Most gyms have a body composition machine. I know S10 (the Sheffield university gym) has one, so if you're a member of a gym, then it usually provides the service at a small cost (£5 at S10). Make sure its one that puts little sensors on your hand and foot rather than one you hold. the sensor one is much more accurate than a simple hand held machine.

 unless you go to a proper sports scince lab, it will not be 100% accurate, but it is good for getting an indication of your composition. 

 before you go, make sure you don't drink any coffe/alchohol for 24 hours and drink normally. 

Is pizza really that bad for you though?  I had pizza for my tea last night and it was delish, however I do make my own, including dough and don't smother it with cheese (I may just be deluding myself though but I'm quite happy in that delusion).  I'd faint if I had the level of food you've listed in a day and that's without exercise - I eat constantly.  I'm quite similar to Trio in that I tend to stay quite stable, I'd happily lose half a stone but wouldn't want to be lose more than that and if I try to cut food down I can cope for a couple of days then my body demands food.

After a tough ride or run (particularly run these days) I'll have a recovery type drink as soon as possible after I finish which stops the hoover everything in sight munchies later. I also plan a menu out for an entire week so I know what I am having and can just get on with making it.  I also find carb loading doesn't work for me, I can eat pasta, rice and potatoes each meal all week and I'll still run out of energy after about 2 hours if pushing, a bit more if not.  My OH and a couple of the guys I ride with seem to be able to make it work for them but I can't.  I don't consciously increase my food intake or change my diet prior to a big ride or run but I do have to pay more attention to my nutrition during the ride than the lads I ride with, if I don't fuel myself well enough during then it will take me a while to recover from it, recovery drink or no.  On a ride over about 2.5 hours with the lads I'll use energy drink, they generally won't bother.

I have a 15 mile trail race over Garburn pass tomorrow (don't go riding round that area tomorrow!) and I haven't changed the what I eat at all but I have had a relatively light training week and I find that helps me more than anything else and I have actually eaten less this week than normal.  I will have four energy gels (can't stand energy drink when running)  with me to make sure I have enough fuel to get me round without bonking after about two hours whereas there will be other people who'll manage the race on nothing but water and a piece of toast for breakfast.

 I will probably also find that I will be really hungry on Sunday, my body will be repairing itself after the run and will need fuel to do that.  I used to try to vary food amounts depending on the amount of exercise I was doing in a day but I found it easier to average it out over a week and consume roughly the same amount of calories each day as I would often be hungry the day after long rides/runs, though that was when I was paying attention to my diet, I dont really these days, my diet is pretty good, my wine consumption on the other hand....

Have thought about restarting a food diary to make sure I'm eating enough, and see how much wine I'm drinking...

hi guys - did anyone see that most recent article - i think it was on bike radar - it said that actually - women dont need to carb load - this is because they have discovered that women are better at utilizing fuel during exercise whereas men are not. the article claimed that men should carb load, as they do not use fuel well from energy drinks etc during a ride, whereas women should eat normally and use more from energy drinks or fuel on route. i'll try to find the link and post if i can. i think like trio said, they recommended not eating more, but perhaps just changing proportion of carbs in the meal pre-ride.

also like MRS NBT, i dont avoid fats, eat a lot of smoked salmon, avocados, olive oil etc. i have got an extremelel low iron count at the moment due t o my coeliac disease i think so i am trying now to eat a lot more beef (even though i dont like it) and pulses. I dont drink hardly any alcohol though so i probably escape a few caloried there!