Fitness 2012

[Josquius]

I just had burger and chips three days running.

[mongers]

Late this afternoon, got talking to a cyclist in the local bike shop, he was advocating doing interval training on a static bike for up to an hour and saying the only way to make it really work was to end up feeling nearly physically sick. 
Which was odd, because we discussing ways to encourage ordinary people to get on a bike and get fitter; I don't think 'fitness=puking your guts out', is a very catchy angle to emphasis.

Not that I'm saying he's wrong, just that I get on a bike, in whatever I happen to be wearing, and go somewhere, have a ride out.

He's right. One hour is probably not enough, though.

Yeah, but that's not the way to encourage ordinary people to take up cycling.
I think like quite a few cyclists, he had a bit of tunnel vision, focusing in on his own 'training regime' without considering the wider context, that for most people it's a bit extreme and hard to comprehend.

[Maladict]

Yeah, but that's not the way to encourage ordinary people to take up cycling.
I think like quite a few cyclists, he had a bit of tunnel vision, focusing in on his own 'training regime' without considering the wider context, that for most people it's a bit extreme and hard to comprehend.

Fair enough 

[merithyn]

I've learned an interesting thing. If I exercise, I do not lose weight, regardless of what I eat. It just doesn't happen. I went a month exercising 30 minutes three days a week and watching what I was eating. I gained one pound. (Probably water weight.) When I stopped exercising but continued to watch what I ate, I lost five pounds in a month.

Also, when I stopped exercising, I started craving dairy products in a big ugly way. As in, I'm eating on average 300% of the daily recommended Vitamin D every day.

WTF is going on here??

[crazy canuck]

I've learned an interesting thing. If I exercise, I do not lose weight, regardless of what I eat. It just doesn't happen. I went a month exercising 30 minutes three days a week and watching what I was eating. I gained one pound. (Probably water weight.) When I stopped exercising but continued to watch what I ate, I lost five pounds in a month.

Also, when I stopped exercising, I started craving dairy products in a big ugly way. As in, I'm eating on average 300% of the daily recommended Vitamin D every day.

WTF is going on here??

30 minutes 3 times week isnt much time spent exercising.  You would have to have a pretty intense workout in those few minutes to make much of an impact.  That is more of a maintenance kind of routine to stop from losing fitness rather than increasing fitness.

[merithyn]

I've learned an interesting thing. If I exercise, I do not lose weight, regardless of what I eat. It just doesn't happen. I went a month exercising 30 minutes three days a week and watching what I was eating. I gained one pound. (Probably water weight.) When I stopped exercising but continued to watch what I ate, I lost five pounds in a month.

Also, when I stopped exercising, I started craving dairy products in a big ugly way. As in, I'm eating on average 300% of the daily recommended Vitamin D every day.

WTF is going on here??

30 minutes 3 times week isnt much time spent exercising.  You would have to have a pretty intense workout in those few minutes to make much of an impact.  That is more of a maintenance kind of routine to stop from losing fitness rather than increasing fitness.

Interesting. When I was working out 45-60 minutes 5-6 times a week, I was told that I was doing much and that I should back it down to 30 minutes three times a week. There appears to be a difference of opinion on how much exercise is enough.

My exercise routine is a run/walk interval (more running than walking now), so it is fairly intense. (And again, doesn't count the 3-5 miles I walk 4-5 days a week.)

None of what you said, however, explains why I wouldn't be losing weight when I'm exercising but do when I'm not. 

[mongers]

30 minutes 3 times week isnt much time spent exercising.  You would have to have a pretty intense workout in those few minutes to make much of an impact.  That is more of a maintenance kind of routine to stop from losing fitness rather than increasing fitness.

Yes, but I think it's a good start.

Thinking about it I probably do a bit over 30 hours cycling a month, often that isn't especially intensive effort, but I guess it leaves me ticking over and reasonably fit for my age.

