willmw

When I started biking, I was up to 210lbs and the doctor had just told me I needed to make a lifestyle change (due to some nasty blood work results, and blood pressure, etc.). He gave me an initial goal of losing 10% of my body weight. Well, as of today (5 months later)...I'm down to 185 and so I've met that goal and then some. My question is this:

My wife asked me this morning, "When will you stop, and more importantly, how will you stop (losing weight that is)?"

Any former Clydes hanging around here that can shed some light on this? How do you stabilize your weight when you reach your ultimate goal? I plan to continue riding as I've gotten addicted to it now and really enjoy it. In fact, I can't really see myself slacking off in the riding and if anything will ride more/farther. I still plan on eating the way I'm currently eating (much more healthy than before). Is it a simple matter of eating more calories (of a healthy nature)?

wirehead

I'd assume that, in terms of cycling abilities, when you start to lose your speed and distance instead of getting better as you lose weight, you need to eat more.

bautieri

Oh my what a pickle of a problem you have there

Hmm, as a regular who ventured into emeritusville (195 down from 245) and now floating between 200-205 depending on the day and hydration levels I'd say...just keep up the life style. Eventually you will level off and your weight will stabilize. You're not in any danger from being "too-thin", just keep on doing what your doing

Congrats on your weight loss too!

nwmtnbkr

Congratulations on meeting your goal! Truthfully, if you live where there is winter weather, you'll probably not ride as much once the worst of winter sets in and you should consider what exercises you'll substitute for bike riding when you're unable to ride. It's a lot easier to gain weight back than to maintain your ideal weight. And if you slide and start eating more and riding less (if your region has bad winters), you may find yourself gaining weight back rather quickly. (The unfortunate reality is that many who successfully diet but don't make a permanent life style change end up gaining more weight than they originally lost through dieting.) I would suggest that you keep a food exercise diary. If your exercise pattern changes (drops), you may need to adjust your caloric intake, reducing it.


I lost 139 pounds over a 2-year period and have kept it off for 4 years. I exercise like crazy 6 days a week and watch my caloric intake. I will do this for the rest of my life. I maintain a food/exercise diary in an Excel spreadsheet. I avoid processed foods. I eat much healthier and read all food labels. (Avoid anything that has "partially hydrogenated" on the label--that trans fats.)

Good luck. Keep that weight off.

sstorkel

For myself, I found that there was a point where my weight plateaued and it became pretty difficult to lose more weight no matter how much I rode. At that point, I started eating a little bit more (but kept things reasonable) and backed off on riding a bit. Rather than riding 5-6 days/week at Time Trial pace, I now ride 4-5 days/week and I'm more apt to spend at least a couple of those days riding at a moderate pace rather than all-out. I continue to keep an eye on my weight. If I notice that I've gained 2-4lbs, I'll ride a little more or eat a little less to keep things in check.

willmw

Thanks for the replies. I don't think I'm in danger of getting "too thin", but I think my wife is a bit concerned with the fact that I'm losing weight at a faster rate than she is. I've dieted to lose weight before, and I know from that experience that eating more will stop the weight loss and cause the weight to come back. I've never really done this the right way (exercise+healthy eating) so I've never actually been in the same situation that I'm in now. I'd like to get to about 175 as I think that is truly about right for my frame. We'll see how things progress as time goes on.

eshvanu

Congratulations on the weight loss. Keep riding!

</intolerance>

I've been grappling with this very question. I originally set a goal weight of 175, down from 290. I got to 180 and let up a little. I eventually got to 175, but I still have a little pot belly (some of it is skin). I wanted to lose a little more to try to rid myself of the belly, but my family thought I should stop.

I ended up getting my body fat tested at a health screening the other day. It told me at 173 lbs, I was 12% body fat, which I am really happy with. It also means that I could potentially lose another 6% of my weight or roughly 10 pounds.

It seems to me that a total body fat % goal is better indicator than overall weight. So I'd like to get around 7-8% body fat. I'm told 6% of your body fat is considered essential.

I's still worried about the how to taper off once I get there though. It's good to read what other have said about that.

billbunton

As your weight gets lower, you'll find it's harder to lose :-). But you'll also have to start modifying your diet a bit, to eat a little more. I've actually started tracking my food on Training Peaks (been tracking my workouts there for a while). There's a dashboard page that will let you see if you're plus or minus calories on any given day. Congratulations on the loss!

Hill-Pumper

Agreed, finding out your body fat is a better indicator of what your final weight should be. I have had mine monitored since I started getting back into shape over a year ago. I have been as high as 26% and am at 17% as of last month. HERE is a link to a chart that has the basic levels that you should shoot for. Notice that as your age goes up, so does the level of essential body fat needed. In my case, 11% is about the lowest. So, my goal is for about 13.5% which would put me at about 180-185 pounds.

JoelS

I think I've lost too much weight. Down to 144 from 210. I'm having trouble on rides that I could do easy when I was 5 pounds heavier. So I need to eat more.

That said, I've been pretty stable the last few months. When I decided that enough was enough, I just started to eat a little more at a time over a few weeks until my weight stabilized. That's about it. Nothing difficult in it.