Bike Hub weight loss challenge 2016

[jcza]

This is copied from another forum and quite useful if you don't want to record everything but change the quality of your diet

 

Our bodies are designed to self regulate. You do not need to tell yourself to breathe, or go to sleep, or remember to use the toilet. It does it all for us. You start running, blood is sent to the muscles that need it and away from the tissues that don’t, heart rate increases, breathing rate increases, etc etc. It is an automatic process that millions of years of evolution has perfected. Why then do we believe that we need to consciously control our energy intake and output or else we get fat? If you give your body the nutrition it has evolved to use it will deal with the rest. The QUALITY method aims to avoid any metabolism disrupting foods and let the body’s innate processes take control of energy distribution.

 

All you need to do with the QUALITY method is avoid any processed food. Especially wheat. With every meal of the day you build it using some simple principles.

 

• Build every meal around a protein source like whey, poultry, meat or fish
• Ensure at least two meals of the day have a huge serving of non-starchy vegetables like spinach, broccoli and kale.
• Do not fear fat, use fat to make things more filling and boost your energy - whole eggs, red meat, oily fish, nuts, full fat dairy, oils, olives and avocado are all great sources of fat. Any meat produce should be sourced with consideration to the conditions in which animals are reared. I personally only eat grass fed beef and corn fed chickens for example. I always for organic where I can.
• Do not fear carbohydrates, use them to meet your energy demands from exercise. Great sources of carbs are sweet potatoes, rice, oats, quinoa, pulses, legumes, non-starchy veg, fruit (especially berries)
• Ensure the quality of all foods you eat. Whole foods should be the only option with only a couple of exceptions (whey protein for example). Carbs are the biggest culprit for being processed beyond nutritional benefit. For that reason, be extra careful when choosing your carbs. I should also say that a lot of people aren't very good at processing diets with a medium to high carb content. A lifetime of consuming the super insulemic over processed carbs that are all around us has left our bodies very sensitive to carbohydrate intake. This is why low carbs are so popular. If you feel you may be sensitive to carbs a low carb approach could be the way for you, at least for the first few months.

 

Get started with the QUALITY method using something like the above. Portion sizes don’t matter. Your body will sort all that out once it gets used to whole, nutritious foods again.

Foods that disrupt the body’s natural ability to self regulate energy and weight should be avoided. The most common metabolically disruptive foods I see with clients are: Wheat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, and caffeine. Initially, I recommend avoiding them altogether for at least a couple of weeks. Then reintroduce them slowly and in small quantities. Be mindful of how they make you feel and how your body responds. Learn what you can tolerate and what you can’t. Everyone is different.

 

From my own personal perspective I have the following reactions to typical ‘metabolism shifting’ foods.

 

• Wheat – ruins me. Leaves me bloated, depressed, hungry without knowing why, fuzzy headed and generally low in motivation. I try to avoid at all costs. If I do eat it (like I did over Xmas) I prepare myself for the negative feelings I will have afterwards.
• Dairy – similar to wheat just not as bad
• Alcohol – I get drunk fairly easily but don’t have a huge dip in my blood sugar (as some people do). I rarely crave junk food when I’ve been drinking. Hangovers are OK, if I haven’t got completely ratted. I can comfortably drink 1 or 2 times a week and not need to get smashed when I do.
• Sugar – Anything more than a small amount of sugar normally spirals out of control for me. I get a big buzz from sugar and a big dip afterwards. I only crave it when I am having it regularly. Generally I avoid if I’m trying to ‘lean up’ but can deal with it once per week without it sending me bonkers.
• Caffeine – My main ‘crutch’ when I’m feeling low. Too much messes me up and my energy is far more stable when I avoid it. One per day is OK, but I try to not have any every 3rd or 4th day to break the cycle. The longer I have it for, the bigger the craving becomes.

 

Abstaining from all of the above would undoubtedly see far better results in anyone’s fat loss regime. But most people don’t want to take it that far. Knowing what you can and can’t handle and being prepared for any negative consequences when you do have them is the way to go. The odd ‘treat’ or ‘blowout’ is fine as long as it doesn’t lead to a domino effect of negative behaviours.

