I want to lose weight <stamps foot!>

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 7:59 pm

OK, don't tell me to lay off the pizza. There is not one that delivers in my part of the world. Diet I can control.

I am after some tips on how to speed up weight loss through rowing. I lost 14lbs in my first four weeks with Free Spirits - all weight I had quickly put on following the birth of my third child.

I now find it hard to get below my long term weight of 19st 7lb (273lb = 124kg). I thought that the 250km in July would have an impact but I have just changed shape. Shoulders have filled out, blubber ring seemingly trimmed a little.

I put this down to diet but also to my insane desire to post PBs. I am not going to do that this month. I would like to lose 8lb by 1st September, which is 2lb a week.

Any offers? My stock piece has (in the past) been 10km @ 130HR. My current plan is to do 60mins at 135HR (I'm fitter) whenever I row this month.

The joker in the pack is that I have entered BIRC. So somehow I need to start thinking about how to train for that!

alistairkbs · Post by **alistairkbs** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 8:47 pm

Thomas

I think you have run into the same problem as me and a few others (redcuingFB for one) You sort the diet out and stick to it most of the time but the rowing stops working
I've tried a lot of long slower stuff incluidng 100k in one week with no less than an hour at 2:14 - 2:19. Two pound loss after that and that was all fluid I suspect .
Ive got bored and have also lost any speed I ever had so its back to mixing it up.
Ill join in asking for an answer but I admit I dont know what to do either.

Alistair

PSims · Post by **PSims** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 10:40 pm

Have you guys looked at the weight loss programmes on the C2 site?

ReducingFB · Post by **ReducingFB** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 6:22 am

Definitely a member of the TWP and AKBS club. Better shape and fitter, but you just know there is more to go and it won't budge.

Paul, I know we have all been through weeks of the weight loss programs, which work well in the early days of losing the easy excess (I used to introduce myself as 85% of the man you used to know), but I don't think are designed for the hard core (ie the next 10%).

My elder son's diet plan seems designed to attack the metabolic rate (increased protein intake etc - beware Atkins) but adds additional muscle building work. The question is, I suppose, do we have to do some weight work as well - the theory is muscle burns more calories even when you're not exercising.

Don't suppose we would get on television, because we don't have the low level 'celeb' status which makes for compulsive TV viewing (we're just Free Spirits

). So we don't get Harvey to rant at us to go to the next level.

At the moment the C2 is stopping us from going backwards - but how do we begin the progress forwards again?

Answers on one sheet of A4.

RFB

PSims · Post by **PSims** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:29 am

Here's my thoughts - but I'm not a dietician!

The basic equation of calories in - calories out = surplus/deficit each day can be used as a basic start point, but it's more complex than that.

The human body has an annoying habit of adapting to its situation. So missing meals/eating dust just causes it to store more and hold it as it thinks it is going to starve.

Similarly, doing your 30 mins (or whatever) of rowing each day and the body then adapts to the new regime. In fact, I find I just eat more and feel hungry all the time - which is why I put on 1/2 a stone when I was on holiday - cos the hunger was still there but no exercise.

What can we do about it?

1) Vary your rowing programme.
- Start doing interval training.
- Vary the pace
- Keep it interesting by doing some of the different challenges
- When you feel hungry - go and have a short row (on the C2, not with the wife)
- Row for longer distances (but I can vouch that this is a never ending increase!)
2) Cross-train. Nigel recommends that the ONLY way to lose weight is to do a weights program as rowing alone won't cut it.

Eat regularly at LEAST 3 meals a day - but choose what you have. It's 11:00 and I've just eaten a bowl of porridge as I had the nibbles. Last week, it was a twix, ice cream, yogurt etc etc - not good.

Drink plenty of water - at least 2 litres a day. At work, I carry around a 500 ml water bottle - I have 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon. I've also given up caffeine which is a diuretic - haven't had a coffee since Jan.

Whatever you choose to do, it has to be a combination you can sustain without it being a misery to your life - which is why NO crash diet works no matter what anyone tells you.

Personally, I cannot deny myself food - I love it and I'm a pig - but I can exercise more - so that's what I do. My partner does the opposite - diet and no exercise. We have both lost weight. Draw your own conclusions!!

Like you guys, I have plateaued and now need to mix something else in. It may be that a couple of months at the same weight and it will then start to come off again - that has happened to me before. Or it maybe I'm just destined to be an elephant.

Good luck - and let us know what works!

Derrylad · Post by **Derrylad** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:09 pm

I find all this stuff too complicating. I eat as much now as I have ever done ( including junk ). The only difference it I now STOP when I feel full ( where as before I would just carry on ).

