Advice on getting into shape

[skilewis74]

If you have gained muscle but stayed the same weight that actually may be good. If you increase your % of muscle that will raise your metabloism. Keep at the riding and improved diet and the pounds will start to come off. I think it is important to be active every day.

Always eat breakfast, it raises your metabolism for the day. Also exersise before breakfast, that raises you metabolism even more.

Eat 5 or 6 meals a day (again, increases metabolizm). Stay away from 'low fat' or 'non-fat' foods (non-fat milk and plain yogurt/cottage cheese are OK), most of it has tons of sugar added to it. No trans fats. Lots of fiber (helps your body disolve fat). No midnight snacks. I noticed a big change when I stopped eating by around 7 PM. I had to make sure I had a good sized lunch and afternoon snack in addition do a 6:30ish dinner so I wouldn't get hungry later that night.

Try to ride every day. To increase your leg strength w/o hills ride standing up, SIF, or SIB for long distances. I commute on my uni and if I've left too late to uni, I ride my road b*ke and I make sure I throw some exersises throughout the day (sissor kicks, double leg lifts, single leg squats, high rep push-ups, etc).

[rab2009]

long rides are good for you but for weight lose it is better to do multiple rides in one day. the reason for this is that you metabolizm increases when you exercise but also stays high for a while after a workout. this means if you ride 10 miles a day but do if 1 mile at a time with 30 minute breaks in between you will burn more fat.

[The UniSLAB]

Originally Posted by Keldridge

I am rather frustrated right now...

I've been riding for about 7 months... One of my goals with riding was to lose weight... When I started riding I was floating between 230 and 235... Now, a half a year later, and I am floating between 230 and 235... (I cleaned up my diet too... I stopped drinking soda's and tried to generally eat more healthy...)

Two days ago I rode the Flume Trail in Tahoe. Very beautiful ride... I have heard that people like to do it on cokers, so I thought that I should be able to do ok on my 24" muni...

Well, it kicked my butt... It's now Monday and my legs are still really stiff and sore. I can't imagine how people would do that ride on cokers (tho watching Terry's new video gives me some clues...)

I try to ride a half hour to an hour every weekday, and do a longer ride on the weekends... I've done 4 somewhat long muni rides (10+ miles) recently and all of them have kicked my butt...

So, I am looking for ways to get into better unicycling shape... Do I just need to keep going at it and hope things come around eventually? Should I try to change my routine some? Do I just have unrealistic expectations? How did you guys progress?

Thanks!

-Keld

So you want to lose weight huh? Well I don't know what other people have told you or anything but If you actually want to lose weight your gonna have to completely change the way you eat.

Now I'm not gonna tell you what foods to eat because its already pretty clear what foods you need to take in and which ones you need to phase out. So what I will tell you is the secret to losing weight.

Now this might or might not makes sense to you but I dont care what you think because its the truth. If your body is only eating 3 times a day it is only processing food 3 times a day. What your aiming for is to cut down your portions of food that your eating in meals and try eating every 2 hours or so. I know it sounds bad but it works. When your body is getting food all the time your metabolism is gonna work overtime and keep processing the food no matter what. That "basically" how it works. There are other web sites and trainers that can explain it to you better so if you would like to know more the information is out there.

Just incase you dont believe me I know other athletes who eat every 30 minutes and they have less body fat than a emo girl.

So I hope this helps you and I know some might not believe this but its the truth and sometimes people just don't want to hear it. It would also behoove you if you maybe did a morning work out like they said.

[mscalisi]

It's true that you should eat more frequently than three times a day, but it only works if you actually reduce the number of calories you're taking in.

The reason it works is that if you wait until you're hungry, really hungry, the tendency is to gorge and take in way too many calories. Also, big meals keep your stomach large, which then in turn will require another large meal to feel full again. Smaller meals cause your stomach to shrink and you need less to feel full.

...but it still really boils down to calories taken in vs. calories burned.

Originally Posted by The UniSLAB

So you want to lose weight huh? Well I don't know what other people have told you or anything but If you actually want to lose weight your gonna have to completely change the way you eat.

Now I'm not gonna tell you what foods to eat because its already pretty clear what foods you need to take in and which ones you need to phase out. So what I will tell you is the secret to losing weight.

Now this might or might not makes sense to you but I dont care what you think because its the truth. If your body is only eating 3 times a day it is only processing food 3 times a day. What your aiming for is to cut down your portions of food that your eating in meals and try eating every 2 hours or so. I know it sounds bad but it works. When your body is getting food all the time your metabolism is gonna work overtime and keep processing the food no matter what. That "basically" how it works. There are other web sites and trainers that can explain it to you better so if you would like to know more the information is out there.

