Weight Loss Discussion Thread

[Feline]

The last time I went to the gym and did upper body work was nearly 4 weeks ago. I think I rowed 700km in the last season, and routinely swimming 1-2km per week. Plus my abs + core routine I've been doing.

All of that has been on hold since the wrist injury.

To make the muscles bigger you would probably need to do the bench press type stuff, but this would be a distinctly BAD IDEA just at the moment until your wrist gets better.

Having said that, does it matter if you don't conform to the sterotypical captain caveman body shape? If your body can do everything you ask of it then that's got to be the most important thing. Mine is generally doing what it's told at the moment, except that I cannot open tins. I might have to invest in an electric tin opener. I had to add a large pair of mole grips to the opener to get the leverage yesterday 

[simonp]

The last time I went to the gym and did upper body work was nearly 4 weeks ago. I think I rowed 700km in the last season, and routinely swimming 1-2km per week. Plus my abs + core routine I've been doing.

All of that has been on hold since the wrist injury.

To make the muscles bigger you would probably need to do the bench press type stuff, but this would be a distinctly BAD IDEA just at the moment until your wrist gets better.

Having said that, does it matter if you don't conform to the sterotypical captain caveman body shape?

Well, that's not really the target.  Well-toned is more of the goal.  Skinny arms on flabby torso = 

Mine is generally doing what it's told at the moment, except that I cannot open tins. I might have to invest in an electric tin opener. I had to add a large pair of mole grips to the opener to get the leverage yesterday 

Is your median nerve function improving at all?

[Feline]

The last time I went to the gym and did upper body work was nearly 4 weeks ago. I think I rowed 700km in the last season, and routinely swimming 1-2km per week. Plus my abs + core routine I've been doing.

All of that has been on hold since the wrist injury.

To make the muscles bigger you would probably need to do the bench press type stuff, but this would be a distinctly BAD IDEA just at the moment until your wrist gets better.

Having said that, does it matter if you don't conform to the sterotypical captain caveman body shape?

Well, that's not really the target.  Well-toned is more of the goal.  Skinny arms on flabby torso = 

Mine is generally doing what it's told at the moment, except that I cannot open tins. I might have to invest in an electric tin opener. I had to add a large pair of mole grips to the opener to get the leverage yesterday 

Is your median nerve function improving at all?

TBH I'm not sure if it's just the median or the ulnar as well. I can't do any twisting movement though. I have to reach over and start my car with my right hand. I have found a way round this to operate my shifters which I can do on a 600 if it comes to it. I can change to a higher gear with a single click but can't do a double still. I have kinda written off the nerve function and know I could ride PBP without it though 

[hellymedic]

 Mine is generally doing what it's told at the moment, except that I cannot open tins. I might have to invest in an electric tin opener. I had to add a large pair of mole grips to the opener to get the leverage yesterday 

TBH I'm not sure if it's just the median or the ulnar as well. I can't do any twisting movement though. I have to reach over and start my car with my right hand. I have found a way round this to operate my shifters which I can do on a 600 if it comes to it. I can change to a higher gear with a single click but can't do a double still. I have kinda written off the nerve function and know I could ride PBP without it though 

Twisting movements are innervated way above the wrist.
If you're having problems with this, the damage is to the nerve or muscle much higher up.

It might be worth seeking professional help about this soon.  The biceps muscle is one of the most powerful supinator muscles; is your problem pain or inability to twist?

[Feline]

 Mine is generally doing what it's told at the moment, except that I cannot open tins. I might have to invest in an electric tin opener. I had to add a large pair of mole grips to the opener to get the leverage yesterday 

TBH I'm not sure if it's just the median or the ulnar as well. I can't do any twisting movement though. I have to reach over and start my car with my right hand. I have found a way round this to operate my shifters which I can do on a 600 if it comes to it. I can change to a higher gear with a single click but can't do a double still. I have kinda written off the nerve function and know I could ride PBP without it though 

Twisting movements are innervated way above the wrist.
If you're having problems with this, the damage is to the nerve or muscle much higher up.

It might be worth seeking professional help about this soon.  The biceps muscle is one of the most powerful supinator muscles; is your problem pain or inability to twist?

It doesn't actually hurt at all. I just have a complete inability to twist at all. Today I triecd to clean the bathroom and couldn't open the childproof bleach, I had to ask my daughter to do it for me  Applying pressure and then twisting is impossible.

[simonp]

Went to the gym. Wrist ok with rowing machine press ups and swimming.

