Weight...!!

[Andreu]

The post about weight got me thinking about my own weight.

I have had a real tough time on the bike since early September (basically fried). Anyway, I am now doing one long run a week very slowly and within a couple of weeks the weight seemed to pile on (I haven't weighed myself yet) but I reckon I have a good 4 to 7 pounds extra.

This is normal for me when I cut back or stop (fighting weight is about 11 stone and a couple of pounds). It feels like I have ballooned but my mum still complain that I look like I am starving myself!

The German pie eater aside, what is normal amongst riders (recreational and/or pros) during the winter? Would it be better to stop and try to maintain low weight, or say keep within a certain percentage (10%) of fighting weight? I like to take it easy for a month or two after October (like once maximum per week say 100km at the weekend from now until December and then start training again).

All diets, advice welcome.
Yours,
Fattening for Christmas,
A :beer: (too many of these doesn't help either!)

[zap]

The German pie eater aside

Your not talking about me are you :no:

Kidding :D

I usually gain 12 -15 lbs during the winter but last year I managed to only gain 5.

I cut out the bag of cookies each night so that really helped. This allowed me to get my weight down to a level I havn't seen in 12 years by April.

For me it's easier to keep as much weight off as possible, so I hope to repeat what I did last winter.

I think Lance would agree.

[Andreu]

Yeah cookies and beer....not good for maintaining form. May have to cut back on both of these.
A
PS are you any relation to The Spanish cookie monster Triqui Béltran?
;)

[coylifut]

It really helped me. I now weigh 4 pounds less than I did in the summer. I kept a food journal for one week so I could understand better the % carb-fat-pro and total calories of the inventory of foods I normally consume. Because you don't want to log it in your journal, you'll cutt out the beer, chocolat and other jones's. That was the 4 pounds right there. So, I went from 165 to 161. I was 172 about 18 months ago.

I really believed I was a very good eater. What amazed me is the amount of fat that sneaks into the diet and raises the calorie total. Carmichael calls for a high % of carbohydrate and I've actually found it challenging to eat enough to meet the calories called for. I don't find it restrictive nor difficult to follow.

[tch]

I have been thinking about this stuff myself lately, as I have tried to get a little smaller. I think much of this has to do with situation. If you are a real racer and maintaining an unnaturally low bodyweight during the season for performance reasons, it makes all kind of sense that you might bulk up a bit off-season (read weisan's comment about Lance's bulk in the Ride for the Roses thread). But if you are like many (not all!) of us here -- basically older, committed fitness riders -- I think you should be much more careful about weight gain.

Lately I have come to the conclusion that I will think loooonnnggg term about my weight, and try to keep it at a good level throughout the year, regardless of the "season". I just think that going up and down is too hard for most people, and that mechanisms to accomplish the going down part are often hard to live with. In the past four years, with the advent of the low-carb diets, I have seen probably 10 aquaintances lose significant poundage. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has gained much of the weight back over time. I am not bragging at all, but in that same time, I have slowly lost 10 pounds and maintained my weight there. I would dearly love to lose another 10, but as I look around, I am still the winner.

Bottom line? I simply eat less and exercise more. I do think that issues of high-glycemic/high carb foods matter somewhat, and I have reduced those items in my diet, but overall I am eating what I am willing to eat for the rest of my life.

I know this doesn't overtly answer your question, but I'd suggest it may touch on it to this extent: again, unless you are a competitive rider, as you consider your weight, think about what you would like to weigh 10 years from now or even 20. I think that letting yourself bulk up too much and then working to lose weight each season is a upward-spiraling movement. Some winter, you will wake up and not be able to see your toes, and you won't quite remember how you got there.

My $.02

[jeffg]

What's your training like? If you do a real season and then do a winter regimen, gaining a bit of weight is not entirely a bad thing. It is easiest to lose weight once you start the bulk of base and before intensity workouts start. So, I try to take it easy during transition/prep and then try to watch my diet when base ramps up. I am shooting for 145 this winter, so I need to cut out the wine and nice food soon! After a hard week at work, nothing is as nice as family time, duck with sweet potatoes, pear/apple chutney and a few glasses of old vine Zinfandel!

[Andreu]

Thanks for the replies - great advice. I have had nearly three hard years continuous racing and training so I am going to have a month or two off. I am going to start again in late November. I will just have to live with the hard times when I start again.

I agree about diet and the comment about losing weight sensibly and slowly..fortunately living in Spain helps on the diet front. I remember getting advice nearly 20 years ago from someone who had raced professionally and it was along the lines ---- lose weight quickly and you will suffer later in the season. I have personally suffered from this when I have left my training a tad too late...and then had to hammer it in March.
I now and try and start training (long slow miles) in November.
Ta
A

[TmcDet]

Andreu what part of Spain are you in? I was over there working before the Barcelona Olympics and loved it. I wasn't into riding then but the area that I was in would have been wonderfull to ride. I need to go back and look up exactly where I was, I flew into Barcelona and then had about an hr or so drive toward France from there.

