Weight Loss — How much does it help when skiing?

A snowHead

I am about to embark on two weeks in Italy and am currently 6lbs above my fighting weight. This is not good news. Twisted Evil

Edit: for those who don't know I'm a midget, 6 extra pounds is a lot for me. Sad

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@homers double,

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Update having shifted more than 4 stone since last season, got back a couple of weeks ago from 12 days of skiing. Not once at any stage did it feel like my legs had gone. I was skiing faster, on the same pistes if not more difficult ones than done before, searching out the offpiste sections to go and ski, doing a few runs on most days through slush, powder and bumps, and 12 days of it didn't have me significantly out of breath at any stage or with muscles aching at the end of the day. My knee problems have basically disappeared.

It is worth it, and has been a nice byproduct of the hard work over the last 8 months. Simple things work: You can eat a big meal each day no problem, and don't have to worry about going out with friends and eating a small salad, but you can't eat two or three big meals each day and expect to lose weight. A load of soup (the fresh pots of the stuff from supermarkets) gives you vegetables and fills you up enough for lunch or dinner, and has 300 calories in a whole pot. Plus it is dead easy to cook in the microwave. Just doing some regular exercise and eating 300 calorie lunches, never drink more than one can of fizzy drink a day, has shifted a stone every 2 months and continues to work.

A diet has to be sustainable to work. I am close to a diet that I could keep eating for the rest of my life, it doesn't stop me eating a load of pizza (mmmmm, pizza) or going out for a steak etc, and as long as you avoid going nuts every night of the week with dinner then you will be under the golden 2500 calories a day which means you are putting less fuel in than you are burning.

Two useful phrases that I had to remind myself of when I started cutting down what I was eating (and was naturally pretty damned hungry quite a lot of the time for several weeks until my body got used to eating less): 1) You are not a dog, do not reward yourself with food. 2) Hunger is your body telling you that you are losing weight, when you are hungry you are making a difference (within reason!) and see it as a positive feeling. Quite a lot of hunger is dehydration, so drink water when you are hungry.

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@Digger the dinosaur, Well done. Another phrase I like is "Nothing tastes as nice as thin feels"

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After all it is free

Hope its ok to resurrect this thread.

I can now safely say that fitness 100% is important.
I put all my weight back on , spent a month in Asia lying on beaches and drinking cocktails and generally being a lazy bum.

Had holiday blues and missing snow took a sneaky 4 day break , I was shocked how bad both of us were with fitness.
Tired legs after an hour , making excuses to get off the slope , sticking to blues etc , just not enjoying it and we are 1st lift and last lift quick lunch types. The lack of fitness just made it all a bit of a chore and i was very annoyed.
I had booked a day on a mountain close by , all black runs and steep drop ins , thats where it really showed but oddly enough we felt like all the laziness had got out of the system by the days end.
Back on the blues and reds for last day and we really enjoyed it and felt much fitter and enjoyed a brilliant mornings skiing.

So to summarise my feelings.
The fitness probably isnt a big deal if you spend an hour or two on the blues mixing that up with boozy lunches.
But when wanting to progress your skiing and explore all the mountain then its essential.
Hence the renewed motivation to lose some weight and increase fitness levels over the coming year.
If the thread stays alive ill post infrequent updates and hopefully a few join in Smile

As of today a whopping 211lbs , i find it hard to move , cant put my socks on without puffing and panting and generally a fat barsteward
change is a coming
GL

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I reckon you would notice 17 kg and your knees will thank you for it too! But on the other hand I think skiing is one of those sports where you can get away with carrying a fair bit of excess weight (gravity is always on your side), so you won't get the same gain as say you would on a bicycle or running. But if in the process of losing weight you also gain general fitness and strength, then that should in itself make a huge difference and especially so if you work on your ski specific muscle groups. I use a "Skier's Edge" machine for that specific purpose.

And don't forget to adjust your DIN settings! Wink

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I was down to about 74.5kg in November but Xmas and the ski season have left me at 77.5kg - as I said earlier in the thread, if am downhill skiing then I do less CV exercise than in a normal week and definitely eat more rolling eyes

So I'm back on the careful eating (sensible portions, no snacking in the week, more relaxed at weekends) and ramping up the intensity of exercise a bit. Hope I will trickle back down to 74 over the next 3 months or so. I'd love to find a better balance in the winter - doing more skinning and/or running when I am on a skiing holiday would help.

