Training & Nutrition - Eating (in general)

When I hear any discussions about weight control, it always focuses mostly on eating. "Eat this, don't eat that, eat before such-and-such a time, don't eat after X o'clock, take this supplement..."

Eating right is very important.

But if you don't have a serious aerobic exercise program in your
discipline, eating less won't do the trick.

Who wants to be thin and frail? If I'm going to be thin, I want to be strong, too. You don't get strong without exercise.

I agree.

Probably, people who eat healthy and don't exercise are still better off than those who eat unhealthy and don't exercise.

When you're born, pick parents with good genes.

You know, I used to eat junkfood all the time. True. However, when I started cycling, I realised that I would have to change that if I wanted to get any better. You know something else, I don't really miss the junkfood that much anyway. I mean, the fruit that I eat is much better.

I've just plucked a heap of passionfruit from my vine (six to be precise). This is something I never would have discovered otherwise.

Originally posted by Chris L
I've just plucked a heap of passionfruit from my vine (six to be precise). This is something I never would have discovered otherwise.

I've just bought some bananas from a crappy greengrocer. :D

Originally posted by Weasel

I've just bought some bananas from a crappy greengrocer. :D

Gee, having to pay must really suck!

What really sucks is paying for crappy fruits and veggies.:(

One of the best things about summer is the farmers markets. Fresh fruit, every day! Well, other then tropical fruits, one thing i miss about Hawaii, fresh mangos and bannanas daily... *drool*

There's nothing more fascinating than taking a new path through the woods, only to find it meanders far off your intended course...

:D

Oh, well, it's the trip that's fun, anyway!

Here's my 2 cents:

Someone told me today that they were thinking about taking up cycling as soon as they kicked that nasty smoking habit. I told them, don't wait! Start cycling first!

(I know how long it takes to quit smoking, I've done it many times.)

BB (Before Biking) I didn't have a weight problem.

BUT serious biking made me eat better, drink less alcohol and caffine, and be more concious. I actually gained weight AB (After Biking) as I know I need the right food, whereas before it didn't make any difference.

I agree with Pete here , that aerobic exercise should come first and nutrition will follow.

Fruit. The only thing better than picking your own passion fruit is havng your own supply of bananas. The short variety are the best. But the bestest is finding wild berries on a mtn bike ride. Check out Seattle in the spring. Seattle practically sufocates from black berries in the spring.

Erik

Little,

I have to agree with you on the aerobics...very important. I think the problem comes when people are pushing the exercise harder, and wondering why they're not losing weight.

Exercise is a lousy way to lose weight. You just can't, realistically, exercise enough to burn all the calories Americans are consuming. Exercise, aerobics, biking, all play a role in toning, which is your main point, and I agree with you. However if America wants to lose weight...you're gonna have to learn how to eat Kids !!

I don't know, I mean it's scary, that 80 percent of Americans are overweight. But when I see the way people eat...my own relatives, friends, it's really a no brainer.

It would help too if we set up a society that made it easier to walk, or bike, around town instead of jumping into our cardio-killer, polluting vehicles. I think that we do have more options today than we did 20 years ago, with the rails-to-trails program, and better shoulder widths on new roads, and hopfully it will continue to improve.

So Little, I have to agree with most of your points Man, I just hope some changes take place over the next decade that will wake our country up with regards to our eating habbits.

Personally, "I eat to live...I don't live to eat"!

Good Eating!

Hey LittleBigman,

That was me :) ! I agree but I can't get the bike sorted before August unless... Our company (morons) have just lost the contract I work on so I've been made redundant; however I may well be taken on by the company that now has the contract because of the new TUPE legislation.

The good news if they DON'T take me on is that I will have more than enough redundancy to get the bike totally sorted out amd buy a bumper pack of nicorette patches :D.

Anyhow, just to let you know I an serious, my custom frame went away a few weeks ago for a new stay and a respray and I've had a new rear wheel built - I'm dead excited about getting the bike back on the road because I remember how much I used to love cycling and being fit.

LittleBigMan,

how to loose weight is really simple:: burn more calories than you eat

but understanding and doing this is not easy...

