Reply to: Working away from home - eating healthily

[Sausage Surprise]

Ditch the B&B, find a room. SPARE ROOM for flatshare, house share, flat share & rooms for rent

Is the correct answer. A shelf in the fridge and freezer and use of the kitchen. Much cheapness too!

[BigRed]

Possibly, what you should also see is a change in waistline though.

[Mich the Tester]

Since Mich is in the thread... does the old line "muscle weighs more than fat" actually count as a valid excuse for why increasing your exercise doesn't reduce your weight?

I started cycling a few months back - now averaging 30min a day I'd say. My thighs are visibly more muscly, and very much so to the touch - there are definite chunks of muscle where before there were none.
But is that kind of change likely to involve a non-negligible increase in muscle mass, i.e. measured in multiple pounds?

It can, if you're doing the type of exercise that leads to increased muscle bulk, and if you have that kind of body that builds muscle bulk easily. Also, after exercise you might be heavier for a day or so due to fluid in the muscles. But for most people doing aerobic exercise the excuse won't wash. I've found since stopping rugby and moving to pretty serious cycling, including occasional racing, that I've lost 12kgs, mostly upper body muscle and a bit of fat, while my legs are about the same size as when I was shoving in scrums and doing deadlifts.

If you have visible muscle growth on your legs, you can assume that counts for a few kilos of gain; look at a 1kg lump of pork you'd make for Sunday roast, and imagine that spread over the full length and breadth of both your legs and your bum muscles (gluteus); it should be clear that the 1kg gain in muscle would only just be visible on your legs, so visibly bigger legs can mean perhaps 3 kg of gain, depending obviously on how long your legs are and whether you're being honest with yourself.

[d000hg]

Since Mich is in the thread... does the old line "muscle weighs more than fat" actually count as a valid excuse for why increasing your exercise doesn't reduce your weight?

I started cycling a few months back - now averaging 30min a day I'd say. My thighs are visibly more muscly, and very much so to the touch - there are definite chunks of muscle where before there were none.
But is that kind of change likely to involve a non-negligible increase in muscle mass, i.e. measured in multiple pounds?

[Ticktock]

It's almost like people should have a balanced exercise

Weightlifting on a tightrope?

[Old Greg]

You don't want unbalanced exercise, you could fall and hurt yourself.

Good spot! Am a bit hungover this morning.

[d000hg]

It's almost like people should have a balanced exercise and do some exercise.

You don't want unbalanced exercise, you could fall and hurt yourself.

[Old Greg]

Take a look at Africa; you have two large population groups who are not usually fat. The Sudan tribes who live in the east generally eat lots of grain, but not much meat; that means they get the proteins and carbs but their calory intake is limited by not eating much meat. Then you have the much larger Bantu groups who live in central and western areas; they generally eat lots of fish and meat, but not so many spuds or grain; that gives them the nutrients, but limits their calory intake. Plus, most people still do physical work. The problems there are now starting in the cities where obesity is become a big issue; that's because they combine high calory intake diets that include meat AND starches with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Most people in cities now live in two job, two child households and are so busy they just grab some fast food on the way home and now obesity is becoming a bigger health issue than AIDS or malaria in urban Africa.

In short, yes, the low carb diets can work, but simply because they involve a lower calory intake. Eat the carbs AND the proteins, limit the fat and combine it all with some exercise, which doesn't need to be intensive training; a half hour to an hour brisk walk around the local area can make a big difference.

And if you do intensive exercise, DO NOT stop eating carbs, whatever some jumped up instructor says; your body needs them. Without the carbs, it will burn fat, but it'll also burn proteins from your muscles and can leave you weakened with a whole lot of waste products in your kidneys.

It's almost like people should have a balanced exercise and do some exercise.

[Mich the Tester]

If we believe the more progressive current western dietary thinking white rice is just a total no no in anything more than small amounts. The staple food for about 2 billion people who seem to have had no weight issues until we introduced them to burgers and coke. Lunacy.

Take a look at Africa; you have two large population groups who are not usually fat. The Sudan tribes who live in the east generally eat lots of grain, but not much meat; that means they get the proteins and carbs but their calory intake is limited by not eating much meat. Then you have the much larger Bantu groups who live in central and western areas; they generally eat lots of fish and meat, but not so many spuds or grain; that gives them the nutrients, but limits their calory intake. Plus, most people still do physical work. The problems there are now starting in the cities where obesity is become a big issue; that's because they combine high calory intake diets that include meat AND starches with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Most people in cities now live in two job, two child households and are so busy they just grab some fast food on the way home and now obesity is becoming a bigger health issue than AIDS or malaria in urban Africa.

In short, yes, the low carb diets can work, but simply because they involve a lower calory intake. Eat the carbs AND the proteins, limit the fat and combine it all with some exercise, which doesn't need to be intensive training; a half hour to an hour brisk walk around the local area can make a big difference.

And if you do intensive exercise, DO NOT stop eating carbs, whatever some jumped up instructor says; your body needs them. Without the carbs, it will burn fat, but it'll also burn proteins from your muscles and can leave you weakened with a whole lot of waste products in your kidneys.

[original PM]

everything in moderation!

only way to live

[Mich the Tester]

I think it's hard to argue against there being the wrong tulip to eat. You can exercise as much as you like to keep the weight off, but if all you're eating is deep friend tulip, you're likely to be harming your health.

I used to do what MTT does, that is take a bike with me. Then I started using hotels with gyms and pools and it's much better, in my opinion. Nothing beats an open air 'real' bike ride for getting fit, but getting back to the hotel at 8pm, it's sometimes easier going to the gym than going out for a ride around dusk time.

There are, however, plenty of ways to eat healthily working away.

As an idea, could we make a sticky of ideas to keep the weight off while away?

I shall do this within the next couple of months when my accountant gives me his customary 'raise your costs to avoid the 52% tax scale' phone call.

[minestrone]

If we believe the more progressive current western dietary thinking white rice is just a total no no in anything more than small amounts. The staple food for about 2 billion people who seem to have had no weight issues until we introduced them to burgers and coke. Lunacy.

[Old Hack]

I think it's hard to argue against there being the wrong tulip to eat. You can exercise as much as you like to keep the weight off, but if all you're eating is deep friend tulip, you're likely to be harming your health.

I used to do what MTT does, that is take a bike with me. Then I started using hotels with gyms and pools and it's much better, in my opinion. Nothing beats an open air 'real' bike ride for getting fit, but getting back to the hotel at 8pm, it's sometimes easier going to the gym than going out for a ride around dusk time.

There are, however, plenty of ways to eat healthily working away.

As an idea, could we make a sticky of ideas to keep the weight off while away?

[Mich the Tester]

Believe what you want, it's still a load of mince, type of stuff peddled in women's magazines with no scientific fact.

WHS

You eat it, you need to burn it. If you don't burn it, don't eat it.

[Mich the Tester]

I pack my racing bike into the boot of the car and take it with me to the hotel. I ride most evenings and some mornings, but from next week I'll do spinning at a gym nearby clientco. That way I can eat pretty much whatever I like, either the home cooking by the hotel owner or in a restaurant nearby; get enough exercise and you really don't need to worry too much about getting fat. Just avoid the junk food places. I have a little pot of multivits that I use some days.