Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Oldjohnw
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by Oldjohnw »

Ivor Tingting wrote:
Vorpal wrote:
Ivor Tingting wrote:If you just want to take up exercise to lose weight and haven't yet bought a flash bike, then don't. Buy some running shoes instead and run 5-6 miles a day. It will literally save you £££££££. Cut out all the crap in your diet - refined sugar, processed foods, pizzas, cakes, pies, sweets and alcohol. Eat fresh food, fruit and veg. Cook it yourself. Don't eat late at night. Cut down portion size. Look after your body by getting a roller and hard hockey type ball to massage muscles before and after exercise. Also do lots of floor exercises. There are lots of YT videos on calisthenics which are great for strength and stamina. In 3 months your weight loss will be significant and you will feel great. Then maybe consider cycling.

Not everyone likes running, and it can be hard on the joints. Cycling is nicely low impact and doesn't give people shin splints.

Personally, I'd far rather spend money on bikes than running shoes, but each to their own...


Yes each to their own. Not every one likes cycling. It can be bad for osteoporosis. I was making a simple suggestion that I felt would help the OP to achieve their goal of losing weight without spending a fortune on a brand new bike. Running gear is considerably cheaper than a new bike and cycle clothing and accessories. I cycle and run and find running just as effective in fact more so at keeping in good shape. I have no idea whether cycling or running gives people shin splints. Maybe these people have an inherent weakness in their legs anyway that is exacerbated by exercise. It would depend on the surface you are running I would suppose and the quality of your footwear. In any case this thread is not about you, nor for you to start rubbishing others' comments. Simple courtesy and manners. If you don't have anything constructive or good to say then don't say anything at all. It is about giving advice to a newbie OP who asked for advice. Do you think your opinion is superior to mine? However I notice the OP hasn't been back in almost 2 weeks.



Well. So there!
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Barks
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by Barks »

I see these type of threads quite often and I have a question - why are ‘Road Bikes’ always referred to? I would have thought that a basic hybrid would be the ideal starting bike, reasonably comfortable, able to handle a wide variety of surfaces, a wide range of gearing and used for shopping commuting etc especially if fitted with rack/panniers etc. They are probably cheaper and more robust plus needing minimal maintenance. Surely the weight of the bike is effectively irrelevant when individuals are stating body weights well over 100kg.
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by Vorpal »

Ivor Tingting wrote:Yes each to their own. Not every one likes cycling. It can be bad for osteoporosis. I was making a simple suggestion that I felt would help the OP to achieve their goal of losing weight without spending a fortune on a brand new bike. Running gear is considerably cheaper than a new bike and cycle clothing and accessories. I cycle and run and find running just as effective in fact more so at keeping in good shape. I have no idea whether cycling or running gives people shin splints. Maybe these people have an inherent weakness in their legs anyway that is exacerbated by exercise. It would depend on the surface you are running I would suppose and the quality of your footwear. In any case this thread is not about you, nor for you to start rubbishing others' comments. Simple courtesy and manners. If you don't have anything constructive or good to say then don't say anything at all. It is about giving advice to a newbie OP who asked for advice. Do you think your opinion is superior to mine? However I notice the OP hasn't been back in almost 2 weeks.

I was hardly rubbishing anyone's comments. The OP came onto a cycling forum for advice. I was merely offering a differing perspective with regard to running shoes.

As for shin splints (AKA medial tibial stress syndrome), I played 5 seasons of women's league football, and struggled with shin splints the last two seasons. It's a common injury amongst runners and people who practice running sports such as football. Running on hard surfaces exacerbated it for me. Cycling does not. As far as I know, cycling does not cause shin splints, but it is something that roughly 10% of runners suffer with.
You can call that a weakness if you like.
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BrightonRock
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by BrightonRock »

I lost about 16lbs last year on the 5:2 fast diet. So, you fast on 600cals a day (egg or omelette breakfast, fruit for lunch and normal 300-400cal dinner) two days a week. They can't be consecutive days. I normally picked Tue/Thu. The evening from 8pm till bedtime can be tough but I nibbled my way through celery or a carrot to help.

