Eating less f*cking food

[pink poodle]

Yesterday wasn't the most pristine conditions (huge weekend of powder and big crowds, followed by a cold night into a warm day woth no fresh snow to cover over the weekend traffic off piste) so I spent the morning ploughing as much of the powder remnants as I could before the su cooked them or the ski patrol busted me. I got moved on by a pair of ski patrollers around 1230 so had to leave my last little shadowy pocket or loose my pass. Anyway by then the rest of the hill was good and slushy (temp was well above zero) by then so I spent the next couple of hours slashing slush and tooling around. What does this have to do with eating less food? Well I didn't stop for lunch. Instead I dropped from the top chair down into town through a couple of patches of forest (bonus - unbelievably I found a few more pockets of top shelf powder on the way) to visit the ATM which is near a convenience store so I figured I'd just grab lunch there...

I are what I believe to be the most calorie dense food item known to man kind! It was a potato croquet (mashed potato crumbed and Deep fried) inside a doughnut (also deep fried) that was then crumbed and (you guessed it) deep fried! Holy shit! It actually hurt once it was inside me. The only was this could have gotten any better/worse would be if it had cheese and a sauce between the croquet and the doughnut.

 

[Rorschach]

I are what I believe to be the most calorie dense food item known to man kind! It was a potato croquet (mashed potato crumbed and Deep fried) inside a doughnut (also deep fried) that was then crumbed and (you guessed it) deep fried! Holy shit! It actually hurt once it was inside me. The only was this could have gotten any better/worse would be if it had cheese and a sauce between the croquet and the doughnut.

My arteries hurt just reading that

 

[beeb]

I are what I believe to be the most calorie dense food item known to man kind!

Get yourself some of these:

As a nerdy teenage dare I challenged one of my mates to eat the entire contents of the tin, in one sitting, in less than half an hour. Put a decent stake on it to (think it was $50 or something that was probably my life's savings at the time - and I almost never bet for money).

He made about 1/3rd down pretty easily, but then started to struggle. By about half a can in, he was sweating heavily and nearly passed out. It transgressed from quite amusing to "Oh shit I think I might've accidentally killed my mate", but he was smart enough to stop eating and after sweating profusely for about the next three hours his body got itself under control again and he was okay.

I call bullshit on Aroy-D's energy rating on their nutritional label too, I think this Aeroplane brand one is probably closer to the money:

Get some!

 

[pink poodle]

No protein? I can't, I'm Paleo-keto.

 

[nzhumpy]

Yesterday wasn't the most pristine conditions (huge weekend of powder and big crowds, followed by a cold night into a warm day woth no fresh snow to cover over the weekend traffic off piste) so I spent the morning ploughing as much of the powder remnants as I could before the su cooked them or the ski patrol busted me. I got moved on by a pair of ski patrollers around 1230 so had to leave my last little shadowy pocket or loose my pass. Anyway by then the rest of the hill was good and slushy (temp was well above zero) by then so I spent the next couple of hours slashing slush and tooling around. What does this have to do with eating less food? Well I didn't stop for lunch. Instead I dropped from the top chair down into town through a couple of patches of forest (bonus - unbelievably I found a few more pockets of top shelf powder on the way) to visit the ATM which is near a convenience store so I figured I'd just grab lunch there...

I are what I believe to be the most calorie dense food item known to man kind! It was a potato croquet (mashed potato crumbed and Deep fried) inside a doughnut (also deep fried) that was then crumbed and (you guessed it) deep fried! Holy shit! It actually hurt once it was inside me. The only was this could have gotten any better/worse would be if it had cheese and a sauce between the croquet and the doughnut.

If it was Lawsons I hope you finished off with these for dessert.

 

[pink poodle]

Yamazaki, so a different brand of convenience. This one is pretty small. Dessert was a crepe and some gelato.

 

[slider_phil]

Well, I'm inspired fellas.

I haven't been around these parts in a couple of years. I used to be a "train 5 days a week" kinda guy. Used to eat like it too, but I was 71kg and used to burn those calories training plus working a pretty demanding diesel mechanics job.

Fast forward to the start of 2022, I started a new role doing tech support for machinery importer. Going from being on my feet all day, lugging around heavy parts and fixing machines turned into working from home sitting in front of a computer. At first I thought "brillant, I'll be able to train even more effectively!". But how naive I was...

It turns out there is a fair bit of travel required with the new role. Dealer visits both here in Aus and NZ, putting on training in head offices of both countries, plus (and this is also a perk) training in Europe. But all this travel means it's near impossible to be consistent with training. Doubly, when traveling you are constantly living out of pubs and cafes for meals, which while nice, the calories per serve are crazy.

I write this literally by myself sitting in a restaurant, half way through a steak and veg, in Melbourne for another round of training. Oh, let's not forget the beer perched in front of me too.

Now I'd still been getting rides in, just not consistently and not what you'd call training either, just rides. I even turned to the devil and tried running since it's easy enough to pack shoes while traveling. It started slow, but now I can run 10km without blowing out my knees, but it's not what I'd call enjoyable, and I still find it hard to get consistency around it.

So here we are, with my bad eating habits, poor training routine and with a change to a sedentary job, I'm now sitting at 83kg. For those keeping count, that's about 11-12kg more than I weighed 2 years ago.

I was at the Otway Odyssey over the weekend supporting my wife. It's the first one I've missed in years. It's hard to describe the disappointment I had internally that I wasn't racing that day. All the missed training, the time away from family, the weight put on. It was a really good reminder to me that work isn't everything.

I honestly went home that night and wrote up a resignation letter. I haven't talked to my boss yet, and I'm still not 100% I want to take that step, but over the weekend it made so much sense to me to go back to a more normal 9-5. I'm just finishing up 4 weeks in a row of training here in Melb. That's 4 weeks living in a hotel during the week, 4 weeks away from family, 4 weeks of inconsistent training. I say after this week I'll be back at home and can focus again, but I know for a fact it won't be long until I'm in another state helping setup a machine or diagnose a particularly troublesome one.

But how about this, I'm committing myself to lose this extra weight and start training properly again.

Things I'll be focusing on
- eating smaller portions
- no snacks in between meals (a bit of fruit or veg if desperate)
- timing macros to suit my training (used to do this so hopefully fall back into it)
- beer only after a hard ride (makes it taste better)
- training consistency

The goal is to get back to mid 70s for now. I've decided to start doing some races again and just be content with being the slow guy for a while.

I just need to get back on the horse.

 

[Cardy George]

Well, I'm inspired fellas.

I haven't been around these parts in a couple of years. I used to be a "train 5 days a week" kinda guy. Used to eat like it too, but I was 71kg and used to burn those calories training plus working a pretty demanding diesel mechanics job.

Fast forward to the start of 2022, I started a new role doing tech support for machinery importer. Going from being on my feet all day, lugging around heavy parts and fixing machines turned into working from home sitting in front of a computer. At first I thought "brillant, I'll be able to train even more effectively!". But how naive I was...

It turns out there is a fair bit of travel required with the new role. Dealer visits both here in Aus and NZ, putting on training in head offices of both countries, plus (and this is also a perk) training in Europe. But all this travel means it's near impossible to be consistent with training. Doubly, when traveling you are constantly living out of pubs and cafes for meals, which while nice, the calories per serve are crazy.

I write this literally by myself sitting in a restaurant, half way through a steak and veg, in Melbourne for another round of training. Oh, let's not forget the beer perched in front of me too.

Now I'd still been getting rides in, just not consistently and not what you'd call training either, just rides. I even turned to the devil and tried running since it's easy enough to pack shoes while traveling. It started slow, but now I can run 10km without blowing out my knees, but it's not what I'd call enjoyable, and I still find it hard to get consistency around it.

So here we are, with my bad eating habits, poor training routine and with a change to a sedentary job, I'm now sitting at 83kg. For those keeping count, that's about 11-12kg more than I weighed 2 years ago.

I was at the Otway Odyssey over the weekend supporting my wife. It's the first one I've missed in years. It's hard to describe the disappointment I had internally that I wasn't racing that day. All the missed training, the time away from family, the weight put on. It was a really good reminder to me that work isn't everything.

I honestly went home that night and wrote up a resignation letter. I haven't talked to my boss yet, and I'm still not 100% I want to take that step, but over the weekend it made so much sense to me to go back to a more normal 9-5. I'm just finishing up 4 weeks in a row of training here in Melb. That's 4 weeks living in a hotel during the week, 4 weeks away from family, 4 weeks of inconsistent training. I say after this week I'll be back at home and can focus again, but I know for a fact it won't be long until I'm in another state helping setup a machine or diagnose a particularly troublesome one.

But how about this, I'm committing myself to lose this extra weight and start training properly again.

Things I'll be focusing on
- eating smaller portions
- no snacks in between meals (a bit of fruit or veg if desperate)
- timing macros to suit my training (used to do this so hopefully fall back into it)
- beer only after a hard ride (makes it taste better)
- training consistency

The goal is to get back to mid 70s for now. I've decided to start doing some races again and just be content with being the slow guy for a while.

I just need to get back on the horse.

