[dungeonsound615]

Alright so hopefuly you can help me out. I'm 6 foot tall 215-216 pounds and i would like to get down to around 200 for starters.

I started to eat breakfast again, never been big on it eating stuff like whole whaet toast with peanut butter, or yogurt, or some oatmeal.

For lunch ive been trying to eat better, i do HVAC work so im usually grabbing food on the go. Ive been trying to do better, getting grilled chicken sandwiches with no mayo and soup instead of fries.

Dinner has always been pretty healthy around my house. Chicken, pasta, corn, stuff like that.

I've been trying to ride the spin bike at least three times a week between 30-45 minutes each time, averaging 10-13 miles per ride. Sometimes though i know i need to get on the bike, but its so damn hard being int he house with the cold weather and all.

Anyhow what else do i need to be doing or am i doing everything right. I really would like to get down to 200. I knwo you guys probably hate this question but how long should this goal take me you think.

thanks Mike

 

[superlightracer]

Eliminate any processed foods in your diet...

watch out for grilled chicken sandwiches, if they are breaded, they are likely deep fried and an absolute no-no. Also, eat lots of fish, its low in saturated fats and has an excellent calorie-protein ratio.

If you havent already, get rid of any non-diet pop. A can of coke is pure sugar. Also dont worry about aspartame in diet pop...contrary to popular belief aspartame does not cause cancer. Another thing, juice is extremely sugary. I usually dilute any juice 50-50 with water. While we're on the water topic, drink lots of it. Anytime you feel a craving for something sinfully delicious take a swig of the water bottle that you will now be carrying around with you at the workplace.

Next thing.. cardio cardio cardio.

Since your main goal is just to lose weight you dont have to do just cycling. Jog, ski, play hockey, take the stairs ... whatever. At the end of the day if you can shave 500 calories off, you'll lose a lb a week. If you cant find the drive to put alot of time working out at home, buy a gym pass. It motivates you.

Losing 15 - 20 lbs is relatively easy if your going from not being exceptionally active to being active.

cheers

 

[Poncharelli]

Try to maintain a calorie deficit.

try some of the websites that are out there to build a daily diet:
http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/

These are just a few examples.

And stop eating fast food, and if you do, be aware about how much calories their items have. I used to eat lots of Carl's Junior's stuff, not any more, because of this:

http://www.carlsjr.com/nutrition/

Go ahead, spend a little time with their "build a meal" option. It's shocking. A famous star and large fries: 1210 calories. A thats a small meal compared with the other things they have available.

Visit the website for other fast food joints, and see their food's caloric values.

 

[Glow in Dark]

If you can, ride your bike to work. It makes you feel better and you'll lose weight.

 

[alphajaguars]

Something I started doing recently is eating salads when I go out to lunch. Not as handy as a sandwich, but a whole lot better for you.

Just be sure to skip the salad dressings as most are nothing but added calories.

 

[4212darren]

Get used to being hungry.

 

[dankilling]

I asked the same type of question a little over a month ago- since then I have gone from 210 to 204. Why? I started tracking my calories eaten vs my calories spent.
Round 1- calculate your base metabolic rate (lots of calculators on-line...I averaged a half dozen of them to get as close as what I though was right)
Round 2- create a daily target calorie intake...dont go wacky here -500kcal is plenty and if you go too deep, your metabolism and strength will suffer.
Round 3- write down EVERYTHING you eat during a day and see how many actual calories you are eating
Round 4- eat your target + any activity calories you burn each day

Sounds like a lot of work, but is pretty simple once you start doing it. There are days where I find it hard to eat enough 'quality' food to keep up with what I am burning. I use the Calorie King pro software to make it easier (Im a geek)

 

[Hinch]

Low Carbs, No Sugar, Lots of Cardio

 

[BruceBrown]

Alright so hopefuly you can help me out. I'm 6 foot tall 215-216 pounds and i would like to get down to around 200 for starters......

I've been trying to ride the spin bike at least three times a week between 30-45 minutes each time, averaging 10-13 miles per ride. Sometimes though i know i need to get on the bike, but its so damn hard being int he house with the cold weather and all.

Anyhow what else do i need to be doing or am i doing everything right. I really would like to get down to 200.

Mike, I would suggest increasing the number of minutes on the bike to more of an endurance phase to shed the weight. 30-45 minutes at 3x per week of spinning is simply not long enough to burn the calories and shed the weight you want to shed. Try increasing your time to the 2-3 hour spin at 3x per week and add one longer session per week in the 4 hour range. Provided you don't increase your caloric intake, you should see results pretty quickly and be able to shed about 4 pounds per week. Probably best to stair step your way to longer sessions. Week 1, move from the 30-45 minute sessions to 1 hour sessions plus 1 longer session. Week 2, move up to 1:15 - 1:30 sessions plus one longer session. Week 3 move up to 2 hour sessions plus one longer session. And finally in week 4, shoot for the 2-3 hour sessions plus one long 4 hour session.

