Why no weight loss?

[potsy]

I go for the weekly weigh in approach, each Sat morning at the same time.
Clothes are a good indication anyway, once I struggle to get in my 36" jeans I know it's time for another spell of good behaviour

 

[Speicher]

Oooh, I could slap you so hard you'd keep wobbling for a week

 

[Speicher]

I am making another effort to lose two stone. Very slowly I have lost one stone.

 

[MacB]

I go for the weekly weigh in approach, each Sat morning at the same time.
Clothes are a good indication anyway, once I struggle to get in my 36" jeans I know it's time for another spell of good behaviour

hmmm, I can squeeze into 38" stuff, though 40" is easier, but I don't kid myself that's my waist size. I tried measuring taking a line a bit below the belly button....oh dear. If I ever want to wear trousers up round my armpits I'll need a mahoosive waist size, 10" more than normal So I'll stick to fastening the trousers under the gut

 

[ColinJ]

I am making another effort to lose two stone. Very slowly I have lost one stone.

Well done!

Is that one of the two, or one of three and there are two to go?

I'm aiming for at least a three stone loss. That would take me down to 12 stone 11 pounds. I reckon I'd want another few pounds off after that, but I'll see when I get there!

 

[Speicher]

That is one of three, with two to go.

 

[ColinJ]

That is one of three, with two to go.

Well, you have a head start on me - keep it up!

 

[zigzag]

just finished 1l of tesco's finest caribbean rum & raisin ice cream while reading cyclechat and this topic. 1550kcal, 27g protein, 148g sugar and 85g fat - feeling a bit dizzy now. but to my defence i was on a quick 46mile ride after work, averaging almost 20mph.

the most weight i've gained was in all-inclusive holiday a month ago (11lbs in 8 days - but was worth it..). when i came back, i was "punishing" myself by using the same hole in a belt. first week was very uncomfortable, but after three weeks i was back to normal. still need to lose 4lbs to reach my ideal weight. those last pounds are always the hardest to shed.


edit: spelling

 

[potsy]

Ah, I'm crushing you then, this is day 5 for me!!!!

Yeahbut you need the headstart you've got a lot more to lose than me

 

[MacB]

Yeahbut you need the headstart you've got a lot more to lose than me

Oooh, that there's fighting talk, we going to have a gentlemans wager on this then? Set a target and a timescale and loser buys the fatboy breakfasts?

 

[potsy]

Oooh, that there's fighting talk, we going to have a gentlemans wager on this then? Set a target and a timescale and loser buys the fatboy breakfasts?

My diets only last a fortnight so I might as well get you the brekky now!!

 

[MacB]

My diets only last a fortnight so I might as well get you the brekky now!!

lightweight

 

[VamP]

I am just getting into cycling. Until 12 months ago I was a fitness instructor but since then I have changed to an office job and going from doing 2 - 4 hours exercise a day to siiting for 8 hours a day has meant weight gain (about 10kg) :-(

I started cycling 3 weeks ago and in that time I have done just over 380 miles. I use a heart rate monitor and am burning off a minimum of 6000 calories a week with cycling and gym work (I still do some weights and teach 1 spin class a week) and am watching what I eat (1600 cals a day in the week, 2000 a day at the weekend).

So far I have lost a big fat 0kg. Am I just being impatient or still eating too much? I am really enjoying the cycling though and do feel as though my fitness is improving again but need to lose weight!

TBH you are probably still eating too much. I have read through the rest of the thread, and I would estimate that your cycling calories per week are probably half of what you think.

The important thing is not to get disheartened and to keep up the exercise. Try dropping another 200 calories per day intake, and keep up same exercise. Or stay at the intake levels you are at, and up the exercise.

The starvation response that others on here have referred to is not something that you should be worrying about at this point. This is something that kicks in after several days of starvation (less than 1000 calories per day food intake) and even then the body burns fat in preference over muscle.

 

[Fletch456]

I am just getting into cycling. Until 12 months ago I was a fitness instructor but since then I have changed to an office job and going from doing 2 - 4 hours exercise a day to siiting for 8 hours a day has meant weight gain (about 10kg) :-(

I started cycling 3 weeks ago and in that time I have done just over 380 miles. I use a heart rate monitor and am burning off a minimum of 6000 calories a week with cycling and gym work (I still do some weights and teach 1 spin class a week) and am watching what I eat (1600 cals a day in the week, 2000 a day at the weekend).

