Losing that final stone.

[jefmcg]

Sounds like it's not an unrealistic goal for either of you. Your body fights the last few kg because it doesn't know if there might be a famine soon. Plus it gets harder as you get older**. And you can't dictate where your body chooses to keep the fat. When I was younger I could lose enough weight so I could count my ribs and still have a wobbly arse.

Eat a little less, move a little more. Be proud of what you have achieved so far, and grateful if that is the worst of your problems.

**I've never really had to bother too much about my weight. If I concentrated on it I'd weigh x. If I didn't, I'd weigh x+10kg. In the last year I've managed to put on 20kg. Now I have to bother Age is one of the several factors that led to this change.

 

[Tiny01]

swap hot drinks like tea & coffee for Green tea & watch the last few pounds fall off

 

[Tin Pot]

5 miles cycling is well within your body's capabilities it can do ten times that without breaking. So the exercise is not a significant factor.

Sort out your diet and your sleep and you'll slowly get to your target. Or massively increase your exercise.

 

[mick1836]

My weight's gone up this year, & I can't lose it
I regard my 'fighting weight' as 10 Stone (+/- a couple of pounds)
Now, I'm just over 11 Stone, & miffed!

I don't think I over-eat too

I have a very active job, in the NHS, busy all shift, & the only time I get to sit down is at meal-break
I run there, or ride (not far, in ultimate terms, circa 4 miles, when I run there 'XC', a bit more by road), & then home again

I ride on my days off, or run
I'll generally run 30-40 miles per week
Run twice a week, when shifts permit, with my running club
Race, at the ParkRuns when I can (fell-races, when I can)

Still wanting to lose that stone

Try what I learnt at Slimming World and write down EXACTLY EVERYTHING you eat and drink, it may surprise you.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Okay
Wednesday, for example, from memory;

07:00
Porridge (1 scoop/'green' milk)
black tea, no sugar (x 2)

10:30
Run to work, 'XC', 4miles (steady @ 33 minutes)
Rain & circa 8 degrees

11:15
after shower, & changing
2 x Chicken & Chorizo sandwich (wholewheat bread)
packet Walkers S&V crisps
part of a 500ml Lucozade ('zero-cal' orange)
black tea, no sugar

12:00 start, on the 'shop-floor'

14:00
sneak a black tea, no sugar

16:30
meal break (banana, apple & Kiwi fruit)

20:00
leave, to run home ('XC', again)

20:40
black tea, no sugar
tea, after shower
Chick Pea Dahl & 4 chappattis
Bottle of SuperMalt


Another 2 x black tea, no sugar before bed @ 22:30


I should add, I'm not a newcomer
I've been commuting by bike for between 25 & 30 years
Raced MTB & 'cross, as far back as 1990
Running for 9 years

 

[Tin Pot]

Okay
Wednesday, for example, from memory;

07:00
Porridge (1 scoop/'green' milk)
black tea, no sugar (x 2)

10:30
Run to work, 'XC', 4miles (steady @ 33 minutes)
Rain & circa 8 degrees

11:15
after shower, & changing
2 x Chicken & Chorizo sandwich (wholewheat bread)
packet Walkers S&V crisps
part of a 500ml Lucozade ('zero-cal' orange)
black tea, no sugar

12:00 start, on the 'shop-floor'

14:00
sneak a black tea, no sugar

16:30
meal break (banana, apple & Kiwi fruit)

20:00
leave, to run home ('XC', again)

20:40
black tea, no sugar
tea, after shower
Chick Pea Dahl & 4 chappattis
Bottle of SuperMalt


Another 2 x black tea, no sugar before bed @ 22:30


I should add, I'm not a newcomer
I've been commuting by bike for between 25 & 30 years
Raced MTB & 'cross, as far back as 1990
Running for 9 years

That's a high carb content, look to decrease that and increase meat veg and fats.

Have a normal balanced lunch and no need to load up on fruit before a half hour run.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Have a normal balanced lunch and no need to load up on fruit before a half hour run.

It wasn't a case of 'loading up', the fruit was dinner

 

[Tin Pot]

It wasn't a case of 'loading up', the fruit was dinner

What's th chick pea Dahl, chappatis and supermalt?

It's quite an unusual looking diet - what's the thinking behind it?

 

[Turdus philomelos]

No much protein in that list Richard.

Get rid of the wheat of any kind and up your protein and good fats.

