Training & Nutrition - Beginner Motivation

I bought my Hybrid about a month ago and I use it to commute to and from work about 3 times a week which is about 8 miles roundtrip. I would eventually like to go for rides on the weekends as well. I ride from my house to the gym, to work (which I included in the 8 mi roundtrip.) Anyways, at the gym I will usually do about 30-40 minutes of cardio, ON TOP of my bike commute. Also, I do light weight training 2-3 times a week. At least once a week I do a pilates class and at least twice a week I do a 45-1 hour spinning class.

I do not want to lose a lot of weight, I would like to lose flab in my stomach. Does anyone have any pointers for me? I like to eat healthy, I am finding myself hungry ALL OF THE TIME but I am not losing weight at all.

I guess I am just looking for advice on eating?

The scale might not be the place to look for results. In my case, I've lost about half my beerbelly, but the scale says I've gained 10lbs. Also are you eating enough? I hear lots of recommendations for only a 500 calorie deficit a day, which should drop 1lb of fat per week. You could be confusing your metabolism. Give it another month, I'm sure that's when you'll start noticing the difference.

I think you have the exercise part of it down, now's the time to look at what you are eating.

If you've had this same level of activity for more than a few weeks you will need to adjust your diet if your goal is to lose weight.

heliumb is right - it may not be best to strictly look at the scale - you could be turning fat into muscle, so to speak. I recomend you try fitday.com for a few weeks to track your eating. be very honest and accurate and I'm sure you can find some places to cut calories/fat and increase nutrition all while eating right.

I would tell you to make sure you are eating throughout the day, starting with breakfast. Make sure you eat a couple of snacks (healthy ones like fruit...not cookies or candy) as well...

I am a one trick pony on this issue.

Whey Protein Powder!

See http://www.wheyoflife.org for details
about the trimming and fitness qualities of
this EXCELLENT food source.

I have maintained a 90 lb weightloss on this
stuff and yes, my stomach is fairly flat and
I am trim and fit to ride my bikes as much
as I want. Numbers on medical reports from
the Dr. are superb including BP, LDL/HDL, and
all other markers.

...I agree with heliumb.

On the diet part, American Diabetes Association (http://www.diabetes.org/nutrition-and-recipes/nutrition/overview.jsp) has all kinds of nutrition advice that surrounds monitering your diet (lots of carb counting and stuff like that)...that is what most diabetics (like me) need to do to more properly maintain decent bloodsugar. It can easily translate to fitness and weight loss.

Also consider that you are attempting a lifestyle change...not so easy. Give it time and your best effort. I hope I am not beating a dead horse for you.:)

I bought my Hybrid about a month ago and I use it to commute to and from work about 3 times a week which is about 8 miles roundtrip. I would eventually like to go for rides on the weekends as well. I ride from my house to the gym, to work (which I included in the 8 mi roundtrip.) Anyways, at the gym I will usually do about 30-40 minutes of cardio, ON TOP of my bike commute. Also, I do light weight training 2-3 times a week. At least once a week I do a pilates class and at least twice a week I do a 45-1 hour spinning class.

I do not want to lose a lot of weight, I would like to lose flab in my stomach. Does anyone have any pointers for me? I like to eat healthy, I am finding myself hungry ALL OF THE TIME but I am not losing weight at all.

I guess I am just looking for advice on eating?

From what you describe, you are getting about 2.5-3 hours per week of cardiovascular exercise. I assume a little over 30 minutes of cycling three times a week plus an hour of spin class. I'll give you 30 minutes worth for the Pilates/weight training. at 600 cal/hr, that's only 1800 calories (only half a pound's worth of fat).

If you want to lose weight, then perhaps you should consider ratcheting up the cycling (or whatever cardio you like). Try doing an hour or two on saturday and Sunday, or take a more circuitous route home to add 10-15 miles extra on days you commute by bike.

As far as diet goes, forget extreme recommendations to eat this or that kind of food. Get a copy of Fit Day nutrition software and use it to record every single thing you put in your mouth. Fit day has tools to help you estimate the calories in most foods and has the USDA nutrition database. In addition, the software will let you enter your exercise and give you a daily caloric balance between what you burn and what you ate.

