Training Log Harmonix Training Diary

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
I figured that I need to be accountable if I want to get some results.
So, if I put it out there I'll have more chance of reaching my goals.

I'll be using this thread as my training log, and as a place where people can feel free to comment on what works for them when goal setting, or just give me a kick up the arse.


Current weight - 103.6 kilos
Goal / ideal weight - 79 kilos (based on calculations for my height/bmi/muscle mass)
Current average speed - 22.7 kph (over 100 kms)
Goal average speed - 30 kph (over 100 kms)

Starting Yesterday.

I got my hands on some of that slim right powder from woolies. It says to replace two of three meals a day with a few snack bewteen like a carrot or stick of celery, but I am going to ignore that as I will be doing as much quality exercise as I can on the roadie and I don't want to fatigue and get sick.

So my plan is to ride before breakfast every day. Rain, hail or shine. Which can seem hard at times in a Tassie winter (0 degrees outside, black ice and wind chill that makes your ears and nose feel like they are burning). But I just gotta do it.
I'll be mixing up the rides with some hills, undulating with repeated power climb efforts, high cadence rides on the flats and the odd ride-till-I-drop endurance effort. I will also be doing some spin style sessions on the exercise bike. I like the feeling of drenching myself in sweat on that thing, but the seat just dosn't go high enough to get a proper leg extension so I get super sore knees if I do any more than an hour on it.
Good to know it's there if riding conditions are too dangerous or if I have a mechanical. I am aiming to get most of my time on the road though.

I have to build my base back up as I have let myself and my fitness go a bit and my base just isn't there.
I figure that as I build my base, I will start getting strong enough to work hard, and until then I am not expecting huge results.
I reckon about three weeks of my planned routes will kick start my base, and a futher three or four will see me getting strong enough to actually push harder than I ever have before.

At the moment I am on the dole, so no work commitments. Perfect time to get fit.

Wednesday weigh in - 103.6 kilos. Fark. That's a lotta pudding.

Up for a ride this morning. Forgot to charge the garmin. Dammit! This is not how it should begin.
Looks like it's the trainer.

Distance - 37.5kms
Av Speed - 37 kph (I don't count this because I use multiple resistance setting)
Time - 1 hour. Warm up, 5 minutes on setting #2 at 80rpm, five minutes on setting #2 at 100rpm, five minutes on setting #3 100rpm, 15 minutes on setting #4 100rpm, 15 minutes on setting #5 100rpm, 5 minutes full throttle heart rate 181bpm, 5 minutes warm down at 100rpm setting #4, another five minutes warm down on setting #3 at about 80rpm.
Calories - 851 (Not sure about this, that's just what the computer says)
Av Heart Rate - 150 bpm

Weigh in - 101.1 Kilos

Somehow I have lost 2.5 kilos overnight. Must have been that poo. Anyway, the numbers don't lie. I am less than I was yesterday, so as long as I keep doing that I'll get there.

Legs are farked. I havn't ridden in over two weeks due to crippling illness. Mega man flu. A week in bed hallucinating and running a fever of 40 degrees I still feel pretty weak so I won't do any more until tomorrow. I was thinking of doing the shop ride tonight, but scared of getting sick so baby steps.

Tomorrows ride is about 70kms. Hobart to Bonnet (about 300 metres elevation, undulating), then up to Fern Tree (about another 500 metres elevation, straight up, no flat bits about 7% gradient) and then out to Granton (Long flat spin at sea level as warm down, about 30kms return), then weigh in.
 
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Tristan23

Farkin guerilla
This all sounds pretty good mate...it sounds like you've got yourself a well-planned schedule.

Definitely watch out for periods of burnout. As you said, building up a base is super important, otherwise your fitness will just bounce up and down. You're better off riding consistently for one, two, or three months before you start doing any serious endurance strength work. Being in Tassie will definitely make it tough at this time of year but if you're strong-willed about it, which it sounds like you are, you should be able to make it to Summer having lost a decent amount of weight. Also, what're you looking at doing about your diet? Do you eat healthily at the moment or is that an area you could improve as well?

