Fitness News #71 - Why you want to be fat

Watching the Olympic games, there doesn't seem to be a gram of fat that's not required for their sport of expertise.  But walk around your local shopping centre and you see a completely different body image, after all we are the second fattest major country in the world.

Ask these people what they would prefer and most will say they wish they didn't have this excess fat, but is that actually true

Why you want to be fat

Before civilisation the number one survival factor was finding enough food to avoid starvation, when food supplies was lean.  So what our bodies do is store excess food as fat when supplies are good and release that fat where there is insufficient food availability.

The problems of excess fat were not a concern as pre-civilisation, you were really old by 30 and unlikely to see your 40th birthday.  So the potential problems of excess fat were minor compared with the ability to survive starvation.

Nowadays we have unlimited food supplies, but our genetics are still telling us the same story;

1. Seek out the highest calorie foods
2. Eat as much as possible, after all you never know what's going to be available tomorrow.

Now the food marketers know our genetics well, we have all heard the slogan "sex sells"  well "survival sells" too and don't they know it, as the constantly market high calorie, low nutritional value products at us.

Last Wednesday evening, I turned up at the class and it was 60% Male 40% Female.  I said isn't there something on tonight.... oh that's right State Of Origin.  One of the guys told me, we worked out we had enough time to do the class and still get to watch the match.

The fact is that busy people find the time to do exercise while others find time to make excuses why they don't exercise.

What you should do

You need to differentiate between the need for your daily nutrition and your primal instinct for survival.  Ask yourself some questions;

1. Am I actually hungry, or is my body looking for excess calories to store for the future
2. Has the desire been generated by marketing
3. What is the nutritional value / calorie ratio.  Yes you need calories, but you want to get that nutrition in.

What if you did nothing

  Not understanding your primal genetic needs and modern day target marketing will expose you to the risk of making poor decisions, as it will be harder to differentiate between desire and actual needs.

 Riding

 Last weekend was a busy one for me;

Saturday:  NSW Club Team Time Trail (TTT) Championships - 40k.  The previous week we had trained together and got a good idea of each riders strengths and challenges.  We struck a strategy, which was for me to do the bulk of the uphill work, but to push the uphill to the limits.  

We finished 10th out of 25 teams, well clear of the medals, but not a performance to be snared at.

Sunday: Nowra Road Race - 90k.  What a horrible day, the roads were wet when we started and light rain came down early into the race, only to get worse as the race progressed.  This race was a handicap race, where we work as a team in our group, chasing the group in front of us, while trying to stop the group behind us catching.

The race was out and back.  As we approached the 45k turnaround, I saw the leaders going the other way and took a reading on my bike computer.  We reached the turnaround after 800mtrs, so I knew the leaders were only 1.6k ahead.  It seemed like no time at all before we caught them and we went straight past.  

Then we went down a big winding hill in the rain.  Many riders were spooked by the not so safe conditions and the result was there was a split with about 12 riders getting off the front, being chased by 6 riders including me.  We were working hard, not gaining on them but also not loosing.  Then the fastest riders in the race caught us, we jumped on the back and got a free tow up to the front group, rolling between 55kph and 65kph with the help of some mild downhill slope and powering over the uphills.

At the front, the pace was cut to 45kph, it was looking like everyone was waiting for a bunch sprint, but as we got closer, we could see a car with flashing lights and then we realised there was a bike behind it.  All of a sudden it was game on again and we screamed towards the final turnaround, cutting his lead from something like a k to about 50mtrs, which mean this poor bloke who had probably ridden by himself for something like 40k would be swallowed buy by the peloton in the last few hundred metres, like what you see in Tour De France.

It was at this turnaround that I made my biggest mistake of the race, being too far back, as the turnaround caused a split.  I tried to ride across the gap, but ended up finishing the race in no mans land.  Though it was great result, coming in 14th out of 99 entrants, only 19 seconds behind the winner who took $1,000 for the effort.  I also came 4th in my age category, 5 seconds behind the winner.

Classes

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM
Bond St Fri 11.45am cover

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #70 - Dedication

 My office is set in a semi bush location and has large outdoor areas.  From the windows near my desk I can see a small area devoted to smoking, there's a table and chairs under a garden umbrella.  To get to this area you need to walk down a path from the building in the open.

One day it was absolutely bucketing down, any sane person would of given their cigaret break a miss, but that wasn't the case, the smokers were huddled under the umbrella having their break.

Now that's Dedication  

Dedication

 OK smoking may not be what we want to be dedicated to, but exercise is, I struck this example of dedication, which is more like what we want;

Last Wednesday evening, I turned up at the class and it was 60% Male 40% Female.  I said isn't there something on tonight.... oh that's right State Of Origin.  One of the guys told me, we worked out we had enough time to do the class and still get to watch the match.

The fact is that busy people find the time to do exercise while others find time to make excuses why they don't exercise.

What you should do

Reevaluate what you do with your time and work out where it is being used effectively or not effectively.   Set your priorities to what you want to be dedicated to.

What if you did nothing

  At the end of the day, letting obstacles get in the way of your exercise goals will only defeat you.