On the original question - 75kg is lower than I have been for most of my adult life. Spent quite a lot at 80-84kg. In terms of skiing fitness, it doesn't make much difference to me on the piste (strong legs and decent technique). Where I really feel it is playing about with jumps and moguls - I really feel so much springier, lighter on my feet, better able to absorb shocks, react to changes underfoot etc.

snow reports

I was doing ok with about six or so pounds off the middle then we went away for a week, adults only, beer beer beer... Vodka.

Back on it again now (not the beer) and hoping to get about 5 or six pounds back off again before a cycle sportive on the 18th of June.

I hate Wine Wednesdays...

You know it makes sense.

I have been trying to lose a half a stone for the last 20 years. Some years I make it others I don't.. Does it make a difference to skiing yup very much so... Motivational tips 1) work out how much you would like to lose (say 10 lbs), stuff a backpack with that amount of weight and do a little exercise like running walking cross fit etc and see if you notice the difference and then wonder how much better it would be without carrying that amount of extra weight. 2) go out and buy 10lbs (or your goal) of butter, tuck in your shirt and stuff the butter down your shirt and look in the mirror. Butter weighs the same as fat Wink

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I found this blog interesting, in that it explains the process of weight gain and loss and the chemical processes driving it. It is about 70 blog posts and will take a lot of reading, but fascinating. It is not the best website, but the link is to the first batch of blogs. You have to start at the bottom of the page and work up.

https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/2013/08/

A snowHead

@Digger the dinosaur, Congrats! hope it's stayed off, very inspirational phrases I will use as I continue on my eating plan, I like how you said you could keep to that food routine, I think that could be the key for me.

A snowHead

With 1 month left of my 6 month regime, I am currently on target to meet all objectives. I have already lost 7lbs, and so weight gain or loss is not an issue. 2,800 calories per day has been my average, 6.3 units of alcohol per week is how it currently stands (but below 6/week is easily achievable by 1/11/16), salt intake is 5.4g per day. I have been jogging 3 times a week on average since 1/5/16 which is more than double my previous six month average. This is due to much more relaxed muscles, particularly my left hamstrings. The reason for this is an improved hamstring stretch routine, and a new foam roller which has massage nodules on it.

I now have a calorie to average jogs per month table, which would ensure my weight remained the same.

2600 calories per day => 0 jogs per week
2700 calories per day => 1 jog per week
2800 calories per day => 2 jogs per week
2900 calories per day => 3 jogs per week

So clearly my weight loss has been due to increased summer jogging, rather than eating less. Similarly my winter gain in weight was due to eating the same, and exercising less. Clearly I need to increase my skiing in winter time.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

This sorts me out nicely and doesnt take long:

http://youtube.com/v/1YM3OC4-Z1o

I do this a 3 times per week pre-season. Be warned, start easy, nearly chucked up 1st time I did this!

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That looks horrible.

I lost 5 to 6 lbs in the past 3 weeks just not eating cake, candy, cola, no adding sugar to tea and on cereal, no beer (just wine). While I didn't set off with any real plan other than that, its made me think a bit more carefully about what I eat ie why do this and then eat fast food.

Next is to step up the exercise. Would probably have a heart attack if I tried those lunges though.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Nearly split myself in half first time I did the jumping lunges, and couldn't bend over to put my socks on in the morning. 4 weeks later and all is now good and legs can handle it.

Now where did I put those donuts Puzzled

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Well since i posted on this thread i shall update.
Weight loss is going nowhere still 208lbs , dont drink as often , in fact i am 6 weeks off it at present but makes no difference.
Diet is good most of the time but i like ice cream and the odd takeaway and shite food when on the road working.
No matter , im forgetting about that this time round.

My new approach is getting fit , funny i watched that video on reddit and have been following it minus the jumping from leg to leg one.( i dread to think how i look doing it in my living room)
I think im quite fit anyways with my job and can do all the squats and lunges easy enough , im using 4lb kettlebells with them just to make them a tiny bit harder.
also swimming 4 times a week for general fitness and im lucky to have an ice rink nearby so going there once a week for fitness and i presume a bit of muscle memory.
Gonna head to the dry slope this weekend and see how i feel after a few runs and keep the fitness up and go again in another month to see how much difference.

one thing is for sure , you feel a whole lot better esp with the swimming , i think its very calming as well and doing a fitness thing.

