Weight Gain « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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Weight Gain

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Started 8 years ago by Schemieradge
Latest reply from geordiefatbloke
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Schemieradge
Member

Wondering if any other regular cyclists have bother keeping their weight up?
I don't cycle a *huge* amount (~60 miles per week), but I do struggle to keep my weight up. Am now officially underweight for my height.
I'm suspecting this is partly due to calories burnt when cycling, plus I don't have a great appetite a lot of the time so struggle to take enough on-board during mealtimes.

So I'm in need of some pro-tips. Do you folk do anything special to fuel up for cycling, or does your body just automatically start asking for more food to make up for it?

Posted 8 years ago #
gembo
Member

Cake is going to feature in suggestions to follow. Cycling longer distances requires pit stops or eating on the move but a commute is doable without food.

Porridge gets me to work and I can avoid a second breakfast as it is slow release.

Fairly big lunch

Usually have an apple or similar to get home. Usually then quite hungry.

On top of what you already eat, try eating lots of bananas and when not cycling drink a lot of Guinness that should help with weight gain

Posted 8 years ago #
Greenroofer
Member

I follow the gembo diet... I am borderline underweight and measured recently as 14% fat, but I have been like that all my life and am relaxed about it.

My unofficial non-expert take on this is that your body is pretty good at telling you what it needs. Assuming that you have a balanced diet then eat when you're hungry and drink when you are thirsty. The only time I personally deviate from that is when I am after "performance" and want to make sure that I have the right fuel on board in good time.

Posted 8 years ago #
Schemieradge
Member

My body at the moment seems to be doing a fairly bad job at telling me how much to eat so have decided I'm going to have to eat more than I really want, or change what I eat.
I'm sure I can squeeze in some bananas and supplemental Guinness though..

Posted 8 years ago #
gembo
Member

@schmeiradge, that is the diet I went for when I was very thin. However, I mistakenly thought that was all I was to eat and drink, not as you point out as a supplement to existing diet. I then was vegan for a while which is also a way of being thin, low cholesterol etc. However, I found a sure fire way of gaining weight was starting a family and reducing exercise. Probably put on two stone. Lost one of them now just by cycling.

Posted 8 years ago #
crowriver
Member

"I found a sure fire way of gaining weight was starting a family and reducing exercise."

Yep, seems to work rather too well! :-)

Posted 8 years ago #
wingpig
Member

Oatcakes.

Posted 8 years ago #
gembo
Member

Yes about 1000 calories in one oatcake, well ok 45

But once you and the cheese and pickle

Posted 8 years ago #
PS
Member

Since taking up cycling I've lost fat but put on weight. Secret is lots of hills, then your muscle gain mirrors your fat loss ;-) . A couple of years ago I was down to something like 12% body fat without trying to lose fat.

Downside is it makes swimming trickier - less buoyant and my legs tend to drag down in the water. Swimming in the sea is a bit chilly too without that blubber.

Posted 8 years ago #
rust
Member

Lots of choices as above:

cake,
beer,
cheese,
port (mostly to go with the cheese),
bacon,
bread.

Posted 8 years ago #
ih
Member

@Schemeieradge Unless you are losing weight for no apparent reason and if you are feeling otherwise healthy, I would thank my lucky stars that I didn't have a weight problem. Don't go and start eating no value food just to try and put weight on. Of course if you don't feel well, go and see a doctor pronto.

Posted 8 years ago #
Neil
Member

Yup agree with @ih- despite cycling 1-200 miles a week I've had to actively diet to lose fat. It's slightly frustrating knowing that I can pretty much eat what I want and maintain weight (as i dd last summer), but i have to restrict to lose it.... Only myself to blame for getting fat in the first place.....well, that and an office with a free, bottomless biscuit tin. ....and the starting a family thing.

@Schemieradge Are you underweight and still losing weight? How is your 60 miles per week divided up into individual rides usually?

Posted 8 years ago #
DrAfternoon
Member

I can also attest to the opposite problem. It started when I worked as a bike courier. I was doing about 60-70 miles a day of sprinting about town and initially had to eat loads, but as I got fitter I was back to eating normally even doing a vast amount of exercise. Got very lean despite not losing much weight. After I stopped of course the fat piled on.

