[SJDude]

In the last few years I've been gaining and gaining weight and can't seem to do anything about it. This year is especially frustrating. Since Jan 1, I've ridden almost 1000 miles on 4 different bikes. I put in a dozen days snowboarding, worked out at the gym a handful of times, and every time I step on the scale, my weight has gone up. 10 lbs since Christmas.

I've virtually eliminated raw sugar, cut back on booze, kept riding regularly, and no good news on the scale. I've eaten garbage a few times, given in to cravings here and there, but I feel like I eat well, sleep well, and exercise effectively.


Has anyone ever lost weight cycling?

 

[cerebroside]

Lost 27 lbs in the last ~6 months. You are eating too much and cycling too little.

 

[S​​usspect]

Has anyone ever lost weight cycling?

The answer is yes, of course, but everyone is different. In my case, I never lost weight cycling until I also cut my calories to recommended levels (less than 2k a day, for me). When I ride, then I can eat more.

I found that losing weight has done more for my cycling (speed and stamina), than cycling has done for my weight.

 

[Phillbo]

I find the more I ride, the more I eat so it's a balancing. I feel age has had ore to do with any weight gain I've experienced in teh last few years. My weight never fluctuates more than just a couple pounds.

 

[Forest Rider]

It's always tough to learn the balance of diet with exercise. Sounds like you have done a good job cutting out the wrong foods. Maybe consider portion size, if you haven't already.

When you are riding (sounds like you do a lot), make sure you focus on the but burning zone of heart rate. To low of HR and it won't do well, too high of HR and it won't burn fast as effectively.

If you are doing all that you are doing, and gaining weight, perhaps a visit to the doc to run tests is a good idea. Seems unusual to eat appropriate "good food", and exercise and still add to the scale. It does not sound like it is based on your actions, necessarily.

Age could be against you. You may have an abnormally slow metabolism. Could be you need additional nutrients.

 

[Shredmonkey]

What are your current stats?

 

[kerns bbo]

Ounces are lost on the bike, pounds are lost in the kitchen.

If you want to loose weight you need to eat well and in proper portions. To generalize: if you buy your groceries from the center isles only you're not eating well. If you finish meals at a restaurant you're eating too much. Obviously these insights have flaws and exceptions but apply to most.

Don't get me wrong, we are all allowed to indulge, drink beer, and enjoy some ice cream. But... your baseline needs to be set and the other stuff needs to be respected.

 

[Lone Rager]

Me too. The more I ride the more I eat. I have to watch and restrict how much I eat in order to lose weight. I find it a bit trickier than simply losing weight without substantial exercise. It's always way easier to eat it than to burn it off.

 

[Le Duke]

So, you’ve ridden less than 7 miles per day this year.

Not to “mileage shame”, but methinks you’d have more luck burning that weight off if you rode a bit more.


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[Shredmonkey]

I should clarify and add a couple of things. Id ask if you’re at a weight that you have been at before for some time? I know it’s really hard to breakthrough weight plateaus going either up or down.
Here’s some recommendations at face value.
1. If you look at the science cardio is generally not that effective at burning calories for weight loss unless you’re adding in lots of elevation gain in the mix. It has many health benefits mostly for endurance training.
2. Hit the gym more often for heavy weight training. Seek help if needed. Start light and be safe. The squat rack or smith machine is all you need. Do sets of deadlifts, squats, bent over rows, Romanian deadlifts, and assisted pull ups. Shouldn’t take more than an hour. IMO this should be the foundation of an athletic humans routine. This will burn more calories during and for the next 24hrs than multiple hrs of cardio. Stick to a good diet and you won’t gain weight just strength. More muscle mass = more calorie burning 24/7.
3. Myself and many others have had great success with intermittent fasting for weight loss. Seems hard but gets easy quickly. Careful if you have blood sugar issues. Slowly start pushing breakfast back later until you only eat two meals. I only eat from 12pm-8pm. Less hungry than when I ate breakfast.
4. Try to do your cardio while fasted so you get the added benefit of fat burning.

Good luck.

 

[Miker J]

I should clarify and add a couple of things. Id ask if you're at a weight that you have been at before for some time? I know it's really hard to breakthrough weight plateaus going either up or down.
Here's some recommendations at face value.
1. If you look at the science cardio is generally not that effective at burning calories for weight loss unless you're adding in lots of elevation gain in the mix. It has many health benefits mostly for endurance training.
2. Hit the gym more often for heavy weight training. Seek help if needed. Start light and be safe. The squat rack or smith machine is all you need. Do sets of deadlifts, squats, bent over rows, Romanian deadlifts, and assisted pull ups. Shouldn't take more than an hour. IMO this should be the foundation of an athletic humans routine. This will burn more calories during and for the next 24hrs than multiple hrs of cardio. Stick to a good diet and you won't gain weight just strength. More muscle mass = more calorie burning 24/7.
3. Myself and many others have had great success with intermittent fasting for weight loss. Seems hard but gets easy quickly. Careful if you have blood sugar issues. Slowly start pushing breakfast back later until you only eat two meals. I only eat from 12pm-8pm. Less hungry than when I ate breakfast.
4. Try to do your cardio while fasted so you get the added benefit of fat burning.

Good luck.

Hmmm.

