Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Clyde Nutrition and Weight Loss Advice Thread

OK, here we go :D


There are many advantages to any exercise that increases your heart rate. I have been out of the personal training game for a while, but IIRC here are some of the goodies to look forward to feeling the benefit of.

1: Increased ejection fraction. Each time your heart beats there is an amount of blood squirted out, this is called the ejection fraction, the more you work the heart the more it squirts each time so the more blood gets around per beat.

2: Lower residual volume. When you breathe in and out there is alway some air left in there, no matter how hard you try to expel it. The more you train, the more you get in and out each time. This is mostly a result of the muscles used to breath becoming stronger. So for each breath you take in you are getting more air and you can get rid of the old stuff and take in more O2 than an untrained individual. If you need to feed buring muscles O2 and get rid of exhaust fumes, the faster you can deliver new air and take out the fumes the easier its going to be.

3: lower resistance in Blood pathways. Bascially your body is full of little tubes that carry blood. If you are a lazy slob these are closed up as your body hates to pay for up-keep on something that isnt being used. The weird thing about the opening of these is that it usually happens all at once, its not gradual. This is why you will start off training and struggle and feel like you are only making a little progress and then WHAM! you feel like you can just keep going and going. All of a sudden oxygenated blood and waste products are being delivered and taken away faster than before making cellular respiration a lot easier and preventing a serious oxygen debt.

4: Lower systolic pressure. When your hear squirts out some blood it goes into the arteries and then the other blood ways, the faster it can drain out of the arteries, the less pressure on the left ventrical of the heart. Severely obese people or uber sedentary people have heart problems because the blood keeps backing up until it puts pressure on the heart valves. If you have lots of open blood ways it drains away so fast that your heart really has a nice time, instead of feeling like a part baloon on the end of a faucet.

5: Blood. Active individuals have more blood than sedentary individuals, so you have more of the the delivery system that delivers O2 and takes away the waste products.

This is going to sound a little caustic, its not meant to be, but its a way of illustrating a point.



We have well documented proof (POW's and Concentration camps) that show it has nothing to do with genetics. If you want to drop the weight you are going to have to eat the foods that allow for muscle growth (a higher % of lean body mass will burn more calories 24/7) without taking in fuels that dont contrbute to your goals.

Think lots of water (if you are not peeing every 90 mins you are not getting enough water)
Lean meats or fish
Complex carbs (Oatmeal is superb and there are lots of ways to eat it, even like cookies so it feels like a treat, but its actually good for you.
Fruit to feed your brain with glucose
Check wether you are insulin resistant, just get some Chromium polynicotinate and AKG supplements and see if cravings for fats and sweets lessen.
Lots of Vit C for connective tissue repair (you can take as much as 5g of Vit C a day)
For a snack have a Myoplex protein drink from EAS, 42g of protein in each one and they are quite sweet, so if you have a sweet tooth, this will kill the urge.



I have to disagree about it not being potentially genetic as a component....not the whole issue, but a component. You do give good advice though diet wise. Citing POW's and COncentration Camp weight loss is a rather extreme example though, due to the aspects of forced labor and sub-subsistance level diet. The general reference to genetics currently understood is that there is a definite marker gene that shows up in obese individuals. Under conditions of deep famine as a subsistamce farmer or Hunter/Gatherer this marker gene is likely a survival mechanism, but under current conditions in this modern world, it's a disaster. To properly cite POW's and Concentration Camp survivors in the aspect you did, you need to have a data curve showing rates of weight loss over a period of time indicating a correlation that we all lose weight at the same rate under identical caloric intake/output. This can't be shown even in a medically supervised diet and exercise plan. We are all "one off's", with unique genes and we all process caloric burn at a slightly different rate depending on the efficiency of our bodies. I know you weren't trying to be harsh, but unfortunately, you have taken a bit of a simplistic view of how we gain and lose weight is all.

Quick Edit: Maybe we should start a thread for this aspect of the dialogue? Hopefully it won't turn into one of those threads that sounds like the tone in P&R!



Tom:

Gotta question for you, at your heaviest, were you diabetic, and if you were, are you still?

If you don't want to discuss it on the group, but don't mind answering the question, then PM me.

As for the photos, I know a few folks who could tape the before and after (the cycling one), on the refridgerator, heck it would work better then locking that sucker up with a Kryptonite U lock and a hunk of cruise ship anchor chain, and throwing away the key.

One thing though about diet, and this is something you probably know, but some others here might not, so I will post it anyway, is if you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Going on a diet with a 20lb bag of potato chips and a case of beer in the house will not work. Toss all that stuff in the trash, clean out the cupboards of everything you should not eat, then start again, with a new trip to the grocery store, and only buy what you should be eating.

Oh well, enough said here, my bike is calling to me to go for a ride:D



Yeah, I know that's just what it is: a justification. My problem is that I have just not chosen to exercise (pun intended) the willpower to do what I know I need to do. Thanks for the encouragement, and the spirit in which you delivered it.


At my peak, I was insulin dependent. I am still technically diabetic, but completely regulated now. Sugars run between 73 and 103 on avg now with 73 @ fasting. 103 is peak. I actually have to be careful about low blood sugar now. My intake is strictly regulated by my activity level. For example, on a long ride, I may take in 6000 calories in a day, but I'm still operating at a deficit that is quite significant with an output of up to three times that on for example my 160 miler in one day over Labor Day Weekend.

I'm subscribing to this thread, so if any questions for me arise, I'll be happy to discuss aspect of diet, bariatric surgery and how said surgery requires modification of diet for endurance cycling or you can PM me, either one. I do need to state in advance that I will be relating from personal experience and experimentation. There isn't a lot of data about post bariatric endurance athletes, and in effect, I'm on the 'bleeding edge" here, with my surgeon and dietician tracking my data as well as myself. It won't ever be medical advice, but my best considered suggestion to use at your own risk. That said for the lawyers, let the games begin!

Thanks Tom!

Tom, agreed on the point that there are individuals that have a natural ability to hold onto weight longer than others. My point however was just to illustrate that given a strick enough 'diet' anyone will lose weight.

My biggest concern is LBM (lean body mass) and what a lot of people fail to understand is that nothing is static in the body. They think its possible to lose fat by restricting calories and their LBM will remain the same while they burn off that pesky flab. It just isnt so and this is why all the low protein and exercise devoid diets will result in net weight loss, and usually as a % of body weight their fat% can actually climb, and in most cases it does, dramatically when they revert back to old eating habits because they have reduced their ability to burn calories.

Again, I am a little rusty at this and I really need to hit the books, but for the most part this is right ;)

A relatively simple way to calcualte how many calories you need is to calculate how heavy your LBM is. Remember its only your LBM that needs nutrition. Fat is just like a sweater, it adds to your total weight, but not to your caloric needs, other than the effort needed to carry it around.

