Weight milestone achieved: what next?
 

For the first time since grade school, I am under 200 pounds as of yesterday. This is the milestone I've set for myself since beginning biking again for fun and physical therapy since around september 05. This is down from about 240lb around aug/sept. There's still weight in my torso, but the fat in my arms and legs has all turned to muscle.

The key factors to the loss has been riding the bike whenever my injury pains allowed and only riding until the pain returned. My diet, which used to be "anything goes plus a couple healthy items" is now a complete change; rice milk and kashi golean in the morning, a vegetarian lunch, a relatively large dinner usually including 8oz of chicken or beef, and mandatory loading of carbs and protein within 15 minutes of getting off the bike. This after-ride load up was made easier when the biking was planned to end right before eating lunch or dinner. Very light weight training as pain allowed was also helpful for upper body only, just free weights and stretching for the arms, shoulders, and pecs. Standard crunches feel like they're tightening the core but unfortunately that's the part of the body that needs the most work in the future. Also, pulling legs toward the chest seemed to really intensify the crunches.

The thing I avoided the most was dieting or starving myself. I don't even look at the calories. The important factors in what to eat are now saturated fat and cholesterol. While I still have one or two things snacks during the day with this junk in it (Starbucks Doubleshots are very tempting and have high cholesterol due to the milk in them), having zero of both sat fat and cholesterol make it easy to choose what you put in you. Also, learning to try and enjoy vegetables was helpful in keeping me in check, for instance replacing beef in a burger with a big portabello mushroom which actually tastes great!

Commuting and using the bike to go everywhere also made this possible. It's easier to just bike somewhere and eat a snack instead of using the car and having to reduce food intake accordingly.

What should my next milestone be? When I was 220lb, my docter told me that ~190lb would be a reasonable weight for me at 6'1". Should I press for 190 or a much lower weight? Frankly I'd like to set my goal at just getting all my torso flab turned into ripplin' muscles but that may not be a reasonable goal. Any thoughts on the matter?

Cheers, Al

Gratz !!

Acheiving goals you set for yourself is always a great pleasure.

congrats on the new milestone. Make another goal, set it for 190 and hit the small goals and see where you platue. I'm in the same boat with you on the mid section. I'm finding that ab workout with resistance stimulates those muscles better then normal crunches or situps. I use the ab machines at the gym and the swiss ball at home. I'm 6'1 and at 190, been here for a few months and trying to get past it. I started lifting weights 3-4 times a week along with the bike 5 times week. I've gained alot of power and strength but not one extra pound. So that might be another option for you. Lift for a bit, get leaner and toner and it will replace the fats in those areas w/ muscles. My arms, legs and cheat have really toned out. Still working on my belly though. I was worried that I'd gain weight that I worked hard to get off and I was really surprised that didn't happen.

congratulations!

i think that you have two choices: set another weight goal, or set a different kind of goal. you could either work towards 190, or find something else to work towards - a certain amount of strength or endurance (injury pain permitting), or a certain measurement (x-inch waist).

it sounds like you've done a stellar job on your diet, too - it's definitely far more important to eat a balanced, healthy diet than to be a calorie nazi.

The next goal is to get to 180lb, I think there's at least twenty pounds to lose on my gut. It's nice to look down while riding and see a different me in my shirt.

At this point, I don't even think about calorie content. It just doesn't seem important. 100 calories in a Gu packet is like nuthin when you're exercising just about every day, that's just a pick-me-up to hold me over until I can get some pretzel sticks. Calories just don't matter...it seems that finding foods that are high in protein and fairly high in carbohydrates fill you up and fuel the muscle recovery.

Some foods that work: pickled okra (available at some Safeway stores, thank goodness they taste soooo good you can eat a whole jar in one sitting!), the fake cheese that's sold in slices since it fills you up has high protein and can fit in a pocket, and super burritos with chicken and without sour cream and cheese (pinto beans are the best food for recovery, chicken has your fats and protein, avacados and tomatoes/onions/cilantro are your veggies, rice is the starch that just makes you think you've eaten a bigger meal than you have).

