ruirui

i don't think i'm fat.. i'm quite on the skinny side: 5'7" and 150lbs. i use to drink beer a lot, till i found out i have i have a high chance of getting gout (from dad's side). since then i've cut out beer for 2yrs now. but.. i still have this pot belly. now all the guys in our family are rather skinny side and all have pot belly. so it could be genetics... but i want it gone!

i've been riding daily (10miles) during my luch, or i'll run 2.33 miles. at home, i'll do some core excercises here and there for 30 mins. i don't like greasy food, and in process of cutting out the sugar in my diet and reducing carbs.

been using the calorie tracker from my S4 to monitor what i eat and capping it out at 1645 cal per day.

i think i'm on the right track.. but when i climb and i'm breathing with my stomach.. i see i'm 6 months pregnate.. lol.

heck.. even my 2 yr old baby girl said daddy has baby inside... (while poking my belly like the Pillsbury Doughboy Poke and Laugh)

i want this 1 big pack turned flat and hopefully into a 6 pack by end of year... (so i don't lose my bet with my wife).

what do you guys and gals do to get that lean, firm washboard stomach?

help~~

mr_pedro

Pretty much the only thing you can do is loose weight, actually loose body fat.
You say you are skinny, but probably your body type is such that you have little muscle and high fat.

To achieve this, in short, eat at a calorie deficit and increase the protein intake.
At 150 lbs the 1645 Cal is probably close to your maintenance level on the days you don't exercise. So you should aim for eating 10%-20% less than that to loose weight. And on the days that you work out you can eat the extra amount of the workout.
For protein intake you should aim for 90g-100g per day.

ruirui

actually right now i ride daily during lunch time. so instead of eating, i'm riding. afterwards, drink a true vitality protein shake (139 cal) for lunch.

so in essence, i'm running with 1645 cal daily even when i'm riding daily. if i cut more, i'm afraid i might bonk on my lunch ride.. haha.

i admit.. i use to have a See Food diet.. and i love to cook too. once i was so hungry on a ride that when i saw billboard with a burger on it.. i drooled for the next 5 miles thinking of it... hahaha

mr_pedro

On flats the 10 mile ride could be worth anything between 230 and 350 Cal, depending on how fast you are going.
You must see that there are many uncertain measurements and estimations here, your maintenance level is not certain, how much you eat is not certain and the amount of exercise is not certain. So with the estimates above you are running at about a 250 Cal deficit (practically just the amount of exercise). But the deficit could easily be less or even non-existent given all the uncertainty.
If you are not loosing weight after a week of eating 1650 Cal/day and doing the 10 mile ride, you should aim for eating a bit less, perhaps 200 Cal less, and see what happens. It cold be you are underestimating the calories you eat or that your maintenance level is more close to 1500 Cal.

ruirui

humm.. thank for the tip. i was thinking the same.. run with 1645 for a week or 2 and then see if my weight drops.

MRT2

Sounds like you are eating healthy, so keep that up, perhaps even consider eating a little more protein.

Hate to say this as this is a biking forum, but you might benefit from putting on some muscle, which means weights, preferably compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, pull ups, and bench presses. And core exercises like planks,and side planks. Maybe 45 minutes, 3 times per week at high intensity. In addition to the riding and/or running you are doing.

ruirui

yea i think i'd probably need to start hitting the gym. i have some dumbells at home that i rarely use. maybe google some excercise with dumbells or something..

MRT2

Or bodyweight exercises. Dumbells are great for working the smaller muscles (biceps?) but bnly so much you can do with them for working the big muscles of the chest back and legs, unless they are very heavy.

ruirui

i'll look into body weight excercises. thanks for the tip!

we have little ones at home and the last time we want is for them trip over it or play with it...

Sixty Fiver

Eat the amount of calories you require for your age, height, and level of activity... cutting back calories without addressing what kind of calories you are taking in is a bad start to straighten out your diet.

I could almost guarantee that you would lose extra weight and be on your way to that 6 pack if you made it a point to shop around the outside of the store and buy lots of fresh veggies and lean meats to build a base for a lower carb diet, add a smaller amount of fruit, and avoid the bakery.

Butter, bacon, and cheese are also okay while anything that comes in a package with a list of ingredients that you need a science degree to decipher are not.

I was 12 pounds overweight due to being forced into what is still a fairly sedentary lifestyle, I cannot lift any real weights and cycling is my primary form of therapy and cardio... lost that 12 pounds and my physiotherapist says he has never seen me stronger, I can see that six pack, and people have told me I am looking pretty buff.

Curbed out at 150 at my physical... at racing weight I was usually 145 and when I was working a physically intense job was almost 160 pounds of lean muscle... probably have 4-5 pounds of flubber to lose from here.

