Tbf, one is chosen by MFP, the other is influenced by you 
*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***
- Thread starter AndyCr15
- Start date
Usually I cycle anywhere from 100 miles to 250 miles a week, but I've not cycled for 11 days now, due to a cold (maybe linked to my booster jab, I don't know?) and I notice how my appetite eventually changes. Yesterday morning I got by on just my bowl of porridge and nothing else until lunch. Normally I would be crazy hungry if I try this, but yesterday was fine. In the evening I often have to snack quite a lot, so I don't feel hungry and can sleep, I often wake during the night hungry and snack on a protein bar or something, but last night neither of these happened.
You might think this is obvious. I can burn around 2,000 to 3,000 cals in a bike ride, so of course if will make me hungry, but I'm not really just talking about the day of, or the day after. It's taken a good 8, 9 or even 10 days for my appetite to lessen. I think that's quite interesting, no?
You might think this is obvious. I can burn around 2,000 to 3,000 cals in a bike ride, so of course if will make me hungry, but I'm not really just talking about the day of, or the day after. It's taken a good 8, 9 or even 10 days for my appetite to lessen. I think that's quite interesting, no?
I had to google him, but yes, I've watched some of his videos. I think when I started indoor cycling a year or so back.
This morning's weight in was 16st 3.2lbs with 24% body fat. I want to try and get back on to a weight loss diet, try to drop to somewhere between 15st and 15½st for my Mallorca cycling trip at the end of March. Climbing hills is much harder with the extra weight!
My trending weight at the start of 2021 was 15st 7lbs, so I gradually gained around 10lbs through the year. (2020 started at 16st exactly, so if you look at it over 2 years I've only gained a few lbs
)
It all seems a lot worse when I see I was around 14st 10 in April 2021, so in 9 months I've gained 19lbs...
So, I always said I can do it when I need to... let's see how I get on now! Like @Martynt74 I've set calories down around 2,200, but will eat a little more to compensate for exercise... if I need to. I'll probably end up eating (hopefully) around 2,400 to 2,700 cals a day with a good 1,000 burnt a day on average.
My trending weight at the start of 2021 was 15st 7lbs, so I gradually gained around 10lbs through the year. (2020 started at 16st exactly, so if you look at it over 2 years I've only gained a few lbs
)It all seems a lot worse when I see I was around 14st 10 in April 2021, so in 9 months I've gained 19lbs...
So, I always said I can do it when I need to... let's see how I get on now! Like @Martynt74 I've set calories down around 2,200, but will eat a little more to compensate for exercise... if I need to. I'll probably end up eating (hopefully) around 2,400 to 2,700 cals a day with a good 1,000 burnt a day on average.
For some reason I had in my head it was 7,000 calories per lb. When I do a google, it says 3,500 cals, so somewhere around 3,000 then. I guess that's good, I'm often generating a 1,000+ deficit at the moment (on a 2,200 cal target) although I am noticing I think it might be effecting my cycling. Day 1 I cycle 50 miles, day 2 I really struggle over 20 or 30 miles, which isn't like me... It's an interesting balance perhaps to fuel well enough to cycle, but not too much to lose the weight still.
Yeah, I definitely don't eat as many as I burn, but not sure exactly where the balance is, or even when's best to eat the extra? Is it as simple as the day of, or is it better the day before, or the day after? It's often the day after I really feel it I think.
Definitely BMI doesn't work for some people, but are you actually muscular, go to the gym, lift serious weights, exercise etc?
Okay, I might be way off and this might sound brutal/harsh, but I guess I would say don't give yourself that 'out' saying 'its just my build'. I think I did that for years as a 6'3 138kg man. My chest measurement was bigger than my waist, I went the gym and lifted some weights etc and I just said I was a big guy/big build. Looking back, no, I was fat... 
With Christmas, New Year and now Birthday meals and such out of the way, today is rather my proper start to really eating better (and less). In the 17 days (with a few excessive days due to events) I've still dropped about 4 or 5lbs, so hopefully as I properly get on it now, the weight will come down quickly. Mind you, I'm about to start WFH, so will get even less 'natural' exercise, so must make sure I generate the exercise myself.
I like ready meals (and Huel) for this reason, my portion is given to me. Left to my own devices, I almost always eat more than I need or should. A new favourite of mine is Scratch Chicken Pad Thai from Sainsbury's (the Scratch Spanish Chicken(?) is quite nice too). It's 340 calories and is quite a decent size and the sauce that goes in it is SOOOOOOOO nice
Annoyingly, back on low calories and my sleep is now not so good again. Woke at 1am and had a Nakd bar, then woke again at about 4:45am and have been up since...
