Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Cycling to lose weight?

Options
2»

Comments

  • Options
    #32
    AaronB
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭AaronB


    Hi,

    I know this has not been updated in a long time. Just wanted to tell ye my progress.

    I have been cycling on and off over the last 2 yrs, but due to a knee injury i was off the bike for over 6-8months and put alot of weight on.
    Like that i have computer job so when your sitting on your ass all day it does pile on quick!

    So i started to get back on the bike just over a month ago with a starting weight of 115kg. 3 weeks later im down to 107kg but i seem to be stuck that this weight for the past 2-3weeks and get get past it.

    I do about 150-200km per week and i eat a healthy diet and the odd junk at the week. I eat lots of veg, chicken, tuna, long grain brown rice, and eggs too.

    Most of terrain is hills so it can be hard to keep a high avg most of the time mine is 20-23kph
    Can anyone offer any tips and what i could try to get pass this bump on the road?

    Regards,


  • Options
    #33
    Hmmzis
    Registered Users Posts: 2,004 ✭✭✭Hmmzis


    AaronB wrote: »
    Hi,

    I know this has not been updated in a long time. Just wanted to tell ye my progress.

    I have been cycling on and off over the last 2 yrs, but due to a knee injury i was off the bike for over 6-8months and put alot of weight on.
    Like that i have computer job so when your sitting on your ass all day it does pile on quick!

    So i started to get back on the bike just over a month ago with a starting weight of 115kg. 3 weeks later im down to 107kg but i seem to be stuck that this weight for the past 2-3weeks and get get past it.

    I do about 150-200km per week and i eat a healthy diet and the odd junk at the week. I eat lots of veg, chicken, tuna, long grain brown rice, and eggs too.

    Most of terrain is hills so it can be hard to keep a high avg most of the time mine is 20-23kph
    Can anyone offer any tips and what i could try to get pass this bump on the road?

    Regards,

    Just keep at it. The kgs will drop eventually. You are probably now at the point where your body has finaly understood what is happening and is trying to adjust itself for the new regime. Weight loss comes easier in the first few weeks then you get a bit of a platoe and then it starts dropping again but slower than at the begining. Also, your muscles are growing gradualy and that contributes to your overall weight but in a good way since muscles help you burn more fat.

    And try to skip the junk you mentioned, pick up some fruits instead.


  • Options
    #34
    Lumen
    Registered Users Posts: 31,009 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    Smaller portions, cut out the junk, pedal faster.

    8kg in 3 weeks is a massive amount, hardly a sustainable rate of weight loss.


  • Options
    #35
    C3PO
    Registered Users Posts: 3,738 ✭✭✭C3PO


    Lumen wrote: »
    Smaller portions, cut out the junk, pedal faster.

    8kg in 3 weeks is a massive amount, hardly a sustainable rate of weight loss.

    Agreed! .5kg per week is probably a good target for sustainable long term weight loss. That's a surplus of approx 500 calories burned over what you eat per day!


  • Options
    #36
    route66
    Registered Users Posts: 1,012 ✭✭✭route66


    C3PO wrote: »
    Agreed! .5kg per week is probably a good target for sustainable long term weight loss. That's a surplus of approx 500 calories burned over what you eat per day!

    +1

    Have a look at "The Hacker's Diet" by John Walker. He's the guy who developed Autocad. This will explain why weight loss is rarely a linear process. Oh, and the book is free - More here: link


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #37
    rp
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,227 ✭✭✭rp


    Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »
    The other thing to think about is the intensity at which you ride. If you go out hell for leather and ride till you feel like collapsing, you'll simply burn up all your sugar reserves before you have the chance to burn off a lot of fat. Riding about 70% of your maximum heart rate means your body will burn a mixture of something like 50% fat. Your total calories expended per minute will be lower, but the proportion of fat higher.
    That might be true limited to the period of the ride, but overall, its not really going to make a difference, as the body will replace the glucose burnt from fat deposits, so even after turning the HRM off, you'll continue burning fat. A mixture of both aerobic and anaerobic is prob the best, like Fartlek. Personally, I have lost the most weight when doing a lot of hill climbing, and that was mostly in the 85%+ HR zone.


  • Options
    #38
    Henlars67
    Registered Users Posts: 1,272 ✭✭✭Henlars67


    I have been cycling about 3 months and have lost about 8 kg. I didn't change my diet at all. I have always drank a lot of fizzy drinks and continue to do so. I also snack a lot and have made no attempts to cut them out, however my weight continues to drop slowly and steadily.
    I ride anywhere between 60 and 90k 5 or 6 days a week, pushing a bigger gear than I probably should & I know that if I spin more I'll prob lose more weight but it feels comfortable the way I'm doing it now.

    I am probably still 9 or 10 k overweight and I hope to lose about half that by the end of September. Might do some spinning classes from then on during the week
    when it's too dark to go for a ride in the evening.


  • Options
    #39
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,864 ✭✭✭langdang


    route66 wrote: »
    +1

    Have a look at "The Hacker's Diet" by John Walker. He's the guy who developed Autocad. This will explain why weight loss is rarely a linear process. Oh, and the book is free - More here: link

    Cheers for that - looks interesting, must read it just to see an engineering take on the whole thing!


  • Options
    #40
    AaronB
    Registered Users Posts: 110 ✭✭AaronB


    Hmmzis wrote: »
    Just keep at it. The kgs will drop eventually. You are probably now at the point where your body has finaly understood what is happening and is trying to adjust itself for the new regime. Weight loss comes easier in the first few weeks then you get a bit of a platoe and then it starts dropping again but slower than at the begining. Also, your muscles are growing gradualy and that contributes to your overall weight but in a good way since muscles help you burn more fat.

    And try to skip the junk you mentioned, pick up some fruits instead.


    I did not set out to lose the weight so fast and did not expect it too, the 8kg just fall off straight away.
    I was more worried that the weight stopped coming off and thought maybe i need to do something extra on top of what im doing already.

    I cycle 5-6 days per week after work or early morning (6am) i do 3 days of about 30km+ and 2 days of 60km+ Its hard to do long cycles everyday due to work. Plus our terrain is just hills not many flats at all.

    I also started going with the group cycle on Sunday mornings, and yesterday was my first time and i found i did push myself a good bit harder than i would when out on my own. which is a good thing but bloody sore today :D


    I will read the book that was linked it does sound interesting, will save it to my phone and read it on my breaks or in bed.

    Thanks for all the advise always nice to hear what people are doing themselves or what advise they can offer.


  • Options
    #41
    berger89
    Closed Accounts Posts: 387 ✭✭berger89


    Hi, just thought I'd get this thread going!
    How is everyone's progress?

    I put a deposit down on a hybrid bike over the weekend, nothing too fancy. Hopefully collect it this week. I'm taking heart from your stories..
    I'll be honest and say that walking just doesn't float my boat, so was thinking of starting into cycling.
    Good to see that cycling has real life changing benefits.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement