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Re: Cycling to loose weight

Posted: 14 Jul 2017, 2:21pm
by meic
ianrobo wrote:
meic wrote:ONot by resorting to fads and complex calculations.


What is a fad, I would argue a 60% based carb die is a fad of modern times my grandparents would never have eaten that and heir generation were far less heavy and far less obese.


In addition to BigJims major point.
There is the secondary point of failing to discriminate between processed carbs and natural carbs.
The potato is a recent visitor to our shores, and white flour is a newer ingredient than wholegrains.
Complex carbohydrates, surrounded by roughage, fibre, minerals and vitamins were eaten in large quantities by our leaner ancestors and in proportions which suited their energy outputs.

Conjecture about past diets and their effects is good, just so long as nothing violates the law of conservation of energy. :D

Re: Cycling to loose weight

Posted: 14 Jul 2017, 3:38pm
by ianrobo
bigjim wrote:
ianrobo wrote:
meic wrote:ONot by resorting to fads and complex calculations.


What is a fad, I would argue a 60% based carb die is a fad of modern times my grandparents would never have eaten that and heir generation were far less heavy and far less obese.

They would have moved around more. Walk to the bus stop, walk to the shops etc. More manual labour at home and work. No laptops or 24 hour TV to keep them on the couch.


and their diet was meat, fat and carbs from vegetables and potatoes only.

None of the processed food crap we see now, where Mars protein bars are being sold as 'healthy' and certainly not the sugar delivery machines called cereals.

Whether it is table sugar, honey, wheat or fruit all sugar is processed in exactly the same metabolic way. Yes exercise helps but if you get in the morning and have standard breakfast then a standard lunch and tea it really is not helping.

Re: Cycling to loose weight

Posted: 15 Jul 2017, 5:09am
by Alan O
ianrobo wrote:In my example. changed my diet a year ago, basically calories in and out the same and lost 12kgs, how does that work ?

Estimating calories in is relatively simple (though not spot-on accurate), but short of using a special medical facility that measures all emitted body heat and analyses all waste material, you have no remotely accurate way of measuring calories out - and we'd need something accurate for claims that break the known laws of physics.

If you lost 12kg, then your body was using up (or possibly excreting for some reason, in which case you probably need to see a doctor) more calories than were entering your mouth. Any claims to the contrary are nonsense.

Re: Cycling to loose weight

Posted: 15 Jul 2017, 8:09am
by meic
(or possibly excreting for some reason, in which case you probably need to see a doctor)


The human body is not a perfect extraction machine. Looks like there is an approximate figure of around 20MJ/Kg that you can use for the energy that can be commercially extracted from human feces.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 041630245X

Re: Cycling to loose weight

Posted: 20 Jul 2017, 6:52pm
by Ash28
I recently lost 10kg by keeping track of my calorie intake using the Fitness Pal calorie counter (other calorie counting apps are available). It allows you to scan the barcode of food products to keep track of your intake. Along with some digital scales to control portion size I found it helped me avoid really high calorie foods (Pukka pies,butter,peanut butter,supermarket chocolate chip cookies) and choose foods that made me feel fuller but have less calories e.g. A slice of whole meal bread has less calories but fills me up more than a bag of crisps. I have found recently that I get the urge to binge eat chocolate bars etc and sometimes give in but so far so good and I am keeping the weight off but I think it might be harder in the winter. I cycle probably about 10 hours a week and do a physical job. I know it is hard to accurately calculate calories burned but I find that I do want to consume more calories after a bike ride but not as many as in theory I have used.

Re: Cycling to loose weight

Posted: 20 Jul 2017, 7:13pm
by ianrobo
Alan O wrote:
ianrobo wrote:In my example. changed my diet a year ago, basically calories in and out the same and lost 12kgs, how does that work ?

Estimating calories in is relatively simple (though not spot-on accurate), but short of using a special medical facility that measures all emitted body heat and analyses all waste material, you have no remotely accurate way of measuring calories out - and we'd need something accurate for claims that break the known laws of physics.

If you lost 12kg, then your body was using up (or possibly excreting for some reason, in which case you probably need to see a doctor) more calories than were entering your mouth. Any claims to the contrary are nonsense.


nope you are not opening your mind up beyond old paradigms ... BTW my weight has been stable at around 83k for a while now. However just checked and actually I apologise I was wrong, during the time of weight loss Aug 16 - March 17 I actually consumed more calories. his char is from 01/15 to 07/07 and top line is calories consumed, bottom calories expended. The last few weeks is as did a lot of events but weight never reduced.

Screen Shot 2017-07-20 at 19.02.54.gif


The bar graphs are macro-nutrients with Carbs, fat, protein and note protein is the same in both but big switch in other 2.

This is actually entirely consistent with looking at carbs as the main problem. Remember majority of carbs get turned into Glucose, this spikes insulin to come and sore it as fat. A cycle that leads to modern diseases and weight gain.

