# Having issues with losing weight



## GDeAngelo (Aug 9, 2009)

So, I've been having issues cutting weight. I have by no means a cyclist's build. I'm 6'2'' 270lbs. I started riding to motivate more cardio. I've never had an issue with weights and minor cardio. A month ago I got to the point where I need to lose fat. I ride four or more times a week for at least an hour and a half. I've been at 1500 calories a day for about 2 months. I eat good calories. I don't get drained during a ride. Yesterday I rode 12.24 miles in 53 minutes. There were hills and some flats. I like hills, I'm not sure why. I recently had some blood drawn for thyroid testing. It's really only only thing I can think of.

Any thoughts?


-Gianni-


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## apxbiker (Jul 18, 2009)

dude 1500 cals is way below your bmr.whats holding you back is ur lack of food. eat more increase slowly to like 2500 cals along with riding and i bet u start dropping lots... just eat good food

disclaimer: i am not an expert just advice from past experience


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## GDeAngelo (Aug 9, 2009)

apxbiker said:


> dude 1500 cals is way below your bmr.whats holding you back is ur lack of food. eat more increase slowly to like 2500 cals along with riding and i bet u start dropping lots... just eat good food
> 
> disclaimer: i am not an expert just advice from past experience



So, do you think I may be stuck in starvation mode?


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

I would be really surprised if you are only eating 1500 calories a day, how are you keeping track and what does a typical day look like?


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## GDeAngelo (Aug 9, 2009)

SilasCL said:


> I would be really surprised if you are only eating 1500 calories a day, how are you keeping track and what does a typical day look like?


Well, yesterday was

breakfast
outmeal made w/ water - 320
Orange juice -120

1/2 power bar on ride - 105

protein bar -120

lunch 
1/2 turkey sandwich - 285
1/2 banana - 53
1/2 zero cal gatorade

protein bar - 120

dinner 
1/2 turkey sandwich - 285
1/2 banana - 53
1/2 xero cal gatorade

oatmeal -160

total - 1621

Now sometimes I go over a bit,sometimes I go under. I like to stay around 1500. But maybe that's not enough?


-Gianni-


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## fasteddy07 (Jun 4, 2007)

you should be OK with that...

I went from 235 to 189 this spring.
My daily goal was / is 1400 as I am on my way to 175-180 (end goal)

What I have found is that there are peaks and valleys. Your body took a long time to get where it is, and it will take some time to let go and start moving in the other direction. Do it with care, patience and dedication and you will get there.
Get on and stick with a good program. Good balance between carbs, fat and protein etc.. plenty of water etc..
Oh, 
and burn calories. Lots of calories.
I have 4.3 Thousand miles in my legs since January. I do not imagine I will make goal until sometime next year, like april or so...
I am a patient man.


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## dgasper (Sep 1, 2007)

*for me it's a low carb diet*

I lost about 40 pounds a few years ago on the Atkins diet. I have not had a problem since. Also, I find that exercise does not make me drop weight, only my diet. (And I'm either on my bike or playing racquetball every day, or both.) Gary Taubes, in "Good Calories, Bad Calories" states that any calories burned in exercise are usually more than replaced after the exercise. That's been my experience. (It's a little more complex than that, of course, as exercise builds muscle which is heavier than fat, etc. but I'm sure you get the idea.)


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## apxbiker (Jul 18, 2009)

it might be in you best interest to get ur bmr tested and body fat at a local gym or somewhere like that cause that way you will be able to determine how many calories are right for you. i think you are eating to little for sure!


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

So I had my gf look at this thread because she's a dietitian.

She said to make the oatmeal with milk. Drop the OJ for real fruit, as juice is almost as bad for you as pop/soda. You also need a LOT more calories as you are in starvation mode. She said you need 2500-3000 calories per day (exercise included, so don't add more) for weight loss and 3000-3700 to maintain your current 270lbs.