Annoyingly, back on low calories and my sleep is now not so good again. Woke at 1am and had a Nakd bar, then woke again at about 4:45am and have been up since...
I think as has been said, I would say it supports daily weighing as I find your weight can vary a lb or so on other factors, which means you really want a daily figure and can follow a trend. If you only weight once a week and know this could be 1lb off what you really are... you'll never really know. If one week it's 1lb below and the next week its 1lb above... you have some really un-useful info!
I'm very pleased how mine is going -
The grey line shows the actual weight, the blue line shows the trend, the boxes are a month, so you can clearly see my weight rising in December when I was ill and couldn't cycle much, then as I've got back to cycling and limiting calories from Jan 1st (even with some 'events' meaning I've eaten loads) there's a clear trend of my weight coming back down. WFH is really helping as I have complete control of my calories and no temptations (working a late night in a supermarket and we give away the donuts that are left over....? Come on... how am I to resist that!
)What it also makes easier for me, is picking a calorie count I should aim for when I want to hold my weight. 3,200 led to gradual increase, 2,200 shows it dropping pretty quick so I can probably aim around 2,800 or 2,900 as long as I keep cycling lots. The downside from my new shift pattern is perhaps it's going to limit my chances to exercise.
Not that I'm an expert, but I think you might be worrying too much about replacing the calories burnt in exercise. I quite often have days I'm 1-1,500 cals under. If I've cycled for 3+ hours and burnt 2,500 cals, I don't come close to replacing all of those. I maybe eat 600-1,000 above my target, but any more and I think I'm eating for the sake of it. Surely only a portion of those 2,500 need replacing in the muscles, a lot of the rest is the fat I've hopefully burnt, no? If I replace them, they go back in as fat too?
I think there's often a delay in seeing the results. I had pretty huge deficits over Friday, Saturday and Sunday but I weigh myself on Monday and I'd gained half a lb (weighing myself through the weekend, it was pretty flat). Monday was a rest day, I weight myself today and I've dropped 1½lbs and my lowest body fat % in about 3 months. Today will be a small effort, but probably a 700 cal deficit and I expect tomorrow I'll be down a little more, then it'll likely level our for a few days. As long as I keep things trending that way, it will be fine even if there are times it seems to slow/plateau.
...and that's exactly why I do track it daily
I want to know the trend. A one off weight is pretty useless.
But the trend will take much longer to show. It will take two or three weeks. Lets just say in someone my size the fluctuation could be as big as 2lbs (that's probably a little high... but...) then I could lose 4lbs in two weeks and if I'm unlucky, I don't see any change in my weighing ins, then the next week I'm 6lb lighter?!
No, I'm trying to remove them by regular weigh ins. That's very different to obsessing about them.
It becomes easier to see the trend in fluctuating data the more data points you have. I'm just getting data points.
hmm.. let's wait and see how long till your next post about how you don't understand why your heavier today and then for everyone to tell you that's normal fluctuation.
It's a long thread. Look back and see if I ever post that
Look just a few post up where I say I don't expect to see results instantly. I'm always about the trend as I know one weigh in on it's own is pretty useless, this is my whole point and my reason for regular weigh ins.
I had a January of two halves, the start was still lots of events and celebrating, then I hit it hard in the second half. From heaviest, I'm down (1/1 227lbs) 9lbs like @Martynt74. The only 'event' in the next few weeks is the Superbowl, so might over eat a little then, but I'm well ahead of schedule really. Last time, when I did my initial 7 stone weight loss, I stopped at around 14st 10. In some ways I'm finding it easier to eat less this time (mainly cause of WFH) so maybe I'll go all the way down to that again? My cycling trip is end of March and I think with a good Feb I can lose 10 lbs fairly easily... although I guess the rate will start to slow. I also worry a little I've not been to the gym in 2 or 3 weeks, so that could be part of the weight loss, but tbh for cycling up hills, I can stand to lose a little upper body muscle.
Well done @Bunko. Do you have a set plan? Run X distance or Y times a week? A certain diet plan? Eat Z calories or follow something else?
That's a bargain against the CarbKilla's and Fulfil bars I subscribe to at the moment, but unfortunately I don't really like peanut mixed into sweet things (so no peanut butter either) so a dealbreaker there really.
I had this when I did my original big weight loss. People said I had started to look too thin. I personally thought it was because they were so used to how I had been looking for years. If I met someone that didn't know me from before, I don't think they would think I looked too thin.
A bad weekend for me with friends visiting for the Superbowl and much junk was eaten. Having said that, I burnt almost 4,000 cals on a 77 mile ride on Saturday morning, so it's possible I came out with a small calorie deficit still. Not weighing myself yet due to the volume eaten, but might step on the scales tomorrow morning even if I might not be back to a useable measurement until Wednesday morning.