Focus on getting your calories from eating high quality foods for your nutrients. Nothing fried, nothing processed, no trans-fats, etc... . Just say no to junk food (including on SuperBowl Sunday).

BB

 

[slip]

Mike, I would suggest increasing the number of minutes on the bike to more of an endurance phase to shed the weight. 30-45 minutes at 3x per week of spinning is simply not long enough to burn the calories and shed the weight you want to shed. Try increasing your time to the 2-3 hour spin at 3x per week and add one longer session per week in the 4 hour range. Provided you don't increase your caloric intake, you should see results pretty quickly and be able to shed about 4 pounds per week. Probably best to stair step your way to longer sessions. Week 1, move from the 30-45 minute sessions to 1 hour sessions plus 1 longer session. Week 2, move up to 1:15 - 1:30 sessions plus one longer session. Week 3 move up to 2 hour sessions plus one longer session. And finally in week 4, shoot for the 2-3 hour sessions plus one long 4 hour session.

Focus on getting your calories from eating high quality foods for your nutrients. Nothing fried, nothing processed, no trans-fats, etc... . Just say no to junk food (including on SuperBowl Sunday).

BB

2-3, 4 hours on a trainer? three times a week? really? wow.

i got back on my bike about 12 weeks ago after over 5 years of being nearly completely sedentary. i've been doing two group mtb rides a week, one 2-3 hours, one 1.5-2 hours, do some road bike or trainer (depending on the weather) riding, and some weights (maybe an hour a week). but i max out at 10 hours exercise a week.

i feel that diet has a lot more to do with weight loss than exercise. i've been trying to eat only what i cook and cooking only whole foods - lots of vegetables, fish, and i've gone from 185 to 162, which was my goal. now i'm thinking i can get down to 155, though this next 7 pounds is going to much tougher than the first 20.

anyway, good luck!

 

[yater]

If you want to look skinny, starve yourself. If you want to be healthy, commit to spending some aerobic time. Why not enjoy riding? Do some jogging if your knees can take it. 30 minutes on the trainer is better than nothing...barely. "Diets" are for old ladies.

 

[SquidBuzz]

Here's how I have lost 55 pounds in the past few years

I did the Subway diet that Jared used, but modified it slightly. I added breakfast and snacks. Part of losing weight, is keeping your body going at the same level all through the day. That is what the snacks are for.

breakfast - cereal with skim milk and some juice.
snack - protein bar or cliff bar
lunch - 6 inch low fat sub with chips and diet soda or water
snack - protein bar or cliff bar
dinner - 12 inch veggie with chips and diet soda or water

Lots of water is a big key. You should probably be drinking about 100 ounces a day. Sounds like a lot, but after you do it a few times, it isn't.

The first month was without exercise and I lost 10 pounds. I started at 250, so I was pretty pudgy. I added a bicycle from that and lost the next 10 pounds in 2 more months.

I have since added Cyclo-CORE, Cyclo-ZEN and Cyclo-FUEL by Grame Street and I am now back to losing more pounds again. Currently I'm at 194 and hopefully will be below 190 in the next month.

There are many different ways to do this, but the key is portion sizing and exercise. Do not beat yourself up if you go out and have a big meal once or twice a month. Those big meals will help the cravings and help stop the binge eating that sometimes happen.

The healthy way is slow weight loss and in the end it is a change in how you eat and live.

Good luck and if I can do it, anyone can.

Todd

 

[jeffscott]

I am 5-11 went 195 to 180 in 9 months.

Just tried to eat healthy and rode an average of 7.5 hours/week.

I think a 1lb/week is pretty fast.

 

[ewarnerusa]

I have heard, but can in no way prove, that Bruce Brown is on the right track. I think it was my dad who mentioned to me a similar thing when talking about exercise to lose weight. Not that 30-45 min is useless, but to really force your body to burn fat for energy you need to deplete all other available energy stores first. This means 2-3 hours of sustained exercise.

 

[Shiva]

I've always read that your body only really starts burning fat at 30 minutes of exercise.

 

[mtbfool]

I've always read that your body only really starts burning fat at 30 minutes of exercise.

Not true. Your body always burns fat. It burns different percentages of glycogen to fat at varying levels of exercise intensity. If you burn up all your glycogen stores, it will revert to burning other sources of energy (i.e. fat).

You don't have to ride an hour and a half each day and four hours on the weekends. The basic premise of losing weight is having a calorie deficit. As mentioned before, figure out the calories you burn in a day, and eat 500 less than that.

