Making Exercise Fun
Replies
-
Remember tdee (evidence) is the weight trend. But not seeing it because of water retention just means the potential tdee increase may be obscured... Not that it doesn't exist!
Of course compensatory slow down is definitely possible with underfuelling, increase risk of injury, slower recovery....
So... Ramp up both sides and lose while eating max you can, not min you can!👍2 -
All good advice @PAV8888 and I'm happy to hear it.
I agree the loss has been insanely fast - it wasn't my intention (honestly!) - hell, I'm only 5'1" and 56 years old and I never eat below 1500 cals a day...who knew I had such a high burn rate? I kept expecting it to really slow down, but my TDEE remained consistent at 1.67% of BMR for the first 14 weeks, and is still at 1.6% of BMR even after losing 40lbs.
I know TDEE is a trend, and the trend has stayed remarkably constant at 1.6% of BMR for the past 8 weeks - the reason I think there may be some water retention issues or NEAT decrease is I guess I might've assumed the extra exercise would ramp up the TDEE and show as a faster loss on the scale. Instead, input has remained constant at 1500-1575 cals a day, weight loss has stayed constant at about 1.5lbs a week, but exercise has ramped up considerably. Either I can expect a whoosh, or my NEAT has dropped like a stone because I've turned into a slug when I'm not exercising without being aware of it!
So, yes, naughty Bella for not fuelling the exercise. I guess I need to add a couple hundred extra calories and see what happens...
I know insane deficits and insane amounts of exercise aren't sustainable in the long term, but I've always loved cycling and it's a form of exercise I enjoy and get enormous pleasure from (yes, oddly, even on a turbo! Though obviously not as much as when I'm on the open road). My ultimate goal is to do some bikepacking and audaxes next year, so I bought the turbo to build some strength over the winter. Zwift has been a revelation - I expected to hate it but it's made the time on the turbo fly by!
3 -
So...I've increased my calorie allowance to 1,800 on days that I do +20kms of cycling - e.g. today when I'm joining a virtual group ride for 60 minutes at an 30kph target speed.
I'm prepared to 'imperil' my weight loss for a month or so and see if the increased intake and increased exercise even each other out and lead to consistent modest losses going forwards. If I've over-cooked it I'll trim the calories back a little after a month of watching the trend unfold.
At least 1,800 a day gives me some downward wriggle room further down the line when my losses grind to a halt as I get closer to goal.4 -
Exercise in September so far...
Walking: 16hrs 8mins
Cycling: 6hrs 49 mins
Total: 22hrs 57 mins
My winter challenge #1
On Zwift there is a route based on the Tour De France's iconic, notoriously challenging Alp D'Huez. The route (Road to Sky) is 17.3km (10.4 miles) long, of which 12.4km (7.6 miles) is actually on the mountain. Altogether there are 1,045m (3,428 feet) of elevation across 21 hairpins. Even super-fit riders struggle to ride the route in 60 minutes; most take 1.5-2 hours. For a beginner such as myself, just getting to the first hairpin is a real challenge.
I've set myself a winter challenge. Starting today, I'm going to tackle this route every week, and try to get further up the mountain than I did the previous week. Today was my first attempt; I set myself a goal of getting to the 7.0km mark, and I actually pushed past that and reached the 3rd hairpin (of 21!) which was at the 7.4km mark. I probably could've pushed on to 7.5-8.0km, but I was pretty pleased with that for a first attempt. This is the route profile:
My winter challenge #2
In addition to this Alpe du Zwift challenge, I've also enrolled in a 12 'Back to Fitness' training plan on Zwift. There are 24 workouts across the 12 weeks, of between 31 and 47 minutes in length. The goal is to improve your cycling fitness over the 12 weeks so that you can tackle steeper climbs, faster sprints and longer endurance rides.
Wish me luck on my two challenges - I'll report periodically on my progress! I hope I don't have thighs like this by Spring!
5 -
Wow, Bella - this looks amazing!2
-
Today was my second attempt at my Road to Sky challenge (see above).
To recap, this is a Zwift route that is based on the Alpe D'Huez.
The whole route is 17.4 km (10.8 miles) long. The first 5km (3 miles) are relatively flat, followed by a 12.4km (7.8 mile) climb, via 21 hairpin bends, with 1,045 meters (3,428 feet) of elevation.
It's tough, and I'm just a beginner on Zwift, so I don't expect to reach the top until my legs are much, much stronger.
Last week was attempt 1. I set myself a goal of hitting 7km, and I actually reached 7.3km and 183m of climbing.
Today's goal was to hit 7.5km and 200m of climbing.
I smashed it! These were my ride stats:
4 -
Way to go, Bella! Woot woot!!!!!
2 -
You’ve got this Bella, you can do it!1
-
Thanks both!3
-
❣️1
-
Exercise so far this week:
Steps:
Mon: 13.085
Tue: 13,896
Wed: 13,111
Bike rides:
Mon: 17.06 km
Tue: 22.08 km
Wed: 13.29 km4 -
Today was my third attempt at my Road to Sky challenge.
To recap, this is a Zwift route that is based on the Alpe D'Huez.
The whole route is 17.4 km (10.8 miles) long. The first 5km (3 miles) are relatively flat, followed by a 12.4km (7.8 mile) climb, via 21 hairpin bends, with 1,045 meters (3,428 feet) of elevation.