There is something called your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) this is how many calories per hour you need to for regular function and maintenence.(F&M from now on)

When you wake up first thing in the morning you are at BMR1

So, if you weigh 100KGS and you are 30% fat, your LBM is 70KG
70KGS x 1 (BMR1= Being away but not moving) you need 70 cals an hour for F&M

BMR 2 - Sitting at the PC, reading
BMR 3 - Light work as you would see in an office or some light housework chores like dusting
BMR 4 - Jogging, high RPM low resistance cycling etc
BMR 5 - Weight training, heavy manual work

So, all you need to do is

1: Calculate what your BMR is.
2: Find the BMR level for a full 24 hours
3: Calculate total calorie needs
4: Translate these needs into Carbs, Protein and Fat grams per day

Example.

22:00 ~ 06:00 Sleep (Sleep is .9 of BMR1) If I weigh 100KGS and 30% fat that = 70KGS.
70KGS *8 (number of hours of sleep) *.9 = 504 calories for F&M

06:00~09:00 At the PC drinking coffee and catching up on work emaul ( I work at home)

140 (Remember its BMR2 so double your LBM number) * 3 = 420 calories

09:00~10:00 cycling, I run pretty fast so a BMR of 4 is about right, so 280 * 1 = 280 calories.


And so on, and go and calcualte total calorie needs for each day (of course each day is different, so work it out for a week)

If people are interested I will add more, please let me know.

Tom, agreed on the point that there are individuals that have a natural ability to hold onto weight longer than others. My point however was just to illustrate that given a strick enough 'diet' anyone will lose weight.

My biggest concern is LBM (lean body mass) and what a lot of people fail to understand is that nothing is static in the body. They think its possible to lose fat by restricting calories and their LBM will remain the same while they burn off that pesky flab. It just isnt so and this is why all the low protein and exercise devoid diets will result in net weight loss, and usually as a % of body weight their fat% can actually climb, and in most cases it does, dramatically when they revert back to old eating habits because they have reduced their ability to burn calories.

Again, I am a little rusty at this and I really need to hit the books, but for the most part this is right ;)

A relatively simple way to calcualte how many calories you need is to calculate how heavy your LBM is. Remember its only your LBM that needs nutrition. Fat is just like a sweater, it adds to your total weight, but not to your caloric needs, other than the effort needed to carry it around.

There is something called your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) this is how many calories per hour you need to for regular function and maintenence.(F&M from now on)

When you wake up first thing in the morning you are at BMR1

So, if you weigh 100KGS and you are 30% fat, your LBM is 70KG
70KGS x 1 (BMR1= Being away but not moving) you need 70 cals an hour for F&M

BMR 2 - Sitting at the PC, reading
BMR 3 - Light work as you would see in an office or some light housework chores like dusting
BMR 4 - Jogging, high RPM low resistance cycling etc
BMR 5 - Weight training, heavy manual work

So, all you need to do is

1: Calculate what your BMR is.
2: Find the BMR level for a full 24 hours
3: Calculate total calorie needs
4: Translate these needs into Carbs, Protein and Fat grams per day

Example.

22:00 ~ 06:00 Sleep (Sleep is .9 of BMR1) If I weigh 100KGS and 30% fat that = 70KGS.
70KGS *8 (number of hours of sleep) *.9 = 504 calories for F&M

06:00~09:00 At the PC drinking coffee and catching up on work emaul ( I work at home)

140 (Remember its BMR2 so double your LBM number) * 3 = 420 calories

09:00~10:00 cycling, I run pretty fast so a BMR of 4 is about right, so 280 * 1 = 280 calories.


And so on, and go and calcualte total calorie needs for each day (of course each day is different, so work it out for a week)

If people are interested I will add more, please let me know.
See, now here we aren't in disagreement at all! You've expanded on your original position to include some data! Excellent! Now this is helpfull data, my friend! Definitely expand this point!

As you saw earlier, my intake is based on my activity level with a variable scale of calories in. An average person, sedentary, maintains body weight at ~+/- 1500 kcals (1000 kcals = 1 food calorie)/day. Unfortunately, most peoples diet averages around 4500 or more. In addition, it's the wrong kind of calories. Too many carbs and transfats and not enough protein and fats. The body does need fats and carbs though for proper function.
Here is an excellent link for nutritional data, by the way!
http://home.comcast.net/~john.kimball1/BiologyPages/N/Nutrition.html

Based on what I have learned in my Nursing studies, Mr Kimball is providing correct information here. It gives a very complete picture including the physiological reasons for which nutrients and why!

Tom, I am not going to read that link info until I have finished, this way I can see how much I remembered :)

OK, So I am now assuming you have calculated how many calories you expend for each 24hr period. You will have a number but you are probably not sure what you are going to do with it.

Lets take 2000 as a figure, its cited on a lot of things as 'normal' whatever that is and its usually way off what we actually need. Before I forget about nutritional info on food packaging let me talk about RDA.

RDA (Reccomended Daily Allowance) is a figure that will stop you from suffering from an ailment due to the lack of something (like scurvy) it will not, let me say it again, it will not be sufficient to allow you to make the most of your training and weight loss goals.

There is a much better figure called the PDA (Performance Daily Allowance) these are figures that you should be looking at, like 3-5g (3000-5000mg of Vit C a day) Vit C other than being a Pirates best friend (after rum of course) is instrumental in connective tissue repair, something all Clydes should be interested as 225lbs+ is going to hurt something at some time. Let me get back to you with some PDA's at a later date as they are not quite as important as this topic.

Calories and where should they come from

OK, so back to the 2000 Calories.

Depending on your goals and activity you will have to select from a combination of fuels and building blocks.

A sprinter for example has much different nutritional needs than a long distance runner or a commuter in a flat place doing a RT of 10 miles.

For the average Joe, at least initially its probable better to go with the 1:2:3 approach this means

Fat:Protein Protein:Carbs Carbs Carbs

or

2000 / 6 (1+2+3) = 333.3

or

Fat 333.3 Calories
Protein 666.6 Calories
Carbs 999.9 Calories

All together they add up to your daily requirement.

So how many grams?

Fats are 9 calories per gram (irrespective of what kind of fat)
Protein and Carbs are 4 per gram
*Booze is 7 per gram ;)

So, in our example you would be left with

Fat (333.3) / 9 = 37g per day
Protein (666.6) / 4 = 165.65g per day
Carbs (999.9) / 4 = 250g per day

So, as this is the amount of calories for BMR requirements and F&M we need a few more to facilitate growth. Taking in more calories that we need for F&M is called being on a Positive calorie diet, the other way is a Negative calorie diet.

So, for every kilo of LBM you are add .5g of protein and Carbs per training day (and only on training days)

Example.

Protein should be 165.65g per day in our example, you need another .5g per KG of LBM, so an additional 35g is required making it up to 200.65g

A quick way to get quality protein (I need to go into this in some detail too) EAS, MetRx and other bodybuilding supplement companies make excellent products.