[Andreu]

I am just south of Barcelona. I don't know the north side too well. I would imagine its pretty similar terrain...flatish coastline with hills as you go inland.
It's great riding here as the European Union gave lots of money for roads a few years ago so they're generally in good condition. And the Spanish motorists are normally pretty respectful of cyclists.
The Olympics are still talked about here very fondly!
A

[bulliedawg]

I've gone from about 188 to 180 over the past two months. I quit ice cream completely, and don't drink beer during the week anymore. Also, I don't eat between meals anymore.

I tried to lose the weight for one reason only: Cycling. I wanted to see if it made a difference. It wasn't that I looked bad, or that my wife wouldn't make love to me anymore. I particularly wanted to see if it made a difference in climbing. And I can honestly say the eight pounds makes one hell of a difference to how I feel on the bike.

My cycling strategy has had to change slightly. I never used to carry food (powerbars and such) when I rode. Now I have to carry them, because I find myself getting really hungry about twenty miles into a ride. That never used to happen with my old eating habits.

[Climb01742]

i bought carmichael's book too and found it very useful, as well. for me, the key thing -- and the toughest too -- is cutting out the desserts and the little "comfort" snacks. i now limit myself to one day a week where i pretty much eat what i want (including a big dessert) and this is usually saturday. the other six days i try to only eat meals and make them as healthy as possible. for dessert those days i have yogurt. if i can't rsist a snack craving, i grab fruit. it isn't easy watching my diet, and not always fun. but like bulliedawg, i really notice my climbing improves as my weight goes down. winter is a tough time to lose weight. higher summer mileage gives us a greater margin for error. lower winter mileage cuts down our cushion, making discipline more important...at a time when the weather makes having discipline harder. :crap: for me, its a struggle. i wish there was a dentist who could remove my sweet tooth! :D

[Andreu]

The situation used to be particularly bad in the winter for me because I worked in product design in a sweet company...so spent the day grazing (partly out of greed but mostly to try the sweets we were making) and the weight went up fast when I was off the bike. Now I am out of that industry it is alot easier to control my weight. If I feel pangs of hunger now I drink water or tea or eat fruit. The extra weight is a real killer in the hills....plus it's much more satisfying losing 3 or 4 pounds off the waistline than buying carbon or titanium!
A

[Jeff N.]

Any good Spanish-made beer? Jeff N.

[Andreu]

Most of them are only good if it is at least 25ºC in the shade...Estrella Damm, San Miguel, Mahou are the most popular. But they are now brewing a wider range of flavours and styles which can be good. They sell draft beers too which are pretty good and getting better (and surprisingly some are good on a hot day when mixed with lemonade - they call this mix clara) And they do really good cider here too.
I am a more of a wine man (take any colour or style depending on the food).
A
:beer:

[William]

I generally keep my weight pretty steady between a lean 250 -255. I don't like to yo-yo and in the long run I don't think it's good for your body. I have a fairly fast metabolism and during racing season I'll start using a weight gain mix added to my regular lean diet just to keep my weight steady and not lose too much. There is no way I can ingest enough calories in a day (lean low fat) to keep my weight up with out it. By 245 I'm extremely cut, below that and I'm losing muscle.

Right after HS I got caught up in partying and slacked off of athletics for about two years. I went from about 250 up to 270+ lbs. When I decided to quit drinking (cold turkey) and get back to exercising I went stupid overboard. I was working a strenuous job, then I would come home and lift weights and then run...every night. My diet consisted of fruits and vegetable and protein shakes. I went from 270 to 200lbs in two months. I lost the 20lbs of fat...and 50lbs of muscle!!! I thought it was great, I was cut as hell and thought I was in great shape. I didn't see it when I looked in the mirror, but all my friends and family thought I had lost way too much weight and tried to tell me so. It wasn't until I saw a photograph of me with my sister at a picnic that I realized what I looked like (a white skeleton). That's when I decided that I had to smarten up about what I was doing. I started reading and studying all the nutrition and exercise manuals I could find to learn how to eat and train the right way. It took me almost two years to put the muscle mass back on that I had lost. I was back to a lean and fairly cut 250. When I went to college I was in the best shape of my life. I got involved in competitive sports again, and my studies focused on the health sciences.

What's the point to my ramble?

For me, yo-yoing is too hard on my body. I find that I'm much more productive and get better results if I keep myself at a lean steady weight year around. If I'm going to take time off the bike, I start training more in another area. My body composition may change some what depending on what sport or activity I'm focusing on, but my weight will remain fairly steady. I don't worry about calories (unless I'm starting to loose muscle mass), I worry more about fat intake and eating lean foods. I try to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. Keep sodium to a minimum. Use whole grains. Try to stick to lower fat dishes at restaurants. I'm not a sweets person so that's not some thing I worry about. I've been doing this since the mid eighties and find that it is very successful for me.