My own recommendation is to DROP THE POWERBARS. You should make real food for your rides. For each ride under 2hrs, shoot to eat 1/3 to 1/2 the calories you burn. For a 90min ride, it's probably about 700-800 calories, so shoot to eat 250-400 calories. Bring a banana and a peanut butter/honey sandwich. If you want less food make PB&Honey, but use only one slice of bread and fold it in half. My big thing right now is organic pop-tarts from Costco. They're cheap and 200Cal per pastry, so 400cal per bag of 2.

EAT MORE DIVERSE FOODS. You have almost no fruits and vegetables in your diet. Where are the vitamins and minerals coming from if you don't eat the colorful foods. I would take a multivitamin to cover your basis, too.

Oh yeah, she also wants to know the results of your thyroid test when you get it. Feel free to PM me with any more questions.


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## GDeAngelo (Aug 9, 2009)

iliveonnitro said:


> So I had my gf look at this thread because she's a dietitian.
> 
> She said to make the oatmeal with milk. Drop the OJ for real fruit, as juice is almost as bad for you as pop/soda. You also need a LOT more calories as you are in starvation mode. She said you need 2500-3000 calories per day (exercise included, so don't add more) for weight loss and 3000-3700 to maintain your current 270lbs.
> 
> ...


It varies by day, but I always have some celery or broccoli in the fridge. I've been on a peach kick recently. I do take a multi-vitamin - centrum to be exact. I think cutting the power bards and a peanut butter and honey sandwich would be better, cheaper too.

I will pm with the results.

-Gianni-


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## andy11 (Aug 23, 2009)

can you drop to 1200 calories?!! and drink lots of water..


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## atimido (Jun 17, 2009)

Instead of eating so much turkey, maybe you should go buy a bunch of vegetables and make yourself a big salad for dinner. 

I have been reading about how you should eat the majority of your carbs in the morning; of course this all depends on when your workout is. I work nights, so I ride in the morning after eating a banana, cheese stick, and then 3-4 clif bites on the ride. For lunch I eat a salad consisting of spinach, other vegetables, and sometimes fruit. I drink a lot of water, stay away from soda etc..., and try not to eat too much for dinner (chicken breast, salad, etc...).


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## Gall (Feb 6, 2004)

*I read this..... and I am not sure what to think about it.*

http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/2009/08/maximize-your-ability-to-burn-fat-as-fuel-by-hunter-allen.html


Gall


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## voodooguy (Aug 18, 2007)

I think one piece that is missing is to eat through out the day. There is much to be said for eating 6 meals during the day. Something about keeping the metabolism going.


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## atimido (Jun 17, 2009)

voodooguy said:


> I think one piece that is missing is to eat through out the day. There is much to be said for eating 6 meals during the day. Something about keeping the metabolism going.


Very true, I try to eat apples and stuff to quelch my hunger. Usually I end up sneaking in granola bars.


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## soulfly_nyc (Feb 16, 2007)

I would get rid of the protein bars and zero cal gatorade.

You need carbs to burn calories/fat. I've gone from 190lbs to 167lbs in a year by sticking to this diet:

5am - Quaker weightloss oatmeal (one packet) with fresh blueberries for preride

5:30 - Ride for 1h30m 

7:30 - 4 eggwhites + red pepper + brocoli + spinach
Cup of fresh fruit, coffee with skim milk

10:30 - handful roasted/salted almonds

12:00 - 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup fresh roasted bison or fresh roasted turkey, 1/4 cup sweet potato, 1/4 cup brocoli, 1/4 cup spinach, 1/2 cup lentils

3:00 handful roasted/salted almonds

6:00 - fresh chicken (size of 1.5 pack of cards) stirfry in olive oil, with red pepper, onion, brocoli sautee.

8:00 Citracel sugar free for fiber

I usually ride about 200-250 miles per week plus 2-3 days in gym.

When you are riding check out: Endurox R4 and Lara Bars. both will keep you riding and I like the lara bars because they appear to be more natural than typical cliff or powerbars.

keep going and don't give up. If you are starving yourself or overeating you won't get results...need to strike a fine balance.



PS: Drink way more water than you think you should...at all times of day.


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## heathb (Nov 1, 2008)

Read up on a low glycemic index diet. 

Like take your Banana for instance, it has a high glycemic index if it's ripe. Chuck it.