EAS make a product called Myoplex, it has 42g of protein. You need (in this example) 200g a day

Breakfast
2-3 Bananas
1 Myoplex

Snack
2 granola bars
Cottage cheese

Lunch
Chicken breast
Mixed veggies
Baked potato

Pre work out snack (At least 2 hours before your workout 3-4 is better)
Oatmeal pancake with honey
Protein bar

Post workout meal
Pasta & lean meat (fish if you can stand it)

Just before bed,
Myoplex

This should give you about 200g of protein. With all of these meals you should be drinking at least 1 pint of water.

As the meals are low fat, they will get digested a lot faster than, say, a pizza. The water will help it along too and you will easily find yourself ready for each meal.

OK lots more to talk about, like Essential amino acids, ATP/CP, supplements, rest.

My vitamin supplementation is rather high..this is due to malabsorption issues. B1, B6, and B12 in particular. I'm taking a triple dose chewable multivitamin, under Dr instruction, as well as 100 mg/day respectively B1, B6 and 1000mcg B12 sublingually. 200 mg Ca+/day and 2-2.5 grams protein/Kg body mass. C is at 1.5 grams/day. I have bloodwork done every 6 mos to monitor vitamin levels and dosage is calculated off of these blood tests. Thus far, I have no problems, and I hope to avoid complication like....oh, Pernicious Anemia, for example!

As to caloric needs, I have a workout schedule and can fairly accurately predict intake needs. I am probably monitored more closely than a million dollar racehorse!:eek:

Protein source is meat as well as whey supplementation and veg protein.

How does one measure LBM besides going into a tank at the Dr.'s office?

This stuff is great by the way.

I have to do my lifting now (Hate mondays its always the heaviest day because of the weekend rest :( )

But I hope to add some stuff later today on protein

nb. When I say 'you' I am not talking to anyone in particular, I hope this will help everyone.

Tom, I noticed you didnt mention B3 in the list is there a reason for this? I have read that large doses a la PDA amounts will make an athlete burn glycogen at an accelerated rate, its great for sprinters and 1RM guys but the slow and steady out there need to take care.

Are you (Tom) on Chromium (like Chromate) at all?

How does one measure LBM besides going into a tank at the Dr.'s office?

This stuff is great by the way.

Thanks! :D

You cant, its best to be honest and err on the side of caution. If you look like the Michelin man, when you sit down but are not slouching, think around 40% to be conservative.

On a side note, I ran into a Canadian girl that was in the same field as me and we were talking about fat measurements (dont use the electric stuff, they rely on hydration, if you are a world class sprinter with about 8% but you havent had a drink all day it will list you as obese, its a waste of time. Best to use the mirror and be honest with yourself)

She said that they had a cadaver that was dontated for scientific use, they did the water/volume displacement thing and everything else they could think of. They they cut up the body and stripped off as much fat as they could find. The result? They were wayyyyyyyyyy off, like I said use the mirror, it never lies! :D

I have to do my lifting now (Hate mondays its always the heaviest day because of the weekend rest :( )

But I hope to add some stuff later today on protein

nb. When I say 'you' I am not talking to anyone in particular, I hope this will help everyone.

Tom, I noticed you didnt mention B3 in the list is there a reason for this? I have read that large doses a la PDA amounts will make an athlete burn glycogen at an accelerated rate, its great for sprinters and 1RM guys but the slow and steady out there need to take care.

Are you (Tom) on Chromium (like Chromate) at all?


Not recommended due to bowel tract mods.. I have to be careful about what I take in. (Chromium)

B3 levels are normal, and I am taking 3X normal dose in the multivitamins of B3. That's the reason I didn't mention it, because it's built into my dosage as a hidden dose. Good check though!

Questions about caloric intake. I've heard that if you don't take in enough calories your body will go into a starvation mode (http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Mary-Desaulniers-648/ediets.com-3704.php) and will pack on the weight quicker if you take more calories then you need.

How do you calculate that 'absolute low' vs enough calories to maintain weight vs just enough calories to not starve but lose weight? Those seem to be holy grail numbers that I'd love to know.

I'm 262 right now, 6-1 with a large frame. I've used a site like this (http://www.dietitian.com/ibw/ibw.html) which measures activity level,. what you want to do, and frame size to determine how many calories you should take in. Mine - I put in sleeping for 8 and sedentary for 16 (which super low balls what I do but so be it) and voila I should have 2600/85/300/64 of Calories/Fat/Carbs/Protein (30-60-10 ratio). That's also the lowest of any calculator I've tried - others peg me between 3000-4000 (fitday actually counts my daily calories burned at 4000 bless its heart). Once I start adding in the stuff like biking it shoots up to 3500. Even keeping myself below 2500 when not biking (and when I do bike I usually eat less than I've burned) I haven't lost anything since June/July or so.

So what am I doing wrong or what I do I need to adjust? I keep track of what I do on fitday (http://fitday.com) but I feel like something else needs to happen. And also after a ride when I'm hungry do I have to still keep below that amount? How much of what you burned should you replenish?

Thanks!

Questions about caloric intake. I've heard that if you don't take in enough calories your body will go into a starvation mode (http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Mary-Desaulniers-648/ediets.com-3704.php) and will pack on the weight quicker if you take more calories then you need.

How do you calculate that 'absolute low' vs enough calories to maintain weight vs just enough calories to not starve but lose weight? Those seem to be holy grail numbers that I'd love to know.

I'm 262 right now, 6-1 with a large frame. I've used a site like [purl=http://www.dietitian.com/ibw/ibw.html]this[/url] which measures activity level,. what you want to do, and frame size to determine how many calories you should take in. Mine - I put in sleeping for 8 and sedentary for 16 (which super low balls what I do but so be it) and voila I should have 2600/85/300/64 of Calories/Fat/Carbs/Protein (30-60-10 ratio). That's also the lowest of any calculator I've tried - others peg me between 3000-4000 (fitday actually counts my daily calories burned at 4000 bless its heart). Once I start adding in the stuff like biking it shoots up to 3500. Even keeping myself below 2500 when not biking (and when I do bike I usually eat less than I've burned) I haven't lost anything since June/July or so.

So what am I doing wrong or what I do I need to adjust? I keep track of what I do on fitday (http://fitday.com) but I feel like something else needs to happen.
Correct! Not only that, in Famine or Starvation mode, you cannibalize muscle and the body tries to conserve the fat! Basal metabolism slows down as well. All this conspires to slow or stop weight loss! Another thing, our body plateaus at certain weights that we've been at before! This is a comfort point and kinda serves as a homeostasis set point.

Other things that can sabotage you: To high of an intensity of exercise, this can cause you to build muscle mass as fast as you drop the fat! Net gain healthwise, but no loss of weight! Concentrate on cardio levels of activity rather than really hard intervals, for example.

EDIT: For weight loss: Protein: Minimum 1 gram/kg body mass. Some (limited) fat intake, eat veggies and take a multivitamin.

So am I taking in enough calories? Just seems really high.