Depends. In my late 20 and early 30 when hitting the gym a lot and riding modestly I weighed close to 190# and was fairly lean. Pretty much stuck to squats, deadlifts, presses, chins, and rows.

Now at 48 I bike a lot more and lift a lot less but still do the same exercises - and now weigh about 170# after a hard week of riding. Body fat is a lot less now.

That said, hitting the weights is a great way to loose fat, but not necessarily weight.

 

[Le Duke]

I should clarify and add a couple of things. Id ask if you're at a weight that you have been at before for some time? I know it's really hard to breakthrough weight plateaus going either up or down.
Here's some recommendations at face value.
1. If you look at the science cardio is generally not that effective at burning calories for weight loss unless you're adding in lots of elevation gain in the mix. It has many health benefits mostly for endurance training.
2. Hit the gym more often for heavy weight training. Seek help if needed. Start light and be safe. The squat rack or smith machine is all you need. Do sets of deadlifts, squats, bent over rows, Romanian deadlifts, and assisted pull ups. Shouldn't take more than an hour. IMO this should be the foundation of an athletic humans routine. This will burn more calories during and for the next 24hrs than multiple hrs of cardio. Stick to a good diet and you won't gain weight just strength. More muscle mass = more calorie burning 24/7.
3. Myself and many others have had great success with intermittent fasting for weight loss. Seems hard but gets easy quickly. Careful if you have blood sugar issues. Slowly start pushing breakfast back later until you only eat two meals. I only eat from 12pm-8pm. Less hungry than when I ate breakfast.
4. Try to do your cardio while fasted so you get the added benefit of fat burning.

Good luck.

Please cite ANY scientific literature to support the 1hr lifting > 3hrs cardio.

If you are burning more calories from one hour of lifting than multiple hours of riding, you aren't riding very hard.

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[Cuyuna]

You can't exercise your way out of obesity. As long as you can eat more calories in 10 minutes than you can burn in 1 hour on your bike, weight loss is about calorie intake, not how many calories you're burning.

 

[Shredmonkey]

Please cite ANY scientific literature to support the 1hr lifting > 3hrs cardio.

If you are burning more calories from one hour of lifting than multiple hours of riding, you aren't riding very hard.

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I think you're missing the most important part of what I was saying. It's the hours or possibly days after intense weight training where it becomes more beneficial than cardio alone.
Weight or High intensity interval training is better at increasing your resting metabolic rate therefore increasing the amount of calories you burn long after the actual workout. You might be surprised how many calories you burn even when you're sleeping in this higher metabolic state.

Not going to get in a scientific pissing contest here but there is tons of data out there on this. Here is one article after a "cardio vs weight training" search.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323922.php

Nothing against cardio and luckily mtb is super fun. It's just not the best tool in the tool box for weight loss.

Honestly I had the best success with the fasting thing. Lost like 10 lbs a month for three months without consciously changing anything else.

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[matto6]

I've never successfully lost weight by exercising a lot. I get hungry and eat more.

Exercise for health. Control weight with your diet.

One thing that has helped me lose weight is to eat less at night. Caloric demands are light while you sleep. If you go to bed with a belly full of food it gets stored as fat. If you go to bed with an empty stomach you'll burn fat while you sleep.

Take on calories earlier in the day when your body needs the energy and can use it directly rather then storing it. Definitely don't be hungry while exercising.

 

[Lone Rager]

So, you've ridden less than 7 miles per day this year....

I feel mileage isn't usually the best metric to measure workout load as there are too many variables. For roughly equal intensity, I cover ~2x the ground on a road bike than I do on the mtb. On the trainer it's zero real miles and some arbitrary virtual miles. Hours is a more universal measure, but of course you need to figure in intensity too.

 

[Crennie]

I find the more I ride, the more I eat so it's a balancing. I feel age has had ore to do with any weight gain I've experienced in teh last few years. My weight never fluctuates more than just a couple pounds.

This is my finding as well "you can't out exercise a questionable diet".

For me, I have to have my diet restricted and on track for there to be an impact because the heavy workout days will undoubtedly lead to more food consumption. If I cut the junk as a rule of thumb then my weight loss is due to diet, and the exercise is a healthy perk that benefits from it.

This has been my personal experience with cardio as well as weight lifting efforts.

Of course it all gets a little harder as we gain "experience". Your metabolism decreases, so I have to be even more strict with what I consume. For me that means more veggies and less empty carbs.

YMMV

 

[rynomx785]

I lost about 25 lbs over the last 6 months. Riding about 150 miles a month and making sure I was burning more calories than I was eating. Apple Watch to keep track of calories burned and My Fitness Pal app to keep track of calorie intake. Worked for me.....

 

[Nubster]

80+ pounds one summer. Need to do it again because somehow I managed to find it again

 

[Nubster]

Please cite ANY scientific literature to support the 1hr lifting > 3hrs cardio.

If you are burning more calories from one hour of lifting than multiple hours of riding, you aren't riding very hard.

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I can lift with intensity for 1+ hours 3-4 times a week and not lose a pound. IMO....if you are lifting hard and not GAINING weight you're doing it wrong.

However...if I ride...say 40-60-ish moderately difficult miles a week...I can lose 3-5 pounds a week. Sometimes more.