 

The QUALITY method relies on consistency of behaviours. You do the right things 90% of the time and the other 10% doesn’t really matter. 1 day in 10 can be used to eat the crap that has caused your fat gain. Make sure the other 9 are good though. Doing well Mon to Fri and being a twat on weekends is simply not enough to restore metabolic harmony. If you want this to work for you, you must be committed. The great thing about it is that you will start to enjoy doing it correctly. The occasional blow out will leave you feeling terrible and it will become less and less appealing. After only a few weeks of clean living you will have more energy, better concentration, better skin, better hair, more motivation and generally a new zest for life. At this point you know your metabolism is functioning well and the fat loss is just a matter of time.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

This is copied from another forum and quite useful if you don't want to record everything but change the quality of your diet

 

Doing well Mon to Fri and being a twat on weekends is simply not enough to restore metabolic harmony. If you want this to work for you, you must be committed. 

This bit,. 

[NotSoBigBen]

This bit,. 

 

That and my sentiment that 'cheat' meals don't work for most people #BeenThere

 

'I deserve it' no in most cases you don't 

[jcza]

This bit,. 

 

Strangely enough I don't feel like cheating after a hard ride or workout, probably because the pain is still fresh in the memory. However, when not exercising I tend to go tilt very easily. Sometimes even for a couple of days. I must add that I don't deprive myself, if there is something that I feel like having be it beer or even pizza, I have it but do try and compensate by limiting the quantity.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Strangely enough I don't feel like cheating after a hard ride or workout, probably because the pain is still fresh in the memory. However, when not exercising I tend to go tilt very easily. Sometimes even for a couple of days. I must add that I don't deprive myself, if there is something that I feel like having be it beer or even pizza, I have it but do try and compensate by limiting the quantity.

easier said than done! 

 

Which, again, is why I'm limiting my intake to get used to the idea of portion sizes etc and how much I "should" eat when not exercising... 

[jcza]

easier said than done! 

 

Which, again, is why I'm limiting my intake to get used to the idea of portion sizes etc and how much I "should" eat when not exercising... 

 

I ask for the pizza to be cut into 4 slices then I don't feel so bad, imagine having 8 slices??

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I ask for the pizza to be cut into 4 slices then I don't feel so bad, imagine having 8 slices??

Or 12! Goodness me... 

[NotSoBigBen]

I ask for the pizza to be cut into 4 slices then I don't feel so bad, imagine having 8 slices??

 

My wife reckons always take 2 (or more) smaller slices of cake rather than 1 big one, people don't think you're a pig then (her words not mine ...)

[Boerklong]

Not too bothered. Weighedd 101kg after the holiday. Put my scale away for the week and only took it out this morning. 97.5kg.

Just ate less, healthier and no alcohol. Did 25km on Tuesday and 32km last night. Will do a 40+km ride over the weekend.

[SpecialK]

Strangely enough I don't feel like cheating after a hard ride or workout, probably because the pain is still fresh in the memory. However, when not exercising I tend to go tilt very easily. Sometimes even for a couple of days. I must add that I don't deprive myself, if there is something that I feel like having be it beer or even pizza, I have it but do try and compensate by limiting the quantity.

 

I definitely feel less like cheating the more I exercise. I think it's a physical reminder that I am trying to be healthier for a reason. Once I get off the bike (or out the gym) I already feel good, why ruin that feeling by having rubbish food...

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Just came across this whilst googling "increased exercise load and water retention"

 

http://www.muscleforlife.com/water-retention-and-weight-loss/

 

Water Retention and Weight Loss: You Can Lose Fat, But Not Weight? If you want to know how water retention can prevent weight loss and even make you look fatter (and what to do about it), you want to read this article.

There are many ways you can screw up a well-designed diet.

For example…

• You can accidentally eat more calories than you should.
• You can move your body too little.
• You can over-estimate the amount of energy you burn every day.
• You can set yourself back with gluttonous “cheat meals.”

These common diet mistakes are elementary.

You run through a quick checklist, realize where you’re leaking water, plug the hole, and voila, you’re back on track.

What isn’t so elementary is the inexplicable weight loss plateau.

You know…when your macros are on point…you’re doing plenty of exercise…you’reaccurately estimating energy expenditure…and you’re not bingeing yourself back to square zero every Saturday…

…and you’re still seeing the same dismal sight in the mirror and on the scale every week.

Well, if you’re stuck in such a predicament, don’t do what most people do: exercise more and eat less. It’ll just make things worse.