Disclaimer: Your results may vary. :)

William

[Ray]

Since I started riding a lot about 8 years ago, I've seen the same pattern emerge. By about June or July I'm down to the low 160s and hold that through November. Once the riding volume goes way down and I start hibernation mode, the weight starts piling up. Some years I've made a real effort to watch what I eat, some years I haven't, and by February I've gained about 8-10 pounds regardless. Then I start riding more in March and April and by May I see the weight coming down. It usually hits bottom, as I said, sometime in June or July and stays there the rest of the season. I don't feel like I'm making a real effort to lose weight - it just happens when I'm riding a lot. I'm sure if I was scientific about it, I could get down maybe closer to 155, but I haven't weighed that little since high school (when I made an effort to put 10 pounds ON for playing football) and don't have a desire to get really serious about my diet. Hell, food isn't all medicine and fuel - I *LIKE* to eat and don't plan to give up that enjoyment. Really, for an almost six footer, I think my weight is fine in the 160-170 range.

-Ray

[William]

Don't get me wrong, I think that if you're about at your ideal weight for your size (genetic norm), age, and activity level, a small amount of fluctuation is ok. I do generally fluctuate between about 249 - 255. I think when you are regularly fluctuating more than 10+, then your starting to push things a bit.

Just my opinion, I'm not a doctor, not even on TV. :rolleyes:

William :)

[Andreu]

..........this was what I was driving at in the first post.....what is the acceptable variation?...and this is clearly different for different people. I too fluctuate about 6 or 7 pounds through the year (which is about 5% of my weight).

I agree with you William about losing too much weight....the problem, in the past, is when I have lost it quickly. I have a quick metabolism anyway (pity my legs weren´t quick too!) and in the spring I have known to lose weight too quickly with subsequent loss in strength (muscle bulk?) and problems with colds/virus etc
....now I monitor food, weight and training alot more closley.

I think also it can be a bit of a shock when all of a sudden (in the space of a couple of weeks) in October there are a couple of extra pounds that were not there in July!
A

[Lanny R. Levenson]

Weight is a tough issue. In high school, I ran cross-country and wrestled. Well, I was on the team and offered riding time for the other wrestlers. Since college, I've tried all kinds of diets, Scarsdale, Atkins, Eat Right for Your Type, Zone, etc. For this season, I had some specific goals and my wife gave me a gift of two visits to a nutritionist. I went on a diet from mid-January to June 15 and dropped the weight of my Ti Legend. What was noticeable was that the program didn't leave me hungry. I was eating 3 balanced meals a day and was eating seasonal fruits for snacks along with my cappuccino. If you're someone like me, I'd recommend a structured plan. I was able to "not think" about what I was going to eat. This, for me was the same structure from programs like Atkins. Unfortunately, the Atkins program worked years ago but as I've aged, the program wasn't effective.

Lanny

[Andreu]

I think this is the key....making it as natural as possible. I hate diets and I love food and I like to graze (this is OK if you are grazing on healthy stuff like fruit and not pies).

A guy who cycles with the club here knows Roberto Heras and told me the story of him refusing potatos at a tapas party during the winter so he could control his weight. That´s why (apart from the fact I am slow) I would never have made it as a pro.
A

[William]

I don't diet. I eat what I want (I'm a grazer too...about every 3 hours). Like I said, I don't worry about calories. I've learned to prepare meals in healthy way using low fat alternatives to the usual high fat stuff. Some people might think I'm depriving myself, I don't see it that way. I'm eating what I want, I just make what are the right choices for me. I even eat pizza, but when I do I stick to veggie. It's still great, I'm just cutting out the high fat toppings. It boils down to choice. (for example) If you have that cappicino or lattae every day, the decision use skim instead of whole/2% milk can make a huge difference in fat intake by the end of the month. Let's say 8 grams of fat X 30 days. That adds up to 240 grams of fat/month. That's just from one daily cup of high octane joe with whole/2% milk. A choice to shift from whole to skim milk in your total diet can make a big difference. A lot of times it's the little things that get you. Salad dressings, toppings, butter etc...

When you find that balance of taking in about the same amount of calories that you burn off, your weight stays steady. When you know that point, it's easy to adjust by either slightly upping the activity or the calories for the desired effect. For most people it's not about "diets", it's about choices. A good, solid "diet" based on the fundamentals of proper nutrition is really a plan to show you how to make good nutritional choices.

Again, just my opinion.

William

[SGP]

The less that I ride the more I gravitate towards junk food. If I don't stay active I'll climb towards 225-230. I'll hover around 210 durring the summer. Too bad alot of the really cool cycling gear has a weight limit around 165!

[Litespeeder]

What I do for the winter is do some weight training. I have a small weight set in the basement and I'll go down there and do a few sets between commercials or when I'm taking a reading break. IMO, weight training does more for me than cycling to reduce weight. Cycling has given me superman legs but weight training has given me good upper body strength and a disappearing beer belly.

:beer:

[MadRocketSci]

I loooooove tapas! except for tortillas - v. boring

i think the spanish have it right...take your time and nibble on the finger foods. probably not a great idea to be eating dinner at midnight, though, unless you're heading out to the clubs at 3am to grind away the calories! :banana: :beer:

i wonder if jamon serrano is fattening...i would think not? it's basically cold cured ham...

anyone have a good recipe for gazpacho?

spanish tapas...belgian beer....italian pasta....gotta love europe!