As a side note, do you have the 'auto pause' feature on your Garmin switched on? I have mine set to pause when i'm rolling below 8kph, which is only ever at lights (or when i'm on my 6th, seated, 35% gradient hill repeat...) so it doesn't actually have any relevance to your riding ability/speed and will only slow your average down.

Good luck...I look forward to hearing and seeing the results!
 

steve24

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Garmin batt flat- lol
Never once did I ever run the battery flat
, always a 1st time i guess.....
sorry, couldn't let that one go....

well done for getting the plan happening. Keep up the vitamins and remember to take recovery/ rest days.
I find my Tanita body fat scale useful as i can see when my body fat has droped as opposed to being dehydrated.

If you plan to ride in the morning, try and get everything ready the night before. I find everything takes longer in the morning and if i can't find something it's easy to go back to bed....

I have also put on 6kg and lost a heap of fitness in the last 6 weeks due a broken rib/ influenza/ kids being sick and generally loosing motivation to do anything but eat/ drink and get fat....

1st decent ride last night (MTB)1000M climbing, AV HR 138 over 3 hours in the mud and rain. The 1st 600M of climbing i normaly can do in 50min, last night was 1.15min......

I find a good motivator is entering a hard race that i HAVE to put some training in for. So now i am going to enter the 18 hours of Melrose as a solo. 5 weeks to train.....
 

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Garmin batt flat- lol , always a 1st time i guess.....
sorry, couldn't let that one go....
Yeah, no probs :) Havn't used it in almost a month so I should have known better!

So true about getting it all ready the night before. I learned that one this morn.

I'd like to go in a race too, but to be honest it scares the crap outta me. Maybe one day :)
 

Trickymac

Likes Dirt
ditch the fkn crap slimright woolies powder shit
dont skip meals for some sugary sweet powder
good fuel is what you need for good health
eat right, dont eat anything your granny wouldnt recognise
lots fresh fruit and veg, make salads, get creative, bit of meat and some good qual carbs
avoid anything in a packet/processed
well spaced well portioned meals
all else sounds good
 

MrCove

South Shore Distribution
ditch the fkn crap slimright woolies powder shit
dont skip meals for some sugary sweet powder
good fuel is what you need for good health
eat right, dont eat anything your granny wouldnt recognise
lots fresh fruit and veg, make salads, get creative, bit of meat and some good qual carbs
avoid anything in a packet/processed
well spaced well portioned meals
all else sounds good
wot he said

make a massive home made veggie soup every week, freeze it or keep it in the ridge, have it for you evening diner, tasty, filing and virtually 0 calories
avoid bread, potatoes, booze

meat is good
 

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Cool. Thanks guys.

Hitting up the fruit and veg, good meat, big batch of chick'n soup on the go.
Trying to avoid as much food that comes in packets, or out of a factory as possible.
Like you said, if my grandmother wouldn't recognise it I'm not gonna eat it.

I was going to use the slim right powder as one meal replacement a day. I think I am gonna get about a week out of the tub so I'll finish it off and then stick to a more body friendly option for brekkies.
 

geoff_tewierik

Likes Dirt
Also, I wouldn't be weighing yourself after a ride, as it'll be affected by whatever fluids you consume while riding and what you've sweated out.

Best time is first thing in the morning after you've dropped the kids in the pool. Do it that way every day and you'll be consistent, and regular ;)
 

cha_cha_

Likes Dirt
ditch the fkn crap slimright woolies powder shit
dont skip meals for some sugary sweet powder
this. learn a bit about nutrition - read labels and find foods that are low in calories, take a while to eat and are tasty. surround yourself with these foods so that when you want to snack you're not ingesting many calories. when i'm in the mood for a snack (not necessarily hungry - it's an important distinction) i reach for things like miso soup (about 35 cals a cup), unsweerened cocoa (maybe 50cals), dried seaweed (about 5cal per sheet). I've also grown a fondness for black filter coffee - that stuff is an epic hunger suppressant. konjak noodles (check your local chinese grocery store) are an awesome filler in soups or as a substitute for spaghetti (substitute, not replacement) and they have practically zero cals. learning to love veggies is important - half a kilo of veggies (say brocc, cauli and zucc) is worth maybe 120-160cals and is an enormous volume of food.