Very tired now.

[Baggy]

Bingo wings come from fat and loose skin.
You won't get them if you don't get a fat body, fat arms and then lose much weight.

Damn! I'm doomed. Mind you, in my family bingo wings do seem to be born, not made...

I've recently managed to lose a stone by upping the mileage and keeping an eye on food intake but have got well and truly stuck and nothing else is shifting.  guess it's time to up the mileage again.

[zigzag]

It doesn't actually hurt at all. I just have a complete inability to twist at all. Today I triecd to clean the bathroom and couldn't open the childproof bleach, I had to ask my daughter to do it for me  Applying pressure and then twisting is impossible.

i've given this to read to mrs z who among other things is a hand surgery registrar, and here is her opinion:

"Hi there.

Judging by the mechanism of injury, you shouldn't have damaged any of your wrist suppinators/flexors/extensors or any nerves that supply them.

You have squashed your median nerve - hence the tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers (this is the sensory part of this nerve, the ring and little fingers are supplied by the ulnar nerve, which also often gets injured while cycling). The condition is called neuropraxia - essentially means bruising and swelling of the nerve, which can persist for weeks to months and generally a complete recovery is expected, provided the causative element is eliminated.

The median nerve (as well as ulnar nerve) also gives out a motor branch (called recurrent branch of the median n.) just distal to/within  the carpal tunnel which supplies the muscles of  thenar eminence. Those are responsible for opposition/flexion and partially abduction of the thumb in relation to other digits. So squashing this branch would explain the weakness in not being able to grip or  twist things (essentially - most of small movements of the hand). The motor nerves take longer to recover and might on occasions leave some residual weakness, in severe cases leading to thenar eminence wasting (in a very advanced stage though). I suspect you may also have compressed your ulnar nerve, which would explain weak adduction of the thumb as in gripping things with your thumb and index finger, however you only mentioned sensory loss in the median n distribution, so this is doubtful.

If you still have persistent weakness of the small movements of your hand, I would strongly recommend not to take any longer rides until completely recovered as it is very likely to make it worse and may result in permanent damage, will also lead to developing carpal tunnel syndrome in the long run.

Get well soon!"

maybe this post should be moved to the original "wrist problem" thread.

[DrMekon]

"Hi there.

...obvious n+1 opportunity... recumbent.... fast one... medical justification... speak to Kevin at Dtek asap.... those bachettas look fast....

Get well soon!"

Every cloud.

[Feline]

It doesn't actually hurt at all. I just have a complete inability to twist at all. Today I triecd to clean the bathroom and couldn't open the childproof bleach, I had to ask my daughter to do it for me  Applying pressure and then twisting is impossible.

i've given this to read to mrs z who among other things is a hand surgery registrar, and here is her opinion:

"Hi there.

Judging by the mechanism of injury, you shouldn't have damaged any of your wrist suppinators/flexors/extensors or any nerves that supply them.

You have squashed your median nerve - hence the tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers (this is the sensory part of this nerve, the ring and little fingers are supplied by the ulnar nerve, which also often gets injured while cycling). The condition is called neuropraxia - essentially means bruising and swelling of the nerve, which can persist for weeks to months and generally a complete recovery is expected, provided the causative element is eliminated.

The median nerve (as well as ulnar nerve) also gives out a motor branch (called recurrent branch of the median n.) just distal to/within  the carpal tunnel which supplies the muscles of  thenar eminence. Those are responsible for opposition/flexion and partially abduction of the thumb in relation to other digits. So squashing this branch would explain the weakness in not being able to grip or  twist things (essentially - most of small movements of the hand). The motor nerves take longer to recover and might on occasions leave some residual weakness, in severe cases leading to thenar eminence wasting (in a very advanced stage though). I suspect you may also have compressed your ulnar nerve, which would explain weak adduction of the thumb as in gripping things with your thumb and index finger, however you only mentioned sensory loss in the median n distribution, so this is doubtful.

If you still have persistent weakness of the small movements of your hand, I would strongly recommend not to take any longer rides until completely recovered as it is very likely to make it worse and may result in permanent damage, will also lead to developing carpal tunnel syndrome in the long run.

Get well soon!"

maybe this post should be moved to the original "wrist problem" thread.

Thanks Z and Mrs Z for this. Sounds like that's what I have done. Avoiding longer rides could be a real problem ... my 600 is next weekend and then there's that little ride in France I'm planning!