If I weren't an advocate for exercise, I would argue that it might be easier to achieve that deficit if you weren't exercising. The exercising makes you more hungry and a little harder to resist all the food.

 

[pwrtrainer]

Not true. Your body always burns fat. It burns different percentages of glycogen to fat at varying levels of exercise intensity. If you burn up all your glycogen stores, it will revert to burning other sources of energy (i.e. fat).

You don't have to ride an hour and a half each day and four hours on the weekends. The basic premise of losing weight is having a calorie deficit. As mentioned before, figure out the calories you burn in a day, and eat 500 less than that.

If I weren't an advocate for exercise, I would argue that it might be easier to achieve that deficit if you weren't exercising. The exercising makes you more hungry and a little harder to resist all the food.

also if you burn all your energy stores from trying to go anaerobic all the time, you not only turn to other sources of energy but you turn to muscle as energy. catabolizing your own muscle in an effore to continue exercise.

my thoughts:
you need casbs to actually burn fat, they are part of the process so dont eliminate them. however they are the fuel source your body prefers for hard efforts so eating them before a hard effort workout is a good idea. eating them before a hard effort couch sit not so needed.
long slow distance is the area where you tend to burn the most fat in your body will use primarily fat for this task.
eat more frequently. and watch what you eat. if your goal calories are 2000 a day then divide that by 5-6 meals EQUALLY
400 cal/meal for 5 meals about a six inch sub at subway with cheese and a diet soda or iced tea
330 cal for 6 meals about a six inch sub without the cheese.

if you feel hungry, make sure you are not thirsty since they are the same signals sometimes, and try to have a source of lean protein in every meal.
make sure you get breakfast and exercise in a periodic manner ie one day high intensity (higher calorie day) one day low intensity (low calorie day) recovery day (lower carb day) if you periodise your exercise and your diet accordingly the body will shed lots of weight. just stick to it and fight the urge to reward too early. lots of my clients reward themselves when they crave and they have accomplished their small goals. reward when you dont crave, SO you dont crave.

other than that its not easy, its not fun, but sometimes rides arent either, but the end is always worth it.

 

[glenzx]

Fun thread:

Check out my and quite a few others' stories:

LINK

Bottom line? If you eat good foods and keep up 60-90 minutes of aerobic spining 4-5 times a week, you'll do great. If you honestly eat & drink really healthy foods; proteins, fats, green veggies, and minimal unprocessed carbs - you will lose weight. 1-2 pounds a week is plenty, and at first it comes off quicker.

 

[iamrocketman]

I am almost exactly the same. I am 6'1" and i range from 193 race weight last year to 213 winter high. I recently picked up "Paleo Diet for Athletes". It was exactly what I was looking for. I kept telling my wife " I don't get it! I do not lose weight when I ride 100's of miles a week. the truth of the matter is with all the pasta,bread and bagels, I just could not get to optimal weight. The Paleo diet gets us away from processed carbs all together and the carbs we do eat are timed for our events and training. I just got into it and dropped pounds already. I will post at a later date with updates. I highly suggest the book,It just makes sense. The author paired up with reknown coach Joe Friel to come up with the optimal diet(way of life) for athletes especially endurance athletes.

 

[BruceBrown]

2-3, 4 hours on a trainer? three times a week? really? wow.

Americans will do anything to lose weight - except exercise.:madman: :nono:

Sure, 3 sessions of 2 hours each plus one long ride on the weekend of 3-4 hours in duration and the result will lead to weight loss.

Quite a few on this board, in terms of training for XC mountain bike racing, follow the Dave Morris plan. Others subscribe to Joel Friel. Below is a 10 day schedule as an example from the Morris book as to how one would approach the 3 week block training period called the "endurance phase" where it is quite common to shed that winter weight that one has put on (It's actually 17 hours of on the bike riding in the first 7 days).

i got back on my bike about 12 weeks ago after over 5 years of being nearly completely sedentary. i've been doing two group mtb rides a week, one 2-3 hours, one 1.5-2 hours, do some road bike or trainer (depending on the weather) riding, and some weights (maybe an hour a week). but i max out at 10 hours exercise a week.

That's more or less what I was suggesting - 10 hours per week. 2 hours 3x per week and one 3-4 hour ride on the weekend. However, I did suggest working one's way up to that as the original poster, Mike (dungeonsound615) didn't mention he was training for racing and had to get the weight shed plus do interval training before the early season March/April races - just that he wanted to shed some weight. So, working his way up to the longer endurance rides seemed appropriate.

Here's the Morris endurance schedule for a 10 day cycle (entire block would be to do 2 of these cycles back to back before moving into a recovery week and on to the interval blocks) :