do some experimentation and discover foods that keep you full for long periods of time and learn those that don't do anything. for me, my ultimate "full" food is eggs - breakfast based around 2 eggs and a protein source keeps me going for about 12hrs. my worst "trigger" food is probably nuts - by the time i feel anywhere near satisfied from eating mixed nuts (almonds, macas, cashews, walnuts) i've eaten 100g++ which is 600cals++.

well spaced well portioned meals
this is a big one on 2 fronts:
1) personally the "lots of small meals" thing that many advocate just doesn't work for me particularly if they're carb based. at the moment i'm eating 2 meals a day - eating 2x 1000 calorie meals a day is awesome.
2) eating a nice healthy meal is great, but if you up the portion size of the calorie dense sections then you can eat as "clean" and "healthy" as you want and you won't get anywhere. for example, i eat bbq chicken every couple weeks. a quarter is about 325cal and a half is like 650cals. when you're dieting ~300cals/day is probably the difference between being in deficit and being at maintenance.

my personal advice is to allow yourself some cheats. plan them in advance - you will plateau and you will struggle so you need some breaks to help get your hormones back near to where they should be and a cheat meal/day/week will help to do this. also, portion control is a massive issue - weigh everything for a while so you know what 100g of meat veg or whatever looks like.

track calories (calorieking, fitday, whatevs) and track your weight with a repeatable protocol (same time, before/after meals, etc - consistency is important).

for the record, i eat some sort of low-carb/paleo/atkins style diet. when i switched over i dropped about 10kg in 2 months without really trying and now i'm happily living the lifestyle pretty much at my ideal weight.

good luck :D
 

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Awesome! Thanks cha_cha.

I love the miso satchels and seaweed sheets. Always munching on those bad boys.
I'll have a look at some of those options. Thanks heaps.

My biggest weakness is carbs.
I am always eating bread, toast, piklets, muffins, all those wheat based carbs.
I'm lazy, so when it's a quick food fix it ends up being 2 bits of toast with peanut butter, or three piklets smashed down to fill the gap. Half an hour later I am hungry again.
Interested in the 'full for longer' foods. Eggs and / or baked beans does this to me, so does porridge. If I have a small bowl of porridge for brekkie I'll be good until late afternoon. Trying to get off the porridge though.

Looking at creating a whole new cupboard and fridge and actually eating the way I used to which is a lot like what you mention.

I have nobody to blame but myself, but it is only since getting married and having two kids that the shopping style / ingredients in the cart has changed so dramatically and it's something that needs some serious attention.
Learning more about smarter choices.

Tomorrows ride should be interesting, blistering cold wind and horizontal rain and snow and black ominous clouds. *shivers*
 
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Steve-0

Likes Bikes and Dirt
We really need a health & fitness section....

Good luck harmonix! Have a browse through the weightloss thread, the information is a little spread out but there's some solid info in there.

Carbs aren't bad, some people can't function well without them (like me). Just get enough protein & fat and count calories, its really simple once you get the ball rolling In the right direction!

I've collectively lost 30+kgs without missing out on any food. Learn, practice and just do it.
 

Mywifesirrational

I however am very normal. Trust me.
Good solid advice on this thread.

I'd personally only weigh in once a week, there's a normal fluctuation of a few kilo's daily, a longer time span between way in's would help remove this. The best I have seen is a 14kg difference in 12 hours (weigh in).

Make sure you also get some decent rest days in, you need those to get stronger, then you can go harder and more than make up for on the lost days. Or taper you week a bit, long endurance ride, some hills, small ride, higher avg speed ride..

Sign up for a low key race, don't expect to win and have some fun with it - it's not too scary, unless you bring a peaked helmet to a roadie crit, great way to set a goals.

We really need a health & fitness section....
Yeah, that'll would be my favourite part of RB, if it existed.
 