Re: Cycling to loose weight

Posted: 20 Jul 2017, 8:02pm
by Alan O
nope you are not opening your mind up beyond old paradigms ...

Beyond the law of conservation of energy, which has never failed in any proper scientific experiment or observation ever? No, I'm not, certainly not based on a few graphs that can only be very rough estimates at best, posted by some bloke on the internet.

Get yourself a paper published in a peer-reviewed science journal that demonstrates a failure of conservation of energy, and then I'll start to listen.

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 11 Aug 2017, 10:10pm
by DEV5
I joined Slimming World and started cycling at the end of March and have lost exactly six stone in weight

Gone from struggling to complete a two mile ride to doing 50 mile rides on a weekend

I would recommend Slimming World to anyone wanting to lose weight

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 12 Aug 2017, 9:13pm
by david7591
DEV5 wrote:I joined Slimming World and started cycling at the end of March and have lost exactly six stone in weight

Gone from struggling to complete a two mile ride to doing 50 mile rides on a weekend

I would recommend Slimming World to anyone wanting to lose weight


Gosh! Well done.

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 17 Aug 2017, 11:44am
by Flinders
Whatever the arguments are for how calories are absorbed and/or used, some things remain unarguable.
-If you want to lose weight as an individual and aren't going to change what you do, you will have to eat less
- if you want to get fitter, you will have to exercise
- if you want to do both, you will have to work out by direct experiment how to balance the two with whatever metabolism/diet/exercise regime/health problems you personally have
Also, if you want to keep any weight off you lose, what you do has to be sustainable.

Arguments about fat vs carbs vs protein in general are irrelevant to all that.

e.g., I personally find weight loss easier if I

-exercise as well as eat less, neither works well for me on its own (possibly because I am fairly close to ideal weight and don't eat a lot anyway)
-eat a little chocolate every day (I think for me it is an appetite suppressant)

I also know people for whom neither of those approaches is the best one.

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 17 Aug 2017, 7:12pm
by ianrobo
Flinders wrote:Whatever the arguments are for how calories are absorbed and/or used, some things remain unarguable.
-If you want to lose weight as an individual and aren't going to change what you do, you will have to eat less
- if you want to get fitter, you will have to exercise
- if you want to do both, you will have to work out by direct experiment how to balance the two with whatever metabolism/diet/exercise regime/health problems you personally have
Also, if you want to keep any weight off you lose, what you do has to be sustainable.

Arguments about fat vs carbs vs protein in general are irrelevant to all that.

e.g., I personally find weight loss easier if I

-exercise as well as eat less, neither works well for me on its own (possibly because I am fairly close to ideal weight and don't eat a lot anyway)
-eat a little chocolate every day (I think for me it is an appetite suppressant)

I also know people for whom neither of those approaches is the best one.


totally agree with all that, except eat less but let that pass.

You mention chocolate, what kind, the dark/proper stuff because that is known to have very good impact

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 4 Oct 2017, 1:27pm
by busb
Flinders wrote:Whatever the arguments are for how calories are absorbed and/or used, some things remain unarguable.
-If you want to lose weight as an individual and aren't going to change what you do, you will have to eat less
- if you want to get fitter, you will have to exercise
- if you want to do both, you will have to work out by direct experiment how to balance the two with whatever metabolism/diet/exercise regime/health problems you personally have
Also, if you want to keep any weight off you lose, what you do has to be sustainable.

Arguments about fat vs carbs vs protein in general are irrelevant to all that.

e.g., I personally find weight loss easier if I

-exercise as well as eat less, neither works well for me on its own (possibly because I am fairly close to ideal weight and don't eat a lot anyway)
-eat a little chocolate every day (I think for me it is an appetite suppressant)

I also know people for whom neither of those approaches is the best one.

+1 - absolutely!
I would add that it's harder to loose weight as you age & cutting down ALL alcohol (not just beer) will help.
I've been off work with a viral infection for a good few days. I weigh myself several times a week & record it. I've dropped 3lbs so was dead pleased if a little bewildered due to not having cycled my usual 70 miles. It's just occurred to me that it may well be muscle loss! If so, the weight will return when I restart my cycling.

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 4 Oct 2017, 7:27pm
by ianrobo
You would not lose that as muscle loss after being ill for a few days, likely that is all water loss

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 4 Oct 2017, 7:40pm
by softlips
ianrobo wrote:You would not lose that as muscle loss after being ill for a few days, likely that is all water loss


I concur.

Re: Cycling to lose weight

Posted: 7 Oct 2017, 11:34pm
by rmurphy195
When I first got back into cycling at the age of (about!) 40, I actually gained weight for a while. Someone told me it was because I was replacing fat with muscle on my legs.

Perhaps she was just being kind?

Any road up. more recently I read somewhere that part of the weight control benefit of cycling is that it (along with other forms of exercise) keeps up your metabolic rate so you burn fat even on the occasional idel day. Not sure my bathroom scales would agree.