babydee

Yeah, I know what that's like. The commuting sounds like a great, time-efficient way to get the miles in for a family guy.

TeleJohn

I always hovered around 200-205lbs. I'm 6'3". I used my activity to eat whatever I wanted: 12pack of Magic Hat per week, 3-4 breakfast sandwiches per week, 4-5 candy bars/chips from vending per week, and snacking.

Then...

I cut out the beer, breakfast sandwiches, and snacks. I have maybe 3 glasses of wine a week.

Breakfast: Small glass of OJ, cereal, coffee.
Lunch: Turkey sandwich(cajun spiced turkey, lorraine swiss, lettuce, tomato, mustard), yogurt, fruit.
Dinner: All dinners are homade using fresh meat or veg. I've cut down on the meat portions. No attempt is made to reduce fat but I no longer put butter on bread or vegetables.

I lost 10lbs in 3 weeks this way. Currently at 190lbs. Goal is 170-175 lbs.

Grasschopper

Yea plus have you seen the price of gas? LOL Ride to work...ride for 30-45 min at lunch and ride home. Do that a couple times a week plus ride to work 2 other days and get evening rides in. I am also going to try to get to the pool on the other days I don't ride at lunch once it is open at lunch time (June 12th after school lets out). I am either going to be a stud at the end of the summer or a really fit fat guy...if that makes any sense.

lvleph

Wow that is twice as much as I eat and I can't lose any weight.

But you say that is 1800 Cals. I need to check what my intake is.

I would like to get back down to 130. Right now I am at 160.

eandmwilson

Congrats on the weight loss--I dropped 15 lbs over the lat 2 months myself, in danger of losing Clyde status. I too have picked up some speed--about a mph. Not quite sure where my speed increase came from, since it is mostly noticeable on flat routes. Only thing I can attribute it too is eating less (but still pretty much what I want) and some running I was doing. BUT, the weight did not come off while running--it really dropped when I slowed eating and jacked up the mileage.

kokomo61

Couple suggestions.....cut the Diet Mountain Dew and the Diet iced tea.....especially if you're eating something at the same time...here's why:

My weight got up to 240 (I'm 5'10"), and I was miserable. I was exercising all the time and couldn't lose weight. I drank a LOT of Diet Coke. I couldn't "NOT" eat, because I was ALWAYS hungry. When I stopped drinking Diet Coke (I went cold turkey, which is tough, but possible), I could control my appetite much better, and the weight started dropping off.

My theory is this - my body needed water, so I kept drinking more and more Diet Coke to stop being thirsty - but the combination of caffeine and Nutrasweet made me eat more....and drinking DC and eating at the same time was a killer combo.

Over 6 months, I lost close to 50 lbs. I've gained back 5, but my weight has been stable for about 9 months or so. I want to take another run at reducing calories, but one of the keys is water - drink a lot of it, and don't drink sweet stuff (calories or not) - diet drinks tend to make you (or at least me) eat more....and controlling intake is the key.

You can out-eat ANY exercise program.

Grasschopper

Thanks for the suggestions...it will sound like an excuse but the diet tea and diet Dew ar emuch better for me than the previous non diet drinks I was into. I drink only a single 20 oz diet Dew a day down from several cans of regular full Dews...it is my coffee in the morning. The tea may be like you say...yes I know both are diuretics (sp) but I get to have some vice don't I? Can't just be miserable.

I used to weigh 255 so the 220 I am not is a vast improvement...I just want more improvement.

lvleph

One thing that many people seem to do is eat when they are actually thirsty. I noticed that I began doing this when I started drinking soda. I kept eating and thinking to my self why the hell am I still hungry. What I didn't realize was that caffeine is a diuretic and will actually make you dehydrated instead of hydrating you. The way I came up with quiting the soda addiction was to have iced water with me all the time.

It is kind of weird that I never had a soda addiction until I quit skateboarding and began sitting around a lot.

HDWound

For those who have trouble getting the unwanted weight off, use fitday or some other calorie tracker. It really helps make you conscious of what your caloric intake REALLY is. Cut out all the junk. Then eat healthy, drink plenty of water and ride lots. I found out I was eating way more than I thought once I started keeping track.

You can really eat quite a bit of food like some of the sample menus above, not be hungry, and still keep your caloric intake down if you eat healthy foods.

Ryleeryno

I don't drink soda never was a fan of diet soda, only when making cocktails. A good alternative is green tea with one teaspoon of sugar (20 calories). Green tea has been known to suppress appetite and is generally healthy in all aspects.

Ryleeryno

Fitday.com - Log everything. No eating after 7pm. Smaller portions every 4 hrs. Get your metabolism going. You may have hit a plateau with your cycling and not working hard enough, you need to find alternate exercises to throw in the mix like running and light weightlifting.

eandmwilson

The other problem may be you are too optimized at cycling. If you become hioeusly efficient, you don't work as hard, and worse, you become complacent. One of the bets things I did to get faster was to go faster. Literally. Instead of styaing in a comfort zone, I have been lately pushing things much harder, and amzaingly enough, I'm cruising in a gear or two higher, going faster, and dropping pounds. Once I got over the HRM readings and went with what my body could actually handle, I was amazed.

I also probably need to retest my LT. How much should LT change with improving fitness?

aham23

i lost almost 70 pounds last year. i counted calories, every single one, rode 2500 miles and ran close to 500. you have to count those calories and be honest about it. most people have no idea what, in calorie terms, they are eating. i used fitday also and highly recommend it. later.