When I ride I do tend to ride hard. On my last 30 mile trip around the city (2:42 mins) I spent 1:15 above my 60-80% above my max HR, 15 mins below, and 1:12 in between. Should I back off?

And how many calories should I take in as recovery?

Starving yourself will cause a loss of LBM. A loss of LBM will result in your calorie burning capabilities to be lessened (you now have a 1.5L Engine instead of the 5L V8 you had before) Also, as Tom mentioned severely reduced calorie intake will slow your BMR. However exercise and a reduced calorie intake (negative calorie diet) will offset some of that loss. Its the women that eat a couple of carrots and 10calorie cup-a-soup that really hurt themselves with this sort of nonsense. The trouble is that not that many are really willing to work at it. Losing weight, or rather losing fat is about 100X more difficult that it is to put on.

So, to answer your question (as best I can)

Work out your calorie needs, then work out your target heart rate for fat burn, get a heart monitor and exercise that that intensity.

If you go too fast and put too much demand for power you will only be burning up glycogen (large glucose molecules stored in the muscle, this is what actually gives an athlete that 'toned' look) You need to work at a reduced rate in order to give your body the time to refine the fat down into a fuel it can use. Its a little like having an oil well in your yard, you actually need some time from pump to tank to refine it. Think of glycogen as 95 octane.

Protein

I wanted to talk a bit about this while is so important, so here is the quick and dirt version.

Most of us have heard the term 'complete protein' but what exactly is it?

A complete protein is one that contains all 8 of the essential amino acids.

Amino acids are the building block for making stuff in the body. When your body needs to make something (muscle for example) it gathers a lof a amino acids together in a chain and Voila! You now have a new muscle fiber. There is a catch though. In every single chain you will need 1 or more of the essential amino acids. Think of these as the corner peices in a jigsaw, without them you cant complete the puzzle, if its not complete then its not made, so the thing your body wanted to make is put on hold. The worst thing is that if it cant use the amino acids it has it wont waste them, they will get turned into fat and stored.

So, if you are taking in a lot of protein from a vegetable source it may not be a complete protein, i.e. one or more of the essential amino acids are missing. Vegetarians will combine 2 or more veggies to actaully get what they need to actually ingest a meal that has all of the 8. Any meat has all 8, but there is another twist. Of the 8 3 are more inportant than the rest, these are Valine, Leucine and isoleucine.

These are more important that the other 5 because you body will use them as a source of energy, which is strange as the body usually totally reserves proteins for building and repair. So, you must be careful when you make your calcualtions, as you need more of these 3 for energy and repair/growth. I cant remember off hand, but one of the three needs to be at least double the quantity of the other two (told you I was a bit rusty ;) )

Another problem is that a trained individual will burn more of the 3 listed above at rest than a sedentary individual so that should also be factored in.

Starving yourself will cause a loss of LBM. A loss of LBM will result in your calorie burning capabilities to be lessened (you now have a 1.5L Engine instead of the 5L V8 you had before) Also, as Tom mentioned severely reduced calorie intake will slow your BMR. However exercise and a reduced calorie intake (negative calorie diet) will offset some of that loss. Its the women that eat a couple of carrots and 10calorie cup-a-soup that really hurt themselves with this sort of nonsense. The trouble is that not that many are really willing to work at it. Losing weight, or rather losing fat is about 100X more difficult that it is to put on.

So, to answer your question (as best I can)

Work out your calorie needs, then work out your target heart rate for fat burn, get a heart monitor and exercise that that intensity.

If you go too fast and put too much demand for power you will only be burning up glycogen (large glucose molecules stored in the muscle, this is what actually gives an athlete that 'toned' look) You need to work at a reduced rate in order to give your body the time to refine the fat down into a fuel it can use. Its a little like having an oil well in your yard, you actually need some time from pump to tank to refine it. Think of glycogen as 95 octane.

OK, so by your example above:

Current weight: 262 ~ 118.84 kg (the results are really funny if you don't do this step :D ). Assuming 30% BMI = 83.188
Assume 7 hours of sleep: 83.188 * 7 * .9= 524.08
Assume 17 hours of sitting at the PC (man I hope not, but this should give me a lowball): 83.188 * 2 (BMR 2, right?) * 17 = 2828.39

So if I sleep for 7 hours, then sit at the computer without moving or cycling for the rest of the day I'd burn 2,828 calories?

If that's the case and I want to lose weight then I'd want to take in 2,328 calories? Where's the starvation mark?

When I worked out my HR I wound up with a max HR of 186, a resting of 48 (though I calculated everything with 52 since I couldn't duplicate 48) which put my 60% at 132 and my 80% at 159 according to this site (http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/hrm1.htm). Within a ride how long should I stay within those parameters to lose weight? The whole time?

Take in 200g of protein a day and 300g of carbs, cut out all the optional fat (like butter, spreads and sauces)

Make sure your calories from the carbs are from stuff low on the glycemic index (like oatmeal)

Get 6 meals a day with 1 pint of water with each meal, its going to make you a little queezy until you get used to all that liquid.

Do 2 rides a day, each of about 20K and try to keep THR at your optimum for fat burn.

Do your morning ride on an empty stomach (but drink as much water as you like) when you wake up in the morning you are in a carbo depleted state, if you can keep to the THR for fat burn, you will be burning the stuff you dont want from the get go.

For your evening ride, try to time it so that your last meal was at least 3 hours before, this way blood sugar is getting low again. Post workout a small amount of complex carbs and a big protein shake. Try and get more sleep (8+)

The starvation mark is anything below your daily requirement based on your calorie needs for your activity level. You want to get fuel for cycling from your fat reserves, the food you take in should just meet recovery and function needs. This is usually called a negative calorie diet, it is useful for losing fat as yuur body will need to source enery from some place in the even of you not ingesting anything. You have to really take care with the loss of LBM though. This is why its preferable to build up the LMB and that in itself will increase fat burn 24/7

Simon, looks like we may have a pretty good partnership going on this thread!

This is great stuff guys, thanks!

The water isn't a problem - I drink that much routinely (finish off a few bottles of 1.5 liters of water a day (I can gulp one in a shot))

I do opt for whole wheat vs white flour (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc...) Plus turkey meat for protein. Been hooked on Grape-Nuts too lately.

OK, because I'm dense and like to double check things:

Based on my calculations above I should never drop below 2,828 calories (my starvation mark from above) unless I drop weight/increase muscle mass? And if I do cycle (thereby increasing my activity level) then that number needs to increase by whatever my activity dictates?

On your off days (if you have one) you can drop about 50% of your carb calories, but maintain the protein. If you are feeling a little fuzzy eat some fruit.

The reason for this is that the brain is Glucose powered. Glucose is stored in the muscles (as glycogen) and in the liver. For some reason fructose (fruit sugar) will preferentially replenish liver glycogen, and its from the liver that the brain gets most of its fuel.

Tom, yes it almost feels like tennis :) Just who's serve is it anyway?

