Fueling up for rides v loosing weight
Discussion
As I increase the distances I ride at weekends I'm playing around with eating and drinking during a ride. Mainly as I'd like to find food (gels etc) that doesn't cause me to have a hypoglycemic attack on a ride (I ride solo), and there is no way I'd be able to ride 100 miles without eating, which is the target. Doing it near the time or on the day is a little stupid give the consequences so I'm playing now.
The flip side is I also have about 8kgs to loose, and to loose weight (1 of the other targets) I must run in a calorie deficit.
Sundays ride according to my Garmin I used 1800 calories, but consumed 2 gels and a can of full fat coke, the gels are only 175 calories each.
At what point is the trade off, between fueling up and loosing weight. Obviously I don't consume as much energy as I expend, and is there any point on eating during a ride whilst trying shift a not inconsiderable weight (a weight equal to my bike).
Due to work, I only get to ride at weekends and I'm adding 8 miles a month to total distance each ride, so for Sept I'm riding 28 or more miles each time until I reach the magic 100 or just over.
The flip side is I also have about 8kgs to loose, and to loose weight (1 of the other targets) I must run in a calorie deficit.
Sundays ride according to my Garmin I used 1800 calories, but consumed 2 gels and a can of full fat coke, the gels are only 175 calories each.
At what point is the trade off, between fueling up and loosing weight. Obviously I don't consume as much energy as I expend, and is there any point on eating during a ride whilst trying shift a not inconsiderable weight (a weight equal to my bike).
Due to work, I only get to ride at weekends and I'm adding 8 miles a month to total distance each ride, so for Sept I'm riding 28 or more miles each time until I reach the magic 100 or just over.
Have a look ot this: http://easycycling.com/how-to-fuel-cycling-energy-...
The thing you want to lose is fat. Your aerobic energy system is the one you'll use for that. If you want to lose weight, then it's important that you don't eat too much fat (because it's so calorie dense for the weight) and also that you're not feeding yourself simple sugars.
The thing you want to lose is fat. Your aerobic energy system is the one you'll use for that. If you want to lose weight, then it's important that you don't eat too much fat (because it's so calorie dense for the weight) and also that you're not feeding yourself simple sugars.
Get the app "myfitnesspal" you can use this to count your calories
Ignoring the cycling for a second to lose the weight you need a calorie defecit of around 500 calories and my opinion is that the calories burned via exercise should be ignored.
BUT in your case im not so sure, i think you need to start eating smarter and look into the macronutrient of what you are eating in order to fuel these rides.
One of the flags for me aswell in your OP is that you say your having a meal at 8-9pm which is (again my opinion) bad for you, id be trying to constantly snack and have 3 small (easy) meals a day, its very easy to to get lots of calories into your system very quickly (this is how people end up fat) but sugars and simple carbs id say to avoid.
Im by no means an expert on this subject (I have an interest in it), their is lots of good advice on the internet and the link posted above is a very good read to get you started, I think you need to spend some time researching and i think you might be suprised how the right approach will affect your performance.
Ignoring the cycling for a second to lose the weight you need a calorie defecit of around 500 calories and my opinion is that the calories burned via exercise should be ignored.
BUT in your case im not so sure, i think you need to start eating smarter and look into the macronutrient of what you are eating in order to fuel these rides.
One of the flags for me aswell in your OP is that you say your having a meal at 8-9pm which is (again my opinion) bad for you, id be trying to constantly snack and have 3 small (easy) meals a day, its very easy to to get lots of calories into your system very quickly (this is how people end up fat) but sugars and simple carbs id say to avoid.
Im by no means an expert on this subject (I have an interest in it), their is lots of good advice on the internet and the link posted above is a very good read to get you started, I think you need to spend some time researching and i think you might be suprised how the right approach will affect your performance.
Celtic Dragon said:
Positive, I leave the house around 7:30 am and get back at 7pm, 5 days a week. By the time I've cooked and eaten its usually 8:30 - 9pm.
I get up early twice a week and go for a 30-40 minute run before work, it doesnt make any difference to how i feel at the end of the day, you do work more hours than me though so it might be worth a try see how you get on, some days my run energises me for the day ahead, others i still feel like crap though lol.I dont find I need to eat every 20 mins or so as the gels recommend, perhaps for racing that may be the case, but I find that eating something every hour keeps me from bonking. I still manage to lose weight when on the bike, if I start doing bigger distances but at the moment I'm off the bike therefore putting weight on.
