Ray P wrote: ↑Wed Aug 01, 2018 6:48 am
IslandPink wrote: ↑Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:50 pm
You seem to have lived your cycling life in reverse, Ray. I was like a whippet when I was 19 - came back from the Alps weighing about 9st4lb. Now I'm nearly 14st
More like a renaissance Mark; I was a keen club rider (riding TTs and some road races - quite a bit of track too) through my teens and into my early twenties but then I just stopped riding.
Common problem. Circumstances change. It's amazing what happens when you restart regular sport and it's never too late.
My weight hadn't changed - it's just moved North and more muscle, less fat! Muscle is denser, so I'm not quite as buoyant but I still weigh 100kg...
The whole weight thing is a bit of a distraction - as you get older (and it seems most of us are in the "older" bracket) your metabolism slows but our calorie intake remains the same.
It's a simple equation: energy in vs. energy out. Most exercise, unless of the endurance type, does not burn a huge amount of calories - for me, a 5km run at a 10km/hr pace equates to about 520 calories - people just need to eat less (especially carbs and dairy) and more sensibly. Sport does help build fitness and tone - less fat, more muscle.
Also, cutting most dairy out of your diet is generally a good idea; we all need a bit of cholesterol (of the right type), but whilst women tend to store fat subcutaneously in the breasts, waist & backside/thighs; men, especially older men, tend to store it internally. This internal fat is stored round our organs as "visceral fat" and too much is a BAD THING. You can look trim and seemingly have a good diet but still have way too much visceral fat. Risk of type 2 diabetes, strokes & heart attacks. Eat less butter, cheese, milk etc. You still need calcium and dairy is most people's main source, so be sensible - I use alpro almond milk with added calcium and vitamin D, but it's an acquired taste