This is great stuff guys, thanks!

The water isn't a problem - I drink that much routinely (finish off a few bottles of 1.5 liters of water a day (I can gulp one in a shot))

I do opt for whole wheat vs white flour (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc...) Plus turkey meat for protein. Been hooked on Grape-Nuts too lately.

OK, because I'm dense and like to double check things:

Based on my calculations above I should never drop below 2,828 calories (my starvation mark from above) unless I drop weight/increase muscle mass? And if I do cycle (thereby increasing my activity level) then that number needs to increase by whatever my activity dictates?
My serve:

Air, that's what I come up with as well. Good choices, by the way. Whole Grain Oatmeal is a good cereal choice as well for your carb source. The goal is definitely to get you to power high energy activity off of your fat reserves.

Here is a calculator engine to help you plan calorie requirements.
http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

It makes allowance for terrain, wind and bicycle type and riding position. It also helps you to calculate your wattage output, which is as good a standard as HR for metabolic activity, due to the fact that there is a definite correlation between wattage and HR as well as brake horsepower your body produces. By thwe way, if you wonder, a cyclist in excellent condition produces approx.~1/2HP +/-. If you are a math geek, there is also a tutorial on the Speed and power calc. to show you the math used to compute the algorithms used to run the script.

Oatmeal has been my fuel of choice for a long time. Its easy to make nice sweet snacks too that are not messy and keep great if you cant get to a fridge.

Get a cup of Oatmeal (Regular Quaker stuff that looks like horse food) and throw it in a food blender to make a coarse flour. Put that in a cereal bowl with just enough milk to make a consistency like plaster of Paris. Then add a couple of spoons of natural honey and stir it in well. Put the sticky mix into a non stick fry pan with no oil. Tamp it down to about 8mm thick and put it on a low heat. Cook and flip and then slide it out of the pan (it should have been dry/stick enough that it should leave no mess at all) then slice it up like a Pizza and there you have about 4-500 calories of perfect biking fuel ;)

I am down in fat, I dont know how much but when I lean to the side I now have a small roll instead of a 4" bar of solid flab. My legs have come back nicely too and feel solid again. I am on target for 6lbs of fat loss a month so that I dont lose my upper body size that has taken years to build.

This thread has been great for my motivation too, not that I am a shirker with exercise, but it does make me extra strict with myself.

If you guys are looking for a great place for protein I reccoment bodybuilding.com these guys are cheap as hell and fast with the shipping. I have no association with them other than being a very happy customer.

Oatmeal has been my fuel of choice for a long time. Its easy to make nice sweet snacks too that are not messy and keep great if you cant get to a fridge.

Get a cup of Oatmeal (Regular Quaker stuff that looks like horse food) and throw it in a food blender to make a coarse flour. Put that in a cereal bowl with just enough milk to make a consistency like plaster of Paris. Then add a couple of spoons of natural honey and stir it in well. Put the sticky mix into a non stick fry pan with no oil. Tamp it down to about 8mm thick and put it on a low heat. Cook and flip and then slide it out of the pan (it should have been dry/stick enough that it should leave no mess at all) then slice it up like a Pizza and there you have about 4-500 calories of perfect biking fuel ;)

I am down in fat, I dont know how much but when I lean to the side I now have a small roll instead of a 4" bar of solid flab. My legs have come back nicely too and feel solid again. I am on target for 6lbs of fat loss a month so that I dont lose my upper body size that has taken years to build.

This thread has been great for my motivation too, not that I am a shirker with exercise, but it does make me extra strict with myself.

If you guys are looking for a great place for protein I reccoment bodybuilding.com these guys are cheap as hell and fast with the shipping. I have no association with them other than being a very happy customer.
Thanks much for the link! I buy locally, more in order to support local business, not to mention I get a lot of support from them as well in form of huge discounts:D! I buy my Protein and supplements from Naturepharm.

Anybody here ever use 'Eat To Live' book as a guide to good nutrition?

I was using that last year when I was losing the weight....kinda got off track and need to get back on again. Eat To Live should be required reading in high school IMO. For the record, for those of you who aren't familiar, it is not a fad diet book. It is simple nutrition facts and how to eat properly to be healthy...in fact, it does not focus on just weight loss, but things like cancer and diabetes as well.

The proper nutrition is a "mostly" vegetarian diet....it recommends keeping something like 10% of your calories to meat and animal byproducts. The rest is vegetarian. It also focuses on non-processed foods which mostly contain all these chemicals our bodies are not used to.

Anyway.....a GREAT book and well worth the read for anybody wanting to lose weight and/or be healthy.

Haven't read it yet - will at some point.

Angre Agassi et. al: (Because I need hard numbers to start from :D)

1 - Based on those numbers have I actually been starving myself by keeping a sub 2500 calorie diet?

2 - Plus, that 2828 calorie figure I calculated above is actually for an off day (since I hope I'd never sit in front of a computer for 17 horus a day). On a day where I would actually be cycling that number will certainly top 4000 (2800 + 600 cycling burned * 2)?

3 - Given both of those are right, how does that fit into the paradigm of 3500 calories = 1 pound of fat, so a deficit of 3500 calories per week should be 1 pound of fat lost per week? If I take any calories off that 2828 I'm then in starvation mode, right?

[The oatmeal sounds like a great snack - I'll try that soon!]

Thanks guys - sorry if it seems like I'm beating a horse here but these numbers are really high and they scare me!

OK, I need to ask this.

I have been working out etc like everyone else. I am trying to ride more but to be honest its easier for me to get to a gym, then to the lake or bike paths. I stress this because these are the safest areas where I live and the best place to guarantee that I do not pop a tire.

Anyway, here is my question?

How important is heart rate tracking and its impact to weight loss?

How does it help? Does it make you more effecient?

What is a good resource for heart rate tracking and programs for wanna be endurance athletes?

Does anyone have a heart rate monitor and if you do what type? I would guess I need a larger than normal strap as I am a clyde!


I never really thought about this as a factor but some people swear by it. As a kid and most of college I never really cared about heart rate. I knew when I was being pushed to the edge and I know when I am tired or winded.

I also know that on a tread mill or a bike I am clocking in at 130 - 155 on my heart rate which according to the 220 - my age rule is not where close to my max but according to the charts is a good fat burning zone. (health club bike and treadmill)

As for resting I have no idea. I know when I get on the tread mill before running the hand thing reads anywhere from 78 - 90, which I know is not resting but I just thought I would throw that in there.

Any advice as to if I should focus more on this, or just keep chugging along?

Thanks

mike

I'll chirp in here a little. This site (http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/hrm1.htm) has a great breakdown of what each range means. I've heard of people backing off of their exercise and losing more weight because they burn off more fat.

There was a great site someone found in the original Clydes thread but I can't find it that is like fitday but for cyclists. The HRM usually are adjustable and stretch - I'd check with the model you're thinking of and ask them about your chest size first to be on the safe side. Could probably rig something with elastic from a sewing store.