I still eat loads of chocalate etc.. but the difference is I drink more ( as this seems to substitute the hunger ). I opted for drinking Sprite ZERO ( as I like the taste ) about 3 months ago. Goes nice with Vodka ( although water is just as good ) and it has 1 calorie and no carbs. Most of my diet would consist of loads of protien and fat anyway ( beef, dry roasted peanuts - although the wind rate is high - chicken etc... ) The only difference I have made to my rowing was to go from 10k a day to about 15 - 20 ( only doing 20+ at the moment as It is school holidays and has been for the last 6 weeks here ). I vary my distances from 10k hard to 15k slow and relaxing etc.. Do some of the shorter distances as well.

Works for some but not for all I guess.

Rob

PSims · Post by **PSims** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:28 pm

So apart from alcohol, family sized bars of chocolate for breakfast and 20 ciggys a day, what else does Dr Derrylad recommend?!!!!

PSims · Post by **PSims** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:42 pm

Dear Paul,
Please put in amongst your words on The Forum a message from me saying that for the past 3 and a bit months I have had to buy loads of steaks,chops,chicken,pasta, whey smoothies,bananas,apples and honey..I lost weight but put it back on because I was always hungry.However I notice when I found time to do aerobic exercise (rowing) and resistance exercises( heavy weight lifting) I lost weight - rowing burns energy and resistance exercises builds lean muscle I also found that jogging did not cause me to lose weight.The only way I found I lost weight was to burn more than I ate!! so I had to count my calories so now I am going to do loads of weight resistance exercises and see if I can lose a stone!! If I stop exercising I put on weight.Please thank them all for there kind words on the Forum. However tell them I dont recommend them doing what I have just done and that is row 5million meters in just over 3 months.I must be mad.Anyway I have done it and now I aim to become lean and muscular and row short distances and lose all of my fat!! Ha Ha
Yours sincerely
Nigel

...so there you have it - he DOES eat more!

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:29 pm

I totally agree on dieting not working - you just pile it back on and you want to be happy! I got this size becuase I enjoy my food. I intend to still do that. I eat healthily anyway - no junk in this house apart from the odd chinese takeaway!

So, the plan is:

do weights - mine are currently propping up the spare bed in my daughter's room (it slopes). I guess I can retrieve them So, what weights? I have a 10kg bar with 2x10kg masses.
Mix it up - I am already doing that - All out PBs mixed with long distance pieces. I will keep at it.

I am hoping that I am on a plateau and will eventually go down again. And will report back...

Rita · Post by **Rita** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 2:38 am

Hi,

I'm posting from the other side of the pond, and I was wondering if perhaps there could be a conversion page (perhaps under "Utilities") for what a stone is, with respect to the American pound? Thanks!

I think I did look it up and it was something like 14 lb (?), but I can't remember and it would be much easier to have it on the website.

I started rowing and did a drastic diet change in mid-May and have lost 30 US pounds, ~ 2.2 pounds/week. I had my body in "stress/starvation mode", i.e. eating ~ 1 meal a day (usually a late dinner), working 14+ hr/day and getting very little sleep. I was told point blank to exercise and eat 3 meals a day and I would start losing weight. A friend of mine had just gotten an erg and emailed the link to the Concept2 website and it looked like a form of exercise I could stick with (I'm not a runner and walking my 13 yr old dog just doesn't get the heartrate up). So I swallowed my pride and braved going to the university gym and started rowing in the mornings (not as many young kids at that hour). Needless to say I'm hooked and really like doing the long rows (today I did my 4th 1/2 marathon, my first without any breaks!).

I now eat breakfast (despite having a hard time keeping it down some mornings), a second breakfast after rowing, lunch and have a light dinner (usually salad or eggs). I have also limited myself to only one cup of caffeinated tea a day, (I was drinking 1 + liters of coke a day) and eat a lot more fruits, veggies and yogurt and try to have my carbs by noontime rather than at dinner time. I too find that I'm always hungry (like every 2-3 hrs), so I have banana, carrots or some non-fat yogurt. I don't fight it, but try very much to have something healthy. Though I'm not counting calories per say, I have tried to burn more than I ingest.

I would like to avoid the plateau effect (i.e. having my weight stabilize, I would like to lose more). I was thinking of adding in some weight training this fall. How intense must one weight train? Are there about 3-4 arms and 3-4 leg exercises that I can do 2-3 times a week for ~ 30 min/workout? I know my limits and I won't be spending hours in the gym pumping iron. I'm more looking to tone up the muscle I'm supposedly adding and build up some strength in my arms.

