When you lose weight where does it go?

[cyclotaur]

I once rode 870 km and climbed 19000m over 14 days - I was away for 3 weeks, ate like a horse and lost 3 kgs.

Just another anecdote though.....

what was your weight loss 2 weeks after getting home?

I rode 800km in a week, and 320km in a day, and net weight loss was nothing a week later in both cases.
What you don't volunteer cyclotaur is your bodyfat % before starting.

I was 3kgs lighter a week after I completed the riding than I was a week before I started. So actually over a 4 week period. For all I know I may actually have lost 4-5 kgs during the riding period of 14 days and put a little back on before I got back home.

As for body fat % well, hey, I wouldn't have a clue ! I did say it was just another anecdote. [emoji3]

Point is just that by doubling (and a bit) my normal kms I lost weight. Energy out > energy in.

[Nobody]

The other thing with the South Oz guy and the ratios you refer to, 80/10/10, is that he is eating 3000 calories a day to support an extremely high level of physical activity, and his ratios represent around 300 calories of fats, and 300 calories of protein. If you scale things back to more typically recommended intake of 2000 calories/day, then the same ratios would give only 200 calories of fat and 200 of protein - and it is more difficult to get the full range of essential fats and amino acids the body needs at these intake levels. I'm not saying he is necessarily wrong, just that ratios is probably too narrow a way to look at things without also considering absolute intake levels.

You can easily get everything you need on 2000 Cal and 80/101/10 if target what you need. So if you are concerned about protein, then beans and grains. If essential fats, then walnuts and linseed.

Also an animal product based diet of 2000 Cal isn't easily comparable to a typical 80/10/10 diet which is usually vegan or highly plant-based. That is because a (vegan) WFPB diet has about 13 - 15% fibre and takes about 16% more energy to digest. So you need to add about 30% more Cal to get the same comparative net Cal, or 2600 Cal in this case.

[Nobody]

The other thing is as you lift exercise intensity you lift stress hormones, and overweight people are often already overstressed.

A guideline I suggest is to do the exercise intensity that gives you the best night sleep and sees you most fresh in the mornings.
Many who do high intensity stuff get even worse sleep and feel tapped out during the day.

I generally accept that I'm going to get a shorter and/or worse night's sleep after exercise and so totally agree with the above. As you know, with the right diet you can lose weight without added exercise. I have in the past.

[Constantheadwind]

I suppose you want to be somewhere around 65% to maximise the fat burning.

Also consider that certain strategies can greatly affect this percentage.
A number of endurance athletes have adapted to increase fat burning rate at higher efforts. Here is an example of one such experiment by adopting a ketogenic state over 12 weeks:

http://eatingacademy.com/wp-content/upl ... mmary1.jpg

So eating more avocado and less grape can make you utilise more body fat!

[CKinnard]

Point is just that by doubling (and a bit) my normal kms I lost weight. Energy out > energy in.

weight that you quickly regained!

adjusting set points is another kettle of fish!

and if you could do the riding you reported, I doubt you had an issue with being overweight beforehand!

[mikesbytes]

This thread has really gone off topic. Never mind its entertaining

I'm finding myself largely agreeing with both sides of the various discussions and I'd like to thank everyone for not getting emotional and also respecting others views

constant exercise vs intervals
The problem with getting inactive people to exercise is if we raise the bar too high, the exercise falls into the "this is too hard" category and the inactive person gives up. We all know how good if feels after a hard hit and that's because we are on a different planet when it comes to fitness. For people coming from an inactive background its a case of getting them to do any exercise, so a constant exercise or as described as fat burning zone where they should be. Once they get fitter and more importantly enthusiastic about exercise, then they can move onto intervals.

There also fartlek, which doesn't get a lot of discussion. Look it up if your bored

And with the inactive people the vast majority are looking for weight loss, which is predominantly but not entirely nutrition.

Nutrition
Finally someone has mentioned fibre. If you bod is busy trying to digest fibre then your going to walk past the vending machine in the office without reaching for your wallet. Any meal that doesn't include fibre is simply a bad choice.

[cyclotaur]

Point is just that by doubling (and a bit) my normal kms I lost weight. Energy out > energy in.

weight that you quickly regained!

adjusting set points is another kettle of fish!

and if you could do the riding you reported, I doubt you had an issue with being overweight beforehand!

Yeah, sure... I went away at 79kg and was 76kg on return. Generally hover around 78-79kg but at 1.75m and of lean limbs and regular proportions what weight do you think I'd like to be? [emoji57]

I tell ya I could have done with at least 5kgs less going up those big mountain climbs considering the hefty aged hire bike I was riding ...

Like most people I think I just eat a little more than I need. [emoji12]