Going for a ride is not when you should be looking at a calorie deficit. The more you eat, the longer you'll ride, the more you'll burn. You also need enough energy/carbs/protein for recovery.
If you need to lose weight, it should be during the week when you're not riding.
That being said, don't feel the need to eat more than you have to. Or carb load if you don't need to. Or eat lots of cake as a reward.
If you need to lose weight, it should be during the week when you're not riding.
That being said, don't feel the need to eat more than you have to. Or carb load if you don't need to. Or eat lots of cake as a reward.
Back in the day. I used to train to burn fat. (Which is rather different from training to lose weight.) It has to be done carefully though.
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/06/nutrition/...
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/06/nutrition/...
Randy Winkman said:
Back in the day. I used to train to burn fat. (Which is rather different from training to lose weight.) It has to be done carefully though.
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/06/nutrition/...
Interesting article.http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/06/nutrition/...
When you say you 'used to train to burn fat' I assume you used this approach to optimise performance rather than to improve your body shape / BMI etc?
RGambo said:
I manage to loose 3 stone (19KGS) this year and fit train/cycle for approx 6-10 hours a week. If you want I can go through how I did it. suffice to say it needed a total rethink of ALL my eating and drinking habits, on and off the bike.
I'd be interested to hear more about this, either in a new thread or via PM.Thanks!
sidicks said:
Randy Winkman said:
Back in the day. I used to train to burn fat. (Which is rather different from training to lose weight.) It has to be done carefully though.
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/06/nutrition/...
Interesting article.http://triathlon.competitor.com/2014/06/nutrition/...
When you say you 'used to train to burn fat' I assume you used this approach to optimise performance rather than to improve your body shape / BMI etc?
I've done this a couple of times this year. This was the first one I Strava'd.
http://www.strava.com/activities/190333400
I tried to fuel up sufficiently during the preceeding week, in order to avoid the bonk, and only needing to top up whilst on the ride. I got as far as weybridge, on the return. Bingo, straight into the bonk wall. I had to stop and have something proper to eat. I do lots of long(ish) rides, the best I've found I can hope for is that I run out of fuel at a slow enough pace to enable me to continue to the end of the ride, with not too many stops. This is the only one of my long rides where I've actually run clean out of fuel to be fair. It was partially my fault for getting a bit lost at Kingston on the return. I aimed to get to Farnham before a refuel was necessary, that's probably why I missed the target.
http://www.strava.com/activities/190333400
I tried to fuel up sufficiently during the preceeding week, in order to avoid the bonk, and only needing to top up whilst on the ride. I got as far as weybridge, on the return. Bingo, straight into the bonk wall. I had to stop and have something proper to eat. I do lots of long(ish) rides, the best I've found I can hope for is that I run out of fuel at a slow enough pace to enable me to continue to the end of the ride, with not too many stops. This is the only one of my long rides where I've actually run clean out of fuel to be fair. It was partially my fault for getting a bit lost at Kingston on the return. I aimed to get to Farnham before a refuel was necessary, that's probably why I missed the target.
If you set yourself up so that at the end of a 100 mile ride you're absolutely beat then that's the best thing for you. You'd be much better having a very good cardio system and being a little bit overweight than being skinny and unfit. If you keep up the long rides you'll eventually lose the weight as your body adapts and your speeds increase, it just won't be a quick thing at all. Consistency to the exercise is the key thing rather than trying to deliberately starve yourself.
I used to do a lot of swimming, including racing long distances (5-10k crawl) and sprints (50-400m fly / crawl). I found I could eat relatively normally and the goal of getting faster simply meant that my eating habits adjusted. In fact for the first 6 months I put on weight, but there got a point where the weight started falling off because I was consistently doing the hard exercise I wanted and in fact instead of eating more I found I could rest more and still be as strong in the pool.
So sometimes it's not as simple as eat less, train more ...
