MacMan

I started using a trainer during the winter months (January on) 3-4 times per week and now that the weather is good go for sunday rides with the LBS every week and do the trainer 2-3 times during the work week (I commute 100 miles a day and don't get the chance to ride outside Monday-Friday). The Sunday rides are usually 40-50 miles and now I'm beginning to do metric and full century rides every other week. I've noticed that my body weight has stayed the same pretty much the whole time since I started training. I've remained at 180 pounds +/- a few depending on what I've eaten that week! I don't mind particularly as my "shape" has changed for sure - my legs are harder and my upper torso seems to have leaned up a bit (at least my wife says so). I'm just suprised I haven't dropped a few pounds. I must admit that my diet hasn't altered much at all, but it isn't bad anyway; I don't like a lot of fast-food or fatty foods anyway. I do eat a lot of pasta and rice though. However, I would like to get down to about 172 or so. Given the riding I'm doing, do I have to radically change my diet or just ride more?!

Cheers,
MacMan

pletcgm

Do you eat 6 times a day? That is one of the keys to losing weight!

MacMan

Ummm no! I eat twice a day. Big lunch and a big evening meal. I don't snack.

jkoman

I am coming back from knee surgery and decided to be more consistent and focus on really getting back into shape. I was weighing about 198-200 prior to and after surgery. I am now at 189-192 and on the way to 179-182. I am focusing on longer consistent rides...30-50 mi. with a HR below 165. Trying to get to 150-200 weekly with just one hard day...but really hard. Eat 3 meals a day with 1-2 small snacks. Almost no sugar...lots of fruits and veggies...smaller portions of everything except the fresh veggies. And this is what I hope is the key...I ride 1.5-3 hrs. early am 2-3days a week...only coffee to start and no calories until at least 1-1.5 hrs. into the ride. 2-3 weeks and lost about 10 lbs...I don't expect to maintain that rate but am quite happy and feeling ok. I do expect to have some rough days but I need lose the weight. In closing...smaller portions of food, no sugar except some gels and Cytomax...only after at least 1 hr of riding on LSD days.

brent_dube

Its probably a better idea to eat more times through the day... particularily more early in the day.

Laggard

During race season, I'd snack all day on low fat foods. After training rides I'd have some rice with soy sauce or maybe some black beans and salsa. I can't imagine riding that hard on a full stomach or coming home after a ride and scarfing down a big meal. I don't know how pros do it.

MacMan

I think you may be right. I have heard this too many times now. I do tend to eat huge portions and should probably have a veggie bag to snack on and tone down the meal size when I do sit down to eat.

Portis

I am 6'2", 150 lbs and used to way around 200. I am what you might call, lean. I have never measured it but i imagine my body fat is pretty near zero. I also ride quite a bit and don't really view cylcling as a pathway to weight loss. Sound strange? Most people i tell that to don't believe me either. I always chuckle inside when they argue with me. They always say, " I can promise you that the cycling is what made you lose weight not your diet"

They are wrong. I started a low fat diet in Feb. 03. I didn't take some radical wacky diet of the day approach like Atkins, weight watchers etc. I decided to just avoid foods high in fat. Is that hard you might ask? Couldn't be simpler. Here is what i do.

1. Never go into a McDonalds, Burger King, Hardees, etc. NEVER!

2. When grocery shopping look for two words. "LOW FAT" Buy those items instead of others. Also look on the sides of packaging for Total Fat. This is per serving. I usually never by anything with over 10 grams in it. (i should say my wife doesnt buy it- she is the shopper) There are many low fat mixes that you add to rice etc. that taste awesome.

3. Learn the word BAKED. Forget the word FRIED.

4. Switch to Diet Soda.

5. I have only eaten beef twice in over 1 year. I don't miss it one tiny bit.

6. Chicken. I now cockadoodledoo when i wake up in the morning. Turkey is also great along with some forms of Pork. (read fat content)

7. Eat lots of candy. Yep, more than most would believe. Again, watch the FAT content. Many candies have 0 FAt content.

8. SALSA- Chips (baked) and Salsa are nearly a staple in our diet. VEry good and low fat.

9. MOST IMPORTANT! DON'T SWEAT IT. This is where nearly everyone fails on a diet. Everyone wants a quick fix so they kill themselves eating barely anything and all sorts of awful stuff. Who wants to do that for the rest of their life? Apparently not many that is why they all quit. That is also what makes my diet a life style. It is very easy to live with and i wouldn't think about ever going back to fast food etc.