You see, the culprit is likely water retention , and if you don’t know how to deal with it properly, it can fuel an emotional firestorm of anger and frustration.

Well, I don’t want that to happen to you, so I wrote this article.

And by the end of this article, you’re going to know what causes water retention, why so many people trying to lose weight struggle with it, and how to bring everything back to normal, including your weight loss.

So let’s start at the top.

When a Weight Loss Plateau isn’t a Fat Loss Plateau

In a perfect world, we would lose weight in a neat, orderly manner.

We would stick to our workouts and meal plans like good little boys and girls and would wake up a little lighter and leaner every day.

The weeks would breeze by and before we knew it, we’d be the proud owners of a shiny new set of six-pack abs.

And people say dieting is hard. Hmph!

Well, that’s the dream at least.

But then we wake up and have to accept that in the real world, weight loss can be quite erratic.

You might lose a pound or two per week for several weeks and then, for no good reason, see no change for a few weeks, as if your body suddenly forgot how to burn fat.

Then, just before you get desperate enough to dabble in gluten-free or Paleo voodoo (or literally voodoo), you lose four pounds overnight.

WTF is going on?

How can you maintain what you know is a calorie deficit only to have nothing change for extended periods of time, an then, just as mysteriously, see a dramatic shift in the right direction?

Well, the answer is simple.

The fat you lose through proper dieting can be obscured–both on the scale and in the mirror–by additional water that your body is holding on to.

 

The fat you lose through dieting can be obscured by water retention.

CLICK TO TWEET

 

Many people have heard this but don’t realize how significant the effects can be. It’s not uncommon to lose upward of 3 to 4 pounds of fat over the course of 3 to 4 weeks without even knowing it due to increased water retention.

The fat loss only becomes visible when the excess fluid is flushed out of the body, creating the illusion of extreme fat loss over very short periods.

Why does your body hold onto more water when you diet though? And what can you do about it?

Let’s find out.

What a World War II Starvation Experiment Can Teach Us About Water Retention

During World War II, Dr. Ancel Keys led a groundbreaking scientific study wherein 36 men willingly submitted themselves to a semi-starvation diet of about 1,500 calories per day for 6 months and hours of hard labor every day.

This become known as the “Minnesota Starvation Experiment” and its purpose was to learn about the physiology and psychology of starvation, and to work out a proper regimen for helping starved war prisoners back to normal diets and metabolic health.

One of the many interesting findings that came from this study was that weight loss progressed in a nice, linear fashion in the beginning. Men lost about 2 pounds per week, every week. After some time, though, it became erratic and unpredictable.

Body weight would remain stagnant for several weeks followed by overnight “bursts” of large amounts of weight loss (3+ pounds).

It’s physically impossible to burn several pounds of fat overnight, so how is that possible?

Well, the scientists looked into the phenomenon further and found the answer: water retention.

What was happening is the men were steadily losing fat even when their weight wasn’t changing because as they lost more fat, they held more water.

This only became obvious once the excess water was expelled, which gave the appearance of very rapid weight loss.

Bodybuilders are very familiar with this phenomenon. They call it the “whoosh effect.”

I want to repeat something:

The calorie deficit did systematically reduce body fat levels, but the reductions in total body weight were often counter-balanced by increases in water retention.

The reason I want to call attention to this is many “gurus” like to claim that this experiment actually “proves” that calorie-based dieting “doesn’t work” because subjects weren’t losing weight despite being in a calorie deficit.

Bollocks.

Now, what triggered these “whooshes” of weight loss, you’re wondering?

Sometimes they just occurred randomly, but scientists found that reliable trigger was a dramatic increase in caloric intake.

For instance, a 2,300-calorie meal was served to celebrate the half-way mark of the experiment, and researchers noted that many of the men woke up several times to pee that night and, in the morning, were several pounds lighter than the day before.

If you’ve ever dieted down to a super-lean level (7% body fat and below for men, 16% and below for women), you’ve probably experienced something similar after doing arefeed day.

Why is this, though? What’s happening physiologically?

The answer has to do with a hormone called cortisol, which your body produces in response to stress.

Research shows that a prolonged calorie deficit dramatically raises cortisol levels. This causes quite a few unwanted effects in the body including increased water retention.

And that’s exactly what happened to the Minnesota Experiment patients. The combination of little food and lot of physical activity spiked cortisol levels, which spiked water retention.