Congratulations

You could also set a fitness goal such as

training for a sprint triathlon
training for and running a 5k
working up to swim a mile
take lessons to learn a new sport such as golf or tennis
learn how to salsa
take pilates private classes with a teacher (great for core)
learn how to ride a horse
waterski
downhill ski
ride the bike cross-country -- or plan a b&b trip with the bike

It's even more fun to try new things as a reward for the new body especially if it is something active -- it can really boost the motivation.

First of all, congratulations on the weight loss and the lifestyle changes. Eating better and exercising regularly have a huge impact on wellness, moods, energy leves, longevity, etc.

Might I suggest that you focus on body fat percentage, rather than weight? As you work out, your body composition is changing. The best measure of health is the ratio of fat to lean. A caliper test at a gym, or even using a Tanita body fat scale, is a good place to start.

As a fitness goal, try planning towards a difficult but attainable event some time this year. An organized event like a century is a good thing to focus on. Mark your calendar and start making plans. It worked wonders for my wife, who went from sedentary to long distance rider in a matter of months.

now you can choose to cut weight off your bike without EVERYONE saying: "you'd be better off losing weight off your guts" :)

Congrats! Losing a few is always good for the bike. :)

My girlfriend has done the flab pinch test on my stomach and says there's less pudge to pinch. I have to lose more of this gut to start competing in local races, which is my biking goal. Eventually entering the TdF will be my end-all fitness goal but that will take time.

I'm in the same boat with thinking about further goals when I attain my weiht loss goal. I've decided on a couple, but I'm reading this thread for additional ideas. for example, I liked Sandy Swimmer's ideas about other fitness goals:

Yeah, why "waste" this new fitness on just one activity, even one as fun and useful as cycling? I did some rowing last summer, and frisbee golf looks like fun too.

I've started reading books to learn more about nutrition and fitness. One other goal I've started working on is health risk factors. I'm getting my BP, cholesterol and other lab values in the good ranges, and keeping up with doctor and dentist appointments. I'm also starting to think about mental and spiritual health too.

I think it's cool that the skills and habits you learn when losing weight can be applied to other areas of your life too.

That's certainly an ambitious goal, best of luck in your racing. Since you're in the Bay Area, if you're already not a member of a racing club, you should join ASAP. My recommendation would be Webcor/Alto Velo, since I'm a member there. Come to one of the monthly meeting and ask about the junior program (I'm assuming you're a junior). If Mountain View/Palo Alto is too far for you, there are many other clubs in the area that might be closer to you.

Don't wait until you lose the gut when you could be training to race and learning necessary skills.

Personally, I like a goal of losing 5% of current body weight in 3 months. That way each successive goal represents fewer total pounds as they get harder to take off. We can stop when we're below 10% body fat!

-D

Good luck! I "rolled over" my weight loss this month in style. Last six months I had sorta plateaued at 190-192 (at 6'2"). The 190 mark was like a brick wall. The last two weeks the weight just "tipped over" and I'm feeling great. Post ride weight tonight was 183.5, and my typical morning wake up this week is 185. Ten to go... 175 here I come. Tonight weighing in at 183.5 is the first time since.. hmm.. 1995.

Nice! Sounds like me, got stuck at 200, then at 192, now I'm safely in the 180s. It's like digging a hole and hitting layers of hardpan - once you break through it's easier for a while.

-D

You know what's great for long summer weekends since you're close? Do peaks. Go bag yourself some peaks in the Sierras. They say you burn 4000 calories a day just to stay alive at 14,000 feet. (is that true?) You know you're badass when you can string a few together in one day. :D

Congrats on the milestone!

Oh man, don't taunt us with Sierra climbing talk. It's too early in the year. That won't be practical on a road bike until at least mid-May. My first scheduled trip is over Memorial Day weekend, a four-day climb-fest. Odds are very good that all the passes will be open by then. There's nothing quite like climbing a quiet Sierra road on a warm Spring day with snow on the surrounding hills.

http://images.udctours.com/imgs/sonorasnow.jpg

Sonora Pass, east side, June 24, 2005, during Kiss of Death 3

A good goal would be to improve your lactate threshold :)