The Beacon Message Board

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Thought I'd share as it's that time of year. Good simple advice here, the Dos especially. Personally think very low calorie diets can have their place for some people and especially the 5:2 diet (Dr Michelle Harvie version) but the Dos should help achieve weight loss.

Hopefully most people will avoid the weight loss techniques often used by pros as Clenbuterol, Kenalog etc, combined with ridiculously low carb diets aren't exactly healthy. 😱

I've been doing many of the things on the "do" list for a couple of years now - not for weight loss, but mainly starting with a conversation with a dentist about energy drinks, after which I got a bit obsessive about avoiding added sugar in general. I can't remember the last time I bought a chocolate bar (apart from the odd Lindt 90 per cent cocoa one, which has all of 7g sugar per 100g) and I can't say I really miss them. In fact, my taste seems to have changed such that I enjoy sour-tasting things (e.g. plain yoghurt) much more than I used to. As long as they're not too long, water is fine on most rides too.

I've never been tempted by the 'Don't', so I haven't.

I don't do several of the 'Dos' (chocolate, fried food, alcohol), but most of the others I've done all my life.

At 57, I weigh the same as I did when I was 21.

Well, I'm about 18kg lighter than I was in my mid-20s, but very little of that is due to cutting sugar out (probably quite a lot is thanks to drinking less beer though)!

Took me 6 months to get 22kg weightloss and a reduction in body fat % of 12%. Plateaued for a bit, and now losing again.

Different things work for different people at different times. Completely cutting out chocolate doesn't work for me!!

I must be lucky my weight has never changed.

It's not luck Oscar you've just not put more calories in than you needed. Something that has become hard to do in last 25 years with the change in our environment and changed social norms around eating and drinking. There are too many calories all around us now within easy reach with twice as many cars per household than in 1990. Leisure sport and exercise levels haven't gone down we just move less day to day and generally eat more as a population. Losing it and keeping it off is extremely hard so best not to gain in first place. Which is a bit of an issue as around two thirds of 4 and 11 year olds are overweight or obese and vast majority will then remain so. Anyway gotta go I'm off out to consume three days worth of food!

Weights always been an odd one for me also. Until I was about 19-20 I was about 62kg, which at 5'11 is a bag of bones. Then I hit 89kg by the time I was 25 and now I struggle to get anywhere near 80. Currently 83kg even with no processed food, no ready meals, no gels, I've removed sugar and only snack on one choccy bar a week. The last time I did get near 80kg I got sick for several months!

Some of us are just born to be beasts!

laurence_cooley wrote:Well, I'm about 18kg lighter than I was in my mid-20s

Blimey, I'm surprised to hear that you used to be that much heavier, Laurence. Presumably you had already lost a lot of that before you joined the club, because you don't look 18kg lighter than when I first met you.

Hels147 wrote:Took me 6 months to get 22kg weightloss and a reduction in body fat % of 12%. Plateaued for a bit, and now losing again.

Different things work for different people at different times. Completely cutting out chocolate doesn't work for me!!

I think you're a fantastic example of what can be achieved if you have the willpower, Helen. I cannot claim any such strength myself; I've never really had to try hard to remain a healthy weight. And I totally agree that people have to find out what works for them, personally. Not only do personality and circumstantial differences make it easier for person A to do one thing, while person B does another, but I think that there's quite a bit of evidence to suggest that different people respond differently to different foods. For example, I think most people will be familiar with the glycemic index. You can find lots of info on line about which foods have a high GI and which have a low GI, and advice on what to avoid, when and why. However, I read a study a while back that suggested that individuals vary enormously in terms of how quickly they absorb sugars from different food sources. The implication was, effectively, that a food can have a high GI for person A and a low GI for person B. The published figures merely reflect population averages, which may or may not be valid for you personally.

Tim wrote:It's not luck Oscar you've just not put more calories in than you needed.

I'm not sure that I agree with that entirely, Tim. I think that there is an element of luck. Yes, sure, people shouldn't kid themselves that they can't help being overweight. They can help it. But I'm equally convinced that it's a whole lot easier for some people to remain a healthy weight than for others, and that part of the explanation for that is genetic. Have you ever owned, or had a close friend/relative who owned a Labrador dog? All Labrador owners will tell you that their dogs are greedy: they will eat anything left unattended below shoulder height; they will eat bread people have thrown for the ducks in the park; they will go through bins. Only very disciplined owners manage to keep them lean. By contrast, a collie, a greyhound or a lurcher will rarely eat more than it needs. Only very negligent owners have fat ones. The different breeds of dog aren't leading different breed-specific lifestyles. There must be genetic differences that determine either the urge to over-eat or the metabolism of what's eaten, or both. I'm pretty sure that similar differences exist in the human population, but more randomly scattered, because we are not subject to selective breeding.

A complex issue. I am only 5'7" but my lean racing weight is 80Kg (12.5 St). And that was my optimum racing weight as a teenager too. Last year managed to get down to 79Kg as the lowest I can remember but that is mainly due to muscle atrophy. Age is a cruel thing. I remember when I had BIG legs!
This year I have not tried to loose weight at the start of the new season as I am currently riding the track and it has an advantage on the track. (Currently 84Kg as of 10 mins ago!) Nationals are out of the way and now I will try for steady reduction. There is a lot of fat to come off. Maybe just stick to the track and leave weight alone! Whichever way, don't starve and train or you will gradually be eating your own legs during each ride!

If it works for you it works. Just look up body types. Oscar you are an ectomorph, very handy for hills, don't bother in the last 200m!

I write everything I eat or drink in a small diary including the calories and then add them up at the end of the day. I try to stay below 2000 calories.

Of course avoid doing this over Christmas as I don't want to make it an obsession.

David Cole wrote: Of course avoid doing this over Christmas as I don't want to make it an obsession.

OMG. You're killing me Dave.

David Cole wrote:I write everything I eat or drink in a small diary including the calories and then add them up at the end of the day. I try to stay below 2000 calories.

I use myfitnesspal, linked to my garmin, and monitor my kcals and macros. I may be slightly obsessed.....

It does help me mentally though when people have commented in the past to say I'm always eating! Yes, I may always be eating, but when I'm on plan, I know exactly what I'm putting in my body and how many kcals I need to fuel my ride. I was actually undereating my kcals on club runs when I first started on plan!!

George wrote:Blimey, I'm surprised to hear that you used to be that much heavier, Laurence. Presumably you had already lost a lot of that before you joined the club, because you don't look 18kg lighter than when I first met you.

No - I think I only lost the final 3kg or so of that as a result of cycling.

Yosser wrote:

David Cole wrote: Of course avoid doing this over Christmas as I don't want to make it an obsession.

OMG. You're killing me Dave.

I guess I am one of the 'lucky' ones. Filled my face with cakes all my life and never had to worry..... until recently. I am the same weight as I was when I was 21, but its just moved from my gym/swimming/windsurf shoulders to my legs and now up again a bit to my waist

Different sports produce different hunger for me. Apres cycling I crave carbs, but after an hours intense swim training I can munch through 3 choc bars without drawing breath.

The only time I have ever lost a few kg is being stranded on a remote south pacific island for 5 weeks after a cyclone and pedalling a fully loaded 45 kg touring bicycle up mountains for months on end.

On the sugar issue: https://cyclingtips.com/2017/03/sports- ... al-health/.

I remember reading about how Cyrille Guimard considered dental hygiene as being really important for his riders. Had the mental image of a snarling Hinault reluctantly having his fangs brushed by a team mechanic.