My wife adopted the same diet and as a celiac she had already eliminated wheat... she has been recovering from surgery where the steroids caused her to gain weight and she has lost 20 pounds and continues to get leaner and fitter without making any radical changes to anything else but she is a very active person.

beatlebee 

Yeah, eliminating processed foods is a no brainer for weight and health.

Machka 

Ride more.

Pick two days each week, one during the week, and one on the weekend.

During the week, do an additional 10 mile ride after work (in addition to everything else you're doing). After a few weeks, you might want to start doing this 2 or 3 times a week after work.

On the weekend, go for a longer ride ... 25 miles to start for 2 or 3 weekends, then up it to 30 miles for a few weekends, then up it to 35 miles for a few weekends, etc.


Since you have little ones, load them up into a bicycle trailer and take them with you on the after work and weekend rides. The extra weight of the trailer will be good for you. On an evening ride, ride 5+ miles to a park, run around with them in the park for a little while, then ride back. On a weekend, take them to a distant park or the beach or something, run around with them there for a while, and ride home.

ruirui

@Sixty Fiver: yea.. gotta stock up on lean meats. i eat tons of veggie.. more than meat actually. i'm surprised i'm not a vegetarian... oh wait.. that's right.. i'm good at cook lamb chops, seafood, pastas, bbq and much more. but need to cut down on all those now...
@Machka: on weekend.. the only day i can ride is sunday morning.. a 25 mile ride with 815+ ft of climb. i would pull the little ones in the burley.. but they prefer to ride their own 3 wheelers.

DataJunkie

I am 152lbs @ 5'10" and race road bikes (mostly crits this year). I was somewhere around 210-220 at my heaviest.
My upper body still contains irritating spots from when I was overweight (small belly, love handles, etc). Eating healthy and riding a ton has not resolved it completely. I have tried almost everything. Bodyweight exercises, dropping down to 140 lbs, etc. During cross season I plan to pay a personal trainer to show me how to lift properly and give that a go.
If that fails my excuses will be as follows: a) it is leftover scars of a sort from being overweight b) I am cursed by my genetics.

My point is that sometimes all advice fails. Just keep plugging away until you hit a point that you are sick of beating your head into a wall and move on with your life.

mr_pedro

The last lbs of fat can be hard to loose for anybody. When your weight is already low it becomes much easier for the weight loss to come from muscle instead of fat if you don't eat enough protein.

DataJunkie

I watch my protein intake and that hasn't helped beyond improving my recovery time. *shrugs*
I have a few friends who took the weight loss route by lifting with cardio and others who did just cardio (like me). Those who used lifting seem to have a more balanced physique IMHO.

beatlebee 

I hear ya DataJunkie. I was at 152 over the winter (just shy of 6ft tall) and flying on the bike. Probably around 6% body fat, seriously. Then it came crashing down. I have been stuck around ~160 for months now. It is frustrating. I decided to take the last week off, eat as I please. ( I always eat very healthy foods, but also very healthy portions!) I think that I was banging my head against the wall and needed time to get away from being a “racer” for a small amount of time. I am hoping that I will come back refreshed. I have also changed my diet even more: added in lean meats and cutting out grains.

The last bit of weight is so hard to get rid of. I can cancel two weeks of discipline in two days!

The funny thing is that when I was in college, I was very much into jujitsu and there I was the skinniest guy. I tried like mad to put on weight to no avail. I think that I am stuck as an all arounder, good at everything, great at none.

ruirui

guess i'll just keep plugging away.. cut the sugars, reduce the carbs, increase protein, excercise, ride and try it out~ just hope to get the belly gone.. don't want no love handles and pot belly..

jawnn

The only way I was able to loose weight was to have a heart attack, then lay around the hospital for 2 weeks waiting to get operated on. Finally they gave me two stints and let me go the next day.

After that I was not hungry, and eat a lot of high fiber foods and soups. I lost 80lbs in three months. Now it’s hard work to keep it off.

Machka 

[QUOTE=ruirui;15791762on weekend.. the only day i can ride is sunday morning.. a 25 mile ride with 815+ ft of climb. i would pull the little ones in the burley.. but they prefer to ride their own 3 wheelers. [/QUOTE]

Well what about getting a trainer. Then you can ride for 30-60 minutes in the living room while watching your kids watch TV ... or on the back veranda while watching your kids play in the back yard.

RyderTheRider

I wish spot reduction was possible. My belly if from fat that for some reason has decided that the only place it wants to call home is my torso. I have chicken legs and slim-ish arms with a belly so I kind of look like a childrens drawing of a man!