Well I have a question for you all. I have been a big rider for a long time and have been be losing weight pretty rapidily but do you think that excercise is more importatnt then Caloric intake? I am not talking cheeseburger vs. Salad everyone knows which one is a better fuel. What i am talking about is literally cutting back on Calories and causing weightloss that way versus Really stepping up excercise? I know that causing a deficet can fool the body into storing fat by slowing down the metabolism does anyone have any thoughts?
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Calories or Excercise? What is the way to reduce?
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Obviously, the simplistic answer is, "Both." I tend to come down on the side of calorie cutting. Face it, exercise makes you hungry, and the fight is to keep from overcompensating with excess caloric intake.
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Yah gotta cut the calories.
I'm in a similar situation. I used to race, had the body fat of a piece of celery, and ate whatever I wanted. Twenty-five years later with a job, family and mortgage, I'm 60 lbs heavier.
I spoke with my Doctor who bluntly told me that I'd have to cutback the calories to really lose weight in addition to setting up the exercise regime. Since then I've started get back into the racing scene, by rider more and getting schooled on the weekend club rides. As a result, my fitness has improved tremendously and I can now hang with the big kids on the weekend rides -- albeit barely.
However, I weighed myself this weekend and I gained 2 pounds. What the f@#$!?! I guess my doctor was right.
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I have a pretty healthy diet, but don't want to be bothered with keeping track of or counting calories so I ride more; best of both worlds I get to eat what I want and I get to ride my bike more!
I'm a married father of three who is self employed, so I know about time constraints, but you just have to make time for the things that are important to you.Jam Econo -
I'd suggest since you are in the process of losing so much weight you work with a nutritionist so you are losing weight and staying healthy. You should keep a food log as well.
I'm with CB2, I eat pretty well and just ride as much as possible. Make it a priority in your life.
"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time."
Malcolm X -
For me, it was calories.
I have lost close to 20lbs since Thanksgiving. In December I lost 13 of those pounds. That weight loss from counting calories (I weigh & log everything I eat) and very little training. My caloric intake was around 1450-1600 per day in December, and is now 1950 as I have started training (marathon in March).
Life is too short to be small. - Disraeli
So, why not be petty? - The Short White Guy™ -
yup, log everything you eat, cut the calories, and step up the mileage on the bike to drop more, and faster.
had a heart attack 4 years ago, should have killed me, gave up all fat and cheese, fatty meats, ham, sausage, bacon, etc... but I cheat every now and again, just gotta do everything in moderation. The best thing about cycling for me, it enables me to stay off all the heart drugs, and I maintain my cholesterol, etc with diet and excersize
I think once you get your metabolism kicked into high gear, it just drops like crazy
I'm with CB2, if I stray on my diet, I just ride more
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Both
People seem to get threatened and huffy when I bring this up but I'll say it anyway (quite like smokers get defensive)
Don't want to count calories and weigh your food? Want to eat pretty much what ever you want when ever you want? Want to remove yourself from an industry where pain, suffering, cruelty, and torture on a scale you cannot grasp is the norm? Consider a vegan diet. Obesity is virtually non existent w vegans as is high cholesterol.
Veganism is inarguably better for you, the planet, and clearly animals.
In steps, its not that difficult. I first stopped w all flesh other than seafood, then nixed that, then cut out dairy + eggs. With all the fake meats available, its easier now than ever.
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@bodynazi - do you by chance keep a food log? I'd be interested to see what you are eating to keep up with all the exercise you do.
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Bodynazi posted a days worth of his food intake last year or something like that, Habanero. You can probably search for it.
It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong. -
I used myfitnesspal which is a free iphone app last year for a couple months. It basically has millions of foods in a database so you can add whatever you eat during the day and track calories. You can enter in what you burned with exercise and pretty easily run a deficit of 500 calories a day which is equal to losing 1 lb/wk. You could run a bigger/lower deficit if you wanted. After using that a few weeks I got the hang of things but every once in a while if I feel I'm sliding back I'll use it again for a week or two to get on track.
Alcoholic beverages is a major culprit too. Often just eliminating that can get you a lot closer to where you want to be.
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Since you need to ride about 100 miles to burn of a pound of fat, caloric restriction is the only way to loose mass.
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It is very simple really....calories consumed vs. calories burned. There are three weight loss choices...
1. Eat less while maintaining the same level of metabolism (exercise).
2. Eat the same but up the metabolic rate via more exercise.
3. Eat less AND increase the metabolic rate via more exercise.#1 is only sustainable long-term via lifestyle dietary changes.
