3000 miles in 10 months... so Why am I still fat?

On Tue, 18 May 2004 22:16:03 -0600, Doug Cook wrote:

Sick of that fat man in the mirror, I bought some XXL cycling clothes,
dusted off and tuned up my old Trek, and started riding again. Now 10
months and close to 3000 miles later... I still weigh 274! I mean... come
on! 3000 miles for 5 pounds?!

My fitness level has increased tremendously. I use to struggle on 10 mile
rides. Now I do at least 3-4 weekday rides of 15-30 miles each and one
weekend ride for 50-70 miles - all solo. My computer puts my average speed
for these rides between 16-18mph depending upon the particular ups&downs of
the ride. My HRM says my average rate is usually right about 75% of max
(although that can vary, usually on the high side, when the ride has
climbing). I feel lean and mean while I ride, but when I get home I wonder
who that fat guy in the mirror is!

3000 miles in ten months in 300 miles a month. That's only about 10 miles
a day. At 16 MPH you are riding for 38 minutes a day on average. Whether
that's "enough" exercise depends on how much other exercise you get. But
just for the sake of comparison, I get more than that just commuting to
work, doing errands on the weekend, and throwing in a weekly joyride of
one to two and a half hours (I average 15 miles a day at similar speeds).

As someone else said, cycling is a very efficient use of energy, so this
doesn't burn as many calories as you might think. At my height/weight your
38 minutes of cycling vigorously would only burn 465 calories. You can
find out for yourself how much that would burn at this calorie counter I
found on the web: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.html

What I found interesting with that calculator was going through my whole
day (all 24 hours including sleep) and seeing just how much I was burning
in the rest of my life. A lot less than I thought.

Is it possible that you are compensating for the exercise by actually
doing less other active stuff? You know, "Well, I've already ridden my
bike a bunch today... so I think I'll let the wife walk the dog." That
sort of thing.

Then you have to be very careful to add up calorie intake. In my case, one
big surprise was the morning bowl of granola-- certainly healthy from a
fiber and whole grains perspective, but a calorie disaster in the amounts
I eat. One serving on this stuff is about half a cup. Ha! Those
"serving size" amount in nutritional information are a joke. You have to
be very careful with them when adding up your daily caloric intake. I've
seen so many bottles of juice or bags of chips or whatever labeled as
two, even three, servings, that it almost seems deceptive.

Only once you have accurate estimates of your calorie intake and calorie
expenditure can you possibly decide where to go next. Obviously if you
aren't losing weight you either have to eat less or exercise more. If you
are really eating between 2000 and 3000 calories a day, I'd try to
increase activity before trying to eat less food.

Personally I'm not big on diets that are low-fat or low-carb. It seems
to me the body needs a healthy balance (and that the specific balance is
different person to person). I would definitely skip the soda pop, beer,
candy, cheese, red meats (of course, I'm vegetarian so I simply avoid all
meats), and definitely order baked, broiled, grilled foods over fried,
especially deep-fried. I'm also a big fan of whole grains, refined grains
lose a lot of their vitamins, minerals, and proteins during processing.

Since I started biking regularly a few months ago, I've lost over 10
pounds, and I changed my diet very little overall. In fact, at first I
was downing 600 calories a day worth of protein powder mixed in soy milk
to help my muscles recover from riding (not sure if even that was all
that necessary). Now I save that for after rides of an hour or more and
eat pretty much like I have for a long time, except for the soda pop.

-Michael
www.andsoforth.com

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional dietician or fitness trainer. This
information is for entertainment purposes only. Consult your physician
before making any major diet or exercise plan changes. Contents may settle
during shipping. Unwanted side effects include: boredom, irritability, and
top-posting.

On Wed, 19 May 2004 02:44:51 +0000, Badger_South wrote:


You may be surprised just how much you're eating, how much you're eating
at one meal, how much sugar and starch you're eating, and may be
overestimating the mileage. If you're ranging from 95 to 190 miles during
the week that sounds inconsistent. It may be that you're unknowingly
sabotaging your efforts, by binging during the low mileage weeks. Perhaps
you can smooth it out more, and get 150 miles per week but ride
everyday.

One more comment (though I too am neither a dietician nor in any way
trained or experienced in any health-related field).

It seems that the body starts burning stored energy (fats) only after
about 1hr (ymmv) orf excercise, so you will need a longer ride to burn off
the readily available energy before you start using up the reserves.
a 15-30 mile (short ride) daily will thus provide a generally good
training but do nothing (much) for loss of weight.

I lost abt 18kg in the first few month of starting cycling again (after
16 years) and ascribe that to the fact that while I did not change my
eating habits much, I went for long rides regularly (at least 2hrs usually
3 or more) which seems to have made a difference. Now (a year later)
I mostly 2 15km rides a day, and do not lose any more weight unless I
do get around to do longer rides (which is rare).

