A little help please?

peaspeas

Ok so I'm looking to sift some weight, so far ive lost 2 stone but ive two to go and im stuck at a brick wall.

heres some details. im female, 23, mother of an under two.
I'm 5ft 2 and currently weigh 10 stone 12lbs. My ideal weight is 9 stone on the button.
I know that it was my own fault I put on so much weight after having my baby, but a year has passed now and I'm sick of it.

I have an exercise bike i try to go on every second day and cycle for 50-60minutes.
If I can I try go for an actual cycle in the evening but with it starting to get dark earlier it's not really a reality anymore.
I go to pilates once a week.
And I tone using the wii active, usually about 30 minutes every other day.
I also try and get a walk in in the mornings if it's not lasing rain with the buggy.

And diet wise:
I tend to cook everything from scratch. I think my main downfall was putting too much on the plate and rushing my food(babies are busy busy!)
SO ive got a handle on portion size and have try my best to eat slowly(works 9 times out of 10)

Breakfast: snack muller fruit corner
one weetabix with low fat milk

Lunch: either a brown bread sandwhich(ham or chicken,slic of cheese) or soup or salad.
And some fuit eg apple or pear.

Dinner: could be a chicken curry or lamb chops and veg or fish.

I try to eat wholegrain goods, like bread rice and pasta. And I try to include fish a minimun of once a week. I cook it myself so I dont use very fatty ingredients, eg if cream was needed I'd used creme fraiche, veggies, which i like a good variety for dinner of are from the garden. I drink quite alot of water during the day, it and a glass of milk are my only drinks.

i'm usually ok snack wise. sometimes i have a few squares of chocolate or a biscuit but im good a keeping that under wraps. I dont eat crisps or anything and only drink alcohol once a month or less somtimes, whatever i feel like.

over the summer i have had a few dinner parties and bbqs and nights out but all in all i havent been too bad but my weight is at a stand still. i lose two lbs one week put on one the next lose none the next etc etc.

where am I going wrong.

Also my ambition would be to complete an adventure race next year or a triathalon. I wouldve liked to get a triathalon in this year but didnt fancy coming paddy last, I used to play sports alot and I'm quite competitive by nature. Imknow the first races i do i'll be glad to finish.

any one any adivce on how to shift this weight and train for racing? i aim to lose 2lbs/week and weigh myself weekly.

peaspeas

nobody??

celestial

You don't say how long you have been doing the cycling? What I would do is reduce the time on the bike to no longer than 25 minutes - but increase the intensity significantly. So, you should aim to maintain an intensity level of around 7-8 on a ten point scale (or at least work up to that).

How often is 'sometimes' re the snacks? Really you are just shooting yourself in the foot with these. It's ok once you have lost the fat but it's just not helping when you are starting out.

The devil, as always, is in the details - small snacks here and there add up. They also elevate your blood sugar making it a lot harder for your body to burn fat.

Mellor

celestial wrote: »

What I would do is reduce the time on the bike to no longer than 25 minutes -

Why?




As for the OP, you diet isn't terrible, but it's could be better.
Work out your daily required calories, you'll get this in the stickies here (the nutrition forum has a more detailed version). Then cut out 15% and stick to this figure, count everything you can.
As you use fresh foods, you need to get to know them, I use;
http://www.nutritiondata.com/
I find it pretty good.

Wholegrain is good, when it comes to carbs, as in brown bread is better than white.
But too much carbs, even wholegrain ones, isn't good. Try to drop out some of them and include protein instead.
include eggs foe brekkie a few days a week, porridge/oats is regarded as the best brekkie. The yogurt prob has a bit of sugar in it.
As for dinner, stick to lean meat (I go for 3 chicken, 2 fish, 1 lean steak a week, 7th day is random). And while veg is good in general, too much starchy veg results in too much carbs and therefore calories.
For the next month, trying cutting out the following;
Potato
Turnip
Carrots (maybe not cut out but reduce)

and include more of:
brocolli
cauliflower
tomato


Check out various veg on http://www.nutritiondata.com/ and compare them per 100g.


Snmacks are fine, but eat health snacks. I often eat dinner in two halfs. first half as a snack after work, and the rest for a later dinner. The portion is the same in total, but spreads it out. 6 small meals is better than 3 large ones.

corkcomp

+1 to mellors advice above . I wouldnt cut out ANY vegetables (aside from potatoes) though.. i would start by cutting out junk carbs like bread and pasta (a little wholegrain ok pre or post workout) - doing more than 25 minutes on the bike isnt a problem, as long as you have the time to devote to it .. if you dont have much time you need maximum bang for your buck so you should do intervals or go fat out for the time your on the bike .

your diet isnt too bad and you only have a stone to lose so watch portion sizes and maybe have fruit instead of muller for breakfast ..

celestial

Mellor wrote: »

Why?

Because, my guess is she is plodding away for nearly an hour at a low intensity - better results come more intense (and therefore invariably shorter) efforts.

Yapamillias

celestial wrote: »

Because, my guess is she is plodding away for nearly an hour at a low intensity - better results come more intense (and therefore invariably shorter) efforts.

+ 1

Yeah thats the impression I get if someone says they do cardio for an hour...25 min at a higher intensity isnt easier but the benifits are much greater. Calories burnt post exercise are much greater.

Summer time can be tough on the body but as Sep/oct rolls around try to cut out any alcohol (if ya drink) but keep up the good work (i know its hard fitting in exercise with a child your making a good start :pac:)

O.P.H

Sorry if I end up repeating what others have said but I could'nt really be arsed readin other posts

Firstly fair play on your progress so far, keep it up. What I think ya should do is interval training on your bike or HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training). Basically you would spend less than half the time on the bike that your doing now and would burn more fat. The idea is that firstly you do like a 5 miunute easy warm up pace, then you do intervals of like going flat out for 45 seconds and then going very slow for 90 secs. You can do whatever intervals you want but I like doing it in 1:2 ratios (i.e - 30 fast and 60 slow or 60 fast and 120 slow). You would do this about 7 times and it should take you no more than 20 minutes to do. You will be f**ked after it and will be burnin much more fat than your long cycles. After somethin like HIIT your metabolism is still working at a high rate hours after your session but after somethin like a long slow cycle it would'nt be working at the same level or either for as long. You would do it every second day, then just watch your diet. Go on youtube and look for interval training on bikes and you'll find loads of stuff. Best a luck.