Chad? Is that you? (If you still listen, you know )

How do you get to your locations? I'm lucky(?) enough to drive everywhere so the bike goes on the back seat. It's not as effective as TrainerRoad, but it's still more than not taking the bike. And I really struggle with the pub meals too. I haven't gained as much as I thought I would, but I was still too heavy to start with.

Can you personally pay extra to take the bike? Waiting for the ferry back from Tassie I saw a Fulton Hogan ute with a bike rack and roadie hanging off its arse. He definitely paid more than standard fare to do that.

 

[slider_phil]

Chad? Is that you? (If you still listen, you know )

How do you get to your locations? I'm lucky(?) enough to drive everywhere so the bike goes on the back seat. It's not as effective as TrainerRoad, but it's still more than not taking the bike. And I really struggle with the pub meals too. I haven't gained as much as I thought I would, but I was still too heavy to start with.

Can you personally pay extra to take the bike? Waiting for the ferry back from Tassie I saw a Fulton Hogan ute with a bike rack and roadie hanging off its arse. He definitely paid more than standard fare to do that.

Yeah not Chad haha. I tapered off the TR podcast not long after his departure. Was starting to be the same recycled topics over and over again to be honest. Used to love when the 3 amigos decieded they were doing an event (whether it was a mtb stage race or a TT, didn't matter) and hearing their training choices and bike setups etc all lead into the event, was the best.

I've definitely taken the bike with me before. But most of my trips are to Melbourne (Altona/Williamstown). When I was more committed I bought the trainer along with me and lugged it and the bike up to the hotel room and trained a couple of nights in a row.

I could also probably pay extra to bring it along with me to Tassie or NZ. But in my experience I get very little free time outside work unless I take time off either side. I took a few days in NZ last year but if I wanted to do an extra week or something I'd have to fly the family across too I reckon. But the work ute is nice, its a dual cab now with an enclosed canopy that I can utilise for personal use. So the 3hr drive to the Otways and back didn't cost me any fuel, which is nice. Small perks you know!

 

[Cardy George]

Yeah not Chad haha. I tapered off the TR podcast not long after his departure. Was starting to be the same recycled topics over and over again to be honest. Used to love when the 3 amigos decieded they were doing an event (whether it was a mtb stage race or a TT, didn't matter) and hearing their training choices and bike setups etc all lead into the event, was the best.

I've definitely taken the bike with me before. But most of my trips are to Melbourne (Altona/Williamstown). When I was more committed I bought the trainer along with me and lugged it and the bike up to the hotel room and trained a couple of nights in a row.

I could also probably pay extra to bring it along with me to Tassie or NZ. But in my experience I get very little free time outside work unless I take time off either side. I took a few days in NZ last year but if I wanted to do an extra week or something I'd have to fly the family across too I reckon. But the work ute is nice, its a dual cab now with an enclosed canopy that I can utilise for personal use. So the 3hr drive to the Otways and back didn't cost me any fuel, which is nice. Small perks you know!

I know! I definitely know!

I'm also fortunate that nearly all of my work is based on farm, so I can start early and therefore finish with enough sunlight for a ride and enough time to find dinner.

 

[slider_phil]

Well, its still early days but a positive 2 weeks since I got back on the horse.

The first week I was suffering for the old "sore ass" syndrome that I don't think I've had the displeasure of experiencing since I got back into cycling 10-12 years ago. Really reminded me how hard it can be for someone new to the sport to get that consistency going.

But two weeks in, and haven't missed a workout yet. Doing a mid-volume plan with TR and I am doing my Sunday endurance rides outdoors with my wife who is also doing a mid-volume plan. If I go on my MTB and shes on her gravel bike our watts end up being close enough in speed that we can ride together, win win!

Now with weight and body fat I only started tracking that last week when I fired up MyFitnessPal for the first time in forever. So hard to see trends over only 7 days but overall its heading in the right direction. If I just eat normal food and don't snack I'm usually finishing off the day with a 500-600 calorie deficit.

On training days, because I'm measuring workload with power I get a pretty close number for calories burnt for that workout. So for intervals I will take on 100g of carbs (400 calories) on the bike then make up the difference afterwards with carbs/protein so that its balanced out with food and I maximize training adaptations. Cant be doing all that work and not getting the full effect! For the endurance days I only take Skratch hydration mix (which has a small amount of carbs) and make sure I do a big healthy meal afterwards.

That body fat graph is all telling. If I go back to 2019 it was hovering around 8-9%, now I'm at 23% with my weight up by roughly 10kg. A long road ahead.