Perhaps sit-ups would do the belly trick?

They won't. They willimprove the muscles, but will not reduce the
amount of fat (modulo their calories burnt while doing them, which are
negligible).

Quite correct. From all I have heard, you can not "spot" reduce. All doing
situps will do is give you superb muscle tone under the layer of fat on your
tummy.

What worked/works for me is that I quit eating sugar, bread, and
pasta/potatoes. I switched to fish, chicken, lean beef, green leafy
veggies, cut back on dairy. Read Eades' book on Low carb 'Protein Power'.

Well, for much of human history people were lean indeed on a diet of complex
carbs, mainly in the form of grains, vegetables and very little animal
protein. It is quite easy to have a diet like that and be quite lean.

Also, I find that as I do more aerobic exercise, nothing powers the muscles
better then carbohydrates. Eating lots of meat just does not work that well
for me and a good thing to, with my vulnerability to high cholesterol, a high
protein diet would probably put me under a gravestone pretty quickly.

I don't diet per se, but I do eat sensibly. The days that I've tracked my
caloric intake it's usually right between 2500 - 3000. One friend who is a
"wellness" expert suggests I'm not eating *ENOUGH*. Although she
readily admits she doesn't specialize in athletes ("slovenly couch potato" is
how
she describes her typical client), she says that with my activity level my
BMR is 5300.. as she explained it that's the number of calories needed to
just maintain my weight! Therefore she thinks my body thinks it's being
starved and refuses to let go of the fat. She thinks by eating MORE the
body will move away from this starvation reflex and start shedding pounds.
She also suggested riding easy first thing in the morning BEFORE breakfast
so the body has to switch to fat because the glycogen stores will be low
(sound like a recipe for the BONK to me).

Well, what she is talking about does not make thermodynamic sense. If you are
burning 5300 calories per day and say consuming 3550 calories per day then you
would have a 1750 calorie deficit. Your body can not take calories from the
air for crying out loud! Your body has to make up the deficit by burning fat
and there is no way around that. So either she is off on your caloric
expenditure or you are underestimating your consumption or a little of both.

Now she is right in one sense. Many sedentary people go on diets. When you
restrict calories, many people's bodies go into a sort of famine reaction in
which the body scales down its metabolic rate in order to survive. As a
result, some people lose very little weight dieting and what they lose is often
muscle and not fat.

Exercising forces the body to increase the metabolic rate. Daily aerobic
exercise and being prudent with the diet is a good way to lose or maintain
weight. Also exercise and a little weight lifting will make the body keep the
muscle because you are using it and the body will preferentially lose fat.

The thing is that you can do a pot load of exercise and not burn much fat.
Now, assuming burning 50 calories per mile, your 3,000 calories would be 42 lbs
of fat. However, many people up their food consumption in response to exercise
and that is probably what you have done.

Now, one can lose a considerable amount of weight exercising and being prudent
with diet. I did a 2 week bicycle tour in the rockies. We did an average of
75 miles per day with quite a bit of climbing and then walking around seeing
things on top of that. I made sure I ate plenty of complex carbs and
vegetables to replace my glycogen each day. I ate some sweets also on the rest
stops and took ate a modest amount of fats and meats. After I got back, I was
amazed that I had lost 10 lbs in 14 days. So it can be done.

Of course, many people gained weight on the tour. They did this by having an
extra meal during the day consisting of a big burger, fries, and a large
sundae.

"curt" wrote:

If you just
want to really lose weight you can go low carb all the way, you don't have
to watch you fat intake. When people read that, it scares them. I am not
sure why.

Reading "you don't have to watch you(r) fat intake" doesn't scare
me. It makes me laugh. If P.T. Barnum were still alive, I think he'd
also find the humor in it.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

Doug Cook wrote:
The story thus far....
12 years ago - single, 6'3", 180lbs., hair, and competing in citizens
class triathlons.
Fast forward to last July... Married, two kids, mortgage, no hair,
sedentary, 279lbs.
Sick of that fat man in the mirror, I bought some XXL cycling clothes,
dusted off and tuned up my old Trek, and started riding again. Now 10
months and close to 3000 miles later... I still weigh 274! I mean...
come on! 3000 miles for 5 pounds?!


Wow does this sound familiar. My story has been almost identical t
yours except I managed to lose the weight with no problems. When
started I was 260lbs @ 6'1", eighteen months later I was down to 170lbs
How did I do it?

I basically did what other have already suggested . I began to kee
track of my exercise and food intake usin
http://www.fitday.comwww.fitday.com. Another very confusing think for m
was how much caloric intake I should eat daily. What I discovered wa
that "ALL" the experts (including the FDA) over estimated that dail
caloric requirement just as your friend has done. 4000 calories is WA
too high for just about everybody. What I would suggest is to reduc
your daily calories for one week and see if you begin to drop weight
Continue to do this until you start to drop 1 to 2 pounds a week an
then just leave your diet alone

In the end it really is just an input/output issue. Calories in an
calories out. Simple

Good luck. :

Dan


-

On 19 May 2004 13:30:01 GMT, (Pbwalther) wrote:

What worked/works for me is that I quit eating sugar, bread, and
pasta/potatoes. I switched to fish, chicken, lean beef, green leafy
veggies, cut back on dairy. Read Eades' book on Low carb 'Protein Power'.