(This is why many people subjecting themselves to starvation diets and large amounts of exercise tend to struggle the most with water retention as well.)

Scientists found that the feast that triggered the “whoosh” in the experiment’s subjects dramatically lowered their cortisol levels, which explains the large expulsions of water.

Again, this is why a refeed day will often produce a weight loss “whoosh.” This is also why weight loss will often continue during a period of reverse dieting.

How to Lose Water Weight

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably extrapolated a few tips for reducing water retention:

1. Don’t starve yourself.
2. Don’t do hours and hours of cardio every week.
3. Eat large amounts of food occasionally.

And it turns out that those are actually effective strategies for shedding excess water because they reduce cortisol levels.

Let’s look a bit closer at each as well as a few other ways to reduce water retention.

Don’t Be Too Aggressive with Your Calorie Deficit

If you want to rapidly lose fat and not muscle, you want to be aggressive with your calorie deficit…but not reckless.

There are several reasons for this and one of them is eating too little leads to large increases in fluid retention.

To avoid this, maintain a 20 to 25% calorie deficit when dieting to lose weight.

Check out this article to learn more.

Don’t Do Too Much Exercise

Yes, this is a weight loss article that’s telling you to eat more and move less, because if you’re trying to lose weight but are holding a lot of water, you can probably benefit from both.

Specifically, I recommend no more than 3 to 5 hours of weightlifting and 1 to 2 hours of cardio per week when cutting.

This is enough exercise to burn large amounts of fat while preserving muscle and minimizing water retention.

Oh and don’t forget your deload weeks!

Have Cheat Meals

Don’t you love me for this one?

A large increase in caloric intake can trigger a “whoosh” of water weight, which is one of the reasons I recommend regular “cheat meals” when dieting.

That said, you need to know how to “cheat” correctly or it can actually hinder your progress. Read this article to learn more.

You Probably Need to Adjust Your Sodium and Potassium Intake

We haven’t talked yet about how sodium and potassium intake affects fluid levels in the body, but should.

Sodium is a mineral that brings water into cells, which is why eating large amounts of it can cause a large increase in water retention (or “bloating,” as most people see it).

You’ve probably seen this the morning after eating a large, salty restaurant meal.

This is also why when you restrict sodium intake, water retention decreases.

Potassium is another mineral that has the opposite effect on cellular fluid levels. Whereas sodium sucks fluid in, potassium pumps it out.

This is why research shows that restricting potassium intake can increase fluid retention.

Now, if you’re like most people, your diet is probably very high in sodium and quite low in potassium.

If you want to check, head over to Calorie King and start adding up. And don’t forget to add in guesstimates for how much salt you’ve been using as well (salt has about 2.3 grams of sodium per teaspoon).

I’ll bet money that your sodium intake is at least 50% higher than the USDA’s recommendation of about 2.3 grams per day (and 1.5 grams for African Americans, individuals with hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease and individuals ages 51 and older).

And I’ll double down that your potassium is at least 50% lower than the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation of about 4.7 grams per day.

(And no, you’re not alone here–insufficient potassium intake is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in Western diets.)

This mineral imbalance contributes to water retention, but it’s a lot worse than that.

A study conducted by scientists from the Center for Disease Control and Harvard University found that people with the highest ratio of sodium to potassium were twice as likely to die of a heart attack and had a 50% higher risk of death from any cause than people with the lowest ratio.

The bottom line is people with diets very high in sodium and very low in potassium are playing with fire.

(I should note, however, that people that sweat regularly may need more sodium to offset losses through sweating. I personally eat around 3.5 to 4 grams per day.)

So, here are some good rules of thumb for keeping your sodium intake under control:

• Look at the sodium content of canned or pre-packaged foods.

They’re often loaded with sodium as a preservative.

• Avoid deli meat.

For the same reason.

• Cut back on salt and certain seasonings.

Use salt sparingly and if needed, use a potassium-based salt substitute.

Watch out for mixed seasonings as well, like chili or pizza seasoning. They can contain quite a bit of sodium.

• Watch out for sauces and salad dressings.

Many are very high in sodium.

• Cheese can be a problem too.

For example, just one once of American cheese has nearly 500 milligrams of sodium.

