

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1252 on: 12 December, 2010, 06:32:54 pm »
But surely my ability to climb hills will improve as if by magic if i don't weigh so much???

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1253 on: 12 December, 2010, 06:40:28 pm »
I don't feel faster, but my numbers suggest I might be a bit. What I do notice is that when I get to to the top of hills, I feel less ruined and recover quicker.

I chose BMI of 19 as a goal, simply because it meant that when people said I was too skinny, I could say I wasn't. I know weight about the same as I weighed when I was 19, and am back in 30" trousers for the first time since I was 24.

Quite honestly, I have found self-monitoring (weight - used sport tracks and here / diet & calories in and out [from sporttracks] - used livestrong / mileage - used bikejournal) so effective, it was pretty effortless. Pick a goal, plug it in to livestrong, work out how much exercise you need to do to offset your eating, stick to monitoring, and you'll do it.

Unfortunately, I am finding the weight maintenance stage so much less rewarding (in terms of the lack of sense of achieving goals), ICBA with all that monitoring, and I am too busy with other stuff at work to come up with a tolerable weight maintenance monitoring programme for myself.

FWIW, I suspect I have a fairly high threshold for the admin side of self-monitoring, so my programme may be too burdensome. I <3 numbers. Too much time spent chasing high scores on video games as a kid, I suspect.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1254 on: 12 December, 2010, 06:44:32 pm »
But surely my ability to climb hills will improve as if by magic if i don't weigh so much???

Nahh, it's the other way round - your weight will improve as if by magic as you get better at hill climbing.

I posted about this recently somewhere or other.  I've lost a load of weight this year, and become significantly better at hill climbing.  But I'm still nearly as good at hill climbing if you add the lost weight back in as bike or luggage.  Small changes in weight are easily lost in the noise of fitness.

Gus

  • Loosing weight stone by stone
    • We will return
Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1255 on: 12 December, 2010, 06:45:22 pm »
74.5kg is not fat

Indeed. It puts my BMI at 22.5. It's still too heavy for an endurance athlete though. I was 68kg at the start of Mille Cymru and that makes a big difference to my climbing. I think that's about as light as I want to go.

73.7 this morning.

68 kg.  ;D
That is less than my fat free body mass is at present, it's 69.5 kg.
(plus loads of fat)  :'(

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1256 on: 12 December, 2010, 06:52:49 pm »
I don't feel faster, but my numbers suggest I might be a bit. What I do notice is that when I get to to the top of hills, I feel less ruined and recover quicker.

I think I will make this my new year's res ... to feel less ruined at the top of hills  :thumbsup:

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1257 on: 12 December, 2010, 07:02:27 pm »
If you were 80kg losing weight would be worthwhile. At less than 60 I would concentrate much more on strength/ speed training.
Diet modification would be counterproductive. You don't need to be thinner, you want to be faster. Work on that.

simonp

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1258 on: 12 December, 2010, 08:19:14 pm »
It depends on body fat. Put it this way, my 68kg was at 6 feet. At 74kg I was told - by a sports physiologist - that I had too much fat (18%).  I was average in terms of weight.

Losing the fat but not the muscle certainly made me a better climber.

simonp

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1259 on: 12 December, 2010, 08:26:18 pm »
Oh, when I was 18 I weighed 53kg.  I weigh about 73kg at the moment.  I used to wear 28" jeans in my early-mid 20s, now it's 32".  If my weight went back down as low as 60kg, I'd be borderline underweight.

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1260 on: 12 December, 2010, 08:33:17 pm »
Yeah, but simon, you're a bloke.
Wimmin have more fat, we're supposed to.

Feline, how tall are you? Do the BMI thingy and if you're in the normal level stop worrying about the weight and work on the speed/strength. Push big gears, cross train, climb big hills, work work work, ride with faster people, all that stuff. The weight will take of itself, unless you're a greedy fat bloater which you'd have discovered before now.

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1261 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:14:01 pm »
Yeah, but simon, you're a bloke.
Wimmin have more fat, we're supposed to.

Feline, how tall are you? Do the BMI thingy and if you're in the normal level stop worrying about the weight and work on the speed/strength. Push big gears, cross train, climb big hills, work work work, ride with faster people, all that stuff. The weight will take of itself, unless you're a greedy fat bloater which you'd have discovered before now.


I am 5'8" but I am very small boned. I wasn't totally skinny when I was 56kg, I just didn't have any excess! I could also cycle up Black Boy Hill in Bristol on a bike with 6 gears without getting out of puff, I don't think I could do that now!