[Bianchi Boy]

Thanks Z and Mrs Z for this. Sounds like that's what I have done. Avoiding longer rides could be a real problem ... my 600 is next weekend and then there's that little ride in France I'm planning!

There is no mention of any steps you have taken to ease the problem while riding. Different mitts have more gel in than others. I use Specialized mitts and have a double layer of gel that came with Fizik bar tape to stop this. You can also get bars with flat tops see
   Wiggle | FSA Wing Pro Compact Road Handlebar Road Handlebars


By the sounds to this you need to take some action.

Also consider your position on the bike. Do you find your shoulders getting stressed on long rides? Could be a result of too much pressure on the hands. Longer term a saddle position change. I had a friend who complained of this and his saddle tilted nose down. He dropped is saddle a little and this allowed him to have a flat saddle and hey presto his hand numbness stopped.

Hope you dins a solution soon.


BB

[DrMekon]

I was getting numb hands after just 30km. Switched to Spesh BG gel gloves, dropped the saddle slightly and moved the saddle back. Eventually got a layback post (brooks short rails were an issue for me). No numb hands at all now.

[simonp]

It doesn't actually hurt at all. I just have a complete inability to twist at all. Today I triecd to clean the bathroom and couldn't open the childproof bleach, I had to ask my daughter to do it for me  Applying pressure and then twisting is impossible.

i've given this to read to mrs z who among other things is a hand surgery registrar, and here is her opinion:

"Hi there.

...

If you still have persistent weakness of the small movements of your hand, I would strongly recommend not to take any longer rides until completely recovered as it is very likely to make it worse and may result in permanent damage, will also lead to developing carpal tunnel syndrome in the long run.

Get well soon!"

maybe this post should be moved to the original "wrist problem" thread.

Thanks Z and Mrs Z for this. Sounds like that's what I have done. Avoiding longer rides could be a real problem ... my 600 is next weekend and then there's that little ride in France I'm planning!

I hope that whatever decision you take, it's the right one. GWS.

[hellymedic]

I don't disagree with any part of mrs z's response but I still see no explanation as to why Feline can't open jars or twist her wrist. Everything else is improving. These are forearm, not hand/wrist problems.

[simonp]

My weight is below 70kg again and this tends to be the point where I stop feeling flabby. 

[Regulator]

Another 1lb off this week - not a huge loss but I was pleasantly surprised, given that I ate and drak far too much last weekend, when we were down at Jon's aunt's...

I'm now over 3 stone off - and in the last 18 weeks I've only put on or stayed the same twice.

[Feline]

Thanks Z and Mrs Z for this. Sounds like that's what I have done. Avoiding longer rides could be a real problem ... my 600 is next weekend and then there's that little ride in France I'm planning!

There is no mention of any steps you have taken to ease the problem while riding. Different mitts have more gel in than others. I use Specialized mitts and have a double layer of gel that came with Fizik bar tape to stop this. You can also get bars with flat tops see
   Wiggle | FSA Wing Pro Compact Road Handlebar Road Handlebars


By the sounds to this you need to take some action.

Also consider your position on the bike. Do you find your shoulders getting stressed on long rides? Could be a result of too much pressure on the hands. Longer term a saddle position change. I had a friend who complained of this and his saddle tilted nose down. He dropped is saddle a little and this allowed him to have a flat saddle and hey presto his hand numbness stopped.

Hope you dins a solution soon.


BB

BB, I have made several adjustments since the injury happened, although it happened because on my 300 I had to descend a long way in torrential rain with only a front brake a few weeks back (I had a mechanical problem) so the stresses that caused it are not reproduced in normal riding. I have moved the hoods up towards me, altered the angle of the bars, slightly dropped the stem and moved the saddle slightly back since. I already have Specialised Bar Phat tape with gel pads under it and Spesh BG gel mitts. I've ridden a 400k among other rides since without making it any worse, but it's just taking ages to get better. The pins and needles and numbness got better fairly fast but the motor functions are lagging behind.

[Jasmine]

Feline - I think you also need to ask yourself how much it bothers you.  The loss of movement is more of a PITA than the sensation I imagine.

Personally, I frequently lose sensation in my hands through nerve compression & banging my elbows etc.  People find the paper cup test amusing - I can't hold a paper cup properly unless I'm looking at it because I have no idea if I have hold of it; too little pressure and I'll drop it, but too much and I crush it. If I'm looking at it, it's fine.