The best way to raise your potassium intake is to include potassium-rich foods in yourmeal plans, such as…

• Beans
• Dark leafy greens
• Banana
• Potato
• Squash
• Yogurt
• Salmon
• Avocado
• Mushrooms

And if you’re frowning at having to plan/track yet another thing in your diet, don’t worry–you don’t have to track sodium and potassium intake forever.

Instead, you want to plan/track at first to see what works and what doesn’t and then just use common sense in maintaining good habits going forward.

Yes, that means your sodium and potassium intake is going to fluctuate some and occasionally spike plummet, and that’s fine.

So long as your intake is stably in the right range most of the time, and you go back to normal right after occasional spikes, you’ll be fine.

Take Time to Chill

You can reduce cortisol levels by simply taking some time each day to do relaxing things like…

• Listening to some good music
• Drinking some tea
• Taking a nap
• Getting a massage

If you want some more strategies for relaxing your mind and body, check out this article.

Get Enough Sleep

High-quality sleep is getting scarcer and scarcer these days thanks to ever-increasing obesity rates, work hours, TV watching, video game playing, and other distractions that keep us up at night.

Well, one of the many reasons to get enough sleep is inadequate rest increases cortisol levels, which, as you know, increases water retention.

Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night, and check out this article if you need help getting there.

Drink More Water

The Institute of Medicine recommends that we get about a gallon of water per day, and while we do get a fair amount from food, this requires drinking at least a few liters of water every day.

Personally I drink about 1 to 1.5 gallons per day because I lose a fair amount of water through my daily exercise and living in Florida (sweating).

The Bottom Line on Water Retention and Weight Loss

If you’ve been watching your calorie intake, following a sensible workout program, popping weight loss pills and powders, and you’re mysteriously not losing weight…

…then you’re probably dealing with water retention issues.

Don’t try to fight fire with fire by further reducing caloric intake and increasing physical output. It’s just going to make things worse.

Instead, just follow the advice in this article and you’ll be smiling at the scale and mirror again in no time.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Yes, yes. TL:DR, but it raises interesting points. 

[SpecialK]

This is what I noticed while I was training for Sani2c (I was also weighing myself every day):

 

I would do long(ish) rides every Saturday and Sunday. I expected that I would weigh less on Monday morning, due to excess calories burnt, but most of the time I was up by about 1-2kg on Monday, but would see a biggish drop of 1.5 - 2.5kg by Tue/Wed.

 

I spoke to my nutritionist about it. She explained that during longer rides, your body dehydrates, no matter how much fluid you drink while on the ride. So the body starts holding on to all the water it can, bringing up your weight by water retention. As you rehydrate, your body will then get rid of the excess water and you see a bigger drop in weight after a few days.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

This is what I noticed while I was training for Sani2c (I was also weighing myself every day):

 

I would do long(ish) rides every Saturday and Sunday. I expected that I would weigh less on Monday morning, due to excess calories burnt, but most of the time I was up by about 1-2kg on Monday, but would see a biggish drop of 1.5 - 2.5kg by Tue/Wed.

 

I spoke to my nutritionist about it. She explained that during longer rides, your body dehydrates, no matter how much fluid you drink while on the ride. So the body starts holding on to all the water it can, bringing up your weight by water retention. As you rehydrate, your body will then get rid of the excess water and you see a bigger drop in weight after a few days.

That's exactly what I experience, and am experiencing this week as a result of the increased training load. 

 

Spurred me into making adjustments to my targets / daily intake to allow for that as well. 

 

Water retention se gat. 

[SpecialK]

That's exactly what I experience, and am experiencing this week as a result of the increased training load. 

 

Spurred me into making adjustments to my targets / daily intake to allow for that as well. 

 

Water retention se gat. 

 

It always confused me how I would gain weight on the days I did maximum effort on the bike...

 

Maybe a refeed and a day or two off the bike and drinking lots of water is all that is needed for the "whoosh effect" - allows the body to get rid of some of the cortisol and the water retention...

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

It always confused me how I would gain weight on the days I did maximum effort on the bike...

 

Maybe a refeed and a day or two off the bike and drinking lots of water is all that is needed for the "whoosh effect" - allows the body to get rid of some of the cortisol and the water retention...

same. Like a 5 hour effort and I'm heavier the next day. Like WTF!? But it makes sense - if you drink 2l (2kg) water and don't pee, it's still in your body