Get rid of the empty calories like the powerbar and gatorade.

You have little to no healthy fats in you current list of foods. Stock up on walnuts...ALA(omega 3), Salmon, Avacados, Cold Pressed Olive Oil. These will slow your digestion and not cause a spike in your glucose. 

Increase you fiber both dietary and soluable.

You need to up your intake of veggies, particularly leafy greens like Collards, Kale...ect. 

You need a nutrient dense low calorie diet, but you also need to eat at regular intervals to keep the metabolism going, mix protein, fats with your carbs at each meal to slow digestion.


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## uberalles (Aug 13, 2009)

i'm in your boat too...6' 255lbs when i started riding ... been sticking to 2000cal a day diet

oat meal, banana, coffee in the am

fruit snack

salad and some sort of low cal lunch (pasta w/ chicken or rice w/ chicken)

fruit snack 

and a modest dinner with a salad

i drink a crazy amount of water during the day and i'm putting about an hour a day on the bike (16mph avg ..on a solo ride)

my last weigh check had be at 261lb, up 6 lbs
i'm sure i'm adding muscle... but over a month i would think there is some trade off and i'd see some weigh loss results...

is there anything that i can


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

As a clyde-emeritus, I can feel your pain as far as the weight loss goes. Every season I ride for a couple months before the pounds really start dropping. I'm no dietician, but you might be under-fueling and in borderline starvation mode at 2000 calories a day at your size/weight. I think your BMR would be around 2200-2300 calories a day, and the calories expended for a sedentary lifestyle (desk job/couch potato- BMR x 1.2) would be in the range of 2500-2800. Google a calculator to be sure. Add a bike ride in on that number (say 600-800 calories per hour), and you can see that you've got a caloric deficit in the range of 1100-1600 calories. Not horrible or life-threatening, but it can be hard to sustain and build any fat-burning muscle.

Again, not a dietician, but I like to keep my deficit to 500-1000 calories for sustainable weight loss (500 is my normal). At 3500 calories per pound, that's 1-2 lbs per week on average. As I lose weight, my BMR changes, and therefore I hit a bit of a plateau as far as weight loss. My usual answer is to change my diet slightly and exercise more or at a higher intensity. The cool thing is as the weight comes off, it's easier to ramp up the intensity a bit so I don't feel guilty if I have a less-than-healthy mean now or then. Moderation is the key for me. While I admire what Mike Magnuson did in terms of weight loss and fitness, even he found that too much self-denial can be a negative thing.

Instead of focusing on just losing weight, I usually pick a season goal (century, race, hillclimb, charity ride...) and set benchmarks so I can evaluate my progress and adjust as necessary. I usually meet my goal waaaayyy too early (I aim low for some reason), so I always have one or two loftier goals in mind just in case. I find that I lose more weight this way and it's a less stressful experience. It makes the whole experience more concrete, and therefore easier to manage. I still have a goal weight (or weight range), but it isn't my primary focus.

I dunno. Maybe it would work for you.


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

uberalles said:


> i'm in your boat too...6' 255lbs when i started riding ... been sticking to 2000cal a day diet
> 
> oat meal, banana, coffee in the am
> 
> ...


Keep at it for starters... it can take 6-8 weeks plus for noticeable differences.

Aside from that, you're eating too much fruit and not enough veggies IMO. Very little healthy fat in those foods also.

If you aren't putting in a lot of intensity, you may just want to lessen/remove some of the carbs at lunch also, unless you are riding right before or after (will help keep you fueled IMO). If you are solely trying to lose some weight, intensity will probably only make you hungrier. I lost some weight last winter just doing a lot of endurance-paced rides around the "fat burning zone". I wound up having to put weight back on!

If you just started up exercising, could also be that you are in starvation mode. I may eat too much (scale isn't telling me that), but I ride about an hour a day week days, and 2-3+ each weekend day, and I eat at least 2200-2600 calories a day (dependent on how hard I am riding on a given day, and how "good" I can be). I'm 5'8, female, and weigh a lot less.

