bikeM3987

Ok,
I am in rather good shape, but I am trying to lose the extra body fat (max 10 lbs.) I am a little below 150lbs at 5'10" and young, but like I said its the fat I want to lose. I am also racing almost every weekend and I ride 1.5-3 hours a day. I have been going light on the carbs at night, but I am used to eating alot. I need help with what to eat... but on a broader level. Do you guys cut carbs or fats or what? I want to maintain the energy however, and lose as little muscle as possible. It can be a slow loss, I just want some advice. Thanks guys,

Matt
p.s. I have been looking around in other threads too, before it gets brought up.


EDIT: I would also like this to be a permanent change, not just a thing for the next months. I do not want to be hungry either though...

bikeM3987

here is what I ate today,
breakfast: blueberry bagel with cream cheese, banana, a cup of v8 splash.

lunch: bowl of ramen and a large grilled chicken breast, with a little bbq sauce. Some strawberry-banana nectar, the kind in the cans... they are mexican. (del valle juice???)

a banana before the ride....
Then I rode for 3 hours.

dinner: (immediately after ride) can of ravioli (chef boyardee), 4 pieces of buttered bread (light butter) and a banana. I also another cup of the v8 splash juice.


An hour and a half later or so, I had 3 miniature reeses cup's and an orange. fwiw.

:edit:
This dinner was unreasonably high in carbs, but I was in a rush, and was starving... I didn't really realize what I had posted until after...

johnhaak

It looks like you eat a lot of very processed foods/drinks. Try using more fresh fruits/vegetables. I also don't see much of a point in the juices...they are mostly sugar.

bikeM3987

I just don't drink soda or many other things besides juice and milk.... it's not because I am trying to be healthy.

Jarery

Drinking lots of juices is ingesting calories without the benefit of eating the food. Id rather eat the food and feel full along with a glass of water, than to drink a glass of juice, gain the same calories, and still feel hungry.

ramen are deep fried noodles with loads of trans fat so lunch is far from healthy.
You say you go light on carbs at night but a dinner of canned ravioli and 4 slices of bread ? Thats carb light? Its highly processed crap food honestly.

You also say you eat a lot and bike 3 hours a day. I'd starve to death on that with 3 hours riding a day. I cant tell if your serious or trying to write a sarcasm post. As others mentioned, eat real food not processed food, cut the juices and eat the vegetables and fruit they are made from instead. try food that doesnt come from a can or box.

bikeM3987

Ok, here is some clarification on that bit.... I fixed the post for one... my bad.

I rarely eat that many carbs for dinner, however, I had just gotten back from a ride and needed to eat before I got started on my programming assignment, which brings me to point 2:

I am in college, so when I am in a rush, I usually have something processed or out of a box/can.

Normally for dinner though, i will have chicken, with rice or mashed potatos... it depends. Or breakfast tacos, or eggs...

I have a problem keeping fresh veggies, because rarely do I eat them before they all go bad. I eat much more fruit, and yes that is what I ate today, no joke. I don't think it's as little as you think it is.

I will post tomorrow's day's worth of food also, to give an example of my non-rushed normal day caloric intake.

Also note that this is much healthier than what almost all the other college kids I know are eating... so I guess it's perspective...

Nickel

I would input a few days worth of data into something like fitday.com. You can only lose fat by creating a caloric deficit. The best way to figure that out is find out how many Calories you can eat and not gain or lose, but stay at maintenance. Then subtract from there. You have to make sure to have food when you get out of a workout because the tendency is to stuff the face. I make sure I have food ready to go so I'm not tempted to eat snacks. I'm also unsure you are getting enough protein?

As a student, I have very little time for meals but eating real food is one of my main priorities. I would come up with a week's worth of meals and you could probably get away with cooking 2-3 big meals say on Sunday and then you don't have to worry about cooking during the week and you use up all your veggies so they don't go bad. The key is sticking to your schedule. It took me a few tries but once I got my momentum, I had a nice homecooked meal every night.

Bagels can have a lot of Calories so I might suggest an omelet and some oatmeal or quinoa. Then you can throw some veggies into the omelet and fruit into the oatmeal. You are going to want to eat some protein and fat at every meal so that you feel satiated. You might want to look into tuna, which you can put in half a pita and it comes in a can!

bikeM3987

I am a little confused on the caloric thing. It makes sense to create a caloric deficit, but I have also been told it's the carbs that will make you fat, and others have said its the sat. fat that makes you fat... so I have not been looking at the calories so much. And this is the start of my second sememster, so I am still trying to adjust to everything and work out the food situation.

Also about the protein, that is actually one of my worries, I forgot it earlier. I need to eat more for sure, because all I get protein from is milk, eggs, and chicken.

Jarery

The ONLY thing that will make you fat is taking in more calories than you expend. It does not matter from what source those calories came from. Eating an extra 500 carb calories a day will make you fatter by 1 lb a week, the exact same as eating an extra 500 fat calories day, and the same as eating an extra 500 protein calories a day.