 Riding

 We drove down to Kangaroo Valley and rode over to Norwa, then out of town to the NSW TTT course where we trained on the course, in preparation for next Saturday's championship, then back to Kangaroo Valley 

Classes

Have you tried the new format Ride30 at Pitt st, Monday 1.10pm

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM
Pitt st Thu 12.20pm RPM (covering for Stuart)

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #69 - Tour de France diet

Last year when I raced in Australia's toughest one day road race - Grafton to Inverall, the calorie calculation worked out at 7,700 calories.

In the Tour de France, massive calorie burns happen day after day and without optimised nutrition, we would see riders collapsing on route.

The Tour de France Diet

 Switch the TV to SBS tonight and you will be confronted with some mouth watering French cooking, put together by Gabriel Gaté, followed by extremely fit lean cyclists riding at break neck speed.

So these cyclists must have really good diets, to be so lean.  Well its not quite that simple, their diets are carefully worked out, to provide the needs of their special situation.  Lets call this optimised dieting.

So what do they need?

1.  Energy delivery
2. Recovery
3. Whatever is needed for normal living

There's another twist, that's the ability of the body to absorb and process the energy.  So the focus thru the day is for food types that release its energy straight into the blood stream and easily delivered to the muscles.  Hence during the race the food consumed has a high sugar content, which will spike the blood sugar levels, just like when you drink a soft drink.

Post race the diet continues to contain a generous dosage of simple carbohydrates, such as pasta, as the riders take the opportunity to replenish their depleted glycogen reserves. 

What you should do

Unless you need 6,000+ calories a day, then you shouldn't be following the Tour de France diet, without their calorie burn, you won't end up lean like them, in fact you will end up the opposite, as the body converts the spare energy into fat.

What you need to do is create your own optimised diet, which meets your needs.  An optimised diet will mean that your goals will be easier and quicker to meet.

What if you did nothing

 In one way or another, you goals will not come as easily as they could, or even slip further away, simply because what you are doing is not what you need to do to achieve your goals.

 Riding

 Cough cough

Took this weekend off as a sickie, starting with missing track racing Friday night and then cancelling the weekend training rides, which I was suppose to be ride leader for.

Never mind, next week I'm planning to ride the NSW TTT course with 2 of my 3 team mates

Classes

Have you tried the new format Ride30 at Pitt st, Monday 1.10pm

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM
Pitt st Thu 12.20pm RPM (covering for Stuart)

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #68 - Obesity in Argentina

I've written many times about how, healthy eating is cheaper than junk food.   But what about in a country where vegetables expense and low income earners earn less than Australia.

Two television programs tackled the topic of the obesity of impoverished Argentina's.  Surprisingly they both ended up with the same solution, despite one been done by a british expert and the other being done by 2 obese brits with no nutrition training.

The Argentina Obesity Crisis

 Both programs attributed the problem to the diet

Beef
The joke I've made about flying Argentina airlines is that the hostess comes up to and says "would you like beef with your beef sir".  Yes the Argentinians love their beef, however the quality of the cut depends on your income, with poor people eating the poorest cuts.

Vegetables
Are expensive, they are pretty much non existent in the diet of the poor.  And not in ready supply in poor areas due to a lack of demand

Soft drinks
A popular product with the poor Argentinians.  Featured heavily in their diet.

The Argentinian Solution

The nutritionist determined that the only place to get the money for the vegetables was to cut out the soft drinks.  She also encouraged them to grow some vegetables, in the modest amount of land they had with some innovative solutions to the land space problem.

However what the 2 obese brits did was more interesting (Fat And Fatter on ABC), they went and brought vegetables and cooked some food for a Argentinian family.  The Argentinian mother said "you spent on vegetables what I spend on soft drinks".  Though she didn't realise it, she answered her own question on how to pay for vegetables and demonstrated that being poor in a country with expensive vegetables doesn't prevent you from eating vegetables.

What you should do

Not be deterred by the price of vegetables, the pricing may refine your selection, but it should never deter you from purchasing them.

What if you did nothing

Hey those couple of dollars you save can buy you more soft drinks and don't those soft drinks make you feel good.

 Riding

First time back on a track bike since January (before my accident).  Raced the opening round of RAW at Dunc Gray Velodrome, where the held the 2000 Olympics.

Warmup race:  Dropped, the pace was high and at least I wasn't the first to be dropped.

Three lap screamer:  Got second wheel of the line, the first guy controlled the pace, keeping it slow, then sprinted with just under 1.5 laps to go.  I wasn't able to hold his well and 2 riders went around me, resulting in 4th, a single point.

Points race:  Was in the thick of it but didn't loose any points.  A team mate sprinted off a got one of the wins (5 points), then rolled off.  What he didn't realise was that if you get lapped, you loose 20 points :)

Combines:  The first few riders went off at typical pace and after they rolled, we ended up with a really slow rider on the front, I had 4th wheel.  1st and 2nd wheel rolled together and 3rd wheel went for it, I went to and got his wheel, he did about a lap and rolled, I went for it.  After 1/2 a lap, with 5 to go, I looked around and there was no one, so I decided to have some fun and kept gunning, pulling the gap out to about 50mtrs.  Crossing the line with 2 laps to go, I only had 20 mtrs, so I knew I was going to be caught on the last lap, so I rolled and retried.