So far I have lost a big fat 0kg. Am I just being impatient or still eating too much? I am really enjoying the cycling though and do feel as though my fitness is improving again but need to lose weight!

Libby,

Earlier this year is first time I’ve ever wanted to really lose weight (I've always been slim to rake like, being 6'4" but middle age is causing a spread) and did it quite successfully. Am a bit of a nerd so look into things – too much at times, believe me (needed a new camera..I could tell you more than the shopkeeper about those of interest and others before I was finished) – and according to what I read, what you eat is a significantly bigger factor on weight than exercise.

Diets have always seemed too faddy and didn’t appeal until I came across the caveman diet in The Sunday Times. It made sense, we aren’t made for a sedentary lifestyle, I liked the logic and no such thing as counting calories (or points that weight watchers now use) as my Mum has done for many years – which didn’t appeal at all either. Within 12 weeks I lost 10lbs and that included eating what the heck I liked at least one day a week and a couple of weeks where I paid a bit less attention to it.

Eat only - 1/3 meat or fish, 1/3 raw fruit / veg / nuts etc, 1/3 cooked veg. Or focus on this....not having any chocolate or cakes at all would be an impossibility. In an evening I made single square of good chocolate my pudding. Having lots more veg as I do at times is filling...you don't need a pud or so much later.

No carbs - no pasta, bread, rice or potatoes. This may be why I wanted a can of coke for the first time in years so I’ve reintroduced carbs but in smaller quantities.

No dairy. No milk - except in tea or coffee.

Eat most of your food in a morning and at lunch and only have a light meal / snack in the evening. This can be challenging to do when working in an office. The best thing I found was cooked chicken drum sticks. In a morning I was regularly cooking steak (small one from bag of 10 that M&S do) and eggs – it also totally did away with mid morning cravings. (Or steak and salad, chicken breast and salad.)

Eat a variety – particularly with a view to fruit and veg and nuts.

No or very limited alcohol.

Other info:

Ice cream - have found some ice cream that is better than many - Ben & Jerry's Phish Food...they do a version part made with yogurt. Fat drops to 4.5% and calories arent that low still but are 200 / 100ml.

Snacks - have found bags of mixed nuts from M&S good - tasty and filling. Unlike Tesco they almost never include a bad nut and are always crunchy, never a bit soft. A habit I got myself to do before I started this was if I felt like some chocolate at work I made myself have an apple first then I had it.

As a fantastic consequence I have a stomach that also behaves much better than ever before. I could have entered a gasiest stomach and how often are you constipated competition but thought it was kind of normal as it's all I've known – maybe the volume of fruit and veg that doing this caused me to eat is what my stomach needs to work properly. Whilst much of this may / may not appeal, apply a few of these points (meat and fruit / veg focus, little to no carbs and more in a morning and less at night) and given my success with it I think anyone could make a difference with it within a few weeks.

 

[Libby]

Thanks for the advice - I weighed myself last night and the weight is starting to shift - not massive amounts but 2 kg gone so that's a start and I have noticed that my trousers are def getting looser.

I am curious as to why so many people say that the calories I am using are inaccurate though? Surely calories burned are a mathematical equation? My HR monitor takes into account my gender, weight, height, resting HR and vo2 max so how can people say this is widly inaccurate? Surely this has got to be more accurate than trying to say so many calories per mile which does not take into account the weight, gender, exhertion or fitness level of the cyclist?

With regards to saying I am eating too much - I put the thread up as I have successfully lost weight in the past (over 6 stone). I then re-gained some and lost that by burning 6000 cals a week through exercise (according to my HR monitor) and eating between 1600 - 2000 calories a day (1600 in the week, 2000 at the weekend). I was disheartened at first as I thought I would lose weight as before immediately but guess I had just forgotten how much muscle I would be building initially.

The caveman diet is interesting but to be honest far too expensive for me to try so I am happy to keep doing what I am doing for now - my mileage is building nicely (I managed 500 miles in the first 4 weeks of having the bike and this should increase as I know that I can now do 70 mile rides comfortably and my average speed is increasing too).