1 - Based on those numbers have I actually been starving myself by keeping a sub 2500 calorie diet?

2 - Plus, that 2828 calorie figure I calculated above is actually for an off day (since I hope I'd never sit in front of a computer for 17 horus a day). On a day where I would actually be cycling that number will certainly top 4000 (2800 + 600 cycling burned * 2)?

Thanks guys - sorry if it seems like I'm beating a horse here but these numbers are really high and they scare me!

There is no "official" syndrome that is starvation mode, it is not like a switch is flipped and all of a sudden you are starving. Oddly enough one of the biggest factors in slowing our metabolism is our weight loss itself. Studies have shown that in general the more over weight a person is the higher their basal metabolism.

You also have to realize you are going to lose muscle along with the fat during this journey. A rough approximation is 1/4 to 1/3 of every pound you lose will be muscle. Much of the muscle you lose will be skeletal muscle that is no longer required to carry your girth. In my case I know there is no way I could walk around with 230 pounds on my back, but somehow I did when I weighed 400 pounds.

I have been active in online weight loss communities for several years now, while I am doctor and am only speaking from my personal experience and the experience of those I have seen who have been successful at losing a great deal of weight. You don't need anywhere near 2800 calories a day to keep yourself from a starvation mode. My daily average for a week was around 1750 when I was in a loss mode, another 6'2" male I know who lost 130 pounds kept his right at 2000 a day. Both of us engaged in hard cardio for at least an hour a day as well as regular strength training.

If you have a lot of weight to lose a person simply has to restrict their calories. The problem with most calorie needs calculators is they are very "off" for those of us that have a lot of weight to lose. The farther a person gets from a "normal" weight the more off those calculators tend to get.


The way I picked my caloric target was to figure out my basil metabolic rate for my TARGET weight and eat to that calorie level ignoring any lifestyle exercise. I don't think I would want to try and ride a century while at that caloric intake level but I was VERY active, I had energy to live my life and the weight came off.

Hope this helps.

I've found that you can look at every caloric calculator in the world, but none are a substitute for listening to your body. Your body knows best (sorry for sounding cheesy..) what it needs, and will tell you.

For me, I was in a heap of trouble waiting to happen. I was beyond morbidly obese, and needed to change that. So I went on a 800 calorie/day liquid diet. Basically 800 calories will keep your body from attacking the organs (with proper nutrients) and instead focus on fat and muscle. I dropped 160 pounds quite rapidly, and saved my life in the process.

I've kept it off for a year, and continue to lose weight. For me it varies now that I'm back in loss mode. I've lost 29lbs over three weeks, with days ranging from 1200 to 2500 calories. I simply listen to my body. When I'm hungry, I eat. I don't eat a LOT, but I eat.

When I feel myself start to "bonk" energy-wise, I eat. I can't stand the feeling of pedaling along a straightaway at 16mph, where I knew I did 25mph the day before when I was filled with energy. I can't, and I won't sacrifice my excercise performance just in the name of weight loss. So far it's worked fabulously, looking at my FitDay log my weight loss has been a straight down slope. No ups and downs, basically a completely linear graph. It's very cool, and I feel amazing.

I'll take today for an example. I ate well, and conservatively yesterday. Plenty of energy off of just 1500 calories. Breakfast today was a 240 calorie granola bar and diet dew. However, already at 12:30p I'm feeling my energy sapping away. I have a 30 mile ride planned tonight, and I need that energy, so I'm going to hit up a salad bar and get the good energy flowing. I probably will exceed my 1800 calorie/day "limit" today, but I'm also going to be doing nearly double my daily mileage (I usually do 17 fast-paced miles/day).

I can't stress listening to your body enough. When I was off of liquids and back onto food, and also heavily working out, there was a stint where I was losing very minimal numbers. On 1200 calories a day (I *NEVER* topped that either) I was only losing 1-2lbs a week. Experiementing, I upped it to 1800 and started dropping 4-6. I went from being hungry all the time and sapped for energy to being supercharged and out of bed the second my alarm went off.

Remember, everyone is different. Find what works for YOU and YOUR body, then go from there.

I've been chewing on all of these posts for a while and truthfully I'm still really confused about nutrition. I'm probably just really dense.

In the meantime - another question partly related. Today I went on about a 12 mile ride, over a bridge and with traffic/starting/stopping and walking up stairs my calculations came out to about 700 calories burned.

What does that translate in terms of fat? If I'm keeping track of my calories and fat intake can I cancel out a fatty meal by riding? Say if the formula of 9 grams of calories = 1 gram of fat holds true how is that 700 burned calories distributed?

Just work out your daily needs and then take off 1000 calories worth in fats and carbs and your fat% will take care of itself. If you go too low you will lose too much lean body mass. I have been on this for 6 weeks and have lost about 6 pounds. I also run and lift weights though so I play with the carbs a little more due to its Anaerobic nature and it being fuelled differently than cardio exercise.

Anyway, on this plan you will lose about 100g a day.

If you can jog then do that, it will burn more calories fastert than a bike (not as much fun though) it also mixes things up and you can increase your bone density from it.

If you can find a place to lift do that too, remember the bigger your LBM the more calories you are burning all the time.

While its supposidly impossible to build muscle while on a negative calorie diet, you will find that you will be gaining good weight dispite the low calorie intake, just make sure you are eating primarily low glycemic index carbs and a good low animal fat protein.

How does one measure LBM besides going into a tank at the Dr.'s office?

This stuff is great by the way.

The Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle program I've used recommends using a single measurment caliper. The measurement is of the skin fat near your appendix. After getting consistent measurments it gives you a fat percentage. You use that to calculate fat weight. Lean weight is everything else.

I've been chewing on all of these posts for a while and truthfully I'm still really confused about nutrition. I'm probably just really dense.

In the meantime - another question partly related. Today I went on about a 12 mile ride, over a bridge and with traffic/starting/stopping and walking up stairs my calculations came out to about 700 calories burned.

What does that translate in terms of fat? If I'm keeping track of my calories and fat intake can I cancel out a fatty meal by riding? Say if the formula of 9 grams of calories = 1 gram of fat holds true how is that 700 burned calories distributed?

You have your measurments off - 4 calories per gram of carbs or protein and 9 calories per gram of fat.
If you burned 700 calories in an hour and your needs are 200 calories per hour, then you have 500 calories you could eat. If you burn 700 calories a lot will come out of glycogen stores in your body. If and when that translates to fat it will come from wherever your body chooses. Many think that fat usually comes of in the last on first off order. For me, and probably most men, the belly fat is last.

