Fat days and skinny days ....
 

... does anyone else get these?

Let me explain what I mean, some days I feel like I'm 150lbs (skinny day) other days, I feel like I am 250lbs (fat days), even though I pretty much split the difference (~200lbs). Anyone else have this happen to them? Wednesday I felt skinny:D, yesterday and today I feel fat :notamused: didn't even bother with lunch today, even though I did a hammerfest on the trainer this morning....

Oh, yeah, big time. And it can change during the course of a single day, too. In fact, all day yesterday I felt bloated and was sure (not really, but kind of) that if I stepped on a scale it would have read at least 250. But for some reason when I slipped into bed last night, and lay there under the covers trying to get warm, I got the distinct sensation that I was skinny - dare I say even petite. No idea why. Right now, sitting at my desk, I'm feeling fat again.

Just having some Chinese food with all the extra sodium can add up to 4-5 pounds of water weight. usually goes away in 24-48 hours..

Actually I wonder if I am coming down with something, had a headache last night, have, uh gas now, and of course I have a big thing happening tomorrow, that I can't miss.... Our town has it's annual Christmas parade, and one of the fellows in the church my wife just started pastoring, decided to build a float for the parade, it's pretty much completed, but I need to spend the morning at the fellows place to help finish it... Perfect time to get sick.... :eek:

Yes, definitely. It's not pleasant but the posters above hit on the reason for me...bloating. I found adding fiber helps that in the long run, although it makes it worse for a while in the beginning until your body is used to it.

I Definitely have "fat" and "skinny" days. I lost a bunch of weight over this Spring/Summer and I can really feel every little bit of weight gain back in the midsection; it's really an uncomfortable feeling that I last experienced many years ago in after boot camp. As the weather has slowed my riding a great deal lately, I feel more "fat" days.:notamused:

Bad weather? can't ride. The solution is spelled T·r·a·i·n·e·r

I get that, too, but I'll bet it's water from salty food. I really need to work on eating better food (as opposed to just fewer calories) in addition to biking so that I have more "skinny" days.

Are you sure that's how you spell trainer? I thought it was spelled b·o·r·i·n·g.

I think that trainers can be boring, if you go too long without variances in the workout. For example if you get on the bike and pedal at 82.5 RPM for 3 hours, yeah it's going to get boring. To make it less boring you need a shorter workout with more variance, that could mean starting off slow and building up, it could mean taking breaks, it could mean throwing in some sprints, cranking the resistance so you need to use a low gear to "climb". By varying the workout, it's a lot less boring, even though the scenery doesn't change. Put on some music or watch a video at the same time, if you think it's still boring.

I just put on my wind and waterproof layer and studs for the winter. Once you get going you don't need a lot of extra clothing.

To the op, I think we all have those days. My skinny days are when I am sore from lifting weights.

Getting sick does it to me everytime....of course, I also end up eating anything and everything...

Same here, no matter how good I've been at eating healthy for any length of time when I get sick I tend to overeat just to make myself feel better.

My weight has stayed put for pretty much a month now, but I still have alternating "fat" & "skinny" days.

I've had that problem when touring. Last summer, for instance, while riding in the hot weather in Delmarva, I had days I retained so much water that my shorts and jersey felt tighter. I usually have no shame, but I almost felt embarrassed I looked so bloated.

Although, some of the food on the Eastern Shore is so good, it's worth a little embarrassment. ;)

Agreed. And here's The Historian as bloated mess, in Delmar, MD. I look like I'm going to explode.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2437/...655cee77_b.jpg

"Fat days" seem to be all winter. Everyday I seem to have a headwind regardless of which direction I am going.

I've actually got two trainers, a Minoura resistance trainer I bought for last winter, and a Nashbar roller trainer I got a few months back to try out this winter. I do use them both, but not nearly as frequently as I tell myself I should so I don't get nearly the miles in that I get on the road; don't know why, it just not as fun I guess, so it doesn't happen.

I don't think you NEED the same number of miles, I use the trainer to keep the legs from losing their summer riding tone, and that means, for me at least, a short, intense workout that makes the leg muscles remember the bicycle. The idea is to keep it short enough that it doesn't get boring, and intense enough that it actually does something. This means pushing higher RPM or higher gears then I would in the summer. You need a good 5-7 minute warm up and 5-7 minute cool down, if your workout is 30 minutes, that leaves you somewhere between 16 and 20 minutes to make the most of it, like alternating between high gear sprints and low gear spinfests separated by normal pace riding in between.

That's pretty much what I've been trying to work on the past couple weeks. I originally bought the Minoura so that I wouldn't lose the little bit of saddle toughness I'd built up the previous summer and have to start all over. This year I've noticed huge changes in my body/conditioning so now I'm looking at a broader picture and not as worried about "butt tough".

While we're mentioning trainers:

Has anyone had any experience with Graber Magnetic Trainers? I saw them for sale and was consider an investment, but I wanted to see if they were worth it first.

There is no bad weather 99% of the time, just bad equipment and lack of motivation. I can ride 99% of the time, but do I have the motivation to do it, is another thing altogether. Only thing that can really stop me from riding are extremely high winds in which you can't stay upright, or hail. Both can make it impossible to ride. Everything else can be done, given the motivation and right equipment.

Yes, high winds, this morning we have the lowest winds in a week, 26km/h gusting to 37km/h with it being below freezing the last 4 days, and windy that means lake effect snow squalls of light, dry powdery snow, picked up by the wind and blown all over the place, this means at times we measure visibility in millimetres -- what are called whiteout conditions. Conditions where even seasoned winter drivers, give up. If you have never seen a whiteout, think of driving where you can't see the hood of the car, you know it's there, but you can't see it.

Let me explain Lake effect snow. Water cools much slower then air does, that means that while the air is -7℃ and the land is around -2℃ The Great Lakes are around +7℃ as the wind crosses the warmer water it warms slightly, and the warmer air can hold more moisture, as soon as it comes over the land, it cools and since cold air holds less moisture then warm air, it dumps the excess as snow. Where this occurs is a function of wind direction, wind speed and the lay of the land. Hills near the shore can force wind to increase it's speed over the land dumping Lake Effect now many miles from the water causing it.

Now high winds, poor visibility, blowing snow, I think I will do my riding on the trainer, even if it is a little boring at times.

I am familiar with conditions you speak of. Once I did about 20 km in such conditions, took me a bit more then an hour. But I'm stubborn, and while it's not advisable to ride in such conditions, I do it anyway. I understand if you don't want to ride in that, it really is a smart thing to do. But sometimes, that bug bites me, and I have to ride, no matter the conditions. Last time it happened we had winds of up to 100 kmh, I found myself going straight, and being inclined about 30° to the side, a really weird feeling. Managed only one fall that evening, so I call it a successful run. There is something interesting when you turn into the wind, spinning it in the lowest gear you have, and you barely move at a speed of 5 kmh. So you can say it is not smart to do, and I would agree. And I would do it again :)