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steve24

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I was about the same weight as you when my 6yr old was born. As a motivator my wife made up Steve gets a new bike scheme. I got X $s for every kg lost, a bonus for every 5 and X $s for every week i kept to my training or $s subtracted if i missed the training. I got the new (to me)bike but it became more about keeping up the weight loss and getting fit. It took me about 5 months to drop 20kg. When you pick up your 20kg kid and realise that's the extra weight you lived with....

I found daily weigh ins work for me and found it very motivational when the kgs drop off. Beware of the plateau where you are working hard and nothing seems to happen.

I agree with the nutrition advice. Strong black coffee is good for me. Other things that help me are sparkelling mineral water with lime or lemon, V8 juice with tabasco and lemon. For a TV snack carrot sticks and salsa.
I am also a carb lover...

I stopped eating pastries/ pies etc, gave up chips (hot and packet), and other high fat stuff like salami. I even gave up beer. For me it works to just stop eating certain stuff.

I read Lance would ride thru lunch time to help with loosing weight. I generaly find i eat less when i am busy....
If you are doing moderate pace rides use water instead of sports drinks, for me treat time is while i am riding so i eat a mars bar etc instead of sport nutrition sometimes.
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
Don't ditch the carbs, unless your body functions better without them.
In terms of carbs no carbs 6 hours before bed and veto sleep before 10:30-11
Protien and some good fats like EFA before bed are ok, they will provide you will some fuel over night,
The reason for bed time and no carbs is follows. I'll keep it super basic

Carbs before bed Supresses GH production Gh peaks when we sleep, GH is responsible for burning fat and building muscle. So by keep Gh high or lettin it peak (not supressing it with carbs) it allows you to burn fat while build muscle.

Carbs through the day are not bad it's about calories in cs calories out, keep in mind calories are nutritious not empty crap. For breakfast simple carbs are not bad but for trying to loose weight a good meal of complex carbs and high protien is best and maybe some fresh fruit (simple carbs). People who eat high protien for breakfast have been studied to burn upto 40%more calories during the day.
Stuff the shakes, you can use a shake for after training recovery (you need the fuel and nutrients) but apart for that change all your white wheat products to brown, rice, bread, flour, sugar no more refined crap or simple refined sugars, move to low fat milks etc, cut out soft drinks and if you can cut out the alcohol or at least limit it.
Cinnamon is know to help slow insulin response and can help curb appetite as well. Eat plenty of fibre and veggies with no dressing, low cal salads will fill you and give you plenty of nutrients without the loaded calories. Eat healthy, if you can steam your veggies and eat a mix of raw of that appeals to you. In terms of meat stick with lean meats, lean minces, salmon for some healthy fats, don't be scared of red meat it is a good source of many V&M but try get grass feed there is evidence that suggest the fats in grass fed is quite close to that of fish in that it is less dangerous and is closer to a healthy option. I will check this out.
Egg whites are good, with almost zero fat and carbs they are high protien and low calories, switch to healthy oils and opt for healthy cooking methods like steaming, baking poaching, if you must fru use a non stick pan with no oil or if oil is needed to for a spray oil as you tend to use less.
Some foods help to increase metabolic rate for a small period of time, the most well known are chillies so of you can hand hot food get on it.
It also helps to have smaller meals throughout the day this keeps your metabolize in a faster state but more importantly is also helps keep insulin steady which will reduce peaks (which promote weight gain) and it should give you a constant energy output without lows.
It also means that you are eating energy as you need it, ie. you are storing less as fat and are wasting less.

It might suck but keeping track of your food calories will be a good move.

BMi take that with a grain of salt, it doesn't take into account muscle density or amount or bone density. Many bodybuilders will be obese on calculators. Likewise I had a teacher at school who was considered overweight purely on having heavy bone density. So if you don't reach your goal but are happy and look healthy do be discouraged.

A good breakfast would be a cup of wholemeal oats with a small bannana and cinnamon and maybe some almond flakes.

Weigh yourself once a week at the same time every week this helps limit fluctuation in water/food weight and hormones in the Morning after your bathroom use is best.

Disclaimer: I am not qualified nor a professional so any information you do take is at your own risk.
 
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Old Shagger

Farkin Legend
Well Well Sir.
I am going to subscribe to this thread and join you in you endeavor. 20kgs is my goal.