So this first time on the track bike showed me what was in me and what was missing

Classes

Join me on Monday 1.10pm for Ride30 at Pitt st.

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM
Pitt st Thu 12.20pm RPM (covering for Stuart)

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #67 - Adders

On the weekend I was at the 2012 Winter Magic Festival and at one of the stalls I brought some food "would you like a soft drink with that sir" I was asked, it was a marketing strategy that major junk food chains have been using for years.  I call this adders.

Commercial Adders

Commercial Adders, is additional items that are added to a food purchase to increase the profit.  Commonly these are chips and/or soft drinks, products that are extremely cheap to produce and market place appealing.  The low production cost enables the seller to entice the consumer to purchase what seems to be a bargain, but we know the true cost is the impact on your health.

 Home Adders

When you make a meal at home, do you add chips and soft drink to it?  Of course not, a home adder is something like a side salad,  cooked vegetables or as per the photo above, fruit with your dessert.

What you should do

This is no brainer, if it isn't a home adder, then don't add it.  Why would you?

What if you did nothing

Are those chips and soft drink so tasty that you are willing to add 1 to 2 gym classes simply to burn off those empty calories?

 Riding

Instead of riding, went for small bush walk

Classes

Second week with the 2 new permanent classes at Fitness First Pitt st.  Join me on Monday for RPM at 11.30am or 1.10pm for the first ever official Ride30 class.

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Walker St  Tue 12.20pm Cover, this week TBA 
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM - not on public holiday
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #66 - One more thing that junk food does to you

My friend makes fun of his tummy

None of us have perfect diets and all of us eat junk food from time to time.

Regardless of which form of healthy eating you believe in, it most likely has things in it like fresh fruit, vegetables, advice on how much protein etc etc etc.

One thing we want in our diet is that we enjoy our food and this is one of the angles that the merchants of junk food use to line their pockets with our hard earned money, by appealing to what we enjoy.

One more thing that junk food does to you

When you eat junk food, you deny the opportunity to meet your daily quota of fruit, vegetables etc etc.

Back in the day when I was transitioning  from a diet that lined the pockets of junk food dealers to the diet we all should have, often I found myself struggling to meet simple quota's such as 2 pieces of fruit per day.  The reason was that I had already filled on junk, reducing desire to eat the good stuff.

What you should do

 It's actually quite simple, start the day with the things that you want in your diet.  Then if you do succumb later in the day to junk (as we all do from time to time), then you've still got the good stuff into you.

For example, when I do a cooked breakfast at home, I put a layer of salad leaves on the bottom of the plate, on top goes fried tomatoes, mushrooms.  It varies from time to time.  On top of that is eggs.  To quote my sister "I never thought of eating salad for breakfast, but once you add egg to it, its really tasty"

What if you did nothing

That's what the junk dealers want you to do, it lines their pockets and they don't give a toss about your health.

 Riding

Took the weekend as a sickie, to try to beat a minor cold I have.

Classes

2 new permanent classes at Fitness First Pitt st.  Join me on Monday for RPM at 11.30am or 1.10pm for the first ever official Ride30 class.

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride 
Pitt st Mon 11.30am RPM
Pitt st Mon 1.10pm Ride30 
Walker St  Tue 12.20pm Cover, this week RPM

Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM - not on public holiday
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat
 

Fitness News #65 - A diet fit for Queens

Regardless of whether you are a republican or a monarchist, you will be having a holiday on Monday (assuming you live in Australia and not WA).

The holiday is about the Queen of England, a date selected to be her birthday, even if its not.

The queen of England at 86 an old lady, she has not had a lot of health problems and that's a predictor she will live on for many years yet.  Perhaps she make it till 100.

Part of the secret to her success is her diet

A diet fit for a queen

Go to google and type "queen Elizabeth II diet" and you will receive a host of pages making all sorts of claims about what she eats.  The underlining communication is that she has a clean simple diet.  There is no mention of any magical solution like some herb that only grows in the foot hills of the Himalayas.  Yes, despite her considerable wealth, there is no rocket science in there.

I also recall the comment on TV, when she visited on of the pacific island countries, that she had small portions.

One thing that wealth can bring you is good professional advice.

What you should do

You should become your own expert.  At the end of the day we want to enjoy what we stuff down our throats and want it to be healthy for us.

What if you did nothing

Well its up to you as to how long you want to live

 Riding

 Did a mega ride today, 152K leaving Marrickville at 6.05am, headed to the northern end of the southern highlands.  With me was Todd, who those of you at FF Rockdale might know

Sunday's ride

Ride photo

Classes

Tuesday 12.20 I'll be covering at Fitness First Walker St.  They are looking for a new instructor and I'm covering it for a few weeks while they search for one.  This week I'll do Ride8 in that class.

Fitness First 

Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride - not on public holiday
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM - not on public holiday
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Top Ryde Wed 5.45pm Ride

Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM

 

YMCA

Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM - not on public holiday
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG

Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Sleep Ride Eat Repeat