lason

Hey all,

About me: I'm 26 (27 next month), 5'6" and 270 pounds. I got into cycling last April when I weighed 280 and ended up dropping 40 pounds over the summer. However when winter came, so did every pound I lost. I got a Trek 7000 on March 2 and put 110 miles on it so far. I ride about 20 miles whenever I go out riding, which is about triple the distance I rode last summer. For some reason I can't seem to lose any weight. I'm eating way fewer calories than I'm used to and according to FitDay I'm burning twice as many calories as I'm taking in, even without the biking. What am I doing wrong? How can I kick start the weight loss? I'd love to be able to report in as a success story like the others I've read on this forum.

bdinger

Are you drinking a lot of water? How long have you been riding without losing anything? Also are you riding HARDER or just farther? Do you do any other exercise?

For me, plateaus are a beeyatch and usually indicate it's time to mix something up. I remember my first one, when I was at about 470. I was working out daily, consuming 800 calories, and manged to GAIN a pound one week. I about flipped! Then i realized I had been crappy on my water intake, lo and behold the next week I lost like 8 pounds. Same things happen nowadays.

I've found that usually these spots indicate you need to switch something up. Different foods, maybe even MORE calories, harder/different workouts.. something.

Good luck! Keep trying, and you'll get your result soon enough.

bigmallard

I'll try not to get too technical, but the inner physiologist might get the best of me.

1. Eat within the first thirty minutes of getting up. This will jumpstart your metabolism for the coming day.

2. Eat every three and a half to four hours. If you go any longer than this your body begins to store the glucose that you have in your system for Central Nervous System function.

3. Start eating whole grains and kick white potatoes and sugar to the curb. Sweet potaotes have more fiber and are all around better for you. Unfrosted mini-wheats are great snack, when you are getting hungry. When you go to buy bread look at the ingredients label. If it says "bleached" or "enriched" anywhere in the first three ingredients, put it down and look further down the shelf. No sodas. There is way too much sugar in a single can of soda. If you have a scale, get sugar and put it on it until it weighs out to be 40 grams, which is the average. You'll be suprised how much it is. Stay away from aspartame and saccharine, try sucralose, such as Splenda. Brown rice is another great food as well as 100% semolina pasta. Pasta is ok because it is more complex of a carbohydrate than most people think.

4. Drink at least 2 liters of water a day. A study I saw a few weeks ago, showed a positive correlation in between water consumption and loss of non-lean body mass. They did a study, where they got people of close age, height, body fat %, and caloric expenditure and intake. The people that drank the water over a period of time(sorry I don't recall how long) had a body fat percentage of 4% less than the control group. Don't let people tell you thats too much, I drink about 1-1/2 gallons a day. If that is not a good reason for you, then staying well hydrated for your rides should be a good enough reason.

5. Cut out salt. Try to limit your sodium intake to 300mg per meal. This gives you plenty of sodium for regular body functions, but leaves you without the risk of hypertension.

6. Lean proteins. Beef cuts such as the flank, top round, london broil, sirloin tip, top sirloin, are all great lean sources of preotein as well as chicken and turkey. A goos alternative to expensive breasts is skinless drumsticks. They have a similar fat and protein count. Stay away from pork, just too fatty. For ground beef, stick with ground sirloin(90% lean, 10% fat) or lean(93%lean, 7%fat). Ground chuck has the best texture but too much fat. Sirlion has the best flavor, but don't overcook it it will go dry quick. Not all ground turkey is created equal. Check the fat % content of the turkey it usually comes in 85%lean and 93%lean. Both are good, but try to go with the 93%. Another good way to get rid of fat in grinds is, once you get done browning it and it is in the colander, run some cold water over it. It will get rid of up to 50% of the fat that is in the browned meat. Sorry about the long meat section, not only am I in school for physiology, but I pay my way by working as a butcher.

Hopefully this will help you. If you have any questions, I'll be more than happy to help.