Just incase you dont believe me I know other athletes who eat every 30 minutes and they have less body fat than a emo girl.

So I hope this helps you and I know some might not believe this but its the truth and sometimes people just don't want to hear it. It would also behoove you if you maybe did a morning work out like they said.

[MuniAddict]

Originally Posted by mscalisi

It's true that you should eat more frequently than three times a day, but it only works if you actually reduce the number of calories you're taking in.

The reason it works is that if you wait until you're hungry, really hungry, the tendency is to gorge and take in way too many calories. Also, big meals keep your stomach large, which then in turn will require another large meal to feel full again. Smaller meals cause your stomach to shrink and you need less to feel full.

...but it still really boils down to calories taken in vs. calories burned.

Yes, very cogent point! Common sense dictates that if you simply reduce your daily intake of calories, you will lose weight; if you also add a regular, rigorous exercise program, the weight will come off much faster!

With the amount of riding that I do almost daily--muni and cokering-- i don't worry about indulging in my big slice of 7 layer, all-chocolate cake every other day! Maybe I should be more worried about contracting diabetes from the massive amount of sugar it has in it! I can't help it it's soooo good!

[tholub]

Originally Posted by mscalisi

It's true that you should eat more frequently than three times a day, but it only works if you actually reduce the number of calories you're taking in.

The reason it works is that if you wait until you're hungry, really hungry, the tendency is to gorge and take in way too many calories. Also, big meals keep your stomach large, which then in turn will require another large meal to feel full again. Smaller meals cause your stomach to shrink and you need less to feel full.

...but it still really boils down to calories taken in vs. calories burned.

Another point to make is that higher-quality food is more satisfying in smaller quantities. The object example there is chocolate. A really high-quality bar of dark chocolate can make you feel satisfied with just a couple of squares. Compare that to sitting there the day after Halloween with a bowl of leftover Hershey's assorted bits of brown chocolate-like wax; you wind up eating six or eight of them because your body gets stimulated but not satisfied.

See also: prosciutto vs. baloney.

[Keldridge]

I guess my frustration is that I upped my activity, kept the amount of food intake about the same, and cut out some junk, but it hasn't translated into getting smaller yet.

I guess the bottom line is that I need to up my activity more and/or reduce the intake more... The frustrating part is that I want to be better at my activity (unicycling) but I think that my weight is at least partially holding me back...

Some of the suggestions are good, but impractical... I can't eat every 2 hours at work... Often, there isn't enough sunlight for me to exercize before I eat breakfast (still regarding unicycling as my exercise)... and exercizing several times a day is usually not an option.

I weigh myself on the 1st and the 15th of every month, and write it down... Every time I get down to 230, I jump back to 235...

Anyway... I feel like I might be crossing the line into whining... and if I have... sorry...

Thank you all for the encouragement... I guess I just need to work even harder... I keep telling myself that it took 15 years to get all this weight on... it will probably take a while to get it all off...

-Keld

[tholub]

Originally Posted by Keldridge

I weigh myself on the 1st and the 15th of every month, and write it down... Every time I get down to 230, I jump back to 235...

I would recommend weighing yourself every day if you're trying to lose weight. You'd be amazed at how much your weight can fluctuate from day to day, especially when you're exercising. I can drop five pounds in water weight just by going out for a long ride, and there are definitely cycles throughout the week. Weighing every day has helped me understand my body better.

I would also recommend not focusing on your weight overly much. It's more important to be fit than to weigh a certain amount, and the most important factor in developing fitness is to make sure you are enjoying your activity. Work on setting fitness goals ("I want to be able to do that whole fire road climb without a dismount") rather than weight goals. The weight will come off if you're regularly exercising and improving your fitness.

[Rubix]

Originally Posted by tholub

I would recommend weighing yourself every day if you're trying to lose weight. You'd be amazed at how much your weight can fluctuate from day to day, especially when you're exercising. I can drop five pounds in water weight just by going out for a long ride, and there are definitely cycles throughout the week. Weighing every day has helped me understand my body better.

I would also recommend not focusing on your weight overly much. It's more important to be fit than to weigh a certain amount, and the most important factor in developing fitness is to make sure you are enjoying your activity. Work on setting fitness goals ("I want to be able to do that whole fire road climb without a dismount") rather than weight goals. The weight will come off if you're regularly exercising and improving your fitness.

