What am I doing Wrong or not doing?
 

About a year ago I started biking again after about a 15 year hiatus. During that time my weight rose to about 255#. In the past year I have ridden ~2600 miles, completed a couple of full centuries and metric centuries but have only managed to lose 15#.
I see some of the other posts and graphs in this section of people losing much more than that in the relatively same amount of time. So thus the title question, what am I doing or not doing that the weight is not coming off as I would like? I have been at 240# for the past 5 months. :notamused: By the way, I am 6'2" and 60 yo.
Mel

Perhaps its what you are eating?

I dont know much but I know that excersise and being mindful of what you eat go hand in hand. I have been riding a lot too lately but my eating has sucked. So perhaps its what you eat. For me... I am trying to change what I eat and staying away from processed foods (which is tough) and eating more fruit and vegetables along with riding and gym work too.

Once you get rid of most refined sugars, most of dairy products and limit your protein ( meats/fish) to 3 or 4 oz portions, you should shed weight, load up on veggies and salads.

Biking, or any exercise, will only do so much. I assume since you didn't mention anything about food that you probably need to modify your caloric intake.

^^^^^^^

What they said. Examine your calories.


It's tough. In my first 8 months of weight loss, I was able to manage calories very easily, but I was only doing 4-5 hours of exercise each week. 4 months ago I started biking 10-20 hours a week, and I lost control of my appetite and started eating a LOT more than I used to, simply because my body was screaming for it and I lacked the willpower to say no. I'm currently reexamining what I eat going through it all calorie by calorie again. Sometimes that's what it takes.

Actually I somewhat disagree with limiting the protein. Protein builds muscle, which does add pounds, yes. However it's better in the long run because muscle burns lots of calories simply by existing. So if you build up muscle you may notice a temporary weight gain, but in the long run you'll lose more weight faster.

And Dairy is good for protein as well, just stay away from the crap that's loaded with sugar (ice cream). Cheese has been great to me.

I'm similar to you, Mel. I'm 6'3" and turn 60 later this week. I don't weigh as much as you, but would still like to lose twenty pounds or so. As others have said, and I know all too well myself...it's our diet. For me, the culprit is ice cream. It's the devil's invention. Also, our metabolism slows down a lot at our age. I seem to eat less and less, and still don't lose. At least with cycling, I'm not gaining anything. So...it's the diet.

It's also maybe a fact of "Not what you eat, but how much".

Start keeping a food journal. And, don't forget to vary your fitness routine, or else you will plateau.

^ Food journals are essential, IMO. WW's "point tracking" is that very thing. We have remarkably short memories about what we shove down our gullets. It can be a sobering experience to look back over a week of complete and honest record-keeping to see what we've done to ourselves.

2wheel: I think you've begun correctly. I started out just exercising. In 6 months I lost 25#. Next step is to tackle the food intake.

protein is good but it has to do with the type of protein. For exmaple.... a rib eye has more fat and cholestrol then salmon. Lean is great!

I love dairy but I am careful with it since it increases my cholestrol.

All it comes down to is being mindful of what you put into your body.

Tuna fish. Basically, pure protein, with a sprinkling of other things like iron and zinc (and mercury lol).

I'm down from 225 to 175 but I've been losing slowly -- six to eight pounds a year -- by eating less and eating healthier.

I don't feel hungry and my body hasn't been conserving weight because it thinks it is starving.

Ah yes. I tend to forget this fact because I prefer chicken over beef (yes yes I know I'm a freak), which is an inherently lean meat. I eat beef maybe once every month. Chicken almost every day.

Thanks, for all the replies so far. I probably knew the answer but was hoping for a magic, non-lifestyle changing solution. I'll start working on the diet.:(
Mel

I will have to remeber that answer when my wife is correctting me "But Hunny I was hoping for a magic, non-lifestyle changing solution. "

I went from 290# two years ago to 183-184 today. I did so by changing how I eat; I eat less and I eat better. Before I cahnged my life style, I ate very little vegetables or fruit; I ate losts of protiens and carbs (like two servings of Hamberger helper as supper (but I do not think that was the issue)). I also ate alot of granola bars, poptarts, chips and stuff between 1300 and 1500; or as I refer to it now "I ate a lot of between snack snacks!". Today, I eat what I want but I want more fruits, vegetables and the like. I watch the Calorie intake daily/like loggin it into a diet program on the computer to see if and what I can eat. As I did this I walked (ok, sorry I was not about to ride at 290!) one to two miles a day at first then I worked up to 6-8 mile days. If it was not for the heat wave this past summer I most likly would not be riding today --- I did ride a number of years back and stopped due to a number of reasons; one was LAZY! The weight lose things is energy in (food) - energy out (exercise and breathing) = lose(/gain/maintain).

I have been going through the same thing the past week or so. I upped the exercise and the appetite went skyrocketing. I dropped a bit of weight and then was back to where I was the week before. At best I have a stall. I am going to count carefully for a few days.

There is research that shows that it can be harder for exercisers to lose weight than non-exercisers. There are a few probable reasons. One is that exercise makes you hungry. Man have I learned that over the past weeks. The second reason is that people tend to overestimate how much fuel they burn by exercising and then figure out their caloric needs incorrectly. A third factor is related; people tend to reward themselves for exercise by figuring that they can eat X because they did Y. Well, X turns out to be greater than Y.

I eat about 1500 calories a day, I don't track it currently (because I don't measure it when packing my lunches, making dinner) but it is limited to lean beef/turkey burger patties (if you grill them right, you don't need ketchup, mustard etc) broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, and some kind of sweet peas in a pod or something. For breakfast it is an egg (hard boiled, quick and easy meal :) which means no thinking), and my snacks are a "medium" red delicious apple from Archer Farms and some walnut halve and pieces. I do end up having to have some refined carbs, but only when I don't feel like everything in my brain and body isn't functioning like it is supposed too. I'd liken it to a shot of N2O (Nitrous oxide), but with far less adverse affects. I'm having to do that less and less though.

Pay attention to not only what you eat, but what you drink. I've eliminated colas and fountain drinks. Diets and Zero calorie drinks are double whammys, no calories, but tons of salt to make you thirsty so you go back for more. I'm proud to say I haven't had a cola since March, a fountain drink (lemonades) since June or July. I have increased how much iced tea I drink though, sweetened with sugar enough to neutralize the bitter taste.

I've got about 8,000 miles in since the first of the year, and haven't lost a lot in that time, either. It all boils down to eating and working. If you exercise more and eat more, you won't lose a lot.

Try cutting out hamburgers, fries, and other high calorie high fat foods.