nayr497

I always put on a few pounds during the winter, which I'm pretty sure isn't anything unusual. I live in a cold place, so less riding, more beer, less general exercise than in the spring, summer, fall.

What bugs me is that the five pounds I gain are always in a very concentrated spare tire area, right above my riding shorts. Not on my hips, upper abs, etc., just where my short line is, which is annoying. Then I have a little bump there at the beginning of the season and the top of my shorts wants to flip down.

Yes, I know the obvious answers - eat less, drink less beer, ride more. I'm just wondering if anyone else has this problem and if they just endure the waistline-jumping lower belly until May or if they do something special? My pants are all loose on me, but being in the drops really pushes out that part of your abs. And I do some ab work, but that seems to make it worse as the muscle builds up and pushes the roll out a bit more. Ahhh!

I'm not willing to get liposuction

And I've never been built like a Spanish climber with zero fat on my body. I've always had a bit of spare weight on me, even when playing college sports 6-7 days a week. I'm skinner now than I was when I was in college from all the riding I do, but still have this "problem area" as an Oprah watcher might call it.

Anyway, let the advice, comments, jokes and name calling roll in.

twobikes

Would you also accept empathy? Many of us have a similar experience. My problem is with the additional rich foods so very available between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Quite a few well meaning people give my wife and me cookies and candy around the holidays. I guess we could give them to a homeless shelter, but we usually try to eat them over a long period. This year I was able to ride almost everyday into early January, but pounds I lost last fall came back, anyway.

I have been watching Paul McKenna's "I Can Make You Thin" on TLC. He has a technique for dealing with emotional upsets so they do not drive comfort eating and another for dealing with cravings. They seem to be helpful, if practiced. Still, I am now losing the same five pounds for about the fourth time in my life.

rmwkokomo

Bib shorts take care of the problem nicely

nayr497

Ha, ha, ha...yes, I'll take some empathy! Thanks for it.

Like I said, I think I'm skinnier than I've ever been, but I also have only been a pretty serious road cyclist for a couple years. I think being down in the drops post-winter just make me more aware of the belly bulge.

Yeah, I just got my first part of bibs...I guess I'm getting old

CastIron

I had a god damn salad for dinner. I haven't had a beer (or anything else) in weeks. The belt is tighter, I'm getting faster, and the scale is still steady. Spring reality ain't fun, but it's still better than winter.

Avalanche325

I all of a sudden packed on five pounds. I have stopped drinking beer, have been eating salads for dinner and Subway for lunch for two weeks. I have gotten a little faster in the last couple weeks. But my weight has not changed one bit.

I know what you mean, brother.

kesa101

i still drink beer but i have almost completely cut out sugar from other foods, which is a massive help.

that, and 2,800 miles in the past 6 weeks! as i get older (35) it gets harder - and it hurts more - but it is doable.

good luck!

yak

Lipo those fat cells out of your body. Then next winter, you'll grow man-boobs.

nayr497

I don't think I need to do anything drastic, as I was in the fittest shape of my life last summer simply because I put in way more miles than I ever have. I have a pretty solid diet and don't put in too much bad stuff (aside from a decent amount of beer/whiskey - I ride for fun, leisure, etc.).

Kesa101...cut out sugar. What does that involve? And what do you eat? I have a pretty basic diet, but do get a variety of foods. I don't think I want to do anything drastic, but I am curious what you do eat.

And my problem is different from a few of you...I have and can drop weight, but I can't seem to get rid of that lump in one spot...I'm about 13 pounds lighter than my college athletics weight, which is mainly since I had to seriously weight train and now do very little lifting. Oh yeah, I also don't drink nearly as much beer as I did when I was an undergrad

Yak, that is pretty funny. I was just out last week with two friends and saw a dude who needed the Mansierre and said to one, "The only time I'll ever get lipo is if I get man boobs."

yak

aka the 'Bro

krazyderek

Bibs...