Well, for much of human history people were lean indeed on a diet of complex
carbs, mainly in the form of grains, vegetables and very little animal
protein. It is quite easy to have a diet like that and be quite lean.

Also, I find that as I do more aerobic exercise, nothing powers the muscles
better then carbohydrates. Eating lots of meat just does not work that well
for me and a good thing to, with my vulnerability to high cholesterol, a high
protein diet would probably put me under a gravestone pretty quickly.

No dispute. What works for you is what is important. My bad chol. decreased
and the good increased on a LC diet. You realize that just eating fat does
not make you fat, nor does it cause cholesterol to increase in the blood?

I apologize in advance for the 'convert' tone if any of that slipped in.

-B

curt wrote:
::: Diet - Again, with your body type, a big obsticle is going to be
::: your slow metabolic rate. Try to avoid simple carbohydrates
::: (refined sugars, white breads, etc.) DO NOT do the low-carb/high
::: protein fad diets. They are very unhealthy and any weight loss is
::: temporary. Forget the three big meals a day thing and eat smaller
::: meals more often and most importantly, learn to recognize when you
::: are satisfied, not full! Other than that just try to eat a balanced
::: diet and drink lots of water.
::
:: I would hardly call low carbohydrate diets a fad. They have been
:: around since the 50's that I know of. They are just in the news a
:: lot because people have wised up. A low carb diet is much more than
:: any fad. It actually works. You would need to at least read the
:: Atkins book to have an understanding of how it works, but I can tell
:: from your post you know nothing about it and just call it a fad
:: diet. You also have lots to learn about low carbohydrate diets.
:: Who do you think you are calling them unhealthy? Do you know there
:: are diabetics on this diet and now can go off there medications? Do
:: you know there are plenty of people that have lost over 100 pounds
:: and they keep it off with their knowledge of low carb?

Yeah, like me. I've lost 130 lbs on LC and am no longer on any medications
for type 2 diabetes. Fasting BG of 80 and a A1c of 5.1.

::
:: I suggest you stick to your X armature body building status and no
:: try and be a Doctor or nutrition.
::
:: If I was the original poster, the first thing I would do is cut the
:: carbs. What is funny, you suggested the same thing, but you just
:: don't like the works low carb.

Too many people get caught up in the hype about LC...both positive and
negative.

On Wed, 19 May 2004 21:06:25 +0800, "Mathias Koerber"
wrote:

On Wed, 19 May 2004 02:44:51 +0000, Badger_South wrote:


You may be surprised just how much you're eating, how much you're eating
at one meal, how much sugar and starch you're eating, and may be
overestimating the mileage. If you're ranging from 95 to 190 miles during
the week that sounds inconsistent. It may be that you're unknowingly
sabotaging your efforts, by binging during the low mileage weeks. Perhaps
you can smooth it out more, and get 150 miles per week but ride
everyday.

One more comment (though I too am neither a dietician nor in any way
trained or experienced in any health-related field).

It seems that the body starts burning stored energy (fats) only after
about 1hr (ymmv) orf excercise, so you will need a longer ride to burn off
the readily available energy before you start using up the reserves.
a 15-30 mile (short ride) daily will thus provide a generally good
training but do nothing (much) for loss of weight.

I lost abt 18kg in the first few month of starting cycling again (after
16 years) and ascribe that to the fact that while I did not change my
eating habits much, I went for long rides regularly (at least 2hrs usually
3 or more) which seems to have made a difference. Now (a year later)
I mostly 2 15km rides a day, and do not lose any more weight unless I
do get around to do longer rides (which is rare).


In my experience it takes about 1 hour to get into that 'zone' (which some
ppl don't seem to experience) if you're doing jogging. It takes about 2
hours to get there if you're biking. When 'it' happens, suddenly the effort
seems to disappear and you seem to be able to go on forever.

I've also experienced it with high rep high set weight training, that after
about 90 minutes, suddenly all the work seems very easy.

I didn't start losing rapidly until my rides got up into the 50 to 90
minute range in biking, twice a day. Some days I do fast (for me) 50 minute
rides am, noon and pm.

I'm now losing about 2lbs per week of fat (and gaining more muscle in my
legs).

Seems as though the lower energy demands (and ability to frequently
rest/coast/go downhill) on the bike extends the period that I like to call
the 'fat burning zone' where I fantacize that I'm burning fats, and ketones
and FFA (probably inaccurate, scientifically, but what the hey).

-B