Sat 11th September: Goal: 7.0km/125m climbing; Actual: 7.3km/183m climbing
Sat 18th September: Goal: 7.5km/200m climbing; Actual: 8.7km/316m climbing
Sun 26th September: Goal: 9.0km/350m climbing; Actual: 10.1km/419m climbing
So I climbed 1.4km further than last week, and achieved 103m more elevation. That's good progress!
I then did a u-turn and cycled 5.3km down to the start of the climb, so these were my ride stats:
3 -
Exercise this week:
Steps:
Mon: 13.085
Tue: 13,896
Wed: 13,111
Thu: 10,237 (2nd walk aborted after 28 mins due to run in with kamikaze wasp)
Fri: 9,259
Sat: 15,065
Sun: 12,520
Bike rides:
Mon: 17.06 km
Tue: 22.08 km
Wed: 13.29 km
Thu: 18.38 km
Sat: 14.51 km
Sun: 15.40 km (on Alpe Du Zwift course)4 -
A bit of inspiration...
5 -
I’m hoping to get back in the gym. And to do my 3 mile walks several times a week when it cools off in November (Texas!). Hopefully the orthopedist will clear me soon. Nothing like developing sports injuries as a senior citizen. Ortho guy doesn’t quite know how to deal with me.3
-
I’m hoping to get back in the gym. And to do my 3 mile walks several times a week when it cools off in November (Texas!). Hopefully the orthopedist will clear me soon. Nothing like developing sports injuries as a senior citizen. Ortho guy doesn’t quite know how to deal with me.
I love to swim and I can ride the bike at the gym but walking any long distance kills me….I envy you those walks!3 -
How do the walks kill you, Connie? Maybe it is something you can address now that you are so much ligher with special physio? Or is it some issues that aren't going to go away?1
-
lauriekallis wrote: »How do the walks kill you, Connie? Maybe it is something you can address now that you are so much ligher with special physio? Or is it some issues that aren't going to go away?
Not sure what it is about walking….in a store with a cart I am fine ….I don’t think it’s my legs but could be my hips and I am not even going there!…I buzz around in the house and in the pool I am fine….when it’s cooler I am going to try walking sticks and see if they help….2 -
I've been seeing a osteopath/kinesiologist to get me through until my shoulder surgery - and this fellow has made a profound difference to my walking. Something along the lines of my adopting a poor gait because I'm holding my shoulder oddly to protect it (all unconscious).
In the three months I've been seeing him - my walking has improved dramatically. I cover way more territory in fewer steps and less time with less discomfort (hip/foot/knee pain almost nonexistent now). And I was already walking a lot before seeing him, it just got easier. My shoes are also wearing much more evenly.
Maybe there is something out there to help your walking?2 -
Maybe….I need to see my ortho for a knee check up anyway!….good advice!2
-
Exercise this week:
Steps:
Mon: 12,927
Tue: 13,429
Wed: 12,520
Thu: 13,025
Fri:
Sat:
Sun:
Bike rides:
Mon: 17.04 km
Tue: 24.83 km
Wed:
Thu: 16.02 km
Fri:
Sat:
Sun:2 -
Exercise this week:
Steps:
Mon: 12,927
Tue: 13,429
Wed: 12,520
Thu: 13,025
Fri:14,938
Sat: 11,134
Sun:13,904
Bike rides:
Mon: 17.04 km
Tue: 24.83 km
Wed:
Thu: 16.02 km
Fri: 20.26
Sat: 18.21
Sun:3 -
I finally got back to the gym this morning after 2 months off. Just a light cardio and some strength work. Hoping to also get back to my 2-3 mile walks a few days per week.
I had my usual breakfast after the gym. However I’ve been much hungrier later this morning than when I wasn’t exercising. Weird 🤔. I surely didn’t workout hard enough to spike that level of hunger.2 -
@Yoolypr , it's great that you were able to restart some exercise - every little helps!
My little bike tumble last week seems to have jarred my back and sparked off my recurring back pain. My goal for this week is to avoid being an idiot, and keep off the bike until it settles down again. I'll do my best to do my two forty minute scheduled training sessions (week 4 of my Back to Fitness plan), but other than that I'm grounded! I'll do the first one on Friday and the second one on Sunday to give my back a nice long rest.
I don't think I need to avoid walking, though, so here are today's steps:
Mon: 14,2102 -
Exercise sometimes does Spike hunger disproportionately to what was spent. Some people strength some people cardio some people a little bit makes them more hungry than a lot or the opposite... Where would be the fun if we were all the same!!!
Bella I would evaluate your walking with respect to your back pain and make sure it's not actually having an effect because for many people walking can cause and exacerbate back pain and 15K steps is solidly in the very active category of a couple of hours of deliberate walking plus some daily moving around.2 -
@PAV8888
Re laying off the walking, it’s the dog you need to convince, not me!
He loves his walkies! 🐾🐾🐾
3 -
Bella_Figura wrote: »@PAV8888
Re laying off the walking, it’s the dog you need to convince, not me!
He loves his walkies! 🐾🐾🐾
I don't imagine that is going to happen.
That little cutie must have you wrapped around his little finger/toes.
2 -
hmmm..... I'll have a chat with him... but he doesn't look easy to sway!1
-
Steps...
5/10/21 - 12,605
6/10/21 - 14,616
Still no cycling. I'm trying hard not to be an idiot....4
