Serious Health Question.

adub said:

I've Recently started cycleing in mid-June. Today is Sept. 16th, and I've lost 30lbs from cycleing alone. Now I'm stuck at 210lbs..... Do I need to start weight training? My pants are loose, but I seem to be stuck at the same weight.... I live in Minnesota, and the winters are long and unforgiving.... I want to continue to lose weight. I'm 6'1" and I'd like to get down to 190lbs. Should I start running? I eat a healthy diet. Any help would be great!!!!

A-DUB

I'd recommend getting a indoor trainer(maybe not rollers, but a stationary trainer should do the trick ) ..... ohhhhh , and a good size fan to simulate outdoor riding 🙂

adub said:

I've Recently started cycleing in mid-June. Today is Sept. 16th, and I've lost 30lbs from cycleing alone. Now I'm stuck at 210lbs..... Do I need to start weight training? My pants are loose, but I seem to be stuck at the same weight.... I live in Minnesota, and the winters are long and unforgiving.... I want to continue to lose weight. I'm 6'1" and I'd like to get down to 190lbs. Should I start running? I eat a healthy diet. Any help would be great!!!!

A-DUB

You are probably building muscle which is heavier than fat so if you maintain a constant weight and yet continue to train harder and harder then you probably are losing fat. At least that is what I would expect (I'm no expert). It takes time to lose weight in a healthy manner and cycling will always be good for your body. You could argue that running isn't good for you especially if you are carrying a few extra pounds and you dont have the right leg muscles. If you lower leg muscles are weak then there is a risk of you landing on you foot badly for example.

adub said:

I've Recently started cycleing in mid-June. Today is Sept. 16th, and I've lost 30lbs from cycleing alone. Now I'm stuck at 210lbs..... Do I need to start weight training? My pants are loose, but I seem to be stuck at the same weight.... I live in Minnesota, and the winters are long and unforgiving.... I want to continue to lose weight. I'm 6'1" and I'd like to get down to 190lbs. Should I start running? I eat a healthy diet. Any help would be great!!!!

A-DUB

Keep cycling as much as possible over the winter. You may need to invest in warm and waterproof cycling clothing and put heavier tyres on your bike, depending on what type it is.
If the weather prevents cycling try to keep your fitness levels up with something else. Weight training will burn off fat and will give you upper body strength that cycling doesn't, but it won't specifically help your riding when you resume in the spring. (Others may disagree with this.)

Sometime sticking points have to be dealt with a change in diet and or training alterations. Not major alterations, but subtle alterations.

For instance when I am training bodybuilders for competition the main objective starting several months away is to get the athlete down to a very low bodyfat percentage. Most encounter a sticking point along the way, myself included. There have been times when I had to make some slight alterations like increasing fat intake (virgin olive oil, omega or MCT oil). Adding calories may not make sense when the goal is trying to lean out, but my point is that it sometimes takes these slight temporary adjustments to get the body back in a fat burning mode. Obviously I am advocate for weight training and do believe that muscle = metabolism, but I believe that the cycling is still great for burning fat. If your main goal is just to be leaner than cross training can keep things more interesting which can keep motivation up, but if you are a cyclist than my suggestion is stay on the bike and let time and training run its course and sometimes that means you will encounter a sticking point, but push through and keep going and eventually with the adjustments you will break through the plateau.

What alteration you may need I cannot suggest over the web. That is something that requires more history of you, your schedule, your meal plan and perhaps your daily stress level. All of these can impact training goals and each has a remedy.

Best wishes

Full disclosure. I weigh over 300 pounds. However, I peaked at over 421. I hhave been riding since I hit 365.

I have lost over 100 pounds, and it was by doing the right things. Exercise and watching what I ate. I am somewhat stable at my current weight (and have been for way too long), and I am notching it up, for my health, and I want to ride an imperial century next year, and I want to lose at least 50 lbs to do it (I want to ultimately lose another 100+ and look forward to saying some day "I am half the man I used to be"😉.

I have tried various things to get me to the point where I am, especially Weight Watchers (effective for me, both motivationally and pragmatically for a year or so) I would urge you to give them a try, for at least long enough to learn their principles, in cas ethey work for you.

I have also studied, but not yet following a couple of plans to expedite my loss. I am currently reading the South Beach diet (which is not necesarily low carb except for the first phase), and another (even though I am male) I have read is the Curves plan.

I am probably going to attempt the South Beach diet....

But, the reason I started is that one of the elements in the Curves plan is that your body will adjust to your caloric intake, and they inject short periods of higher calorie intake, then back on plan to keep the weight loss going. I am not sure if this is effective, but it might fit in with your lifestyle.

South Beach emphasizes that it is not strictly about calories, but about how the body uses them, since foods with a high glycemic index increase the level of insulin and then after the blood sugars are processed, this leads to hunger. Foods with a lower glycemic index tend to keep insulin levels more moderate. Therefore, in the view of the author, the issue becomes eating the right combination of elements... some good fats (olive oil etc) and fiber mixed with the right carbs gives you all the nutrients you need, and does it in a way that avoids the insulin spikes.

My doctor a few years ago urged me to find whatever plan worked for me, and stick with it... Good advice.