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

when i was counting calories my preference was to only have a small deficit and ensure my macros were skewed towards protein and then carbs, that way I could preserve / gain muscle and recover well for more riding

 

[slider_phil]

It's such a balance hey! Not enough protein and your kind of doing the work for nothing because you don't get that super compensation. Not enough carbs and you're making it feel harder than it needs to be.

I'm trying to keep my protein intake around 1.6g per kg of body weight, and fat around 1g per kg of bodyweight and then make up the rest with carbs. For endurance athletes there's plenty of science out there that says more protein than that the gains are either minimal or non existent.

There's a good bit of science around fats now too. It's especially important for females but still important for men. Apparently under that 1g/kg number the brain starts to mess with things like hormone levels, in a bad way.

Carbs also has such a bad name for it these days thanks to modern diets but if you're doing the work, you need quality carbs off the bike to help to restore and keep topped up your muscle glycogen. On the bike we move to everyone's favourite simple carbs (dextrose/maltodexdrin) that the body can quickly digest and give us energy.

 

[beeb]

Forgot about this thread...

I've been far too slack over winter. It's been frequently hectic windy, often wet and seemingly/felt like especially cold round my way this year. Too much time couch-potatoing and eating a bit too much again has see me blow back out a bit. Skating just under the triple digits at the moment (99kg) - so the aim over the next couple of months is to clean the diet up again and get "back on the bike" (literally and figuratively...) and down around 92-95ish kg.

 

[Slowman]

It's the "inside" fat i'm worried about for health initially..

plus don't want to have to buy bigger bike shorts

Visceral fat, forms around your organs and is very bad. I have to burn mine up it's no good for cat rolls or touching your toes.

I need to JFT.

 

[Hambo]

I've switched from scrambled or fried eggs to poached - I also toast any bread (dark rye) and add avocado and beetroot hummus to it.

 

[rockmoose]

Still the Dino on the right, so am joining back up to FatClub.. trying to get on the bike every couple days for an hour or so but..
kind of just going to 1000-1200cal used and reducing food in over next couple of days.. but want to do it better and drop 6-7kg as a start..


so for losing the chub.... keep in zone 1/2? or keep below 80%?

if fueling with simple carbs... say you do 1000cal of examacise.....
how much of that should be fueled? before/after? and how does that then use up fat?


or just keep pedaling often and worry less?

Zone 2 is 60-70% of maximum. Extended rides in this zone is what will give you the best bang for buck in weight loss because your body will use fat for fuel. Benefits START at 45 minutes, but the longer you go, the better the effect. The major caveat being consistency is required.

During these rides, you still want to fuel your effort with easily digestible carbs, but only need 20 or 30g per hour for muscle safety. If you don't fuel your ride or any activity, your body freaks out thinking it is going to starve, and will slow down your metabolism to save fat stores to keep you alive.

The benefit of fueled efforts will be a faster metabolism and more fat stores burnt.

If you move up into zone 3, 70-80% of maximum heart rate, carbohydrates become the bodies fuel source. You will also obviously burn a lot more calories in this zone, so need to increase your intake to match.

But zone 2 is best for repairing and building mitochondrial function. This alone is of great benefit for weight loss and tackling many issues of obesity.

Sorry for the scattered nonsense. I'm not really clarifying anything. Maybe I can try again when my head isn't full of cotton wool. ‍

 

[Tubbsy]

@rockmoose is on the money with this. Shamefully I do trail running for zone 2, it’s just too hard to keep a consistent heart rate riding a mtb.

I get up at 6am a couple of days a week and do 90 mins or so and I feel a fuckload better going for an mtb on the weekend where I don’t consider HR at all.

After a while you feel super fresh after an extended zone 2 workout- like you could do another 90 without stopping. It’s really very effective.

 

[rockmoose]

thanks for the scattered nonsense

looking back the last few months.. indoor seems to be half Zone 2 and 3... but outdoor seems to be mostly zone 4... probably why i hit a wall after 1-1.5hrs.. wtf am I doing? (alas.. legs are weak, so that probably doesn' t help )

will try indoor zone 2 for a while, see how that goes, but i kinda get bored indoors around 45 mins

Zwift is perfect for your zone 2 rides. Find a suitable robopacer and settle in, heckle a few punters, wave to the adoring crowds, and chase a target be it distance or time.

The more of these you manage to get under your belt, the more your mtb rides will either edge down into zone 3, or stay in zone 4 being much faster.

 

[Stredda]

I find my commute good for a zone two ride. I take the Ebike and it's relatively flat and the motor kicks in on the small climbs to even the effort out. It takes around an hour and weather depending, I ride most days, so just over 50km per day at an average speed of 28kph.