I'm thinking of hiring a personal trainer to get me started, but I would like to go in with an idea of what I need to do.

Thanks! I appreciate reading what other people are going through as they too try and drop the pounds (and stones).

Rita

webberg · Post by **webberg** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 8:38 am

Rita, well done on losing the 30 pounds.

A UK "stone" is 14 lb. The US and UK pounds are the same. Over here we are increasingly using kilograms (kg). This is approx. 2.2lbs.

As Paul has said eloquently, there will be a plateau in weight loss as the body adapts to the exercise regime. Doing lots of long slow rows (lowish HR) will burn the calories but eventually the body wises up.

One way to beat this is to change the way you row. Instead of doing say 60 minutes at one pace, try doing 5 mins of normal and 2 mins of normal - 3secs and then back to normal. This puts an interval into the longer piece. It can be a bit of a killer to begin with but it's worth it.

Weights are good for toning and burn but need to be sustained. Perhaps mix it up in the gym by doing a split row and weight one day, weights only the next time, then row only. The more variety the better.

Very envious of the weight you've already lost though.

PSims · Post by **PSims** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:38 am

Funny you should say that...I started an hour rowing yesterday lunchtime and decided to do 1 min at 1:50, 4 min at 2:10, repeat until the hour is up. I did it, but HR was 180 at the end.

It was interesting to show how quickly the HR recovered after the first of the "sprints". It didn't do so well at the end. So I guess that's better for me.

Paid the price today though - no energy this morning at all!

Not sure I'm up to 2/3 min splits - I would have to alter the split times quite a lot. Anyone got any advice on these, bearing in mind I usually do a leisurely 14k in an hour.

Rita · Post by **Rita** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:56 am

Hi,
I usually do interval work, but I have taken a break these last 4 weeks since I have been outside doing field work for 8+hr/day and the thought of "sprinting" is not appealing right now (but will attempt a few 500 m by the end of the month). The longer rows at a pretty steady pace suit my energy levels right now.

In my 15K rows I have been throwing in 90 sec of "faster pace" rowing (from 2:21 to 2:15 ish) every 3000 meters. Once my field work ends (this weekend?) I'll go back to doing interval rowing (I usually use or slightly vary the ones suggested on the C2 site) 2-3 times a week. The 40 sec hard/ 20 sec easy for intervals for ~ 30-35 min is what I use for my 2K time trials. After 30 min of that, ~ 9 min (well currently 8:45.5) is nothing.

When I get my own concept2 next month, I will get the heart monitor. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions about optimizing my workouts with respect to heart rates.

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:11 pm

Rita wrote:I'm posting from the other side of the pond, and I was wondering if perhaps there could be a conversion page (perhaps under "Utilities") for what a stone is, with respect to the American pound? Thanks! I think I did look it up and it was something like 14 lb (?), but I can't remember and it would be much easier to have it on the website.

Done! Look under utilities...

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:10 am

On the idea of keeping my body guessing after failing in a 500m blast yesterday I got up today and smashed my 10km PB before breakfast.

Touch wood, I seem to have lost a couple of pounds so maybe getting off my plateau again.

I was a bit non-plussed to see that with six more minutes of rowing I could have counted my row on the ELM breakfast challenge, so I had to use my (very gentle) warm up and warm down to get me up to the 45 minutes

Rita · Post by **Rita** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:49 pm

Thomas W-P wrote:
Rita wrote:I'm posting from the other side of the pond, and I was wondering if perhaps there could be a conversion page (perhaps under "Utilities") for what a stone is, with respect to the American pound? Thanks! I think I did look it up and it was something like 14 lb (?), but I can't remember and it would be much easier to have it on the website.
Done! Look under utilities...

Thank you!

JanetS · Post by **JanetS** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:22 am

Interesting article on the effect of interval training on body fat:
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0334.htm

Looks like it could be the way forward!

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:08 pm

That is really interesting. Looks like I am doing the right thing (though three days off and a chinese may not be in their plan).

mash · Post by **mash** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:40 pm

Anyone looking to lose weight (me definitely included) then this months Mens Health has a free book on nutrition which goes into "eating to lose weight" plus it has section on "Eating for racing" which covers cycling, swimming and running but alas not rowing but I'm sure the articles would give good tips on what\when to race.

Might be worth a look.

Mash

JanetS · Post by **JanetS** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:18 pm

mash wrote:Anyone looking to lose weight (me definitely included) then this months Mens Health has a free book on nutrition which goes into "eating to lose weight" plus it has section on "Eating for racing" which covers cycling, swimming and running but alas not rowing but I'm sure the articles would give good tips on what\when to race.

