jasandalb

Okay... I need to shed 25lbs.........when I say need, I mean really want to drop 25lbs by April.
Currently I am at 205lbs.

I dont have a lot of time for training (juggling family life, work, going back to school) so my natural thought was to decrease calorie intake. But with that reduction, wouldnt I also sacrifice a reduction in muscle..almost like atrophy? Is my body not going to get enough of what it needs and then I would be doing more harm than damage? What about weight loss supplements? Do they work? Who's tried them? I tried hydroxycut hardcore and didnt notice a thing!

My current "training schedule" is like this.

Monday night (usually 9pm...after studying) 5k run
Tuesday rest..(son's t-ball, homework)
Wednesday night...gym (again...9pm)
Thursday rest..(again, homework, son's t-ball, and doing "chores" around the house)
Saturday..club ride 20-25 miles 8:30 am - 9:30-10am
Sunday...quick ride by myself 10-15 miles.

Eating Habits...
My breakfast usually consist of 2 slices whole wheat bread with peanut butter (hey..I could buy some salmonella infected stuff and drop all my weight!!) or oatmeal
Snack around 10:30am.... carrots, or a few triscuits
Lunch...usually sandwich or 2 packs of ramen noodles
Snack around 3:00pm.... as above, or granola.
Dinner...depends

Is the only way for me to drop weight to get back to calorie counting and focus on a deficiency?

HELP!

10 Wheels

Your eating too much dinner.

stevetone

It's a math problem. Since a pound is 3,500 calories, you need to consume 87,500 fewer calories than you burn over the next 6 weeks (25 x 3500). That's 14,583 per week. Simple.

Seriously, you may want to rethink your goal unless you're willing to seriously change your habits and/or place your overall health in jeopardy.

jasandalb

A. 14583...is 2,083 calories a day....that's not bad.
B. I am not going to put my overall health in jeopardy but committing to a serious change.

Barchettaman

Eat more veggies.
Cut out alcohol during the week.
Cut out processed foods.
Eat a bigger breakfast - but hot oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit.
Throw away the peanut butter.
Drink more water.
On the weekends, hit the red wine rather than the beer.
At work, walk the stairs rather than take the lifts.
Commute on the bike (if possible)

Best of luck!

chipcom 

More fruits and veggies, less starches, breads, noodles etc. and 'depends'.
What are you drinking? Drink lots of water, avoid soft drinks. If you drink milk, drink skim.
Also watch your portion sizes.

127.0.0.1

I Guarantee Results. No thinking involved. Just ride lots and eat more.
----------------------
1) skip your routine

2) ride 3 hours a day, every day. like, after work from 6 to 9. then shower eat and sleep

3) you are gonna need to eat more than what you posted, to do this. the meal 6 hours before the
ride should be carbs, like pasta or a lot of taters or rice

drink ONLY water no sodas no milk nothing.

use energy drink during the ride 40-50gram carb/hour

oh yeah you gotta be motoring your butt off in from '1/2 hour into the ride'
to '1/2hr before it ends'

4) right before bedtime eat a chicken leg or can of tuna...something all protein and a very little fat, but some fat


there ya go.

DataJunkie

In addition to what everyone has mentioned:
For me I discovered patience was very important. It took me 10 years to gain 70 lbs and I was not going to loose it over night.
The last 20 lbs took me a year to loose while calorie counting. I would suggest relaxing your goal a bit.
2 lbs a week is tiring. I believe 15 lbs is more reasonable by April and 25 lbs by May or June.
My 2 cents.

jasandalb

Working on a plan to commute 2 days a week...I live 8 miles from my office, but I would have to hit some major roadways...my office is all one level...so no elevators. why toss the PB? thought it was good protein, and I eat the low fat stuff.

starches are my crutch...will work it... I do drink alot of water and juices...soda's are not in my arsenal...never have been. Milk = soy for me.

As mentioned in my original post...I cant ride 3 hours a day.....time is limited with me. but thanks for the advice.

mickey85

Download Google Earth and see if there are alleys or side streets that you can take. My trip to work is 9.5 miles one way, 12 the other, and 7 if I were to drive a major road. you might add some mileage, but it's worth it, right?

And as far as juices, be really careful - a lot of them are super-sugary.

DallasSoxFan

Loopback, I think you are a little loopy. He said he has kids and has to study (getting a degree while working and having kids) 3 hours might as well be a week.

OP, you are getting in a commendable amount of activity given your circumstances.

Eat many, small meals that emphasize good proteins. Focus on making progress.

chipcom 

Commuting to-from work is one of the best ways work some exercise into your day, rather than having to 'make time' for it.

Ditto on the juices...heck even the flavored-water thingies got tons of sugar and crap in them. When it comes to loosing weight and/or cutting sugars, you can't beat plain old water.

DataJunkie

Don't toss the peanut butter! God I love peanut butter.
I refused to loose it and lost 60 lbs while eating it daily.
Anyhow, if you look at the ingredients list of commercially made peanut butter you may get depressed.
Instead head to your local health food store and pick up some organic peanut butter.
1 or two ingredients and it actually tastes like peanuts.
You need the good fats. Though peanuts have a bit of saturated fat as well.

ericm979

25 lbs in less than two months (assuming "by April" means the 1st) is unrealistic, especially if you want to maintain muscle mass. You'd have to go on a starvation diet to do that.
The normal rule of thumb for fat loss is an average of 1 lb/week. If you have a lot of body fat and aren't exercising much you may be able to lose more; if you are already very fit then 1 lb/wk is tough.