Overall i think ill lose a few Lbs with the fitness stuff and im sure it all helps.

Best of luck all and keep at it Smile

Oh i meant to say the reason for the ice skating and swimming was that i tried that GYM lark , really wasnt for me , i hated it so rather than give up i just picked a couple of things i enjoy and that has really helped , i look forward to a swim and its much easier on the body.

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@Mr Lederhosen, +1 I did this last season combined with a lot more core strength work (planks, side planks and abs wheel), it made a massive difference to dynamic stability and endurance. It was very tough to get to a decent level but worth the effort.

After all it is free

@ Mr Leferhosen - super vid. Thanks. What a fit chick, gives me hope. Thankyou also for being so honest but encouraging that it will take 4 weeks to get it. I will give it a go & let you know. Now I've lost 10kg my body may be kind enough to permit me to start gently on these lunges.

@Thermasterpiece. Great job. Yep, sugar is like posion, I also gave it up 2 months ago and now try to keep my carbs below 100g per day.

I find this free mobile app really good for keeping on track with carbs etc. https://www.loseit.com

The swapping lunch for soup thing really works provided you don't go nuts at dinner time. Not that difficult to stick to. I lost about 10 lb inside of six weeks and kept the bulk of that off. I'm having a pre-season run at it at the moment and we'll see whether I can get back under the 12 stone mark. Would be nice.

The thing in the Pip Hunt video also really works. I had real trouble with the jump lunges (early onset arthritis in the feet) so omitted them and still got a reasonable result from it. The progression is vicious, though. It is supposed to really, really hurt after the first set but it will never be that bad again.

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there are other variations on the Body Weight workouts that are less intensive. One I like to recommend is do three reps of four exercises (increasing the number as you get fitter) and mix it up over the weeks

12 squats, 20 ballet leg outs, 10 squat jumps, 60 skips, repeat, repeat rest

12 front lunge, 12 diagonal lunge, 30 sec plank, 30 sec side plank, repeat, repeat rest

10 pistol squats each leg, 20 squats, 20 skier hops, 12 back lunges, repeat, repeat, rest

snow reports

I have lost about 3st in the last 3 years and am still over my target weight ,,I need to lose another stone ..I live on fruit and salads, but my weight seems to have plateaued ..I am losing now about 1lb /month but I do go to the gym about 6 times a week ..I do 16 exercises in half an hour ..an intense whole body workout . but I am 6'3" and heavily built 17.5 st.. I can stay skiing reds and blacks without many problems but....I certainly feel the cold more ..the lack of insulation tells ..and I am past retirement age!

I don't know what others might say here but the common wisdom is that if people have plateaued it usually means that their body has adapted to the training regime and has become more efficient. You probably already know this but just in case - might sound contradictory, but you don't want to become too efficient as it does not challenge muscle groups, try mixing up your training regime. Try doing some heavy lifting with weights (relative to age and fitness) focusing on large muscle groups (legs, back and chest), low reps, for 6 - 8 weeks, then swap back to your usual regime.

Are you getting enough recovery time in? Over-training is really counter-productive. Watch what fruits you are having - some are loaded with natural sugars, and eat enough protein. If you want to know how the world champs train watch the film 'Streiff - one hell of a ride'. They do what skimottaret does focusing on core and leg explosive power plus heavy lifting and balance/stability exercises.

Don't get discouraged, loosing 3 stone is a great achievement and you'll get massive health benefits just doing that!!

You know it makes sense.

I'm pretty much static and haven't been on the bike or to the gym much in a month.

We've got lots going on in the house too so thats not giving me much time as well as the darkness creeping in. Probably time to dig out the winter cycling gear and the turbo trainer for the really bad days.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@DaveD, you sound as if you do a lot of exercise. You are tall and heavily built and that, plus every day living and work, must use up a lot of calories and as your weight is basically static you must be taking in almost as many calories as you are using. Are you sure you're not deluding yourself a bit about living on fruit and salad?

A snowHead

Nope ...breakfast is a bowl of porridge (half water half milk)with a satsuma Lunch is a big salad with a pack of Smoked mackerel or breaded cod fillets or some other sort of fish generally with a satsuma pear and grapes with plain yoghurt after and supper is a bowl of clear soup with some noodles in it and more fruit and yoghurt

A snowHead

Finally made it to the end of the latest 6 month period of analysis. The figures speak for themselves.

Help!!

Weight Loss — How much does it help when skiing?

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