Might be worth a look.

Mash

I may pretend I'm buying for hubby so I don't get funny looks in WHSmith....

Oh what the heck! I'll buy it for hubby & read it myself....

More seriously I'm starting the Pete Plan to inprove my performance on the erg - but also I like the look for the interval training he puts in it which is supposed to help raise metabolic rate which in turn might get a few extra calories burned. Maybe. Hopefully.

On the positive front - I still don't possess scales, but my jackets for school which I had abandoned about 2 years ago now fit again! Once I'm back in all the skirts as well I'll buy scales

alistairkbs · Post by **alistairkbs** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 4:30 pm

Janet

Having got stuck with weight loss started Pete Plan (slightly modified - only 2 endurance rows but kept the hard 10K (allow anything from 5K to 60 mins) and the two intervals. It works!
Ive set new PB in 5K and 60 mins and I kind of enjoy the intervlas once they are over.
Tonight its the 3K /2.5K and 2K session and then the weigh in.
The plan has also kick started weight loss again.
Be interested to hear how you get on

Alistair

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:36 pm

I have enjoyed the intervals in the Concept 2 programme too. And I am losing weight at last. 3lb down from the plateau I was on

JanetS · Post by **JanetS** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:28 am

Alistair - thank you for the encouragement! I'll keep you posted...
Thomas - good to hear intervals seem to be working!

World Rowing is somewhat distracting me at the moment - at least I've managed to stay away from the burger tents.....

chang chi · Post by **chang chi** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:27 pm

Hi Thomas
In Denmark we have a lot of low-fat cures, which promise more than they can hold. But often the people who need to loose "fat" in generel has a bad attitude against way of living in a proper way.
With proper way I mean doing a minimum of training on a weekly basis, maybe 2-3 times a week, while using the low-fat cure.
No these people think that they can get healthy without training of any kind, which is almost impossible.

We are now seeing the same trend in Denmark as you already can see in the USA. People are getting fatter than ever before, and why, because of all the things that makes us inmobile. We cycle less, walk less, are more stressful, run less, sit too much, eat wrongly (fastfood) eat too much, ....

In Danmark we have a weightwatcher-program for very big people, which hand you a menu of what to eat and what to do (training) And you have to come for checkups.

Here is some food you can look at.

Breakfast (7 am)
coffee or tee, toast with marmelade and dark bread /full-corn(sandwich) you can use a little butter, called a "Ama'r-mad"= Island where Copenhagen Airport is placed and where I live.
appleJuice, milk lowfat, eggs (softboilded 2-3min.) fruits or red/yel/gren pepper on dark bread

There are some kinds of cereal (with milk), which are good but be carefull, it is a jungle! Most of them are not very healthy but taste great.

in between (10 am)
1 or 2 fruits

Lunch (1 pm)
dark full corn bread like the Danish ("RugbrÃ¸d", worlds best bread) with no or very little butter, using vegetables, hard boild eggs /cut (smiling=not too hard, 7 min in boiling water), sausages with much meat over 60 % and low fat, fish, garlic, onion,

afternoons (6 pm)
Most of their food is lowfat meat like chicken (ovn or pan no greese) or similar meat, it can also be a baby-steak without fat. To that you eat green salads, iceberg salad or something else with tomatoes, green,red and yellow pepper, cucumber, ananas or oranges, spring onion, mushrooms, ect. /what you like (raw)) I mix everything together) You can add sauce (thin of cause to the steak) but no creme fraiche of any kind, exept if its lowfat and only a little.
one Baked potato once a week/pasta (carefull) they are not as innocent as they look, being made of wheat.

nightfall (8-9 pm)
Coffee or tee with low fat ice and fruit a la strawberry or melon (slice 100 gram) Ice only saturday:-)

This and our dayly 10K should do the trick.

Don't eat till you stuffed. Eat a little less than you normaly do.

Good Luck
Mikkel

Post by **Thomas W-P** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:00 pm

Well, I can't see any beer in that plan so it is not going to work for me. I'm losing about 1lb a week doing what I am doing which is healthy and keeps me happy.

I'll start beating your times soon enough. When do you want to race on RowPro?

I want to lose weight <stamps foot!>

I want to lose weight <stamps foot!>

Named & Shamed!

Thoughts

ALL TOO COMPLICATING

The D Plan diet

From Nigel

Slow/fast intervals no rests

Weight

Re: Weight

losing weight