It's a process 

Also not a dietician/doctor/etc. Just stuff I have found. I've read you can eat as much as you want of fruits/veggies, but don't find that to work for me. I try to eat more veggies than fruit, or at least equal. I do eat about 1/2 cup or a little more of berries in the morning, banana before my rides, and an apple. Other than that, I eat baby carrots, edamame sometimes, and a heaping pile of veggies with dinner (squash, zucchini, peppers, onion all sauteed or grilled, cauliflower steamed with no butter, asparagus steamed/baked/sauteed, artichokes, broccoli roasted, salads with a ton of veggies and not much dressing - no cheese, no dried fruit, etc.).

Mix up the lunch maybe sometimes to add in some healthy fat from almond butter, or snack on about an ounce or so of almonds, have some avocado in salad sometimes, use olive oil to cook. Stick with the lean meats, but don't forget fish and leaner cuts of beef sometimes!


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## muscleendurance (Jan 11, 2009)

fat needs carbs to burn it, so if you dont have enough carbs in for the day (at the right times) then you body is in caloric deficit, but instead of burning fat (like youwant) its starts taking the calories needed from muscle mass instead..even if you have 20lbs of unwanted fat waiting to be burned off.


So ironically you need to eat more, but just make sure you are still burning more than you are eating.


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## jac44 (Feb 11, 2005)

heathb said:


> Read up on a low glycemic index diet.
> 
> Like take your Banana for instance, it has a high glycemic index if it's ripe. Chuck it.
> 
> ...


This is it right here!! Lost thirty pounds this sesaon 10 more and I'm going for Cat 3 Masters


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## snowgor (Apr 10, 2007)

muscleendurance said:


> fat needs carbs to burn it, so if you dont have enough carbs in for the day (at the right times) then you body is in caloric deficit, but instead of burning fat (like youwant) its starts taking the calories needed from muscle mass instead..even if you have 20lbs of unwanted fat waiting to be burned off.
> 
> 
> So ironically you need to eat more, but just make sure you are still burning more than you are eating.



When is the right time for carbs? In the morning or before your workout?


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## kreuzberg (Feb 1, 2009)

snowgor said:


> When is the right time for carbs? In the morning or before your workout?


Right time is before, during, and after your workout. You need to be fueled so you can actually ride well, but you need carbs so your muscles can recover.
As an athlete, you should shy away from low-carb. Try to focus on whole grain, and limit white sugar.


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## StillRiding (Sep 16, 2006)

My experience may differ from others, but if I train seriously for 90 minutes or more six days a week I can eat just about anything I want and maintain near optimum weight. 

It's almost counter-productive to think about dieting so long as you're getting a well structured workout almost every day. (actually, if you do the research, you'll find that diets are almost always a failure in the long run) Your weight is ultimately driven by the calories you burn, not by the calories you consume. Keep burning the calories at a good rate, and your weight will come down.


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## ljfran2383 (Aug 27, 2009)

Changing your diet too quickly can shock you body and it will metabolize slower since your eating less. It is a survival thing. You might be better off eating a decent (but healthy) amount of food with cycling and you should drop weight.


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## stewie13 (Feb 5, 2005)

What is starvation mode?

I don't understand how someone that weights 270 lbs can eat only 1500 calories a day for 2 months and not lose weight. Is that really possible (or perhaps a better question is probable)?

Get ride of bananas and orange juice? Is that really what is preventing someone that is 270 lbs from losing weight?

How many calories a day does one need to consume to get up to 270 lbs? 3000? 4000? 5000? more?

I'm sure there is a lot of truth to what everyone has said but it doesn't seem like it should be that complicated for someone who is 270 lbs to lose some weight. Am I way off base here?


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## kreuzberg (Feb 1, 2009)

stewie13 said:


> What is starvation mode?
> 
> I don't understand how someone that weights 270 lbs can eat only 1500 calories a day for 2 months and not lose weight. Is that really possible (or perhaps a better question is probable)?
> 
> ...


way off base, and kinda rude.