Even to lose 1 lb/wk you will have to run a deficit- eating fewer calories than you burn is the only way to lose weight. You can get a deficit by riding more or eating less or both. Your riding will improve much more if you can do the riding more option. You are not riding much now so you should see rapid improvement. Can you get rollers or an indoor trainer and "ride" while the kids are asleep? Extend the two weekend rides?

jasandalb

Will search CL for rollers. I had a trainer and wasnt a fan...ended up bending components

jasandalb

AHHHHHHH.. see these are the times of day when I get cravings.... between 3:30-4:30!! I just want to go raid the vending machine!!

palookabutt

The BF search engine appears to be down, so I can't find the reference, but on another thread someone posted about "The Drip" method. The idea is to maintain a steady calorie intake across the day instead of eating 3 relatively large meals.

I've heard of this before in other contexts, but finally I decided to try it. My basal metabolic requirement is about 1800 kCal/day, so when I'm dieting, I shoot for a net 1300/day (total intake - calories burned) to lose 1 lb./week. Thus on "the drip", my approach is to eat about 200-250 kCal every 2 hours, plus whatever I need when I work out. I've been doing it now for about a week.

It is a marvelous thing! I hardly ever feel hungry, just "peckish" maybe once or twice a day. Mentally it's a lot easier than 3 meals/day, because I'm always within 1 hour of a meal: either I just ate or I'm about to eat. And as others have claimed, I don't get that sleepy feeling an hour or so after a meal: I'm probably not ramping my blood sugar up and down so much.

https://www.athleticamps.com/cycling/coaching/id0056/

arexjay

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper. With some snacks along the way.

Do your best to get the most you can out of your short riding time. I'd suggest checking out The Cyclist's Training Bible by Joe Friel for some great training plans with limited time.

Pat

As pointed out losing 25 lbs in 8 weeks is a tall order. Even if you went on a very restricted diet, you might not accomplish that. Human bodies are designed to get people through famines. If you restrict calories, frequently the body responds by drastically lowering the metabolic rate. Also on most diets people tend to lose as much muscle as fat.

I would suggest that you eat sensibly, restrict your calories some, try to increase your aerobic activity and hope to lose about 8 lbs by your target date.

DesnaePhoto

I lost 20 pounds in a month. Once. I went from doing nothing for a couple of years to exercising daily AND a major diet change. Most of that weight was shocked off, I think. After that, I was losing 2 pounds a week. My latest round -- I have no idea how much I've lost or how fast. Really don't care to know either. Diet, diet, diet is key (not in terms of reduction, but what you put in.)

One thing I did while studying were push-up/sit-up breaks. 5 minutes, gets the blood moving, and helped my physical fitness scores. Thinking it would help your metabolism stay higher.

Dantebfd

eat 500 less calories a day and burn 500 calories more a day. Eat protein for breakfast, it keeps you feeling full longer. Too much of a calorie deficit signals your body to slow your metabolism because it fears you are starving- this will cause your body to hoard fat and your weight loss will stall.
At my heaviest I was 215, I have been 160 for a long time and never "dieted"- I just ate less and moved more and reduced my simple sugar intake dramatically. Set a new goal for April because if you lose 25 by April you will probably put on 45 by October.

TboneZX11

That's consuming 2,083 calories LESS per day than you burn. From what you said you eat (unless dinner is HUGE), you're not getting enough protein to build muscle (which burns more calories than fat) and you're not eating enough calories to create a 2k daily calorie deficit without adding some significant exercise (requiring more food/energy/calories).

25lbs in 6 weeks in a healthy fashion with what you're doing is not really feasible.

cyclezen

Wed gym - make sure you do at least 40-45 min on a stationary bike ALONG with any weight workout, so you get home a little later...
Saturday - rather than an 8:30 start - start ride at 7-7:30 before the club ride. maybe ride out to the meet spot and then back home - works a ton for me... avg 7:15ish start means you get in at least another 12-15 miles (with good warmup) - 400 Kcals or so additional burn.
Sunday- same story - do 25 miles instead of 15 - another 250-300 Kcals

diet - good stuff, lots of water, no sodas or sweetened drinks, no gatorade, wine is about the same as beer in the Kcal story, so either counts. Both are good, but iff'n you want to cut Kcals, there's a good place.
ramen noodles - can we say 'SALT'!!!! drop the ramen...
no late eating after 8 PM
water - lots of water, water, mostly water, water...
add some non-redmeat protein early in the day - like mid-morning or sooner (we're not talkin eggs...)
you KNOW what has empty calories, eat only what works to rebuilding your cells. Peanut Butter is very marginal.
vegetable greens with as many meals as possible.
lots of meals need sauces, but for the time being, lay off the sauces
really wanna lose weight? cut the Kcals to no more than 800-900 for the entire day on the 'Rest Days'.
I've done 50 and 60 lb loses in 6 weeks, 2x times, using the above general guidelines while raisin 2 kids...
I vary between fat **** and skinny fat ****

mishmashmusic

I finally stopped drinking sodas a little over a month ago, and my weight has dropped 5lbs from that alone. Basically, just stick with water. Boring, but effective.

Like a few others have said, knock out the processed stuff as much as possible.

DataJunkie

Water isn't boring. It is my favorite drink. Well second favorite after beer.