Nowadays I do Audax and have the same problem, piling on loads of fat in the winter when I'm cycling less.

Posted 8 years ago #
Schemieradge
Member

@Schemieradge Are you underweight and still losing weight? How is your 60 miles per week divided up into individual rides usually?

Not sure - I've always been on the light-end of normal and wasn't really paying that much attention. Then checked recently have gone down about 3 kg giving a BMI of 17.9.
There's some (so far) rather nebulous issues with my appetite which means I'm never that hungry (seeing the doc about that). So it's kind of feeling like unless I'm actively stuffing my face like I'm attempting to produce foie gras, then I'm losing weight.

So was curious if it's a "cycling thing" - but sounds like not.

My cycling's a commute, 2x10miles 3 times a week.

Posted 8 years ago #
I were right about that saddle
Member

I can confirm that a year of not cycling to work after (a-19) years of cycling to work where a is my age has caused a congregation of foul and pestilential adipose tissue around my waist.

Posted 8 years ago #
gembo
Member

@iwrats, I have seen more meat on a butcher's pencil

Posted 8 years ago #
Neil
Member

@Schemieradge my own experience with 5 miles either way, 5 days a week is that it probably adds a few hundred calories to the amount I can get away with eating and maintain my weight. At points I've lost weight very slowly just with my normal commute volume and I suspect that's because I was approximately eating close to my maintenance calories on a day to day basis.

I don't think there's any need to eat/drink whilst on the bike over a 10 mile commute

Posted 8 years ago #
geordiefatbloke
Member

@Schemieradge I do about the same as you cycling wise (2x6miles, 5x week), I also play a fair bit of racket sports, but as my screen name might suggest I'm in a constant battle with my weight - upping the exercise barely seems to affect my weight, rather it has to be in combination with dieting, which is a pain. I guess fundamentally I eat/drink too much :)

Posted 8 years ago #
Neil
Member

@geordiefatbloke Yup, agree dieting is a pain. I've done it in 2-3 month blocks, but only in winter/spring. Weight stayed stable from last spring until autumn. Last break was ~3-4 weeks over xmas/new year. Current plan is to diet up until the end of March but I'm getting sick of it now to be honest.

I'm not doing anything wacky or counting calories to a ridiculous degree. Basically only eating "nutritious" food totalling 1500-1800 calories a day with one meal on Sunday where I don't care about what I eat. Overnight oats with 50/50 full fat milk and yoghurt fills me up well at breakfast and soup for lunch seems to be best to balance fullness and low-ish calories. Instant miso soup and carrots for afternoon snack. I enjoy what I'm eating but it's the constant need for discipline that gets to me eventually- saying no to cakes brought in to the office, sandwiches put on for meetings etc... It seems to work if I'm strict as hell 5/6 days out of 7.

Posted 8 years ago #
Schemieradge
Member

Well I followed the gembo diet (to an extent) and some progress. I put on over a kilo and a half the first week, then nothing the second week (metabolism catching up?).

That's purely from double thickness peanut butter in the morning, an extra banana after the cycle, a bag of fruit and nuts to graze on during the day, and switching to stout for weekend drinks (plus trying to eat slightly bigger meals in general).
I'll see what the next week brings - cheers for the help!

Posted 8 years ago #
gembo
Member

Cream in your porridge, lashings of honey might work too.?

Posted 8 years ago #
geordiefatbloke
Member

@Neil I've tried a few different diets over the years, had some success with all of them but the one I found the easiest to maintain was intermittent fasting, where two out of every 7 days I'd be limited to 600 cals, and the rest of the week I was free to eat whatever (obviously within reason!). The fasting days were quite hard, but you know it's just one day and you can get back to normal tomorrow, so mentally much easier than being strict 6 or 7 days a week. I kept it up for over two years (barring breaks for holiday), shifted about 2.5 stone in the first year and kept it off. 600 cals is not too bad if you are smart about it i.e. don't blow it all on a packet of crisps and a Mars bar :)

Posted 8 years ago #

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