Tom Stormcrowe

Thank you, I was organizing the same general concept as I read and found I didn't need to after all!

lason

i guess i'm not drinking as much water as i was over the summer. i'm riding much farther and a bit harder than i was. i was also lifting weights over the summer too. i was trying to eat clean over the summer but my budget really doesn't allow for it, as i have a wife and 3 kids to feed on 1 income. maybe i need to start lifting again? i figured just cutting calories and increasing my cycling would be enough to see the pounds come off, but i guess there's more to the equation.... thanks for all the replies so far.

shog

Are you getting enough calories ? Have you kicked your body into starvation mode ? Try upping the calories a little, don't go wild just go up a couple of hundred for a few days and see if it kicks in the weight loss. One other thought you might want to take measurements and make sure your not adding muscle and removing inches.

Shog

bigmallard

If you start lifting again, be sure to lift before you do cardio. This way your body uses up most of its stored glycogen when you lift, so that when you do the cardio the fat in the muscle is being used for energy. Also this will keep you from hurting yourself, by using bad form, if you get tired after your cardio.

v1k1ng1001

I lose weight very slowly until I start lifting. Building up muscle really helps.

yeamac 

1. You lost weight before, so you can do it again. What made you successful last time? Repeat it.

2. To keep weight off you have to change your diet/eating habits from when you were overweight. If you loose some weight because you eat a salad every time for lunch for 6 months and then go back to eating 2 Big Macs and Supersize Fries at lunch Mon-Fri, guess what? The weight will come back. Not trying to sound harsh, but winter should be no excuse to put on weight. If you don't make a lifestyle change, then your weight is not going to change for the long term, either.

lason

i was eating clean before. it's really hard to do it when you're on a tight budget and have a family to support, but i try to eat healthy foods when i can. i'm also going to increase my water intake and maybe try to eat more often during the day like i was doing before. hopefully if it doesn't rain tomorrow i'm going to do a 20+ mile ride.

mezza

Dude - potatoes, rice, vegetables. They're pretty much the cheapest things in the supermarket....

A rice, vegetables and chicken stir fry with olive oil is quick, easy and cheap. Just like 100 other meals you could make.

I think you're limiting yourself with your beliefs. And yes, I used to be a clyde.

FarHorizon

Don't worry - just ride. Everything else takes care of itself eventually.

Neil_B

If you are doing what should work, it will work, unless you have a medical condition. You lost weight before, and you can do it again. You need to believe in yourself; no one else can make you lose the weight. I know; look at my before and current photos:
https://historian2wheels.blogspot.com...-and-then.html
I've lost 133 pounds.

Fitday is useful, but it overstates exercise calories IMO. You need to set the lifestyle guide to "sedentary" or "bed-bound" for the base metabolism before you get a reasonable reading.

lason

congrats on losing all that weight! i told my wife i was considering going back on my old diet which worked, but she was less than enthusiastic because i was very irritable while on it. i did lose 40 pounds though, so i may try it again. i was also doing high intensity interval training a few times a week. i think i need to start that back up again.

Neil_B

Thanks you. Where you irritable because it wasn't going well, because you were frustrated, because you thought you were denying yourself, or because you weren't eating properly? Weight loss isn't about losing, it's about gaining; gaining health, gaining strength, gaining stamina, gaining flexibility, gaining life. If you become irritable, try to determine why. It shouldn't be the result of eating properly and exercising.

lason

I think I was irritable because I was hungry all the time.

Neil_B

Hmm, I can't say I ever had that problem. I ate lots of good food slowly, and exercised. I stopped beating myself up for lapses or occasional overeating. It's like bike riding; what do you do when you fall off? You get back on. Speaking of which, I'm stuck in the mid 250s, so I'd better get back on track.

As for being hungry, when were you hungry? Were you actually hungry, or just thirsty? Was the eating/hunger prompted by boredom? Weight loss isn't a jersey you can put on or take off as you like. You have to think about what you are eating and doing, and why you are eating and doing.