#2 is only sustainable long-term via lifestyle activity changes.
#3 is only sustainable if you are single!!!"To be free and to live a free life - that is the most beautiful thing there is."
Miguel Indurain -
3. Or if you are married and don't mind sacrificing the dog.
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No unique, best, answer to the question at hand, just like every person is different. What works for some doesn't for others. But consider this, excercize your brain. The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue.
The wise man said follow me...and he walked behind. -
Calories. I trained a lot last spring but did not modify eating habits. I lost about a pound a week and lost 25 pounds over a year. Glacial.
Then I went on an 8 day backpacking trip that was not very strenuous, but calories were limited, and no unending snacking! I lost 6 pounds in that week and kept that weight off the rest of the year,as well as losing more weight, though more slowly. That pretty much proved it for me.
"The stone age didn't end because the earth ran out of stones, and the oil age won't end because the earth runs out of oil" -- Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, rmi.org -
"But consider this, excercize your brain. The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue. "
Wow, that explains a lot.
I know this guy, let's call him Brainiac the alcoholic, who whacks back a ton of beer daily but doesn't gain an ounce. -
Keith and Hab, I've changed or evolved my diet considerably since that 5K vegan cala/day post yester-month. I'll share the new revised menu soonish.
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I have asked myself that question many times. But the more I read the stupider I get. Still, I'm in a year long quest to learn more about food etc. and am finding myself changing everything I do. From what I eat, how I eat it, where I get it. Also how I exercise, when I excercise, etc.
I'm coming to the conclusion that the simpler the better. Good fresh food simply prepared. Not always able to do that, but the more often the better. And as to what OC said, it's all starts in the brain. Just started reading a book from Daniel G. Amen M.D. "Change your brain change your body"
So back to your question. Calories or exercise? Yes, the right calories with the right exercise is the only way one can be healthy.
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I feel Diet and Exercise should go hand in hand.Having one without the other is a total waste.
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Both. And really look at the 'empty' calories as a quick starting point. I really like my wine but when the scale is heading too far in the wrong direction it is one of the first things I cut back on. Well that and desserts (which we rarely eat), oh and those evening snacks. Even 'healthy' snacks like yogurt still add extra calories.
When I ahve a low riding mileage year like this one the battle of the bulge takes on new importance.
JP
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Eat less , exercise more . This works for me for years .
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Don't cut or even count the calories. Cut out all sugar, all sports drinks, all fruit juice. Cut out all grains, even oats. Cut out potatoes. Instead, eat mostly whole organic vegetables, and pastured meats and wild caught fish. Eat real eggs (not the schitt in the grocery store). Eat coconuts and MCT oils. Drink raw milk from pastured cows. Exercise 90 minutes every morning before you eat. Then skip breakfast and wait til lunch. This is a daily mini-fast. Yes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, just eat it at lunch time. You will never burn fat unless you stop nibbling all day like a cow. By reducing all the sugars and grains your body will quickly increase it's insulin sensitivity and thereby activate ghrelin. In essence, eat more healthy fats instead of sugars. Your health will sore, your blood pressure will drop, your systemic inflammation will drop. Trust me, I do this for a living. What you want to target, and most lay people fail to realize this, is your body's metabolic, caloric and hunger hormone cascade. A calorie is a calorie only in thermodynamics and engineering calculations. Calories are isocaloric but ANYTHING but isometabolic. This is what most people fail to understand.
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everybody's advice works, but what Frozone said works also. I think Bobswire would agree with the Frozone approach. In the long run, long term weight management depends on what YOU can stay with for life. Few people can/will exercise for life, ditto with caloric ceilings. IF you can change your diet and eat healthy, there is a good chance it can become a permanent lifestyle HABIT, as opposed to a choice, and you will have it licked for life. The trick is to do it for that reason, as opposed to doing it to reach a weight loss goal, for it to stick.
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Frozone has good advice if you have access to and the $ for premo organic proteins. Exercising even 30 minutes before breakfast makes a big difference. getting your metabolisim going early helps. I commute then eat breakfast.
You do need quality complex carbs as well. To much protein can strain your kidneys and cause other problems. Your need to fuel your recovery.
Staying between 75 and 90% of your AT for long miles burns more of your fatty tissues while going over your AT will breakdown more musle tissue and build your strength on recovery. SO remember LSD LONG STEADY(not slow)DISTANCESBicycle Joe
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