Your weight, on any given day, can fluctuate +/- 5 pounds on its own, not counting water weight and the like. So if you do decide to weigh yourself everyday, be sure its right when you get up and roughly the same time each day. Weighing yourself in the middle of the day tends to be disappointing, since you have already consumed food and drinks. Eating 4-6 small meals thru out the day is probably one of the best ways to loose weight. If you want to have two hamburgers, then have two burgers. Just don't eat them at the same time. Eat the other one a couple hours later. Do that for a month and you will see the difference. (I'm not an advocate of eating burgers everyday for a month, this was just an example) If it was me, and I was looking to drop a few pounds, I would go 40% protein...40% carbs...20% fat in my diet. Whole wheat instead of white grains. And go light on the condiments. Anything with 'low fat' on it is ok, but dont' get caught up in them. You need fat in your diet. Just don't go eating a tub of icing and wonder why the weight isn't coming off.

[Keldridge]

Originally Posted by tholub

I would recommend weighing yourself every day if you're trying to lose weight. You'd be amazed at how much your weight can fluctuate from day to day, especially when you're exercising. I can drop five pounds in water weight just by going out for a long ride, and there are definitely cycles throughout the week. Weighing every day has helped me understand my body better.

I agree... and I do weigh myself more often than that... but I don't write it down... I am looking for long term trends, not smaller swings... I was 238 this morning... By the time the 1st rolls around, I should be about 234 again... (or even more frustrated... ) But I havn't seen myself under 230...

-Keld

[agentQ]

What I recomend, if you have the time and money. Is taking a trip up to the mountains. I think you shoul be able to find some places pretty close to you. Maybe you have some friends up in the hills and dont have to rent a motel room. Anyway I spent some time in Big Bear Lake CA, at about 7000 feet. It did wonders for my stamina and cardio, which allowed me to ride without stopping when I was back at normal elavation. I dont know alot about phyical training, tho I know there are some mixed martial arts training centers up in mountains for that same reason. If time is something you have, I am sure it would help you out to take a week long trip up into the sky every now and then. Not to metntion some very beautiful rides.

-Sam

[tholub]

Originally Posted by agentQ

What I recomend, if you have the time and money. Is taking a trip up to the mountains. I think you shoul be able to find some places pretty close to you. Maybe you have some friends up in the hills and dont have to rent a motel room. Anyway I spent some time in Big Bear Lake CA, at about 7000 feet. It did wonders for my stamina and cardio, which allowed me to ride without stopping when I was back at normal elavation. I dont know alot about phyical training, tho I know there are some mixed martial arts training centers up in mountains for that same reason. If time is something you have, I am sure it would help you out to take a week long trip up into the sky every now and then. Not to metntion some very beautiful rides.

-Sam

Carson City is at 5000', and the trails he's riding are all higher than that.

[phlegm]

Keld,

Perhaps you should try a different type of exercise, maybe another kind of unicycling like bigwheel distance riding or even *gasp* bicycling. I say this because I used to do a lot bicycling before I got into unicycling, and when I first started unicycling, I found it difficult to achieve the same workout intensity on my unicycle as I could with a bicycle. I believe this was because my unicycling technique wasn't good enough to ride up and down the hills that could provide the intensity. So, for the first year or so of unicycling, I used to go out for bike rides when I really wanted to exercise hard.

[Keldridge]

Well, I don't own a b*ke... I started off doing distance running, but I got tired of my shins and knees aching all the time...

As for a different kind of unicycling...

Its my understanding that the best way to burn fat is not to push myself to the brink of exhaustion, but to consistently exercise at a moderate pace for a longer time. The whole anaerobic vs aerobic discussion. So, many times when I ride my uni on the road, its perfect... I am working a bit... got a nice sweat going, but not panting like a dog. I'll hit a hill or try to hop on stuff or do other things occasionally and get my heart rate up good... That's about half to 2/3rds of the riding I do...

The other part is the frustrating part... The muni trails and the like where I am sweating like a pig, panting for all I am worth, and wondering if I will get my foot on the ground in time for the next UPD. On these, I almost always hit some kind of wall at around 2 hours... I've pushed thru that and taken more breaks so that I can finish my rides... Those are the ones that leave me wiped out and sore for days...

I know that the second kind burns way more calories... but the first kind supposedly burns them slow enough that I can get some of them directly from fat.

All I have right now is a 24"... so just riding distance can be a lesson in patience... Usually my feet and/or crotch go numb before I am physically taxed...

I think for me I just need to concentrate on the eat less calories side of the equation for now, and hope that the riding just kind of takes care of itself thru self torture... I think what Tholub said above about setting riding goals is good... I'll have to go back thru the trails I have ridden and see if I can do them quicker or smoother or with less exertion...

Also, to the other person who talked about training at elevation... my house is at 4770 according to Google, and the trails I ride are usually 6200-8000 feet high... (I am riding up by Lake Tahoe a lot)

Keld

[agentQ]

Originally Posted by tholub

Carson City is at 5000', and the trails he's riding are all higher than that.

a ha.. well I bet doing some rides at lowere elevation would allow for longer distance hence more of a work out- may lead to more weight loss.