10. Maybe this was most important. PIZZA. I still eat Pizza maybe once per week. However it is usually Chicken pizza or Veggie. It is higher in FAt than what I normally eat but when i started i decided i would have one thing that i treat myself to. For me it is Pizza, I won't ever give it up.

11. Breakfast. Make sure you eat one. Make sure it is LOW FAT. When you eat breakfast, you are less hungry for lunch. So you eat less. This seems to transcend throughout the day.

12. Calories. This is what ever diet boils down to in the end. Atkins, Low Fat, Weight Watchers. At the end of the day you end up eating less Calories than you normally would. That is why you lose weight. The good thing about my diet is that you can actually live with it and lessen your calorie intake.


On this diet alone, without exercise I lost about 40 lbs, basically everything i have lost. I only started to exercise several months after i started the diet. So i tell most people that i lost my weight through diet which i honestly did. They see me riding 100 miles per week on the bike and they just assume it had to be the hard exercise that lost the weight. They are wrong.

Now with that said, the exerise has helped me lose some additional weight, maybe an extra 8-10 lbs. The biggest difference is how one appears in the mirror. With the diet I just looked skinny. Now I look more like an athelete with muscle definition. The cycling is great for health as well as the reflection in the mirror. Also if you burn an extra 800-1000 calories per day through riding, you can eat 800-1000 more than if you were senentary.

DIET + EXERCICE = Weight Loss.

Disclaimer: I am naturally a thin person. Following my diet will put you into the body that God intended for you to have. Look around the neighborhood and you will see lots of peole wearing something other than the body God gave them. Many are wearing a couple extra bodies. Also note that I lost about 1 LB per week for several months. This diet is slow but VERY successful.

Avalanche325

WOW. 140lbs lost. That is great. Watch going too low on the body fat. You need some to be healthy. I had a friend that only ate low and non fat products (watch the labels, a lot of these are loaded with suger) and started to have health problems. Her hair started falling out and her immune system went down the tubes.

Macman, I would recommend making small adjustments in your eating habits. That way you wont even notice. If you change everything, it will be hard to stick to. The first thing I would do is cut down on the evening meal. Have a snack (fruit) an hour or so before so you won't be so hungry. Try not to eat after the evening meal. Also, make sure you are drinking pleanty of water.

If you can give up sodas, regular and diet, it would be good.

MacMan

Ranger:

All good advice. The funny thing is I do tend to stick to foods somewhat similar to those you describe, though my Pizza is a heart-attack waiting to happen when I get it. My body type is more on the "stocky" side - 5'9" 180. Years of weight-training playing rugby are partly to blame and then years of Judo where upper-body strength was key for me since I was shorter than most in my weight class. I'd like to shed 8-10 pounds mainly to make the riding easier! I think though, as you seem to have done, I need to be more diligent in my food shopping. Whilst I never eat junk-food, I'll happily buy Italian sausage from the store!

Avalanche:

I never drink soda at all (well, except "daddy's soda" - Becks). The evening meal is possibly the killer though as you say. I'll ride the trainer for an hour, come in and at 9 pm eat a huge bowl of rice or pasta. I know it's bad and I can't metabolize it sleeping ... just can't seem to say no

Jonny B

What Ranger said is totally true. I can't say from experience cos I still weigh 240lbs, but not eating fat and sugar is how you lose weight (you're body thinks 'hmm, I'm not getting any fat, I better use up all the stuff I've been storing up over the years').

There is a difference between losing weight and losing fat. When you excercise you gain muscle mass; muscle weighs more than fat, so when you combine healthy eating (losing fat) and excercise (gaining muscle), you're bound to lose less than you were expecting.

About eating right: don't call it dieting. You should never 'go on a diet'. Diet, by definition, is what you eat, whether it's all fat and sugar or bread and water (you could argue that eating junk food is being on a diet, just a very bad one ). You should do exactly what Ranger said, pretty much; cut down on fat and added sugar, don't eat too many carbs (pasta, bread etc) unless you plan to burn them off, lots of fruit, veg and chikeny stuff, and don't be affraid to pig out once in a while (but you have to do the work to get rid of it afterwards).