Against normal thinking, I did quite a lot of high intensity training on those days and was able to lose about 2 pounds a week. You can eat normally the other 5 days of the week. When I say normally, I don't mean over eat to compensate. I actuality found my cravings for sweet things grew less and less and now I neither eat bread or pasta or much in the way of carbs.

Have kept the weight off too. Watch your fluids though, that's where the hidden calories are. Stick to black coffee, no milk tea or water on the fast days.
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by fullupandslowingdown »

If you want to lose meaningful weight, you need to combine exercise with good diet, and top it off with mind change.

Eat natural food full of fibre and a mix of proteins and healthy natural fats, and natural carbs. Anything from MacD's etc is unnatural FAST food - Fattening, Atherosclerosis Forming, Sickening, Toxic. It is designed to satisfy your tastebuds for a moment, but leave you craving more and more. The nutrients it does have, are less beneficial because they're added back in, not natural. And the high sugar and processed fat levels add to the poor nutritional value.

In theory you can burn at least a pound of fat a day if you exercise at around 600cals an hour for around 10 hours. Problem is that it takes time and most people get sore. Exercise harder and you burn less fat but more carbs. Interval training can slightly get around this if you start in the morning on an empty stomach. But in practice, you can't burn through large weight loss without a matched diet change.

It's all because the body is a dynamic self balancing machine designed thousands of years ago for different circumstances. Anyone ever thought how silly it is that the body will shut off blood to the fingers to keep the heart warm as you struggle to unlock the door to your Arctic Circle Igloo as it's -75 C. Likewise, the body will eat muscle before fat stores when extreme dieting. Hence the popularity of 5:2 and similar diets. Burn a bit of fat off each time but stop before the body starts to eat it's lean tissue.

Mental stress and unhappiness increases hormones that encourage fat storing but reduce muscle mass. And more people eat excessive comfort food with a mix of sugar and processed fat to 'cope' with stress, than those that under eat. Outdoor exercise can help mental health, if we feel good, then we self medicate with food less. Also, it's not that easy to eat excessively while cycling, unless we have sweetened drinks on tap. Use water!!! People can eat more due to boredom too, watching TV isn't as self absorbing as we imagine, in a way modern TV is like FAST food, it's highly processed requiring less mental effort to absorb.

I've studied numerous books written by a variety of people from Doctors to private individuals and quite a few charlatans and quacks inbetween :D I've also read various research papers and started to appreciate just how much people whether deliberately or through tinted spectacles, will distort facts to suit their agenda. I don't have any shares, or receive any 'payments'
For my money, one of the more honest, logical and fact based books on diets is : Fat Chance, The Bitter Truth About Sugar, by Dr Robert Lustig.
He shoots from the hip, and doesn't seem to have quite as many vested interests as the Rosemary Connolly types...
I know from my own and other's experiences that low carb diets work better than low fat diets. I also know that people are healthier eating natural food rather than processed food. I know that people who are active are healthier than inactive people. And finally I know that stress and depression adversely affects appetite and the body's hormones and metabolism.
wjhall
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by wjhall »

Barks wrote:... I would have thought that a basic hybrid would be the ideal starting bike, reasonably comfortable, able to handle a wide variety of surfaces, a wide range of gearing and used for shopping, commuting etc especially if fitted with rack/panniers etc. They are probably cheaper and more robust plus needing minimal maintenance. Surely the weight of the bike is effectively irrelevant when individuals are stating body weights well over 100kg.


A good proposal. Buy a hybrid/utility/roadster from a respectable brand, with suitable geometry, rack, mudguards, flat pedals and wide gear range, then add cheap panniers and battery lights. This will allow you to experiment with cycling on errands, short urban and rural excursions, whilst forming opinions about what you want from a bicycle. Perhaps take care not to assume that the handlebar form should be the same for an errand bike and a sports/country bicycle. Even if you do not take to cycling it will remain useful for daily errands allowing you to expand the range of everday activities that you do under your own steam.