Chris S

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1262 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:20:18 pm »
OK. Let's get something straight. Comparing yourself with who you were X years ago is a fruitless, self-tormenting waste of time. Beyond 18 (a bit later for gurls) it's a gradual downhill trend that increases in rate as time goes by. Looking back is no good at all.

Look at who you are now. In its simplest terms, physically you are the solution your body has come up with, to the problem of the life you give it. Simple as that. You want a different body, get a different life.

And that's the hard part.

simonp

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1263 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:22:57 pm »
Yeah, but simon, you're a bloke.
Wimmin have more fat, we're supposed to.

Yes - I realise this.  Female athletes typically have 14-20% body fat; male 6-13%.  I just managed to get down to 13%, not below.

As we get older, healthy body fat ranges shift upwards.  I certainly wouldn't try to get anywhere near the weight I was when I was 19.

Chris S

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1264 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:26:01 pm »
Yes - I realise this.  Female athletes typically have 14-20% body fat; male 6-13%.  I just managed to get down to 13%, not below.

I am 22% fat. In recent times, I once managed to get it below 18% and friends and family started asking whispered questions.

"Is Chris OK?"
"Chris is looking ill, is he alright?"

Ray 6701

  • SO @ T
    • Tamworth cycling club
Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1265 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:35:17 pm »
I'm looking at getting back to around 10% body fat by about April next year.   Currently 63.2kg & 14.4% body fat.  Hoping to do a AAA SR this season.
SR 2010/11/12/13/14/15
RRTY. PBP. LeJoG 1400. LEL.




simonp

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1266 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:36:55 pm »
Yes - I realise this.  Female athletes typically have 14-20% body fat; male 6-13%.  I just managed to get down to 13%, not below.

I am 22% fat. In recent times, I once managed to get it below 18% and friends and family started asking whispered questions.

"Is Chris OK?"
"Chris is looking ill, is he alright?"

As for me, earlier this year: "You're looking fit and healthy".

Physio: "You're quite well-toned"
Swimming instructor "You're quite well-toned"
Girlie-who-tried-to-sleep-with-me "You're well-toned"

22% fat is at the *top* of the healthy range for men in your age group.  At my current 18% I'm near the top of the healthy range for my age group.

(Reference: Diet and Fitness Resources - Shop for weight loss and home fitness equipment - Body Fat Charts )

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1267 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:41:32 pm »
I am 22% fat.

I'm 50% lard, and I can, when on form, whup your candy ass.

Feline- forget the weight loss. Do the other stuff.


Chris S

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1268 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:45:24 pm »
I'm 50% lard, and I can, when on form, whup your candy ass.

This is true. When you have 27 gears to my one, you are much faster than me up hills  :demon:.

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1269 on: 12 December, 2010, 09:58:45 pm »
I am 22% fat.

I'm 50% lard, and I can, when on form, whup your candy ass.

Feline- forget the weight loss. Do the other stuff.

yep I plan to  :thumbsup:

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1270 on: 12 December, 2010, 10:14:35 pm »
I think my fat levels made my LEL that little bit more comfortable, I stayed warm and with all my bony bits cushioned, could sleep on a hard floor with no bedding.
I'd still rather not have to lug the excess 10+kg of fat around, and use a thermarest next time though.

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1271 on: 15 December, 2010, 04:40:57 pm »
Have you guys seen or heard of Gaz?  He's from over on CycleChat, and I think he's genuinely amazing.  I wish I had half his willpower, he's an incredible inspiration:

39 Stone Cyclist

THANK YOU, Everyone ! - Cycle Chat Cycling Forums

I try to think of his example everytime I eat bad stuff.  I'm doing a lot of that this autumn, and have put on a stone.   :(
Your Royal Charles are belong to us.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1272 on: 01 January, 2011, 01:20:03 pm »
Thank you, Greenbank for redoing the tables for 2011.
Getting there...

Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1273 on: 01 January, 2011, 01:22:03 pm »
Instigating the thread is the easiest way to make sure I can find my entry easily to update it...

I'm about 80kg at the moment and want to be under 76.2 (12st) for PBP in August. 5kg or so in 33 weeks, that's simple enough...
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Weight Loss Discussion Thread
« Reply #1274 on: 01 January, 2011, 01:23:03 pm »
That's why I jumped in as soon as I spotted it ;)

Here's hoping I actually do lose some weight this year :-\
Getting there...