Weight / Fat loss

No rush :)

I can ask my dad, will take a couple of days to respond though, unless I put the question to him in ancient Greek.

Your dad is Henry Jones AICMFP

No sugar rush :)

Obviously.

Aspartame does not affect blood glucose levels (according to a diabetic friend anyway)

So I'd take that with a pinch of salt... oh sod it, I'll get my coat.

Anyone got any good recommendations for whey (or other protein) powder?

I've never bought it before so not sure where to start. I'm after something unflavoured with as little chemical additives etc as possible.

Forget the weight- sounds like an awesome holiday!

(I'd be very interested in where you stayed and so on)

And the weight is going to be muscle that you've put on I would think.

I'm not bothered about the weight, it just made me laugh a bit as it was the most intensive week of exercise I've ever done. I do seem to put on muscle bulk quickly but 3kg in a week?

I stayed in a Gite 8km from Bourg d'Oisans. Close enough to plenty of big Cols. Two weeks would have been better as I didn't make it to the Col de la Croix de Fer/Glandon or Duex Alps, and I only had a minor rest day when it rained on Monday (though we still did 600 metres of climbing that day).

We went up:
Alpe d'Huez then on to the Col de Sarenne.
Galiber (via Col du Lautaret)
Col d'Ornon
Alpe d'Huez again via Freney d'Oisans. Beautiful ride along a balcony road, dropping you onto Alpe d'Huez 4 switchbacks up. Harder than the usual way!
Col de Sabot via Vaujany

This may sound odd, but it is important to our planning- was there anywhere nearby to get a decent coffee?

It's France, they don't do decent coffee.

Anyone got any good recommendations for whey (or other protein) powder?

I've never bought it before so not sure where to start. I'm after something unflavoured with as little chemical additives etc as possible.

myprotein stuff is decent, varying quality depending on price but its all over 80%.

Unflavoured is horrible though.

This may sound odd, but it is important to our planning- was there anywhere nearby to get a decent coffee?

take your own machine. i took my gaggia to flanders, its the only way to get good coffee

It's France, they don't do decent coffee.

take your own machine. i took my gaggia to flanders, its the only way to get good coffee

That was my suspicion, the Gaggia+grinder can go in the boot next to the bikes.

Christ...

Coffee is important.

will good coffee make you go faster than bad coffee?

Of course

will good coffee make you go faster than bad coffee?

To the toilet? I don't think it makes a difference.

The coffee in france is shite. I took a hand grinder and aeropress with me

Right - over the last few months I've been exercising alot more running/cycling/weights and on a fairly strict diet - Finally got a handle on portion control, eliminated snacking and started calorie counting etc. In the first month it was working, lost a decent amount of weight etc.

Now I've plateaud completely, and can't shift that last bit of stubborn fat. I'm thinking of going of swtiching to a high protein/low-no carb diet to see if that will help. Think atkins but a tailored-to-me healthier verison of it. At the moment it's the only thing I can think of that might help.

Stupid? Any other solutions?

If you are already counting calories then you know the answer, put in less in than you use.
Fad diets are bullshit. Variety of lower calorie foods rather than just cutting out foods.

^ truth. It gets harder as you adapt to the new regime but you got to keep going. Ye cannot beat the 1st law of thermodynamics.

If you mean actual fat then a controlled diet, and lots of cardio is the best way to lose it. If you started using protein shakes, then you should have started noticing growth in the muscle areas you are working. Seeing as you seem to be doing cardio, I would imagine you're looking for a leaner physique, so weights would be designed to help develop lean muscle (high rep,low weight etc). Where is the fat located?

I just got back off holiday, and have gone a little backwards, drank too much beer and wine, but still managed to get in decent levels of exercise/food and plenty of plyometrics.

^high rep/low weight resistance training is cardio. It won't build muscle. It'll give the impression of building muscle because you get a 'pump' i.e. trapped plasma in the muscles for a short period after the session. It might improve muscle tone, but that's because it's cardio, so will burn fat reserves, fat that 'softens' your muscle definition.

I think a lot of people fuck up their weight loss regimes due to go mental with protein drinks. A little is good immediately after a work out, to stop the body cannibalising muscle tissue, but you unless you're a power athlete, you only need a minimal amount e.g. just one 30g scoop in ~150ml of water. People necking measures and measures of the stuff, especially when it's mixed in milk, are loading up on excessive calories.

@ Tenderloin - Stomach mostly, the rest of me is fairly lean. I do a fair amount of abs,obliques and core work so I've got decent muscles in that area.

I've been on a vegan diet, whilst I enjoyed a lot of aspects of it, I do think I've been lacking protein, and although I've noticeably lost fat, I believe some of my weight loss has been muscle loss, and I haven't been making as much gain muscle-wise as I should have by now. So I'm thinking of keeping some of the good elements of that diet (all whole grains, lots of leafy greens and fresh veg) Introducing some more protein through lean meat and the occasional shake, and cutting out some Carbs aswell.

Coupled with working some more high intensity cardio into my workout, i think that sounds like a good bet to get over this plateau, I'll try it for a couple of weeks and see if it makes any difference.

Pro tip- shop for clothes at sainsbury, i am size "S" in their terms.

I've been on a vegan diet, whilst I enjoyed a lot of aspects of it, I do think I've been lacking protein, and although I've noticeably lost fat, I believe some of my weight loss has been muscle loss, and I haven't been making as much gain muscle-wise as I should have by now. .

You wont build any muscle on negative calories, what you can do by increasing your protein intake though is to help reduce the amount of muscle you lose from dieting.