1) as you said, eat less and less high-callorie foods - fruits and vegies are great
2) do aoerbic activity - treadmill, cycling, sports, etc.
3) but any activity helps - so take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk or bike instead of driving
4) lift weights

weight training::
each person has a base metabolic rate that is determined by 1) genetics and 2) muscle mass --- b/c it takes a certain amount of calories per day to maintain each pound of muscle you have --- what this means is that if you lift weights today, you will be increasing your muscle mass for the next 2-4 weeks, so for the next 2-4 weeks your body will be buring extra calories to maintain these muscles --- and you don't have to do anything - it happens while you sleep too.

eating::
as far as eating goes --- our culture and evolution has trained us to eat large meals (maybe there won't be any food tomorrow, so we better eat up now --- give a dog tons of food and watch him gorge himself until he can hardly walk) .... but you can do 2 things to help out:
1) eat smaller meals and you will train your body to be full sooner - the stomach can actually shrink so that it gets 'full' sooner --- this can also be done with surgery, but you can do it all by yourself
2) eat more slowly b/c it takes a few minutes after you eat for the stomach to recognize there's food there, so if you eat fast then you will overeat what your body wants but your body won't be able to tell you until after you've already eaten (think Thanksgiving dinner and that stuffed feeling)

other than that, there's already so much info on low-calorie foods i won't add anything more than recommending fruits and vegetables

oh yeah, just because i hear about this stuff all the time i'll comment on some other stuff::
1) so called 'optimal fat-burning workout': this is wrong --- at moderate levels of exertion you do burn a higher PERCENTAGE of fat, but the total amount is still LESS than at high exertion level --- thus, do the highest level of excertion that you are comfortable with (and don't overdue it and injure yourself)

2) 'spot training' areas like your stomach is bogus --- yes, doing situps builds the muscles so IF you have less fat, then your stomach will look better, but basically it's just a matter of calories eaten vs. calories burned --- so yes, doing situps does help b/c you're buring calories, but running would help more

different people just have different areas where fat is stored ----- for most men this is the stomach first, then maybe back or arms; for most women this is the hips and thighs first and then maybe the stomach or back or whatever... loosing fat is basically the only way to loose that gut or that big butt and doing crunches or special butt-workouts is not the answer

for a serious weight-loss program you need to do a minimum of 30 minutes of intensive aerobic exercise at least 30 minutes per day ---- i've also seen studies that show that 10 minutes twice a day, 6 days a week is equally effective -- but it seems to me 30 minutes 3 times a week is easier to do

of course, 1 hour 4 times a week is even better :)

and you'd be surprised how many extra calories you burn by commuting to work every day by bike or just walking a mile to the grocery store or taking th stairs up 4 flights instead of the elevator --- these things do make a HUGE difference!

there are formulas (search on the web) you can use to determine your base metabolic rate based on your weight, height, gender and body fat percentage (estimated by measuring stomach and tricep skin fat) --- from these you can determine your base metabolic rate - i.e. how many calories your body uses if you don't do any exercise --- then you can figure out how many calories you eat per day by adding up all the numbers of the foods you eat (estimate) ---- subtract and see what you get --- then figure out 1) how much exercise you need to do to burn more calories so you burn more than you eat (then there are tables that estimate how mayn calories you burn doing an activity like cycling) 2) or how much less you need to eat

if you truly love to eat a lot, the only healthy way to do it is to lift weights to raise your resting metabolic rate and then do lots of aerobic activity to burn off the rest of the calories...

unless you have some really rare genetic problem, if you do all 4 of these you WILL loose weight!!! ok, you may never look like you did when you were 16 or get down to 6% bodyfat, but should be a healthy fit person

Hey, ride EVERY chance you get... eat what they taught you was "good" in grade school (you know, fruits, veggies,ect).
And don't worry about it... aero + a good diet = great shape... ... ... like they've always said in the books and magazines you read.



:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:


I use beer as my four main food groups; water, barley, malt and hops.

If you want to be strong, you need to have anaerobic exercise (weights).

Aerobic exercise improves circulation, and will reduce weight, and improve insulin function - but it will not build muscle mass (tone, but not mass).