babysaph

Was kinda hoping to drop a few pounds riding my bike. I am only riding 30 miles/day but still thought I would drop some weight. I have been riding for 4 months. got on the scales and have not lost any weight. Oh well

anthropete

Have you changed your diet at all? Even still, you should be seeing some kind of changes i.e. more muscle and maybe your clothes fit better. Scale weight is deceptive. Try going by inches.

Pete
https://www.viovio.com/anthropete

Kabloink

I agree about also using inches. I have seen my weight go up a little over the last year or so, but my waist size has pretty much stayed the same. You may be losing fat and gaining muscle and not seeing much of a weight drop.

Also, reducing calories is a must to lose weight. There is really no way around the need to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight.

Medpilot

Start measuring your food/calorie intake and I guarantee you'll have results. Guessing how much to eat is not a great way to go about losing weight. When I want to shed pounds, I use a diet program that counts my calories. There are many out there to choose from, the one I use is from healthtech found HERE. It can usually be found on ebay for a fraction of the price healthtech sells it for.

It still amazes me how much of a calorie deficit you need to lose weight. For me, eating 1600 calories a day to lose a pound a week peaty much means I'll be hungry all day. I just accept that as what I have to do to lose weight.

A good website with some great tips on losing weight.

https://www.fatlosstips.com/

oldspark

Do you wear a HRM-intensity is a key ingredient to weight loss on the bike.

Smoothie104

1. burn more than you eat and you lose, eat more than you burn and you gain.

2. There is a 15 billion dollar industy devoted to find shortcuts to this, but we are still the fattest country in the world.

3. See number 1.

Smoothie104

Now riding at lower intensity will burn more fat, higher intensity will burn more glycogen (sugar) but if you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight.

Keep riding your 30 miles a day, try and eat no more than what you ate before you started riding. Or if you can, cut back a bit from that.

Note, its simple, I didn't say its easy.

oldspark

See now there is the problem-simple but not easy.

johnny99

Lower intensity does not burn more fat! Lower intensity burns a higher percentage of fat compared to carbs, but since you're burning fewer calories than at higher intensity, your total fat burn is lower. I'm not sure how fast you are riding, but you should raise your intensity at least into the aerobic level. Very high intensity levels are great for your fitness, but they can make you feel more hungry (if you have a weak will) and they can make recovery more difficult (if you ride hard every day).

I agree that the key to losing weight is to eat less.

krazyderek

Low hr, slow paced long rides will shed the pounds, try 50 or 60 miles (or what ever works out to be 3-4hours long), keep your heart rate pretty low though. Maybe go to a fitness / nutrition center to find out your optimal fat burning HR zone and get a hr monitor. And also have them asses your diet. I made a couple of switch's in mine that really helped out (my gf is a nutritionist), veggie hot dogs(taste exactly the same only no fat), whole wheat breads and buns(so it's not just empty calories). Fat free yogourt instead of ice cream. Lots, LOTS of water. Special K cereal bars for snacks instead of chocolate bars. I eat some raw spinach every now and then aswell. Turn off the deep frier and bake or barbecue. And even read the labels at the corner store, some products that might taste close might be very different in terms of nutritional content.

well you get the ideal... gl...
btw, i've droppped 17 lbs since march, and i'm not really trying, i just wanted to lead a healthier life, the fat just kinda diasapeared as a result.

RoboCheme

I've lost ten pounds in about 5 months. I used to be and still am a runner, but now I cycle on the weekends. Since I can last a lot longer on the bike than running, I think that, overall, I burn more calories. Another important factor is that I've changed my diet slightly - I try not to stuff myself at dinner and I don't snack after 8 pm.

Keep it up. 30 miles/day sounds like a good program.

Medpilot

True, but that's not the whole story....

Read on.

https://menshealth.about.com/cs/fitness/a/walking.htm

dfw

This is true. You can burn fat efficiently with low intensity workouts, however you have to train your body to burn fat at low intensity (which may take months) and just because it's efficient, doesn't mean you burn more.

I'm not sure how true it is, but I've read that for the first 20 minutes of exercise in the aerobic zone, you will burn 20% fat and 80% carbs. From 20 minutes to 40 minutes, you'll burn 50% fat and 50% carbs. After 40 minutes, you'll burn 80% fat and 20% carbs. All of this makes sense, but I'm not sure how accurate the numbers are. You actually burn fat most efficiently through aerobic exercise if you do it long enough. Sooner or later you have to burn up all the available carbs.

krazyderek

i imagine that's why variety is a good part to any excersize program, long "easy" ride, still keeping your hr around 65% max(so you should break a sweat). Then mix in some shorter moderate inensity rides with a strong steady pace. And finaly hilly days are great cause they're like "off" .."on"..."off" ..."on" high intensity days.

dfw

Try eating 5 small meals rather than 3 larger ones and stop eating 3 hours before you go to bed. Divide your 1600 calories into 320 calorie meals (or 300 this one, 340 the next, etc). This pretty much means you'll be eating every 2-3 hours. You're not as likely to get hungry during the day, but if you do get hungry, you're not that far away from your next meal. You will be hungry before you go to bed, but you shouldn't be eating before bedtime anyway.

Totoro

Eat well before your ride.

Keep hydrated.

Outside of riding - avoid all snacks. If you must, eat a pickle.

Reduce the amount of meat you eat (fish and pork are better than beef). Replace with greens. No butter or salad dressings.

Eat your main meal in the middle of the day, so you have energy for the day.

Eat a small dinner.

Avoid breads, chips, french fries, and other fatty foods.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are okay.

oldspark

As studies have started so surface on the subject of intensity of exersise how hard you ride is very important for many reasons.

Bontrager

If someone is sedentary and they start a walking program then they're exercising more therefore they'll lose weight.

That doesn't mean athletes will lose weight if they ditch their training program and start walking instead

I say watch what you're eating and most importantly watch how you're training. Get a HRM and don't pay any attention to it the first few times you're out doing your thing - then compare what you're actually doing to what you're supposed to be doing in terms of staying in your appropriate zones and adjust. I think you're in for a pleasant surprise. Finally, as others have said; you might be gaining muscle which weighs much more than fat does. Perhaps get yourself a scale that measures body fat. They're not very accurate but it'll at least show you if you're getting fatter or leaner with the same weight.

Medpilot

I'm already eating 6 small meals a day. I'm also eating nutrient dense food as opposed to calorie dense foods. I find that eating a 300 calorie meal only satisfies my hunger for about 15 minutes.



I'm not sure you read the whole article. It talks about fat loss in comparison to intensity. Not just walking to lose weight.

Totoro

Think of it this way: If you are hungry you are losing weight. If not, you're not.

dfw

It takes some getting used to. Eventually you won't be hungry as often. You also have to schedule out your meals and stick to your schedule as closely as possible. If you go too long without eating, then yes 300 calories will not fill you up very well.

Eating 5 or 6 meals per day is a very good strategy because it keeps your metabolism higher than eating more less often.

fishigan

Is that 30 miles a day once a month? 4 months of 30 miles a day?! and zero wieght lost? You should go see a Dr. and get the bad news out of the way.

dfw

Lance Armstrong consumed on average 10,000 calories per day during the TdF and still lost weight. Use that for inspiration.

krazyderek

i was waitting for someone to pull that out, the average trainning cyclist burns 5000 cals a day, according to the american olympic trainning center, i think only wrestlers burnt more.

oldspark

Train to ride fast and the weight loss will come as a by-product.