Bacciagalupe

Or, you might be at a genetically predetermined weight level.

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/he...pagewanted=all

Some studies indicate that your weight may be influenced by genetic factors, and you are likely to stay within a certain weight range (~20 lbs). Go above that range, and your metabolism kicks into high gear to consume more calories. Go below that range, and your body goes into a kind of starvation mode, and will slow your metabolism down.

(It would in theory be easy to go way above your range indefinitely, if you are ingesting massive amounts of calories on a regular basis -- let's say, 4,000 - 5,000 calories per day, a far easier task than consuming 1,000 calories in a day and staying healthy on a regular basis.)

So, if the study is correct (an open question at this time, of course) then it will be progressively difficult to go below your "set point," your body will try to get you back to that point, and as long as you are below that set point your body is going to act like it's starving.

Hence, the inability to permanently lose weight past a certain level and the phenomenon of yo-yo dieting.

Fortunately, other studies indicate that 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day is most of what you need to keep your body in good shape. Doing more than that will tone muscles and build endurance, but it's not necessarily a "more exercise is better" situation.

Food for thought, yes?

Rocke

Gave up sugar products (cake, chocolate, etc.) for Lent, lost 8 lbs. haven’t felt the desire to eat them since. I do avoid Fast (fatty) Food and push the Fruits and Vegs. every day. (One week in the Hospital, lost 4 lbs.) I Bike 100 miles a week when healthy. Blessings.

group105

I don't drink, coffee, and rarely soda.

botto 

big muscles don't necessarily mean faster legs.

i.e.: compare the beefy legs of a domestic US pro with the lean legs of a european pro.

Mo'Phat

Math:

1 lb of fat = about 3500 calories.

What you burn in a day just sitting around is your Resting Metabolic Rate. Per your age, height, weight, and sex. Mine (32 y.o., 5'-9", 185, M) is about 2200 calories.

If I intake 1700 calories per day, I have a 500 calorie deficit, and it will take me about a week to lose 1 lb.

Add exercise, and you could burn more calories per day.

Don't get all your calories from crap, 'cause you need vitamins and nutrients, and you will eat well and in good amounts, and not feel hungry or deprived.


To the OP: Kudos on your weight loss...keep it up!!!

Kadowaki

CUT OUT THE DIET DRINKS

Everyone knows that diet drinks are not related to weight loss. We also know that artificial sweeteners are more "sweet" than sugar. I believe (and here I have no proof) that artificial sweeteners pummel your "sweetness receptors" and make you crave sweets and furthermore make you crave more sweeter sweets to satisfy that craving.

I recommend no artificial sweeteners and no concentrated sweets. I would much prefer natural sugar for sweetening that's required.

Try this for a week or two. At that point a piece of fruit will taste like a piece of candy but much more juicy. Imagine a sweet craving at night and eating an apple, feeling a taste sensation that is a treat but a head sensation of no guilt. It worked for me along with cycling from 205 to 165.

Now the conspiracy theory: artificial sweeteners are the devil and the greatest hoax being pulled on health concious Americans.

waterrockets 

Check the weight vest thread to see why your excess weight is not responsible for your increased leg strength -- your hard work is the only reason, and that would be true at any body weight -- you just shift gears accordingly, and the same pressure goes into the pedals. On a climb, it will be longer if you're heavier, but that's a small portion of the riding we all do.

Regarding diet, I've lost about 12 lbs in the last year eating:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: RIDE!!!!
post-Lunch Lunch: sandwich, a column of (14) Oreos, an apple
Snacks: a column of Ritz with Habanero sauce, a banana, two candy bars
Dinner: spinach salad, 5 slices of pizza (or similar enchiladas, 2 hamburgers, etc.), and a bowl of ice cream or another column of Oreos for dessert
Last snack: Big bowl of Honeycomb before bed

Mo'Phat

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterrockets

Check the weight vest thread to see why your excess weight is not responsible for your increased leg strength -- your hard work is the only reason, and that would be true at any body weight -- you just shift gears accordingly, and the same pressure goes into the pedals. On a climb, it will be longer if you're heavier, but that's a small portion of the riding we all do.

Regarding diet, I've lost about 12 lbs in the last year eating:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: RIDE!!!!
post-Lunch Lunch: sandwich, a column of (14) Oreos, an apple
Snacks: a column of Ritz with Habanero sauce, a banana, two candy bars
Dinner: spinach salad, 5 slices of pizza (or similar enchiladas, 2 hamburgers, etc.), and a bowl of ice cream or another column of Oreos for dessert
Last snack: Big bowl of Honeycomb before bed

Hey, if you're burning more than you're taking in, good on ya.

Kadowaki

Waterrockets is obviously still in his 20's (or younger).
No one over 29 can get away with that kind of diet.

lvleph

Man I would be 300lbs eating like that. I think my problem is drinking too much beer.

Mo'Phat

Hey, he's also eating an apple, banana, and spinach...


ergo: even with his 3500 calorie diet (pretty close to that, methinks), if his RMR is about 2000 calories, he just needs to burn 1500 extra to maintain. That's about 1.5 to 2 hours of riding per day...and he can get ahead with longer rides on weekends.

Ryleeryno

His profile says 36.