Cycling and Weight Watchers?

[tctrek]

I know some of you do Weight Watchers while riding. I'm wondering how you manage to stay fueled properly for riding while following a program like that??
I'm riding 6 days a week 1-3 hours per day, about 10 hours a week.

Can a program like Weight Watchers give you enough calories to ride, yet still help you lose weight?

[xanesdoc]

I have done WW for almost 2 years and until this summer (I just slacked off writing in my journal and going to meetings) have had great success with the program. They have an easy converter called Points Booster, for figuring out additional points you can consume due to your activity level. For instance if you weigh 150 lbs, ride at a high intensity for 90 minutes, you can add 11 points to your daily point allowance. When I am trying to lose weight, I usually don't use all of the extra points and normally feel fine enough for whatever sport/activity I am doing.

WW is a great program if you follow their guidelines. Now that summer is over and my travel is finished, I plan to get back on track and lose these extra pounds.

Good luck!

[azfiddle]

I am SO glad you started this thread.

I have been on WW since Jan, doing the online program. I hit a plateau from May-July and started cycling because it was more fun than being in a gym. In July I was riding once or twice a week, for less than 10 miles. Now I am riding 50-100 miles a week and I have the same questions. I am ravenous some days and don't know how many points to be eating because after all, I am still trying to lose weight, but I want to be sure I have enough fuel for riding. I also don't want to be sending my body the message that it's starving and should lower my metabolism.

I never used to eat all my weekly points, because it seemed like I would gain weight on that. Now I am using some of them, but not tapping in to the activity points.

I am still never sure how many activity points to count either. I'd really like to know how other people do this. A lot of my rides have uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back. I'm definitely in the intense activity on sections of the uphill, but still keep working on the downill. So I've been recording part of the time as "moderate" activity and part of the time as "high" activity.

It is helping a lot, by the way- I've lost 7.5 pounds since mid-July.
Thanks - hope you all have some ideas.
Sharon

[tctrek]

I am SO glad you started this thread.

I have been on WW since Jan, doing the online program. I hit a plateau from May-July and started cycling because it was more fun than being in a gym.

It is helping a lot, by the way- I've lost 7.5 pounds since mid-July.
Thanks - hope you all have some ideas.
Sharon

Thanks, Sharon! So, in Jan when you started the program, were you working out? Were you eating less than you eat now that you are cycling?

[azfiddle]

When I started WW in Jan, I worked out occasionally- usually 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer, and sometimes weights (machines) at the "Y"

I just tried to stick to the 18 points a day as much as possible and lost 12-13 lbs.

I stalled out from mid-May through through early July. I started riding a bike for errands in May, then when I started summer vacation, I rode a little more- 3-5 miles a few times a week. The plateau was the big motivating factor in doing more cycling, but then I realized how much I enjoy it. I think I was riding about 10 -15 miles twice a week in early August, and have steadily been increasing since then. I started losing almost a pound a week in late July- until the last two weeks when it has slowed down again.

Over Labor Day weekend I rode 70 miles - and that's when the big question arose about how much I should be eating, as I was absolutely ravenous the next two days.

I'm eating about 20-22 points now, and a little more on a day that I ride for more than an hour.

What's your experience like?

[divingbiker]

The most accurate way to figure out your activity points is by wearing a heart rate monitor. 100 calories = 1 AP. Each point you eat is roughly 50 calories (depends on fat and fiber) so if you eat your APs you still have a calorie deficit.

I find the WW slider thing and the online AP calculator overestimate my APs, so I don't use those. It may be that when I say I'm exercising at high intensity, it's really moderate. So I always had to be conservative when using those tools.

In the old days, WW had rules about using APs, like only eat APs after the first four that you earn, e.g., earn 9, eat 5; earn 4, eat 0. Some people still do that. They also used to only allow you to eat them on the day you earned them, or they'd be lost. Some people still do that also.

You'll have to experiment to see what works for you, but in the long run you definitely can't do a lot of exercise without eating at least some of your APs.

[tctrek]

I find the WW slider thing and the online AP calculator overestimate my APs, so I don't use those. It may be that when I say I'm exercising at high intensity, it's really moderate. So I always had to be conservative when using those tools.

That's what I'm afraid I do. Even without Weight Watchers, when trying to figure how how much I should eat vs. how much I burn, I don't think I've ever hit the equation right.

I lost almost 40 pounds 2 years ago, just by eating 1200 calories a day. I was very sedentary -- office job and not much other "activity". After I dropped the 40, I felt so good that I started going to the gym and doing elliptical and tread mill. Almost immediately, the weight loss stopped. I upped the calories a bit and started doing spinning classes. No weight loss.

Now, I eat about 1600-1800 calories a day and I ride 6 days a week. No weight loss in 2 years. I'm not gaining, but not losing either.

Endocrinologist has no idea -- I am hypothyroid and post-menopausal, so two strikes against me -- but all my blood levels are good and thyroid under control.

My Nutritionist and cycling coach don't get it either. They look at my food logs and really have no suggestions -- we keep tweaking my calories by 100-200 per day up and down trying to find the sweet spot.

I know I can lose weight -- I lost the 40 pounds!! I just don't understand why I can't lose any more. I thought maybe Weight Watchers would give me a new view of how I eat.

[OakLeaf]

Over Labor Day weekend I rode 70 miles - and that's when the big question arose about how much I should be eating, as I was absolutely ravenous the next two days.

Okay, I know zilch about WW and haven't lost weight intentionally in about 20 years, but that ravenous depleted feeling is something I know about. Sometimes it could even last three days.

For me, it's all about recovery nutrition.

If I force myself to eat 200-250 calories immediately after a long hard effort - when the idea of food still nauseates me - then I don't get that long-lasting depleted feeling. Apparently, that's my muscles and/or liver screaming for glycogen. If I make sure to deposit some in the bank when my body's primed to receive it, that doesn't happen to me.

Are you being conscientious about your recovery nutrition?