If you do take to cycling as recreation and exercise programme it will protect your eventual posh fun/touring/racing/audax* bicycle from the wear and tear of everyday life, so that it lives a pampered life and is always in perfect condition for longer excursions, and more serious training. All at rather modest cost

Note also diet advice in several posts, possibly summed up as: eat less.

* Delete as appropriate
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TrevA
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by TrevA »

If you want to lose weight fast - whether exercising or not, then have a look at this:

https://services.nhslothian.scot/Diabet ... jaD_1lq010

It’s called the Newcastle Diet, and you are restricted to 800 calories per day.

I’m doing it and three weeks in have lost 21 pounds. I ride my bike 4-5 times a week, around 150-200 miles a week on average. If I’m on a cycling day, then I’ll have some toast at the cafe which gives me an extra 200 calories, but I’m more than burning that off.

I use Asda “Great Shape” shakes, which are mixed with skimmed milk, 2-3 shakes a day and a large plate of salad vegetables for dinner. Drink plenty of water.

Others may poo—poo it, but the weight loss keeps you motivated to keep going. You’re getting all essential nutrients from the shakes and getting fibre and other essential minerals and vitamins from the vegetables.

You can only do it for 3 months but then you can go on to the 5:2 diet. Michael Mosley’s Fast 800 book explains the science behind it and also shows you how to do it just eating normal food.
Last edited by TrevA on 19 Jul 2019, 6:35pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by PH »

TrevA wrote:I’m doing it and three weeks in have lost 21 pounds.

:shock: :shock: :shock: That's impressive, it's taken me nearly two months to lose that and I thought I was doing well.
I use Asda “Measure Up” shakes, which are mixed with skimmed milk, 2-3 shakes a day and a large plate of salad vegetables for dinner. Drink plenty of water.

Had a quick read and dairy is apparently one of the things to avoid, are your shakes still only 200 Cal?
I suppose you can make your own rules if they work for you, the diet's original aim is the reversal of type 2 diabetes if that's not what you're doing then I guess sticking rigidly to it is less on an issue.
Michael Mosley’s Fast 800 book explains the science behind it and also shows you how to do it just eating normal food.

I'll go and look at that next :idea:
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by Cyril Haearn »

People talk about losing so many pounds, may we upgrade to kilos? Or both? Do many people still think primarily in lbs? :wink:
Does not mean much unless one quotes the total weight before/after, or percentage change
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TrevA
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by TrevA »

Sorry, I don’t work in kilos!

My starting weight was 18st exactly, this morning I was 16st 5lbs. That is in 3 and a half weeks.

Though you are not supposed to have dairy, the shakes are supposed to be made up with skimmed milk, and are just over 200 cals per shake. I think so long as you have no additional dairy, then that is ok, though I do have the occasional cup of tea with milk. I mostly drink water.

My wife is also doing the diet and is lactose intolerant so she is using Slimfast Vitality Strawberry and Blueberry Burst, which is dairy free and you make up with water.

Yes, I am Type 2 Diabetic, though I have my blood sugars under control anyway, I’m starting to get other weight related health issues, so it’s time to lose that weight. I’m 6 ft 2 in, by the way (sorry, imperial measurements again!). My starting BMI was 32 and I aim to get it below 25, already down to 29.3.
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Re: There's losing weight and there's keeping it off.

Post by mjr »

gbnz wrote:
Gearoidmuar wrote:I've been wrestling with my genes since I was 23.


Why is it only fat people who struggle with their genes? [...]

It's not. I'll cheerfully blame my genes for some of my health problems (discussed in other topics on here) and I struggle to keep my BMI above 20 (and yes, I know BMI is a crude measure). I've been wrestling with them and my health since I was about 8.
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by mjr »

Barks wrote:I see these type of threads quite often and I have a question - why are ‘Road Bikes’ always referred to?

