Training & Nutrition - Weight Loss Contest

I got seriously into biking about a month ago now. I have a Trek 3700 which I've changed to semi-slick tires, added front handlebars, and got a new seat. I have added more and more miles each week. I keep myself at a steady pace as not to overwork myself.

I did 33 miles yesterday, 28 miles today. I commute to work at least once a week on the bike (carpool with wife on other days). Most of the times I commute I am able to get a ride home. It's 14 miles each way. I'd say I'm averaging about 15 miles a ride at least 5 times a week now, with a 20+ mile trip on my day off.

This week I will be commuting all four days to work. For the first time.

Now, my job announced last week they're going to be having a weight loss competition for the employees. The top 10 "losers" between today and Oct 15 get $100 bonus. I have already been burning more calories than in the past but now I'm looking for the most efficient weight loss diet as I really want this bonus.

I weighed in today at 274. I must've been up around 300 when I started. (My current bathroom scale says I'm 253 so I don't know what to go by... really.)

Here are things I am working on:

I hardly eat any meat and if I do it's usually chicken.
I switched from whole milk to 2%.
I am eating a carb & protein-centric diet and my muscles have grown significantly over the past month. I went from taking 1 hour 45 minutes to get to work to one hour and 15 minutes.

The ONLY things I drink are milk, gatorade, water, and green tea.
I make sure I get 3 meals a day. One of which is almost always cereal which I add oats to.

My pre-workout meal: plate of spaghetti with 4 teaspoons of parmesean cheese, water to drink
My post workout meal: 2 eggs with cheese, milk. sometimes banana or orange

During rides if I am running out of steam I use Balance energy bars.

I'mi just looking for suggestions on how to drop weight fast and efficiently and if I should continue as I'm doing right now.

I have lost almost 70lbs in the last year. My advise to you is to look into some website like www.sparkpeople.com for the purpose of deliberately counting every calorie that enters your body through a day. This was a huge eye opener to me, being aware of this has not only made me much more conscious of what I was putting into my body. What has been the most realistic way to lose weight based on this is simple portion control, I don't watch what I eat as much as I watch how much I eat. IMO this is a realistic lifestyle change for continued and lasting weight loss. Remember that to lose one pound you need to burn aprox 3500 more calories than you take in, also keep in mind that losing weight too rapidly is not at all healthy, from what I have read you should not lose more that two to three pounds a week. If you need anything feel free to drop me a PM and I will help you out if I can.

Chief

No sat. fats, Only whole grains, eat more times per day about 6. Eat fruits and veg. for your carbs. substitute eggs with egg whites, NO CHEESE, skim milk instead.....lots and lots of cardio. It is a lifestyle change plain and simple. When you understand that, you will be thin!

The ONLY things I drink are milk, gatorade, water, and green tea.


Lose the gatorade. You might as well be drinking sugar water. Go with fruit juice, or if you're looking for something for longer rides, pick something with complex carbs (maltodextrin).

My pre-workout meal: plate of spaghetti with 4 teaspoons of parmesean cheese, water to drink
My post workout meal: 2 eggs with cheese, milk. sometimes banana or orange


How long are your workouts? Unless they go from lunch until dinner, that is A LOT of food/calories. I typically don't eat before a workout and then just eat a normal meal after a work out. I use some HEED for my longer or more intense workouts and occasionally I'll use a Hammer gel if I feel myself slipping.

What has worked for me is keeping track of how many calories I am really eating. So here is what I did: I figured out what my BMR is, that way I know just how many calories I need to stay alive. Then I try as hard as I can to keep track of how many calories I'm taking in throughout the day. There are some online resources that are really helpful, such as www.myfooddiarie.com I don't really agree with those who say, don't eat this or don't eat that. You can eat whatever you want, just know that some foods are a lot more calorie dense than others. The equation is really simple: calories in < calories out = weight loss.