UmneyDurak

That being said high fat food have higher caloric value per gram, so it's easier to over eat.

bikeM3987

thanks guys. I think I am just going to eat healthier, but the same volume as before. I am not gaining weight, so I think I might worry about it in the off season.

ericgu

My advice:

1) More fiber - fruit, veg, and whole grains over processed grains whenever possible. Limit the simple carbs.
2) Carbs during the workout (250 cal/hour) to keep your blood sugar out, and perhaps with a bit of protein.
3) Most important: Good recovery nutrition. 200-400 cal mostly carb and a little protein ASAP right after you finish, even if you aren't hungry. I use endurox, low-fat chocolate milk is actually good, other choice.

If you do #3, you will not get massive amounts of hunger after you ride.

That approach took me from 175 to 163, at 6'2" without loosing power (to the extent that I can tell).

droptop

for the veggies issue, i tend to buy the flash frozen vegetables. throw them in the freezer until you need them, but you don't have to defrost them to cook them. my favorite are the pict-fresh brand (minimally processed). i find these are fresher than a lot of produce departments, and a lot cheaper. (i used to work in produce).

carbondale

From what I've seen, very few brands of Ramen noodles contain trans fats, but...

If you dump one item permanently from your diet, make it Ramen noodles. They contain anywhere from 35 to 90% of the sodium recommended. And, if you stick with V8 Splash, not bad, but regular V8 is loaded with sodium. All that sodium is not good. Can raise blood pressure, make you thirstier than normal, make you retain water weight. And you'll be up pissin' all night.

Like said above. Eat more real fruits and veggies. Getting them in a drink is NOT the same. Fructose syrup is different than fructose associated with fiber. One jolts your system, the other takes time to digest = better.

ericm979

V8 Splash is junk. Look at the first two ingredients: water, high fructose corn syrup. Then fruit juice concentrate (more sugar). And sucralose. It's not healthy, or low calorie.

There is a low sodium V8- same ingredients as regular vegetable juice V8 but with less salt. It's hard to find but it tastes much better without the salt overpowering the other flavors.

Mo'Phat

A) Stay away from V8 Splash, diet sodas, regular sodas, beer, etc...for all the reasons everybody has said. Empty calories, high sodium, and don't make you feel full. If you need flavor, you can get Crystal Light. Tastes fine and makes 2 quarts a pop. Something like 5 calories per serving, which you burn drinking it.

B) Stay far away from anything from a can. Soup, stew, Chef Boyardee, are all loaded with sodium and saturated fats. Also they're super high calorie, and most cans are at least 2 servings...so do the math on how many calories you're taking in.

C) Bread, milk, and juice all have massive amounts of calories...much more than you think. Serving sizes are also pretty small (1 slice of bread is around 120 calories, and OJ is only a 4 oz serving, normally)

D) If you want to eat to exhaustion, load up on free foods. Go buy a head of lettuce and some fat free/no cal dressing and eat the whole thing. Your mouth will get tired before you finish it, but you will have eaten maybe 30 calories. Also, cucumbers, celery, cabbage...all have fewer calories than your body would actually use to burn them off. 'Free food'.

E) Last, things like eggs are good for protein. 2 egg whites is only about 30 calories.

palookabutt

+1

An easy way to transition is to substitute the fruit for the juice -- eat an orange instead of orange juice, or grapes instead of grape juice. For veggies, carrots are an easy transition, as are cucumbers. You can toss a few carrots in a bag and it's instant snack food. When you get more advanced you can toss in some raw broccoli.

Lawrence08648

Lot of good food advice, some additional stuff.

1) Eat a big breakfast fairly soon after you get up
2) Always have protein with carbs
3) Eat often, smaller meals more often
4) Don't eat after 7:00pm
5) Incorporate a weight lifting program, low weight, high reps such as 25
6) Have a whey isolate protein shake mixed with skim milk, oatmeal, banana after you work out
7) Cross train such as roller blading and jump roping
8) Take a 20 mile bike ride (no more) within 30 minutes of waking up, no food, no juice, just water before you leave, ride slow 10-13mph, spin high cadence 90-110 rpm, preferably 95+, low heart rate less than 125, preferably 90-120.

umd

I disagree with both of these. First, blanket times, rates, etc. don't take into account the fact that we are all different. That said, 7:00pm is really early to stop eating. Most advice about not eating in the evening usually puts it around 8:00-10:00. Better advice would be "a few hours before you go to bed". I couldn't imagine not eating from 7 until 11 or 12 when I go to bed. 4 to 5 hours is a long time.

The idea of doing an easy morning ride on no food is not a bad one and I do it on occasion, but my issue is with your speed & zone recommendations. You have the right idea but again, everyone is different and you can't give a range and have it apply to everyone. A power meter would be the best way to determine the appropriate intensity, but using HR go off your LT or max HR, not a fixed range. For me I've found that 70% of FT power or max HR is most effective. That works out to about 200W or 130bpm. Speed is not even remotely relevant. On a flat route that power/hr would get me about 18-19 mph. 10-13mph would not even get my HR up to 90.