Cycling and Weight Loss

When many people think of weight loss they think of fad diets and doing whatever they can to tighten their belt a few notches. A better way to think about weight loss is to aim for increased fitness and overall health.

Cycling can become a way of life that kick starts a whole new dimension of health and wellness. Rather than simply producing a reduction in size, it can produce health benefits that make a huge difference to every day life.

One of my regular radio segments is a chat to Ian Wee of Perth Integrated Health Cycling Group. Yesterday we spoke about cycling and weight loss. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

We discussed the fact that many people who decide to ride, especially in their 40s and 50s have done so from a sedentary lifestyle and were concerned about fitness and their existing weight. Many were looking for an exercise or sport that is low impact and non jarring for their bodies. When they began their new training regimes those that committed to an 8 week structured program, which involved cycling twice a week as well as riding with their friends or by themselves for an additional one or two times more a week actually lost between ten and eighteen kilograms in that time frame with no additional changes to their lifestyle apart from waking up earlier to ride.

Those taking part also reported that by waking up earlier they felt refreshed and able to achieve more during the day once their bodies got used to the initial change in daily routine.



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Truth, Lies and Chocolate

Truth, Lies & ChocolateOver recent years we’ve seen a renewed interest in food and thankfully a lot of people are heading back into the kitchen but are we cooking healthier food?

Julie Meek spent five years as the Dietitian to the Fremantle Dockers Football Club, has worked with the Perth Wildcats, and has helped thousands of ordinary people achieve personal success through eating well.

Julie has a degree in nutrition and health promotion and an Accredited Practising Dietitian. Her new book Truth, Lies & Chocolate explores 99 Facts and Fairytales about food. The book was a finalist in the foodie equivalent of the Oscars, the 2010 Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards.

Julie joined me on 98.5 Sonshine FM today during my morning programme to talk about the book and healthy eating habits. You can hear our conversation by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

If you’re looking to get some simple answers to the complex questions about food, Julie has a wonderful way of helping others move forward on the journey to healthy eating.

Is chocolate good for us? Should we eat carbohydrates after 5:00 p.m.? Are orange wedges suitable for a mid game snack? What part does metabolism play in maintaining a healthy weight? Can eating too little prevent us from losing weight? These are just a few of the topics we touched on during our chat.

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Hiding beer, burgers and pizza

burger.jpgIf you’re a guy who’s put on a few extra kilograms over the Christmas break there is now a perfect solution … the Mirdle.

News.com.au has published a story which reports that a male girdle is ready to do big business for men who want a trimmer look without doing the work required to achieve it naturally.

The stretch cotton vest and T-shirt are said to reduce a man’s waistline by up to 5cm and will be available in the UK and online from January 7.

I’m certainly in favour of wearing flattering clothing but flattening clothing may just be taking things a bit far for me.

I will admit to putting on a little extra weight over the past couple of weeks but I’m now back on my bike and looking forward to reversing that trend. I managed to drop quite a few kilograms during 2009 and so I was dissapointed that I allowed myself to take a couple of steps back but I’m still happy to look at the big picture and work towards greater fitness again in 2010.

I’m not a fan of tight clothing and I don’t think I’d be prepared to sacrifice comfort for a slightly improved shape, especially when I would know that everything would head south as soon as I removed the Mirdle.

How about you? Do you reckon that it’s a reasonable idea? Is it the kind of thing that might give guys the extra confidence they need or is it cheating? Is it simply making the most of what we’ve got or pretending that we haven’t got that little bit extra?



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