Hope all is ok down there in the cold.
N
 

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Training Day #2

http://app.strava.com/activities/17604219

Distance: 48.1 kms
Heart Rate: Average 164
Average Speed: 20.9 kph
Calories: 1373
Elevation: 706 m


Strava link, warts and all.

Today didn't really go as planned, but I learned a few things about my body which is good.

Last night I was up half a dozen times to piss. I don't know how much fluid I shed but it felt like litres because I woke up tired with a drought in my mouth.
Didn't bother weighing myself because the bathroom was about 2 degrees.
Five minutes after waking, stomach cramp followed by a massive case of the runs.

So thirsty. Headache.

I am assuming this has something to do with what I ate yesterday.
Part of my dinner was a big bunch of asparagus with cracked pepper and a drizzle of chilli oil, and dessert was a huge bowl of fresh fruit salad.
My body just isn't used to that kind of thing (masses of fruit).
I did a little research and it turns out that asparagus is a pretty potent diuretic too.

So I guzzled about 600mls of water, no brekkie, and got on the bike.

5 minutes in my HRM is saying about 220bpm. Either I am having a heart attack, or Mr. Garmin is playing tricks.
A quick nip into my local to ask if they have any suggestions (flat battery in the HRM Steve24? :) ), and the shop manager asks me if I rinsed the HRM strap after my last ride. I didn't. And it would be the first time I didn't as well. He tells me that salt accumulation can make the unit do weird things.

So I find a tap and rinse the thing out a few times and strap it back on. Heart rate is now about 95bpm. Fixed. Thanks Marc!

I had grand plans for a 70km ride. About half an hour in I knew this wasn't going to happen.

I got to the top of bonnet hill (about 20kms into my ride) and realised that I wasn't even sweating.
Usually my helmet would be saturated by now and sweat getting in my eyes and running down my face, but today not a drop. Dehydrated.
I guzzled what was left of my bidon and descended back to Hobart feeling shaky and weak.

By now I felt heavy and slow and tired. I din't have that feeling of 'lift' I normally get on the roadie.
I kept looking down at my tyres to see if they were deflated, and double checking my gear selection as everything felt bad, and hard.
100psi on pristine blacktop and I still felt like I was riding in sand.
Only a month ago I was smashing out Strava PRs on Bonnet hill.

I go back to Hobart wondering if I should continue. I know I had a few more kms in my legs, but bonking today would be bad for my long term goals.
The only way to go was to listen to my body, look for warning signs and make smart choices.

Before heading up the mountain I smashed a coffee at a cafe en route, filled up my bidon bottle from a tap and headed up.

15 minutes into a 40 minute climb I learned about what symptoms my body shows when experiencing fatigue.

Shaky hands
Shaky legs
Distracted easily / Hard to keep focus
Feeling sick in the stomach
Headache


I'm only about 35kms into my ride now and small ringing it up a climb I usually big ring it. I didn't make it all the way to Fern Tree.
I probably could have, in fact I know I could have, it's only another 200 meters elevation but I don't want to send myself into KJ deficit and do myself more harm than good trying to be a big man.
I found myself drifting off in my mind and staring at the space between myself and the trees and then realising that I was riding near the middle of the road at a cadence of about 30rpm. Like a punch in the face I would 'wake up' and swipe myself over to the shoulder and recollect my focus, bring the cadence back up and thank my stars that I didn't go onto the wrong side of the road.

This happened twice and scared me a little. I never ever do that.

At this point I decided to head home. Quite disappointed. A piss poor effort. only 40kms.

Successes:

I learned about how my body reacts when pushed with no food, and dehydrated. And where my limits are after being crook.
Normally I would smash a huge bowl of porridge with dried apricots, banana and golden syrup, take a few gels and ride feeling strong and light.

I learned that rather than doing the big rides that take hours and hours and THEN having my first meal of the day is a bad idea. At least until I am stronger and have a better base.
If I am going to have a ride before brekkie it needs to be shorter. Maybe 20-30kms, that way I am not waiting until lunch time to get some fuel.
I could take some food with me on the long rides but I really want to ride on an empty stomach so that my body uses the fat for fuel rather than what is in my belly.