About excercise: do it, don't overdo it. If you can't stay on your bike for more than 15 minutes without dying, don't. Just do 15 minutes, and do it often. And make sure you rest well after; what happens is, as you excercise, your muscles are working away, and basically eating themselves. When you rest, your muscles think 'man, that was tough, better make myself stronger for the next time I have to do that' and they build back up stronger than they were before.

The key to losing weight is, burn more calories than you consume.

*Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, this is just what I've learned from other people over the years. It could be rubbish, don't blame me if something goes wrong.

sorebutt

In the 3 and a half years I am riding, I have lost 102lb.. I am still 20lb overweight.. But it is coming off Slowwwwlllly... I am training for a century now and it will defiantly help.
I did it by working out at the gym (lifting) building muscle mass, riding my bike year round (California, yay!), and a low carb diet. This worked for ME! Losing weight is an individual thing, so it is not what I am recommending for you, it is what I did..
And it is never too late to start, I started this at age 48, and today (51) I am in the best shape of my life...

Avalanche325

This is really the whole thing. Not matter what diet you are on or how you do it. At the cellular level 100 calories of fruit or 100 calories of Big Mac are the same. I am not counting nutrition, just weight. And of course, LOOKING at a Big Mac is about 100 calories.

Portis

McDonalds wants to make you McFit

Quote:

Forget the fries, Big Macs and Quarter-pounders.

McDonalds says it's time to get McFit. We took a closer look at the food chain's plans to roll out healthier choices in its Happy Meals.

“Overwhelmingly my customers tell me it's my choice on what I eat and you certainly can't blame any industry for gaining weight,” says McDonald’s Franchisee Mary Johnson.

But that's still not stopping McDonalds from unveiling what it calls the Go Active Happy Meal for Adults.

“I think it's a great idea...very, very timely,” says Lorraine Stewart, McDonald's customer.

But wait, don't people usually come to McDonalds to get the fatty foods? After all it's a fast food restaurant right?

“Well they still have that option still have that option. I think the main thing is that people who are trying to watch calories or carbs that they have some choices too and don't have to stay away when the rest of the group still wants to have their fries,” says Stewart.

I really think that people understand it's their personal choice on what they eat.

Don't expect any Disney toys in these Happy Meals, they will include a bottle of water, a salad and even a pedometer used to measure heart rate.

McDonalds is just supporting a healthy lifestyle which is exercise and other options and a balanced diet.

“For those that want to eat healthy it just makes sense, McDonalds are usually with it,,” says Stewart.

“We thought it would be great for the Adults of America the first Happy Meal Generation to have their own Happy Meal,” says Johnson.

McDonalds is also phasing out its Supersize Menu which will affect Idaho McDonalds by the end of the year. The company says this is not a health-related issue but for menu simplification.

This is brilliant on McDonalds part. They do this from time to time. They introduce an "adult's happy meal" and everyone is supposed to be happy. Look folks, people don't go to McDonalds to eat a salad. They know that. They are merely trying to bolster business by making it OK to go to McDonalds again. If you are on the fence and worried about eating fast food, all of the sudden you can justify it because McDonald's has a "healthy" menu option. Meanwhile everyone orders a Big Mac along with their salad etc.

Don't be misled. If Mickey D's was really concerned they could easily cut the deadly Big Mac or any other of their normal items. This is a joke and few people will get it. McDonalds franchise owners will continue to win. It's sort of like Hooters deciding to add a Nun to their waitstaff. They can say, "sure many of our waitresses have their breasts hanging out but look at that completely covered Nun over there.

How dumb do they think we are********************

swlsue

Uh, fruit is a simple sugar.
you might want to try some complex carbs instead.

MacMan

But the fruit if in raw form (i.e. a real apple) as opposed to juice where it's refined is supposed to be OK with respect to the sugars. At least that is what a doctor told me!

sorebutt

it is more like Apple vs Banana.. do you know how many apple you need to squeeze to get a 8oz glass of juice..

take a look at something called the glycemic index (do a search on Google) and it will help you understand how our body metabolizes different forms of carbs, differently...

Scooby Snax

Because they are hungry?

I cant ride on a full stomach either, I would prefer to eat smaller amounts over the course of the day, but I find that when I've done that, Ive crept up in weight.