You have your measurments off - 4 calories per gram of carbs or protein and 9 calories per gram of fat.
If you burned 700 calories in an hour and your needs are 200 calories per hour, then you have 500 calories you could eat. If you burn 700 calories a lot will come out of glycogen stores in your body. If and when that translates to fat it will come from wherever your body chooses. Many think that fat usually comes of in the last on first off order. For me, and probably most men, the belly fat is last.
Robtown, tha last fat to burn is belly fat all right, but not the fat external to the abdominal wall, but the brown fat internal to the ab. wall. If the intake matches the burn rate to maintain glycogen levels, hen the excess will burn from protein and fat stores. That's the reason we supplement with protein at about 1.5 grams/Kg body mass....to prevent LBM loss. This allows the body to stay in lipid metabolism primarily and lose weight.

1Kg fat = 7700kcals (1 kilocalorie = 1 food calorie)(1 lb = 3500 calories or Kcals) (http://www.calorie-counter.net/)

I linked to the site I got the info from, bookmark it! It appears to have some fantastic resources!

That's the reason we supplement with protein at about 1.5 grams/Kg body mass....to prevent LBM loss. This allows the body to stay in lipid metabolism primarily and lose weight.


Just to make it sound a little less painful, its 3 pints of protein drink from the top manufactuers. EAS for example, make a product called Myoplex that has 42g of protein per serving. If you can get into this its a great weight off your mind regarding maintaining LBM. Of course 1 pint of a watery choco drink on a cold morning isnt exactly appetizing, but its got to be done. This will cover someone with about 80Kgs / 180lbs of Lean Body Mass.

You can have more, but its probably wiser to supplement the protein drink with BCAA's to keep down the cost and the stress to the kidneys :)

Dont forget to hydrate, make carrying a water bottle, or at least having one at arms length par for the course. If you are not peeing like a race horse all the time, you need more! ;)

Is there a book that breaks this down in simple terms? I am trying to understand all this and I understand my intake needs to be X calories, of which I should be taking in 30/60/10.

What foods help me meet that? I know I should be staying away from white breads, going with whole grain breads, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, right? What else? Anyone know of a good site to see what to eat?

Is there a book that breaks this down in simple terms? I am trying to understand all this and I understand my intake needs to be X calories, of which I should be taking in 30/60/10.

What foods help me meet that? I know I should be staying away from white breads, going with whole grain breads, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, right? What else? Anyone know of a good site to see what to eat?


Jim,

Whole grains are better than more refined grains but you don't have to eat wheat bread, whole wheat pasta and brown rice. The simple fact is you need to "Take in less calories than you burn" how you choose to do that is what YOU need to figure out. You need some type of food plan you can be consistent with and maintain for a protracted period of time. What works for others here might not work for you, not because the plan doesn't work but because YOU can't stick to it. It is all about eating less and moving more. Whatever YOUR program ends being it needs to work for YOU it also needs to be something that you can do day in and day out and not feel "terribly" deprived.

Don't buy into folks who will tell you that one plan is so much better than another for losing weight, as long as they are both fairly balanced, restrict your calories and don't have you doing odd things like eating 27 grapefruits a day any plan you can consistently follow will likely work for you.

Is there a book that breaks this down in simple terms? I am trying to understand all this and I understand my intake needs to be X calories, of which I should be taking in 30/60/10.

What foods help me meet that? I know I should be staying away from white breads, going with whole grain breads, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, right? What else? Anyone know of a good site to see what to eat?
Jim, Mike said it better than I might have. You have the general idea down quite well, actually.

Here are a couple of resources that are reputable and reliable:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
http://www.fns.usda.gov/nutritionlink/
http://www.mypyramid.gov/

These are US Government sites and quite good.

Jim,
The simple fact is you need to "Take in less calories than you burn" how you choose to do that is what YOU need to figure out. You need some type of food plan you can be consistent with and maintain for a protracted period of time. What works for others here might not work for you, not because the plan doesn't work but because YOU can't stick to it. It is all about eating less and moving more. Whatever YOUR program ends being it needs to work for YOU it also needs to be something that you can do day in and day out and not feel "terribly" deprived.


Thanks Mike,

I have been watching my calorie intake and find myself at the "top of my intake limit" some days, but most of the time I am what I fear maybe too low. I am trying to find foods that will maximize the nutrition with the lowest calorie count.

My biggest fear right now is not taking in enough calories and losing muscle rather than fat. I have gone from 250lbs to 212lbs through cycling and not changing my terrible diet, but I did the same thing last year, then when winter hits, I don't ride and I keep eating like I am riding. So now I am trying to keep active over the winter (first snowflakes today!) and I am trying to cut down on my calorie intake.

I am keeping between 1800 and 2250 calories and exercising at least an hour a day. Sometimes it's walking to the grocery store (5mi total) some times running 3 miles, and sometimes hitting the trainer. During the summer I ride at least an hour a day, then 3-4 hrs/day on the weekend.

My goal is to go to Hell Week (http://www.hellweek.com/texas.html) and be below 190 lbs.

Thanks for everyone in here being so inspirational.

someone already got this im sure but I use the accumeasure single point caliper. They should be withing 1% of the gold standard when done correctly, but more importantly it will give you a consistent readings that will help you gauge your progress.


http://www.accumeasurefitness.com/products/fitness3000.html

the best way to figure BMR is to use the Katch Mcardle formula.. you will need LBM for that.

BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

then multiply by your activity factor.

Activity factor

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2 X day training, marathon, football camp.


Things to remember.

chart your progress weekly.
Its not about weight, its about your lbm to fat ratio.
eat 5-6 meals throughout the day
remain in a total 5-10% max cal deficet, too low and your metabolism will slow
always eat hi glycemic carbs with a protein
try to eat whole foods with high thermic value
If you have to eat your hi glycemic foods post workout
Do your cardio fasted before breakfast if weight loss is your goal
drink lots of water.
Strength train

NEVER EVER eat..

trans fats
refined sugar
fried foods


with strength training and a good diet you can keep most of your LBM. I went from 226 @ 24% to 205 @ 10% in a year following these guidelines and some serious cardio.

226*.24= 53.76 lbs fat and 172 lbm to 205*.10= 20.05 and 175 lbm so I know it can be done and I was 36 at that time. Its just a matter of discipline, you can have any body you want!

Is there a book that breaks this down in simple terms? I am trying to understand all this and I understand my intake needs to be X calories, of which I should be taking in 30/60/10.

What foods help me meet that? I know I should be staying away from white breads, going with whole grain breads, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, right? What else? Anyone know of a good site to see what to eat?


best book ever for teaching laymen nutrition..

http://www.burnthefat.com/


Tom is a little sensational but its the real deal and he teaches you how it all works, you will never diet again. You will just eat well.

Peanut Butter - good or bad? 2 tablespoons is not that much but it's loaded in fat. I finished a ride yesterday and had peanut butter on top of a banana but it actually sent my fat allowance over.

[Thanks for the info above; don't know how 'grams' got in there before calories but it wasn't supposed to! :D]

Peanut Butter - good or bad? 2 tablespoons is not that much but it's loaded in fat. I finished a ride yesterday and had peanut butter on top of a banana but it actually sent my fat allowance over.

