Originally Posted by
wolfchild
To burn fat and loose weight you also need to include regular anaerobic workouts such as strength training and sprinting intervals.
Strength training is good for other aspects of fitness, and longer (ideally 7-10 minutes) anaerobic efforts will make you faster, but aren't necessary for weight loss.
I lost my first 60 pounds without ever staying hungry just riding easy Friel Z1/Z2 base miles. Conversely when I worked up to two Z4-Z5 days a week, two tempo days, and had just one easy day my weight stabilized after dropping just 20 pounds, about 45 pounds over what it is now.
Don't rely only on aerobic workouts such as cycling and other forms of cardio to loose weight.
Efforts below your aerobic threshold are excellent for loosing weight because up to 80% of the energy comes from your fat stores instead of depleting your glycogen which makes you hungry leading to more food intake.
While you can ignore the resulting hunger, that's likely to catabolize both fat and muscle.
Lean muscle mass actually helps to burn calories.
One pound of muscle only uses 6-10 Calories a day.