Modify your eating habits as you said, and wear more cloth's during the winter. True weight loss is a lifestyle that takes years, not month's.

ken cummings

I put on 12 pounds and my BP jumped 16 points.

J.W.

Dropped around 50lbs in the last few months (done with football for good), down to 204 (mind you i am also around 14-13% bf). Now i have my bike and will continue to tone up. I lost the lbs by way of low intensity cardio, and a few rpm classes here and there...oh and eating right.

jimbud

Quote:

Originally Posted by J.W.

Dropped around 50lbs in the last few months (done with football for good), down to 204 (mind you i am also around 14-13% bf). Now i have my bike and will continue to tone up. I lost the lbs by way of low intensity cardio, and a few rpm classes here and there...oh and eating right.

It's amazing what being on a treadmill for a hour and fifteen minutes at 140 BPM will do for your waistline.

Machka 

You can blame your parents for where you put your weight on. No amount of cycling, running, weightlifting, or ab work will change that.

oilman_15106

Calories are calories from any source and if not burned are stored for future use. Anyway I have the same issue and need to drop about 4 pounds to get to a comfortable weight. It seems no matter how many trainer miles or treadmill miles you just gain in the winter.

After a 1,000 miles or so if the weight is not down then I worry.

PeddlingPilgrim

* I've found you can eat the same volume or more, you just have to monitor what it is. instead of salty/fatty snacks -> celery and fat free cream cheese, cantaloupe, bananas, or baked chips and salsa in small amounts. fiber. plus relatively healthy/varied meals. you get the idea, fat free freakin' everything, calorie counting everything for the lowest numerical value. you can still eat the gargantuan burrito on your lunch break everyday, just have them make it without the cheese, or sour cream.

* drink vodka and zero calorie carbonated waters if you must instead, gin and diet tonic.

* during the summer with higher mileage, running, light weight lifting, and some mid section work i have a difficult time keeping the weight on.

carpediemracing 

+1

Had a little pot belly at 103 pounds. I resembled one of those starving kids pictures. At 173 pounds it was just more... evenly distributed.

Dieting sucks and I decided I don't want to deal with it, at least not beyond eliminating the dumb foods (fried cheese oil etc) which I find a little too much for me anyway. I try and eat what I ate as a kid - pasta/sauce, salads, juice, water, coffee. But trying to focus on light foods? Too much bonking, feeling weak, etc. So I eat about the same and just ride more.

The key is not to eat the same amounts on rest days.

I tried to take up drinking so I could quit but I can't drink enough to make a difference. Takes me a few months to drink a 6 pack of beer I like, more for beer I don't like.

cdr

Zinn-X

wow, that's pretty crazy. were you anorexic or something?

+1 on the genes too. i was anorexic four years ago and even at my most emaciated, skinny, friends-doing-interventions weight, i still had a small pot belly. it was so disheartening that i quit being anorexic.

OP, the year is a cycle. in the winter months you sit around and eat more. that's just what mammals do. don't worry too much about the spare tire. you should be wearing bibs anyway!

Treker

I empathize with you because I too gain @10 lbs, usually in the spare tire area, over the winter months - no exercise and a 6 pack on Sundays watching football will do it every time.

While it generally takes me a month or two of 700+km/month and more or less sensible diet to rid myself of most of the excess baggage, it goes away for the most part. But I don't give cycling all the credit; lots of ab work targeting specific regions helps erase the flab. and as much as I did, at age 47, I only began to sense the formation of a 6-pak. I still had that little bit extra which is what I think you're talking about. If I really wanted to realize the washboard effect, I'd have to workout like a dog and that ain't gonna happen.

Have you tried specific exercises targeting your issue areas? Womens Health and Mens Health magazines are always chock-a-block full of excellent ways to trim ones waist.

gurana

Yea... getting down into the drops is my least favorite part about getting back on the bike. I don't have much of a belly, but enough that I'm aware of it when I'm in the drops.