Of course another plan is to simply spend more time on my bike, and less time at the table or on the couch. 🙂

[font=Arial]One of the approaches I use with some of the athletes I train who have hit a plateau with their weight is to increase the frequency of food intake.
Basically I have them eat a 100 calorie snack every 2 hours from breakfast till just past dinner.
If the clock is on an even number hour its time to pop something healthy. A piece of fruit, whole grain energy bar, wheat bread, 2 fig newtons, fat free yogurt cup, the possibilities are endless. You can get creative with the alternatives and keep the routine fresh. The goal here is to speed up your metabolism by supplying a near constant supply of food, but in small enough amounts so that you aren't simply adding calories to your day. You will soon find you are naturally eating a little less during regular meals and most times your net daily calories will be less than before. Just make sure its a healthy, low fat (preferably unprocessed) snack. You will soon smash through your plateau and find your energy levels throughout the day to be much more stable. Good luck.
Dave
[/font]
www.everybodysbikecoach.com

Just keep it simple. Eat healthy, and watch those calories! I've always struggled with my weight and I've recently lost 35 lbs (I need/want to be about 6 lbs lighter, for a ride in December). It's all about calories...

Good luck with it!

Hey, a fellow MN rider (though I just recently moved south d/t wife's transfer). Eat frequently to keep metabolism up (5-6 times a day). Drink plenty of water, has a thermogenic effect. Not sure if anyone else touched on this, but for health, hit the weights. Skeletal muscle is always metabolically active so it burns fuel even while you sleep. It also helps keep blood pressure in check, maintains normal blood glucose/sugar and lipid levels. For winter, I always cross-country skied myself, when there was snow, as it has been sparse in the twin cities the last 7-8 years. I got really tired of driving north just to ski, but I digress......

adub said:

I've Recently started cycleing in mid-June. Today is Sept. 16th, and I've lost 30lbs from cycleing alone. Now I'm stuck at 210lbs..... Do I need to start weight training? My pants are loose, but I seem to be stuck at the same weight.... I live in Minnesota, and the winters are long and unforgiving.... I want to continue to lose weight. I'm 6'1" and I'd like to get down to 190lbs. Should I start running? I eat a healthy diet. Any help would be great!!!!

A-DUB

You have to control your calorie intake to lose weight. Even if you eat healthy, calories in vs calories out is what it's all about. I read that Lance weighed everything he ate when he was dieting to get down to his TdF weight so he could precisely control his daily calorie intake.

What you burn up exercising counts of course, but unless you maintain a daily deficit, you're not going to lose weight. I've read that about a 500 kcal deficit will yield a pound/week weight loss; plenty for someone in training.

For me, dieting to keep near optimum performance weight is harder and less fun than training. It's just not fun watching the diet all the time, but it's not much fun climbing hills 10 or 20 lbs overweight either.

adub said:

I've Recently started cycleing in mid-June. Today is Sept. 16th, and I've lost 30lbs from cycling alone. Now I'm stuck at 210lbs..... Do I need to start weight training? My pants are loose, but I seem to be stuck at the same weight.... I live in Minnesota, and the winters are long and unforgiving.... I want to continue to lose weight. I'm 6'1" and I'd like to get down to 190lbs. Should I start running? I eat a healthy diet. Any help would be great!!!!

A-DUB

In addition to what the other posters have said I'd just like to say that not all endeavors provide results in a linear fashion. That applies to increases in performance, weight loss, etc. There is always the law of diminishing returns for anything that can be achieved.

Personally, I'd consider 30 lbs since mid-June to be more than acceptable and let it go at that. You're not going to continue to lose weight at that pace unless you resort to drastic measures, which are ill advised. Take a long and steady approach and you'll not only be healthier but you'll have a better chance at keeping the weight off too. Most diets fail not because people can't lose the weight but because they put it all back on shortly afterward.

Also, weight loss does not equal fat loss. If you start burning up lean muscle because you're dieting too strictly you've taken a wrong turn.

adub said:

I've Recently started cycleing in mid-June. Today is Sept. 16th, and I've lost 30lbs from cycleing alone. Now I'm stuck at 210lbs..... Do I need to start weight training? My pants are loose, but I seem to be stuck at the same weight.... I live in Minnesota, and the winters are long and unforgiving.... I want to continue to lose weight. I'm 6'1" and I'd like to get down to 190lbs. Should I start running? I eat a healthy diet. Any help would be great!!!!

A-DUB

'nother one.

adub said:

I eat a healthy diet. Any help would be great!!!!

A-DUB

Here's an experiment which I think would really turn the lights on. You say you eat a healthy diet. For everything you eat during the day keep a running tally of your distribution of calories consumed with regard to fat, protein & carbs. Your intake should be fat 20% to 25%, protein 10% to 15% and the rest in carbs.

As for losing weight, you need to determine how many calories you need to support your weight given your activity level. There are a bunch of calculators out on the web, Chris Carmichael has one on his website. Then consume less than what is required. People run into problems when they go on diets that either severely limit there caloric intake or they go on a diet that messes with you fat/protein/carb distribution.

By the way, I was shocked to find out that my health food, granola eating semi-vegitarian life style had me eating 60% of my calories from fat.

John Budnik said:

By the way, I was shocked to find out that my health food, granola eating semi-vegitarian life style had me eating 60% of my calories from fat.

This is so very true... I'm pretty much a veggie myself,and I've been playing around on Fit Day, which I just recently discovered and I, too, have been eating way too much fat, carbs, and not enough protein...

BTW- that's a great site (and free, too!)