[Thanks for the info above; don't know how 'grams' got in there before calories but it wasn't supposed to! :D]


not necessarily bad post workout its just very dense from a calorie standpoint and contains alot of sodium

Here are my before and afters. The before is about 7 years ago before I hit my heaviest at 240 this Feb and before I had a Heart attack 5 years ago. I made some life choices and bicycle commuting for the health benefits this year was what has been the biggest help.


About 7-8 years ago somewhere around 230-235lb in a XL shirt

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=79127&d=1219278877

Today at 207lb in a large shirt.
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=79128&d=1219278897

Hey Grim!

Those pics aren't coming through for me but you probably want this thread (http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=228767) anyway ;)

First the disclaimer: I'm no expert, no doctor, this is only information that has worked for me.

April 30th 2008, I had a heart attack. I was 35 and I left the hospital on May 2nd after having 2 stents put in to clear out 90% blockages in my right coronary artery, I weighed 262 pounds and I'm 5'10". I was/am overweight. I was active before, hiking and such, but not on a regular basis. I set a goal to get to 215 pounds, I've since revised that and will be heading slowly for 200.

This morning, Aug 21st (my 14 year wedding anniversary), I weighed 216.5. That is 45.5 pounds in about 3.5 months. It's not all water, nor is it all muscle weight.

I have lost about 5 inches from my belly and at least 3 inches from my hips, 2 inches from my neck and I've added to my quads and lost about 1.5 inches of fat on my calves. I've had to take 2 links out of my watches, I've lost about an inch in my wrist. I've also taking about 3 inches off my chest. By biceps have lost about 1.5 inches, but my forearms have remained the same. According to several sites and an body fat tester, I sit at about 23%, I'd like to see 15%, or so. That goes with the 200 pounds, it should be fairly close.

I got out of the Army in January of 96 and I weighed 205 pounds, not super lean, but not fat either. Overweight by their standards, but I also taped under the body fat limit. A lot under the limit.

Enough of the history. I knew what I should have been doing, but chose not to do it.

I follow the diet from my cardiologist. 30/30/40. 30% protein, 30% fat, 40% carbs, or as close as I can get to it. I also keep my saturated fat to less than 10% of total calories and sugars are kept very low as well. I use a website to monitor my food on a daily basis and I intake between 1800-2000 calories in a day, on average. There are times that I'm less and times that I'm more. I don't add calories back in for my commuting, or other workouts. I don't hardly eat fast food anymore and when I do it's only certain places that are able to meet my requirements.. Taco Bell will actually do this with 3 cruncy tacos, but I do Subway mostly.. Double stacked turkey, no cheese and lots of veggies. I also quit drinking regular soda. I used to drink 1000+ calories a day of the stuff.

I pretty much quit red meat, because of the cholesterol content, as well as dairy. I still eat them, just not very much. I eat lots of chicken, tuna, turkey, and salmon. I stay away from refined carbs (white bread, etc).

I'll give you a typical day, today:

Breakfast:

2 pieces of wheat toast with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.
1 banana.

485 calories

Snack:

2 stalks celery, with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

120 calories

Lunch:

1 chicken breast
1 slice of wheat toast
2/3 cup of cottage cheese

467 calories

Dinner:

It's my anniversay, so I'll eat whatever we happen to get, but it will probably still be fairly healthy.

That so far gives me: 36% protein, 29% fat, and 35% carbs. I know my dinner will have more fat and carbs, or at least it most likely will.

The biggest problem I've had is that I have trouble eating 30% protein. I was only doing 20% or so, for awhile, because I was having trouble finding good high protein sources.. I've also added some fat back into my diet. From some things I've read, good fats are just that, good. The Mediteranian diet is fairly close to some of this.

Remember that I'm a commuter, so I have to be able to have things here, or take them on my back.. Normally I'd have brown rice and veggies for lunch, but I didn't have them ready for this mornings ride.

Just after my heart attack is when I had the greatest weight loss. In the 2 weeks I had off, before I had to go back to work, I lost almost 20 pounds, I was going 1 pound per day. I was very leary about what I would eat. I was probably on eating about 1200 calories a day. I was scared, which is a great motivator. I also did not excercise, except for some walking, during this time.

I started riding my bike around the beginning of June. I had rode previous to this event, but never farther than 5 miles. I started with 4 miles and averaged about 11 mph. I slowly worked my way up to about 6 miles, until I saw my cardiologist 6 weeks out. He gave me the thumbs up to go for all I want. Really, he didn't give me any limits. I started doing 10+ miles, then about the middle of July I went for a 30 mile ride with friends. I was averaging about 15 mph with my MTB and some Conti slicks.

I like it so much that I bought a 07 Felt Z80 and picked it up on August 1st, sort of a birthday present for myself. I started commuting to work on the 4th, about 20 miles a day, 3+ days a week (if I can). It's been 20 days since I got the bike and I have 180 miles on it. I love it. I averaged 19.8 mph to work this morning and I've cut between 10-15 minutes off my bike commute since I started 2 weeks ago. I do a 20-35 mile ride on the weekends and we are planning a 50 miler, I will work up to a century.

If you have any questions on diet, I'll tell you what has worked for me. I can't give you all kinds of formulas, or numbers, or anything like that.. Only the cold, hard, evidence of my fat loss. It may not work for everybody and you have to have the proper motivation.. It's actually very easy for me now, but the first month was kind of saddening..

Overall, I'm happy to be here and I count this event as a blessing in my life. Oviously it wasn't my time to go and I have some more things to accomplish here, I'm sure my wife and kids are happy about that.

This forum has been a great inspiration and the people are very friendly here. :)

Lunchbox! great info! So glad that youa re here supporting us. Way to go on the revocery and food plan - Looking Good! when do we see before and after pics! OH and everyone ofcourse wants to see the bike...

Well, I can do pictures of the bike today, if I get the time. I have it here at work.. I can probably do before and after too. There are event pictures from work that will probably show some decent before.

I'll see what I can do..

Oh yeah, I also have a HRM. When I ride I try to keep my HR in the 150's while I'm spinning the pedals. I average about 147 bpm on a regular day. According to it, I burn just shy of 500 calories, each way.

I feel great, that's the most important thing. My cholesterol is lower than it's been in years, lower than I've ever seen it. When I went for a flight status physical, I was 21, my cholesterol was 496. The flight surgeon commented about me still being alive. I still didn't get it then. The lowest I saw it, before the heart attack, was 230 and I was on 80mg of Lipitor a day.. When I got admitted to the hospital my cholesterol was 319. 6 weeks later, it was 143.

I take 10/40 of Vytorin and 500mg of Niaspan each day. The 143 number came before the Niaspan and I have not had it tested since then. The Niaspan is to raise my good cholesterol, which was low, at 33. It should be higher than 40, the excercise that I'm doing should also raise it, as well as the tuna and salmon, among other things.

That reminds me.. I need to go have it checked and see where I'm at.

Edited for content.... Posted in other thread.