xray1978

Ok, I will admit I am not a true clyde as I am just barely under 200lbs but I am also only 5'8". Can I be an honorary clyde?

Anyway. I am having trouble losing weight, I need to lose about 30 lbs to be at a healthy weight. I have already lost 35 lbs but my weight loss has just stopped there. It won't budge down at all, I have been stuck here for months. Do you have any tips for breaking a plateau?

This summer I rode my bike 80-100 miles per week and now that it is winter I try to ride the exercise bike 4 times per week for an hour each time. I don't do cup cake rides. I try to burn at least 800 k/cal per session on the exercise bike and when I rode my bike in the summer I tried to average at least 15 mph for each ride on a single speed road bike.

I am just at a loss, really really frustrated!

How did you do it if you were able to get past a plateau?

MrClyde

I would try some cross training, like running or weightlifting, and change up your eating. Keep a calorie journal (honestly) for a week and evaluate your eating. You need to shake things up a bit and surprise your system.

Do you vary your riding? Even if you always ride at a high effort, you should do some intervals, some long rides, some sprints, etc. Can you ride the exercise bike more than 4 times per week?

Go dog Go

Weight training builds lean muscle mass which in turn burns calories as you sit at your computer posting.

Cardio alone is not your friend IMO [and that of people that acually know what they're talking about.].

Oregon Southpaw

How hard you pushing it?

sstorkel

I'll bet I could lift weights for an entire year and not add enough lean muscle mass to increase my daily calorie burn to the point where it would equal a half-hour bike ride! Muscle may burn more calories than other types of tissue, but it doesn't burn significantly more, especially when you're sitting around doing nothing...

The best thing I've found for breaking through a plateau is to vary your training routine. If you ride the same route every day at the same intensity level, you'll quickly hit a plateau. When that happens, it's time to make radical changes to your training routine. I typically vary the length of rides, their intensity, the terrain (road vs. off-road, hills vs. flat), and the amount of recovery time in between rides. I typically use the same riding routine for 2-6 weeks, then switch to something else when I start to plateau. Keeps the riding interesting and keeps the body working to adapt.

xray1978

Oregon Southpaw, I try to push as hard as I can on exercise rides. When I am just joy riding or running erands I don't care how fast I am riding.

sstorkel, I will try to mix up my routine. I never thought about it but, yes, I do tend to do the same things a lot. Perhaps I will buy an off road bike to help change things up, we do have plenty of gravel and dirt roads around here. Maybe instead of the exercise bike all winter I will mix it up with the elliptical trainer a few time per week.

Thanks posters!

Go dog Go

Christ you people are literal.

Clearly no one trying to lose weight should do any resistance training nor do any health care professionals recommended it.

sstorkel

If you didn't want your post to be taken as literal/factual, maybe you should have indicated that...

dahoss2002

I'm 5'9" and down to 175 now. I went from about 230 to 200 real quick then bounced between 200-210 for a year or more. If you want to get to your goal weight you will prolly have to count calories. A 3 hour bike ride might burn 1800 - 2000 calories, but you can eat that many calories in 10 - 15 minutes so the calories in vs. calories out must be closely watched if you have reached a plateau. What helped me the most was Joel Fuhrman's book, 'Eat to Live". He advocates a "veggie" approach. I still eat meat but I have cut it way down. Lots of nutrition in greens and beans. Salads without salad dressing. These foods pack lots of nutrients per calorie and fill you up.

bdinger

+1 to counting calories. Count the calories religiously for a week or two, count EVERYTHING - it becomes pointless if you don't count the handful of cashews you grab, and see what you find. Then try to reduce them by 500/day, in theory that should put you at a 3500/week deficit and you should see a 1lb loss/week.

Don't forget to drink water and watch sodium.

sstorkel

I think you need to do some more research. While people have been repeating the "muscle burns more calories" myth for years, recent scientific studies would seem to suggest that this isn't as much of a factor as many people would lead you to believe. This isn't to say that you shouldn't do any weight training, because it definitely does have benefits. But increased calorie burn/weight loss isn't necessarily one of them...

MrClyde

I don't know if I believe the burning fat while resting, but I do know from personal experience that weight lifting can cause you to lose weight. If you do not change your eating habits at all, and start lifting regularly, you will lose weight because you are burning more calories. And a good 1 hour weight session is HARD work. Especially when you work up to some decent poundage on the weights. I stick with compound exercises that use an entire group of muscles, and stay away from the pinpoint specific ones. Bench press, lat pulldowns, squats, shoulder press, etc. Good old pushups and situps are good too.

I really think it is as simple as burning more calories, or eating less. Your choice, but don't kid yourself or lie to yourself about how much you are eating or how much you are exercising.

Daspydyr 

Remember the adage that muscle weighs more than fat. Your cardio and muscle mass have to be improving. Pat yourself n the back for that.

To get off the plateau you have to confuse your system some. Change your diet, toss in a couple days a month of veggies and fruits only. Lift weights, take long walks, don't eat after 7pm. No chips or carbonated beverages. That has worked for me in the past.

You are in good company at 5' 8". You have the heart of a Clyde. We got your back, hang with us.

Daspydyr 

The Nutrition Thread also has some great articles, contributors and ideas.

41ants

Simple... Just burn more calories than what you are consuming. So, if you have hit a plateau you need to increase activity or reduce calories or do both. I really don't care how you break it down, it just comes back to simply burning more than you take in. Keep it simple as there is no need to over complicate things.

xray1978

Ok, I will journal my caloric intake and reduce my consumption accordingly. Working at a bakery does not do me any favors thats for sure.

41ants

Yeah, the bakery food my be part of the problem. Cut out a couple of those glazed donuts and you could probably sub it for mulitgrain bread, egg white, and some low sodium ham = nice breakfast sandwich. Also, how much water do you drink a day? I cut out my soda completely and started pounding about a gallon of water a day. This helped and not mention it helps your skin as well. You might want to check out one of those online diet journals. Some of them are nice in that they have a fairly extensive library of foods and it breaks down calories, protein, fat, etc... I was using one last year when I was trying to pack on some mass and it was very helpful. Once I find the link, I will PM it to you. Good luck.

ChrizzleDizzle6

i had the same problem. i rode this past summer and lost 15 lbs then i hit my plateau.
i still road my bike but incorporated cardio into my workouts.
before i rode i would run 3 miles around the neighborhood then go on my ride.
this helped me out a lot. you gotta push yourself in order for it to work
if you have bad knees then walk/jog for at least 30 minutes before you ride and work your way up to running
also gotta watch what you eat also but we all have different eating habits.
this works i have done it and my friends have done it as well. i ran for a month before riding and i lost another 10 lbs.
try it out! lemme know how you do!