I used to do a lot of swimming, including racing long distances (5-10k crawl) and sprints (50-400m fly / crawl). I found I could eat relatively normally and the goal of getting faster simply meant that my eating habits adjusted. In fact for the first 6 months I put on weight, but there got a point where the weight started falling off because I was consistently doing the hard exercise I wanted and in fact instead of eating more I found I could rest more and still be as strong in the pool.
So sometimes it's not as simple as eat less, train more ...
Celtic Dragon said:
Positive, I leave the house around 7:30 am and get back at 7pm, 5 days a week. By the time I've cooked and eaten its usually 8:30 - 9pm.
I'd look at this - is that your main meal? Can you switch to having that at lunch time and then snacking later? I know family life and work may make it impossible. I agree with Richardxjr too, an early morning ride without breakfast helps me control my weight.
If you are only riding at weekends I think it will be a long slow process to losing the weight, and as others have said you need to eat something when out on rides. I can't consume more than 2 or 3 gels on a long ride, I crave more normal foods. (I even had a small pork pie near the end of RideLondon!) Maybe try a couple of fig rolls, or a flapjack, tube of wine gums, a couple of bits of bread and jam. It doesn't have to be a lot (for me anyway) just a little and often, every 90 - 120 mins roughly. I drink water or electrolytes constantly though.
sidicks said:
RGambo said:
I manage to loose 3 stone (19KGS) this year and fit train/cycle for approx 6-10 hours a week. If you want I can go through how I did it. suffice to say it needed a total rethink of ALL my eating and drinking habits, on and off the bike.
I'd be interested to hear more about this, either in a new thread or via PM.Thanks!
I put on quite a bit of timber during my injury lay off between February and June. I weighed myself at my GPs surgery after a couple of months back on the bike, and was pleased to find that I'd lost 8kg without really counting anything. I'd just stopped tamping bread (toasted) into my fat face all day, dropped from two to one sugars in my coffee (10-15 grams a day less refined sugar, or 40 to 60 calories in just that one change), and just ate slightly more sensible portions of what I normally had. I didn't reduce the frequency, nor change the type of takeaway I regularly indulge in, nor the the type of meals I eat at home. Just a bit of common sense and willpower when I cooked to reduce what went into the pan/oven. It had to be that way, because I cannot, psychologically, leave food on a plate. Not drinking alcohol regularly helped, but that was easy, as I have been all but dry for a couple of years, although I'll have a little blow-out now and then if I fancy it.
Then it was just a question of exercising more, and once I got a cyclist as a physiotherapist, someone who understood my need to ride my bike, all was well. Riding (all MTB so far since June) helped the recovery from the injury rather than hindered, and the pleasant side effect was the weight loss. I wasn't weighing-in regularly, so the most I know that I weighed was 81kg, but I'm pretty certain that I was up to about 85kg after 4 months festering on the sofa. Last time I weighed myself on a properly calibrated scale I was 73kg, but hotel room scales have flattered me with less than that. That's two notches on my belt (and the ability to wear my jeans low down with my M&S underpants on display like the cool kids)
My BMI figure is 26.2 which puts me slightly overweight still, but my body fat is 22.2% which is well within the 'good' range. Target weight to achieve a 'good' BMI is 69kg, but I think that BMI alone is flawed, and it's certainly no measure of 'fitness'. Still, I'm heading in the right direction, without too much effort, and enjoying myself out on the MTB at the same time.
Then it was just a question of exercising more, and once I got a cyclist as a physiotherapist, someone who understood my need to ride my bike, all was well. Riding (all MTB so far since June) helped the recovery from the injury rather than hindered, and the pleasant side effect was the weight loss. I wasn't weighing-in regularly, so the most I know that I weighed was 81kg, but I'm pretty certain that I was up to about 85kg after 4 months festering on the sofa. Last time I weighed myself on a properly calibrated scale I was 73kg, but hotel room scales have flattered me with less than that. That's two notches on my belt (and the ability to wear my jeans low down with my M&S underpants on display like the cool kids)
My BMI figure is 26.2 which puts me slightly overweight still, but my body fat is 22.2% which is well within the 'good' range. Target weight to achieve a 'good' BMI is 69kg, but I think that BMI alone is flawed, and it's certainly no measure of 'fitness'. Still, I'm heading in the right direction, without too much effort, and enjoying myself out on the MTB at the same time.
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