In short, speed, for two reasons: firstly, the average person seems to find it much more encouraging to see their speed increase more easily and it allows them to go further for the effort; and secondly, road bikes help people sooner reach 12mph, where the energy required to go faster really ramps up, as seen in graphs like http://www.cptips.com/gphener.htm

Barks wrote:I would have thought that a basic hybrid would be the ideal starting bike, reasonably comfortable, able to handle a wide variety of surfaces, a wide range of gearing and used for shopping commuting etc especially if fitted with rack/panniers etc. They are probably cheaper and more robust plus needing minimal maintenance. Surely the weight of the bike is effectively irrelevant when individuals are stating body weights well over 100kg.

Hybrids combine the biggest drawbacks of road bikes (fussy maintenance-demanding gearing) with the biggest drawbacks of MTBs (heavier, less aerodynamic flat handlebars). I humbly suggest that the old light sports roadsters with their comfortable position/saddles, robust gears and moderately swept handlebars would be a better bike for the masses, as seen in mass-cycling countries: a robust workhorse when needed, but capable of getting a move on if you move your hands in and lean forwards (although not fast accelerating due to the bigger steps between gears).
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Re: There's losing weight and there's keeping it off.

Post by Cugel »

mjr wrote:
gbnz wrote:
Gearoidmuar wrote:I've been wrestling with my genes since I was 23.


Why is it only fat people who struggle with their genes? [...]

It's not. I'll cheerfully blame my genes for some of my health problems (discussed in other topics on here) and I struggle to keep my BMI above 20 (and yes, I know BMI is a crude measure). I've been wrestling with them and my health since I was about 8.


I never wrestle with my genes as, when you think of it, if I won I would also have lost. Moreover, if I won, what would be the consequences of that loss? Expunge a gene and you are no longer you but another manifestation of a different complexity of still mysterious physical designs wrought by a mindless evolutionary drift + a bit of CRISPR. Who knows what you'd suffer next, in the way of a genetic tic (or tock).

Now, since we are implying that genes rule and must be wrestled with despite it being futile, what are we to do about free will and all that? Some excuse themselves for all sorts of naughty behaviour by referring us to their genetic predisposition, which they even classify as an illness that cannot be avoided or cured. How far to take this view?

I confess that I've long suspected that we are all just flesh robots programmed by mysterious churns of genetic software and it's various responses to the environment it finds itself churning in (our nurture and culture). The implications, though, are profound. All that crime & punishment arrangement, not to mention the various morality schemas, become nothing more than made-up-stuff! Lawd!

Anyway, I am 13 st 1llb which is 1 stone heavier than my old racing weight and I blame my must-have-chocolate gene, acting in cahoots with the other one that makes me lie supine in the depths of the pink settee reading a fascinating book on genetics or even memetics. Luckily, my go-out-and-cycle gene is still ticking over otherwise it might be 14st.

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RobiN0963
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by RobiN0963 »

Cycling is the best way to lose weight, especially for beginners. You do not need to focus on workouts, and you can just cycle in the park and enjoy views. Usually, beginners, who want to lose weight, start by joining the gym and heavy lifting. This is the biggest mistake. As a result, they gain muscles under the layer of fat. They seem bigger and lose motivation. The best way to burn fat is to start with doing mostly cardio. But most people are bored to stare at the same point during the cardio, and music is not enough. So cycling was a good start for me, and I recommend the rest. Also, keeping a balanced diet is important. A lot of people I met in the UAE keep كيتو دايت. I also tried it, and I would say that the results are amazing if you combine it with cardio and workouts.
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Re: Cycling for weight loss - Advice sought

Post by foxyrider »

RobiN0963 wrote:Cycling is the best way to lose weight, especially for beginners. You do not need to focus on workouts, and you can just cycle in the park and enjoy views. Usually, beginners, who want to lose weight, start by joining the gym and heavy lifting. This is the biggest mistake.


You will only lose weight with any exercise if you actually put some effort in, you could ride all day at 10mph and end up putting weight on rather than losing it, same for walking etc, etc. There are plenty of regular cyclists who are heavier than ideal and can't lose it despite riding far and long, unless you work the body quite hard so it burns calories in combination of a small degree of underfuelling you might enjoy better cardio fitness but not lose any weight.
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