Adding exercise to all that allows you to maintain or even develope muscle mass while losing weight. Not to mention the obvious that your muscle will become better conditioned and your performance will improve, as well as your mental fitness, mood, sleep pattern, etc.

A couple of specific pointers I might add would be, just drink water. Use milk for cereal and cooking if needed and when you do, use skim milk... you'll get use to the taste. While cheese gives you calcium, realize that it is a very calorie dense food. Notice I didn't say it was "fattening", all food is fattening, you just have to watch the amount of calories from each food. Eating fresh fruits and veggies is a great way to fill your stomach with volume and not so much with calories. Eating less calorie dense foods are awesome for that very reason. Cut out all snacks, I think they are the vipers in the grass for diets. Keeping track of your calories will really show you how many calories most people are eating just from harmless snacking. I do agree however, with the thought of eating more frequent, yet smaller, meals. It works for me. Be careful though, you can slip and start eating a lot of calories more frequently, so keep your head about you while you do that. Conversely, the danger of only eating three meals a day is that you are so hungry when one meal comes around, you can easily over eat for that meal.

Finally, get a good digital scale. However, don't become obssessed with it. Just weigh yourself the same day each week at the same time. Your weight will fluctuate thoughout the day, so most people weigh themselves in the morning.

Oh yeah, pick out something really cool to by with your bonus, that will keep motivated to win!

weightloss is all about diet. It is very easy to skip a snack and save 150 calories then to try and burn off 150 calories at the gym. Go on a strict diet and portion your food and you will get the bonus.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I can't drink fruit juice during a ride as the acidity upsets my stomach. I got the gatorade mix which I water down anyway so it's not as bad. I am going to start counting calories and measuring stuff today.

My longest rides have been over 5 hours so I've needed the calories. I've progressively lessened calories as I've gone along. What is the calorie burn rate per hour of bicycling (at a steady moderate pace.)

Fish can be better than chicken.

+1 on Cheese-control

http://Fitday.com

i used it for a year to track every calorie that went in and out :).

i dropped 70 lbs and changed my life.

good luck.

later.

Cycling burns anywhere from 400 to 1000 calories per hour, depending on your effort. At tempo I usually burn about 700 per hour. A good rule of thumb is to take your heart rate, then multiply it by 4 or 5 to get your calories burned per hour. If you are on the upper end (180-200) of your heart rate, multiply by 5. If you are on the lower end (120-140) multiply by 4. Anywhere in between, multiply by 4.5.

Diet wise, sounds like you are going great, but I'd drop the cheese to non-fat, and make the milk skim only. Use whole wheat noodles in your spaghetti and whole grain / non sugary cereal for breakfast. Get the majority of your food in before 1pm, in fact feel free to snack on low fat, high fiber, healthy snacks between breakfast and lunch, and even after lunch to some degree.

If you don't have a heart rate monitor, get one. You can pick them up for $50-$60 nowadays, and they even come with calorie expenditure features.

Keep it up, you can get to 200lbs (and below) no doubt.

Use whole wheat noodles in your spaghetti and whole grain / non sugary cereal for breakfast.

That's a great tip that I forgot to mention. I try to get whole grain (fiber) in all the hidden forms. Even pizza now you can get with whole wheat crust. The fish instead of chicken is great. I switched from beef burger to turkey burger and it's good. Personally, I would dump the gatoraid altogether. I found HEED to be better for me. I think gatoraid has too much simple sugars in it, so it causes an insulin spike with a resulting drop in energy. I try to get my energy from maltodextrin while I ride, that's why I like HEED. I rode the other night with the local race team, some pros, and they just drank water and carried a bannana with em. And you should have seen how fast and hard we rode!

Make sure you get enough fiber, it's important in so many ways.

What is the calorie burn rate per hour of bicycling (at a steady moderate pace.)


Something in the neighborhood of 500-600 calories per hour. If you want to lose weight, estimate low.