Confidence still high and did not let my abysmal performance today get me down.

I learned how important it is to fuel up THE DAY BEFORE. I just didn't eat enough yesterday to refuel my muscles properly.
It may take me a while to learn how much I need to ingest to refuel my muscles without refilling the fat cells. Am aware of this a lot more now.

Lost more weight. Although I am imagining this is water shedding and not getting to excited yet. I don't want to shed too much weight too fast.
This isn't about being a biggest loser contestant, anyone can shed kilos unhealthily.
For me it is about getting fit, healthy and strong, building a good immune system and hoping that a side effect will be endurance, speed and the weight will fall off as my fitness increases.

I'm not sure if I need to lose muscle mass yet. Something I may need some help with as I don't know anything at all about shedding muscle.
My thighs are huge, all muscle. Not lean, just BIG but no fat in em. All my fat is in my gut.

Failures:

Didn't make the distance.
Set my target a little high for the first day back on the bike. A little too enthusiastic I guess.
Didn't hydrate properly.
Didn't eat properly the day before.

Todays lunch:

Two bananas (lady fingers, quite small)
A half piece of wholemeal lavash bread with hommus, rocket, pear, parmesan, roasted sweet potato, a squeeze of lemon juice and balsamic glaze.
A cup of tea with no sugar.

Still hungry but sipping on my bidon every few minutes to slowly rehydrate myself over the next few hours.

Sounds like a lot of food but it was quite small (half wrap) compared to what I would normally have for lunch. I have no idea how many calories are in this lunch.

Tomorrows ride: Approx 30kms - Hobart to Granton Return.

Dead flat. Perfect for a rest day / recovery ride, or a high cadence spin session on the flat.
You can make this ride as easy or as hard as you like so I will be using it as a recovery ride, but may put in a few sprint efforts. I'll know when I get there.

Todays weight:

Down from 101.1 kilos to 99.8 kilos. First time I have been in the double digits in over a year. Feels great.


BTW - If there are any tassie riders who want to come along on some road rides, maybe shed a few pounds, I'll be doing them every day (except rest days) at around 9am from New Town / Hobart CBD.
Average ride distance will be about 35kms, but the occasional 60 or 70km effort in a week or two.

Thanks to all for your posts so far, and thanks Opsi for the info you sent last night. Looking into it.
 

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Won't happen, your body will use the glycogen free in your blood first.
OK. Good to know.

I don't know why but I was always under the impression that exercising before brekkie helped you burn more fat. I stand corrected.

I was reading in a bike mag recently that riding before brekkie helps your body create a certain chemical or hormone or something (?) that helps your body metabolise fats and increase the speed of your metabolism.

It's so easy to get bogged down with contradictory info. It seems like the more I read the more I get conflicting information.
So, I am trying to just listen to my body and become as in tune with it as I can.

Thanks for that little chestnut.
 

driftking

Wheel size expert
Won't happen, your body will use the glycogen free in your blood first.
Unless you're on a ketonic diet.
If you want to focus on purely fat burning you can go on a ketonic diet.
Personally I hate the principal of a ketonic diet and there is a risk of refeeding syndrome when re introducing carbs.
Basically what happens is when your body doesn't receive carbs you will deplete your glycogen stores, these stores tend to last a max of 3 days.
Once this happens your body then needs to use Gluconeogenesis to produce ketones from proteins and fats. Instead of your body running on carbohydrates it now runs on fats and protein in the form of ketones, this is known to increase fat burning.
Essentially when you are doing nothing your body is burning fat for fuel not carb's like most people.
The diet basically consists of a very low virtually zero (like 10grams or less) carbs, high to moderate fat and high protein diet helps maintain lean muscle mass.

There are issue with this diet though and I see it as fairly dangerous approach to dieting, along with the potential of refeeding syndrome there is also potential as you reintroduce carb's to put on a little more weight, so it does have it draw backs.

Personally I see it as a dangerous diet as do professionals in the field however others continue to use it.

Disclaimer: I am not qualified nor a professional so any information you do take is at your own risk.
 
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