At the moment, I have pins & needles down my entire right arm (shoulder to fingers) following an RTA (3 weeks ago).  It doesn't bother me too much as it doesn't actually hurt, it's just weird.  I've got reasonable movement, so I'm not worried unless it persists for a longer time.

[Feline]

Feline - I think you also need to ask yourself how much it bothers you.  The loss of movement is more of a PITA than the sensation I imagine.

Personally, I frequently lose sensation in my hands through nerve compression & banging my elbows etc.  People find the paper cup test amusing - I can't hold a paper cup properly unless I'm looking at it because I have no idea if I have hold of it; too little pressure and I'll drop it, but too much and I crush it. If I'm looking at it, it's fine.

At the moment, I have pins & needles down my entire right arm (shoulder to fingers) following an RTA (3 weeks ago).  It doesn't bother me too much as it doesn't actually hurt, it's just weird.  I've got reasonable movement, so I'm not worried unless it persists for a longer time.

Thanks, and I hope your arm recovers quickly Jasmine!
The lack of motor function is really annoying when I try to do certain things, but there's usually a way around it so I'm less bothered than if I had some painful knee injury or similar that actually forced me off the bike. I'm not wanting to give up my PBP plans for something that I can potentially carry on with, so I'm trying to strike a balance between resting it and doing what I need to do. If I make it hideously worse on my 600 I could live to regret this, but c'est la vie!

[Sergeant Pluck]

in the last 18 weeks I've only put on or stayed the same twice.

Very consistent. I gained for the first time since starting this  0.4 kg up. No mystery to it - the control slipped and there were a couple of days when I ate well over my limit.

I'm going to try a run for the first time in ages - I reckon a little bit of intensity will help.

[simonp]

in the last 18 weeks I've only put on or stayed the same twice.

Very consistent. I gained for the first time since starting this  0.4 kg up. No mystery to it - the control slipped and there were a couple of days when I ate well over my limit.

Looking at the graphs you're doing incredibly well TBH.

I've dropped 3kg over the last couple of weeks - repeatedly forgetting to eat works pretty well.  I've reached my PBP target weight now, which is also the weight at which my body starts insisting that it needs food, so I'll probably stop dropping.

[Feline]

in the last 18 weeks I've only put on or stayed the same twice.

Very consistent. I gained for the first time since starting this  0.4 kg up. No mystery to it - the control slipped and there were a couple of days when I ate well over my limit.

Looking at the graphs you're doing incredibly well TBH.

I've dropped 3kg over the last couple of weeks - repeatedly forgetting to eat works pretty well.  I've reached my PBP target weight now, which is also the weight at which my body starts insisting that it needs food, so I'll probably stop dropping.

What on earth could you be doing that is making you forget to eat? 

[Sergeant Pluck]

Looking at the graphs you're doing incredibly well TBH.

Thanks. I think I've done the easy bit and the next couple of kg is going to be much harder. In any case I suspect that I am not far off my natural sustainable weight. However, I do want to get to 80 kg - advice appreciated:

What I've done so far, using http://www.myfitnesspal.com/, is to eat to the limit that it calculates for me. For that calculation I've erred on the side of caution and put myself as "lightly active" although I suspect I meet the criteria for "moderately active". That gives me a limit of 1860 calories a day to lose 0.5 kg / week. You are meant to enter any exercise that is done - in my case, that would be at least 60 minutes of cycling a day as a daily base. I was not sure if my commute really used up the 500 Cal / hour that the yACF massive suggest is appropriate, so I have not been counting that at all. So I eat the 1860 regardless of any exercise I do. That's presumably why I have lost a fair bit more than 0.5 kg / week. Now that I have lost the bulk of what I want to get rid of, I am finding myself getting really hungry in the evening and thus being tempted in the direction of snackage.
Would I be better at this stage to include calories expended due to exercise, thus giving myself a bit more leeway? I also think I am losing a bit of muscle mass despite a pretty good protein intake.

[simonp]

I counted my commute as estimated on Livestrong and it wasn't stopping me losing weight. In fact I was counting a lot more distance than my commute.

I would experiment with counting them an see what happens. You have found you are getting hungry which IMO shows that now you've lost a fair bit of fat and your body is starting to notice. You don't need to lose weight at the rate you have been so don't try to maintain it.

[GruB]

I'm back on the weight loss gain.  Zone 2 training - religiously so as to burn fat.  Face is already looking more gaunt, just gotta encourage the Michelin ring fat to go then I'll be okay.
Down to 85 kgs.
Wiggins is 10cm taller and at 72kgs - so that is something to aim for