If you get this program, and use it reliably and honestly, you will be able to lose weight. Oh, and remember that restaurant food is all about twice the calories you think it is.

Get a copy of Fit Day nutrition software and use it to record every single thing you put in your mouth. Fit day has tools to help you estimate the calories in most foods and has the USDA nutrition database. In addition, the software will let you enter your exercise and give you a daily caloric balance between what you burn and what you ate.

If you get this program, and use it reliably and honestly, you will be able to lose weight. Oh, and remember that restaurant food is all about twice the calories you think it is.

or try FitDay for free.... http://www.fitday.com/

The software has some features the free website does not, but the free online one works great and can be accessed from any pc with internet. The initial learning of the site is a little cumbersome but once you get the swing of it, it works fine... and you can customize stuff... like the way you life your coffee (2 teaspoons sugar and 2 tablesspoons skim milk for me) ;)

Don't get too caught up in the muscle weighs more than fat bit. If you're trying to lose weight and running a caloric deficit, you can't help but lose weight, even if you're gaining muscle and losing fat. The key is making sure you're running a caloric deficit...cut out the fat, don't eat any junk food, and eat more veggies and fruit. Something that helps me is I eat a large portion of fruit before every meal(or a handful of baby carrots, etc). It fills me up and has lots of fiber which keeps me feeling full and I eat much less dinner. It also is most likely calorically less dense than what you were planning to have for lunch/dinner. The other thing that really helps is that when I no longer feel hungry during a meal, I stop eating. There is no reason you *have* to finish your plate. Keep the rest for later. It's better to eat more smaller meals then pig out for lunch & dinner.

edit: not sure if you're drinking a bunch of gatorade or powerade during your workouts, but switch to water unless you're doing an extended ride(90 mins+). Cut out sugar soda & juice. All of these things have a bajeezus load of calories with out any hunger-sating qualities.

+1 on the additional cycling during the week. It's important to get your heartrate up and to keep it elevated but not too high in order to burn those fat calories. Oftentimes when people are losing a lot of weight fast, they are losing muscle mass, too. A pound or two a week is sensible.

Always have breakfast. It keeps your energy level up and steady through the morning and you aren't ravenous at lunch. I normally have a bowl of oatmeal sweetened with raisins. Sometimes I have a sausage patty with it. Or a bowl of granola cereal that doesn't have added sugar.

I avoid things with high fructose corn syrup. That stuff seems to make you eat and eat and you don't feel full. I believe your body doesn't metabolize it as easily as sugar so it ends up as fat.

I haven't eaten fast food in over two years except for a salad with no dressing.

Simple carbohydrates, the kind found in most processed foods like potato chips, don't give you that "I'm full" feeling until you've devoured the entire bag and even then you're still scouting the kitchen for something else. I just avoid the potato chip aisle at the grocery store. White bread, cookies, doughnuts, many so-called fruit drinks and sports bars are nothing but sugar and more sugar.

Try putting less food on your plate and sitting down with two glasses of water instead of one. After every bite, drink some water. Eat slower, too. I've found that if the food is on my plate, I'll eat it but if I don't put it there in the beginning I'm far less likely to get another helping.

I've spent the last two years changing my diet and exercise routine. I didn't do anything drastic and every once in a while a bowl of ice cream is okay. I now eat breakfast, lunch is sensible and lighter, dinner doesn't have to have meat every night. Got rid of a lot of sugar(except in my coffee), dumped simple carbs for more complex ones( eg. whole grain bread instead of white, whole wheat pasta), and more veggies and less meat(and fat).

I think you're off to a good start, but...
watch the scale, but don't obsess about weight, yet
continue the commuting, and the other stuff you're doing
Be consistant in your commuting and other conditioning
Start ratcheting up distance and pace on the bike, as weather and daylight allow
Next spring (sorry, but it takes time to develop the underlying conditioning), your weight will drop

Oh! Diet? Be sensible.

Ride it like you stole it, don't eat bad food. A month of that and you should be psyched on the result you get.