 

[mick1836]

Okay
Wednesday, for example, from memory;

07:00
Porridge (1 scoop/'green' milk)
black tea, no sugar (x 2)

10:30
Run to work, 'XC', 4miles (steady @ 33 minutes)
Rain & circa 8 degrees

11:15
after shower, & changing
2 x Chicken & Chorizo sandwich (wholewheat bread)
packet Walkers S&V crisps
part of a 500ml Lucozade ('zero-cal' orange)
black tea, no sugar

12:00 start, on the 'shop-floor'

14:00
sneak a black tea, no sugar

16:30
meal break (banana, apple & Kiwi fruit)

20:00
leave, to run home ('XC', again)

20:40
black tea, no sugar
tea, after shower
Chick Pea Dahl & 4 chappattis
Bottle of SuperMalt


Another 2 x black tea, no sugar before bed @ 22:30


I should add, I'm not a newcomer
I've been commuting by bike for between 25 & 30 years
Raced MTB & 'cross, as far back as 1990
Running for 9 years

I lost 8½ stone attending and staying for the Slimming World group meetings, using this method means you cannot cheat recording your weight loss or gain. Via SW I learnt that bread was a BIG NO NO, every morning I have 35g of porridge and a banana with full skimmed milk.

Be careful even when using 'Light' dressing for salads, I try and use just vinegar and when I feel hungry eat a piece of fruit.

 

[bikingdad90]

I have been using the lose it app for the past week and found that

A) my most calorific meal is tea time and
B) I have been eating a lot of carby foods such as potatoe, rice and pasta at those meals.

On the plus side I have lost a 1lb this week through cycling variations of my route to mix it up and doing some high cadence cycling to push my heart rate up.

The introduction of a protein shake has given me what feels like more energy to push on the evening commute home as I dont feel tired particularly at the end of the week.

 

[bozmandb9]

I have been commuting daily by bike to work. It is 5miles each way. Over the last 6 months I have lost 12lb's and got myself down to 11st 2lb. I would ideally like to get down to about 10st which is in the middle of my bmi range.

Currently my weight loss has plateued and it has stopped. I am looking at ways to kick start it again and was thinking of throwing in some HIIT, a fasted ride (with a shake ready to go at work as don't have time once I get to work) on my commute. Any ideas?

My wife has also committed to slimming world so I am eating slimming world meals at tea time. The rest of the time I am counting calories (app on phone) and aiming to eat the equivalent of my BMR using my exercise as the deficit of 500cals a day.

Are recommendations to mix it up on the bike and get the final stone lost.

Be careful with this - do you really want to lose weight, or do you want to lose fat? What I mean is, if your body has adapted already, and you just push a deficit, then you may catabolise muscle, which is probably not what you want. Make sure you are eating enough calories, and ensure that they are high quality. Don't go below your BMR (basal metabolic rate). If you maintain a calorie deficit for too long, or too high a deficit, then your metabolism just slows, long term it can cause real problems.

May be better to shake up your training, try some intervals (you can probably do this on your commute), try extending your rides (take the scenic route home?) Finally, make sure your calculations are accurate, it's easy to get the figures wrong if your portion sizes are higher than you are inputting to your phone, which can leave you consuming a lot more calories than you thought. Oh, and avoid empty calories from alcohol.

 

[Starchivore]

I have been using the lose it app for the past week and found that

A) my most calorific meal is tea time and
B) I have been eating a lot of carby foods such as potatoe, rice and pasta at those meals.

On the plus side I have lost a 1lb this week through cycling variations of my route to mix it up and doing some high cadence cycling to push my heart rate up.

The introduction of a protein shake has given me what feels like more energy to push on the evening commute home as I dont feel tired particularly at the end of the week.

Having starchy foods such as potatoes as the basis of your diet is a good thing because they are low in calorie density- so they fill you up before you can eat a large amount of calories.

If you are looking to lose weight and become healthier then it would be sensible to give protein shakes a miss. Maybe you could have a banana or two instead?

For anyone browsing the thread, regarding weight loss:

Highly recommended reading, from a dietician with a lot of experience and success:

http://www.jeffnovick.com/RD/Articl...Common_Sense_Approach_To_Sound_Nutrition.html

Some helpful graphics:

 

[ColinJ]

Be careful with this - do you really want to lose weight, or do you want to lose fat? What I mean is, if your body has adapted already, and you just push a deficit, then you may catabolise muscle, which is probably not what you want.

I can vouch for that ...

When I got seriously ill in 2012 I lost over 2 stone in less than a month and a lot of that was muscle. My previously chunky leg muscles rapidly withered away and my legs became horribly scrawny and barely able to support me.

It definitely put me off crash dieting!

 

[bikingdad90]

To report back. I have had some success. I am now down to 10 stone 3 lbs. I haven't lost much muscle mainly fat. I can see definition where I couldn't before so I am pretty happy. I am currently in the process of working out what my daily calorie intake should be so I stay the same weight.