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## ljfran2383 (Aug 27, 2009)

starvation mode is when your body reacts to a change in diet to maintain body weight, your metabolism can drop like a rock when you change your diet that dramatically in too short of a time. generally, when getting active you want to eat good food at a normal caloric intake, and you will lose weight, 1500 cal a day is just not good for you.


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## deadleg (Jan 26, 2005)

If you are converting fat to lean muscle mass you may not lose weight right away. But lean muscle mass burns more calories than fat mass, so you are going in ther right direction. I say exericise as much as possible, and eat healthy food only, and your body will improve over time. Alcohol is my downfall, stay away! Set reasonable goals for the long term, 1 year, 2 years. Eat enough so that you can enjoy the process!


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## duc042 (Jan 19, 2009)

I was in the same boat, I got down to 195 and could not get below that. Someone said to me just ride for hours at a time at "recovery heartrate". It worked for me. I used a low fat not low calorie diet. I reached my goal of 180. After I got to 180 I began my training program and eat 2500-3000 calories, still low fat with lean proteins.


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## darrensmits (Jan 30, 2010)

If you want to reduce your weight then first of all you have to make your diet chart acording to food calories.You have to totally avoid food which have fat and junk food.You also eat food which have low calories and sufficient energy which are required in our body.You have also doing exercises in early morning and vanish fat.After follow that rutting for four moth you can definitely reduce your weight.


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## Morris Buttermaker (Jan 4, 2010)

Not sure if it was mentioned, but are you doing any weight training?

Not only is it good for the body in general but Muscle mass burns calories when you're not active, unlike cardio where you need to be actually doing it.

It's not about how much you weigh but your bmi and fat %


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## Sonomasnap (Feb 10, 2010)

I started riding last May 10th. Woke up and looked in the mirror and decided I was fat.

206lbs 5'11". Got on the bike started riding a lot and drop my caloric intake a lot. Did not count calories but did keep track of my calories burned riding. Was doing around 250 miles a week by end of my first month. Started racing by my 3rd month. Dropped 35 lbs. in 2 months. Have put 3 lbs back on. Am Cat4 now. Just got picked up by a team. Bottom line, for every 3500cal. you burn above and beyond what you take in you lose a pound. I lost a pound every 2 days. I still ride 250 a week and eat a lot more.

The one think that stood out in your post was that you rode for 1 hour and at a very slow pace. It takes time and you are a big guy but you need to be riding 5+ days a week and at least 1-1.5 a day on week days and 2-4 hours on weekends.

Good luck.


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## Zachariah (Jan 29, 2009)

A bodybuilder advised me to:

-Drink a gallon water a day
-Eat six small meals
-Zig zag calories
-Take fish oil and drink Green Tea
-Never eat after 8PM

I took his advice and kept riding 200 miles/week and in two years, lost 73lbs and melted nine inches off my waist. I never knew a ripped six-pack and bulging veins was beneath all that fat I had.


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## rdalcanto (Mar 2, 2008)

Do you ride with a heart rate monitor? How hard are you pushing yourself (how many calories are you really burning). Sitting on a bike seat, it is very easy to ride for an hour and not put out much effort. Focus on hills. The only way I can get my heart rate close to my threshold and keep it there is by going up a mountain. Fortunately for me, I am able to do 2-4,000 ft of climbing every ride (not including recovery rides). You might need to find a 400 ft hill and do it as fast as you can 10 times in a row if you live in a flatter part of the country.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

53 minutes is too short to really have an impact, IMO. Try to up your ride time.


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## Infini (Apr 21, 2003)

Here are some general guidelines that have worked very well for me and others: 

** Eat nothing but the following: 

- Lean meat (Poultry or fish.. some pork or beef is ok overy once in a while)
- Vegetables (no potatoes, very little or no corn) 
- Fruit. (any) 
- Whole grains (fairly small amounts)

** Eat a variety of fruit and vegetables. 

** If it wasn't obvious from the above, stop drinking Juice, Gatorade, and stop eating protein bars. Those are all pretty much Pop and Candy. 