Personally, I was doing pretty good this winter. I got down to 175 from 185 by last fall, which is decent for me. I lost an additional 10 lbs by January. When I first discovered that, I was very excited, until I realized it was probably due to all the stress, long hours, and poor eating habits I had during this project I had at work. When I finished the project up in February, I told myself I wouldn't rebound, but of course I did. I'm back at 175. I've joined a gym for the first time since my son was born almost a year ago, so perhaps my added weight is some of my muscle coming back, but I don't feel that that's the case. I guess I should be happy, because even though I recently gained 10 lbs, I'm where I was at at the end of last season, so that's good, I suppose.

neospazzy

resistance + HIIT + controlled diet = fat burning + muscle building metabolism

In a period of 6 months, I went from 197lbs to 177lb and my waist went from a size 38 pants to a size 33. I thought it was impossible to lose my gut, but trust me, combining resistance training with High Intesity Interval Training along with a controlled diet (eating more with smaller portions, no more eating late at night, no more sugared sodas/beer, and incorporating more fiber and protein rich foods) WILL shrink that spare tire. No magic formula here (Atkins, South Beach, etc ... all BS!).

Also, no need to think you have to slave hours at the gym either. I do my resistance training on MWF that lasts no more than 30-45 min tops. I do HIIT on Tuesdays and Thursdays that lasts no more than 25 min. Then on the weekends, I ride 30-40 miles per day.

Eat 5-6 meals a day and try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables for fiber. Supplement resistance training days with a protein shake after the exercise. Cutting down on sugared sodas and beer helps A LOT! I still eat a lot of carbs (bread, pasta, rice, etc) so I can prove that this so-called Atkins and South Beach diets are bunch of hooey! Yes, I still eat the occasional burger and pizza so it is okay to cheat as long as you keep up the excercise.

It is a change of lifestyle and you can't stop once you start. But in the end, your so-called spare tire will be the thing of the past. Trust me.

Bob Dopolina 

There is no exercise that will burn fat from a specific area of your body. It's a myth. You can do all the ab work you want and you will get stronger abs but your body will choose where to take the fat from, not you.

Try 500mg of L-Carnitine before any endurance workout. Eat your big meal in the middle of the day (or 5 smaller meals over the course of the day), swap white bread, rice or pasta for the whole grain versions. Don't eat carbs after 6 or 7 pm. Eliminate ALL simple sugars.

And yes, the bibs will help.

Flak

It's really quite simple. Less calories, less fat, more exercise.

I've lost 25lbs since Jan, currently at 175lbs, shooting for 165lbs by race season. For the first few weeks i counted what i ate just to figure it all out, then after that i go on what i learned. I still have a few beers with the boys on the weekend, and allow myself 1 day a week to eat what i want (usually a cooked breakfast w/waffles, fast food for lunch and wings for dinner). The weight has just been coming off in the 1-3lbs range each week, and i really don't feel deprived like i thought i would. I just eat differently these days. Eat to live, don't live to eat (yadda yadda yadda)

The caveat is that im training 10-12 hours a week across all 3 disciplines (swim bike run) . Mainly all base stuff <75% max HR. With an additional 1-2 hours of weights a week which i don't really count. Although i was doing this last summer too, and didn't lose much at all. Diet is key.

Luckily, my mates are also my training partners....so i kinda kill two birds with one stone.

DaSy

There is no exercise that will burn fat from a specific area of your body. It's a myth. You can do all the ab work you want and you will get stronger abs but your body will choose where to take the fat from, not you.

This seems to be something that so few people are aware of though, the whole diet thing is so simple; calories in need to equal calories used to stay the same, calories in need to be less than calories used to lose weight. It makes no difference what you do to burn calories, and little difference what form the calories take (outside of the health issues of eating a high fat diet etc) to the weight you gain or lose, the equation is simple.

The diet food industry wouldn't like us to acknowledge that fact though...