I can't begin to imaging doing the sort of effort club cyclists or semi-pros do, I wouldn't be surprised to find many of them spend working weeks' equivalent in the saddle every week.

[MadImmortalMan]

30min 3x a week is fine if you're going hard enough.

[crazy canuck]

Interesting. When I was working out 45-60 minutes 5-6 times a week, I was told that I was doing much and that I should back it down to 30 minutes three times a week. There appears to be a difference of opinion on how much exercise is enough.

My exercise routine is a run/walk interval (more running than walking now), so it is fairly intense. (And again, doesn't count the 3-5 miles I walk 4-5 days a week.)

None of what you said, however, explains why I wouldn't be losing weight when I'm exercising but do when I'm not. 

I am not sure why you were told you were doing too much at your first level of exercise.  That seems about right to me for a good fitness program.

I agree with Mongers that 30 minutes 3 times a week is a good to start out with but you are getting into much better shape from when you began.   The law of diminishing returns starts to kick in and you need to do more, not less, to continue to see results.  Otherwise, as I said, you really are just maintaining where you were.

Also, a walk run progam is more of a moderate exercise routine.  If you are only doing that for 30 minutes thats barely meeting the minimum exercise recommended and its not surprising you would not see much if any weight loss resulting from that.

As to why you experience more weight loss when you are not exercising - that is a bit of a puzzler.

[merithyn]

Also, a walk run progam is more of a moderate exercise routine.  If you are only doing that for 30 minutes thats barely meeting the minimum exercise recommended and its not surprising you would not see much if any weight loss resulting from that.

Not sure what you're basing that on. According to my heart-rate, I'm doing a pretty intense work out for 30 minutes. Since it's pretty much an individual thing based on general fitness, intensity of work-out, etc., I would think going by heart-rate would be the better way to go. Mine stays in the perfect cardio range for my age, weight, and gender of ~150. Even when I walk, I keep it above 115. That's not small change. I agree that I could stand to do more (and I will once I can run 5k without stopping), but for now, I don't want to run out of steam too quickly because I overdid it.

And remember, it's a run/walk interval three times a week for 30 minutes, but then I also walk 50-70 minutes 4-5 times a week, too. That's considerably more than the minimum exercise recommendation.

As to why you experience more weight loss when you are not exercising - that is a bit of a puzzler.

Well that's not helpful!

[MadImmortalMan]

You hear a lot of people get done with their workouts and then they are hungry as a result. So they consume more calories on their workout days.

[merithyn]

You hear a lot of people get done with their workouts and then they are hungry as a result. So they consume more calories on their workout days.

I track every bite I put in my mouth. I net my TDEE minus 500 calories every day regardless of exercise. If anything, I go below that but only slightly.

[mongers]

You hear a lot of people get done with their workouts and then they are hungry as a result. So they consume more calories on their workout days.

I track every bite I put in my mouth. I net my TDEE minus 500 calories every day regardless of exercise. If anything, I go below that but only slightly.

Don't know what TDEE is, but maybe we should have a seperate thread about nutrition and diet ? 

[crazy canuck]

Also, a walk run progam is more of a moderate exercise routine.  If you are only doing that for 30 minutes thats barely meeting the minimum exercise recommended and its not surprising you would not see much if any weight loss resulting from that.

Not sure what you're basing that on.

I base that on the fact that a walk/run exercise routine is a entry level moderate type of exercise for people to do.  By design it is not intense so that people without a high degree of fitness can begin excercising without risk of injury.

Once you are able to comfortably do a walk/run then try to increase the intensity of your workouts for better results.

Your heart rate is not an objective measure of the intensity of your workout rather it is a measure of how intense it is for you - two very different things.  If you find a moderate workout to be intense then by all means you should continue with it until it becomes easier.  But I think you have found the reason you are no losing weight while exercising - you need to become a bit more fit.

[merithyn]

That doesn't really follow for me, but okay. Thanks for your suggestion.