** If you prefer eating a sandwich, use whole grain bread (that doesn't count as whole grains.. what I meant was unprocessed whole grains.. but a little bit of bread is not going to be a problem)

** Eat 6 or more small meals spread out throughout the day. Don't go more than 5 hours without eating (other than while sleeping). Don't eat any huge meals. Eat a small meal within an hour or two of bed, and eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, unless you do a mid or low intensity ride immediately upon waking. 

** If you like oatmeal, eat OLD FASHION, or something of another brand with a similar level of processing (low). Don't get the quick cook kind... The old fashion doesn't take any longer to cook anyways. Never eat the single serving packs of oatmeal from Quaker or any other brand. They are full of sugar.

** Have some good fat every day. Either from eating enough fish, or from eating some flaxseeds. What is simplest though is to use a flaxseed oil or fish oil supplement. 500mg a day I think.

** As others have said, the OP was not getting enough calories. What Nitro and his GF said sound good. 

** Use a heart rate monitor when you are riding... Not sure how old you are or what your heart rate zones are,.. but generally, stay above 120 bpm. 

** Weigh yourself every morning right after waking up and going to the bathroom, with the same amount of clothes on. Record your weight every day in a log. Aim to lose 2-3 lbs per week. Maybe it's still ok to lose more if you have a high bf%, but I'm not sure about that myself.


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## root (Sep 13, 2007)

Gall said:


> http://blog.trainingpeaks.com/2009/08/maximize-your-ability-to-burn-fat-as-fuel-by-hunter-allen.html
> Gall


This all depends on your training frequency. I train every day. There is no way I can do time trial (L4/L5 intensity) day in and day out. High intensity session once or twice a week is fine, but it also makes you more hungry afterward and it takes more time to recover and to be able to train effectively again. 

This is why I always balk when I read suggestions to do high intensity training without mentioning frequency at all. 

If I had a choice and wanted to lose weight I would always choose to do 3 - 6 hr low intensity ride a day, over 1 hour high intensity near anaerobic threshold ride a day. Because you can do those 3 hour rides at L1/L2 level day in and day out without needing days off and serious recovery (because they are active recovery), and you can't do L4/L5 every day. 

If you are seriously overweight, the biggest performance gain you can get is by losing weight. Forget about cycling specific "training" and intervals and things like that. Talking about performance when you are 250lb 5ft 8in is just silly. Your fist goal and thing that is going to make biggest performance impact is to get lighter. Then you can start doing cycling specific training. And the best thing to do that is low intensity L1/L2 long distance (really "time on bike" mantra) rides every single day. The nice thing about them is that you can actually reduce calories doing these and keep going.

If your weight is near optimum (and you have those "last 5lbs" to lose) then you can throw in some high intensity rides, even L6 sprints etc, but you will need recovery the next day or two so keep that in mind, and you will be hungry  and will have to suffer for a while.


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## rydbyk (Feb 17, 2010)

Mix in weight training...low weight/high reps. Muscle burns fat. Also, like many have mentioned already, I recommend 6 small meals a day to keep your metab. going. Good luck and stick to it. Make minor tweeks (no this does not mean add donuts to diet) here and there to keep it interesting and see how your body reacts...

Also, mix it up a bit and don't just ride your bike...walk fast or run if your body permits. Make sure you don't consume your dinner too close to bed time, as your metab/exercise drops and you won't burn the meal fast enough...

+1 on getting rid of OJ....almost like drinking soda in the morning...


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## rsr1 (Dec 4, 2009)

is your physique changing? More than weight loss I think it is important to look at yourself and see if you are slimming down or if you are able to perform certain tasks you were not able to before. If you answer yes to those questions you are moving in the right direction, just keep going, adding more exercise (weight training, more miles, more hills, running, cross training) as your body permits. You will get there. If you are building muscle, since you do hills like you say, you will add weight by bulking up your large leg and gluteus muscles. 
When you do weights work out the largest muscles in your body (legs, lats, shoulders, triceps, biceps, abs) because they will burn more calories and make a more visible change as well.


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## martin_nj (Jul 12, 2010)

StillRiding said:


> Your weight is ultimately driven by the calories you burn, not by the calories you consume.


this is the silliest thing ever


it is in fact the opposite


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