How long to lose 14kg of pure fat?

otherself

So I'm currently 88kg at a height of almost 5'10". My body fat measures 27% with a waist size measuring a whopping 40" inches. Worst shape of my life. Need to act now.

How long will it take for me to lose 14kg of fat? My goal is around 74kg, 33" inch waist with 12% bodyfat or thereabouts.

I'm cutting my diet down from 2100 calories a day to 1400.

twotyred

If you are eating only 2100 cals a day and still putting on weight it suggests you're pretty sedentary. Do you have an office job and do no exercise? If yes then you really need to move about more.

If your weight is stable at 2100 cals a day then by cutting down to 1400 you're running a 3500 cal a week deficit which is approx 1lb or fat so you could expect to lose about 1lb a week which should be nice and sustainable.

nubenotforlong

Few years back I was 107kg and started cycling 3-5 days a week. Mostly stationary at first. The first 15kg dropped off in a few months. I dropped to 1400 calories, reduced carbohydrates, increased protein. Almost stopped drinking alcohol, which was the hardest thing actually.

The weight kept dropping, but the waist line is a problem ... Toning can help.

Key thing was to monitor calories closely... I used livestrong app to monitor everything I ate, it was great!

Tony

Ps I got down to 70kg at one point, but dropped a lot of strength. Now at 78kg and much stronger, currently trying to gt to 70 and keep the strength...that's a challenge!

cougie

That's about 30 lbs ? I think they say 2lbs a week is a safe and sensible amount - so thats about 4 months you need to allow ?

Good luck with it !

Alex_Simmons/RST

otherself wrote:

How long will it take for me to lose 14kg of fat?

How long did it take to put it on?

t.m.h.n.e.t

1400 is nowhere near enough to lose weight. 2100 is nowhere near enough to lose weight.

ps: Eat more

symo

Hi otherself.

OK lets give you my story; I was 88kg last November, currently I am just under 75kg, so it is possible. My diet has changed radically. However it is the exercise that is important. (Note editted for a missing integer!).

I ride 7.5 miles to work then have breakfast consisting of a small low fat yoghurt and 40g of muesli. Over the day I have a couple of apples and some raisins to snack on. Lunch is a sandwich.

Then I ride home and on Tuesday and Thursday do a Turbo session for an hour in the garage (sufferfest working HARD), then have dinner. Nothing from a packet, everything cooked by my amazing GF.

After a month I allowed myself one blow out day a week and no more. Also cuttng back on the alcohol, nothing in the week and cut down at the weekend.

On a Sunday morning I get up early and started off with 50 miles, then the weekend after I did 60, then I hit my current route which is 78 miles. The aim is to get that route down to 4 hours 30 mins.

It is possible but you have to have the discipline to eat less and ride more. You have to set your goal times and work hard to reach them on the bike. It is doable.

ShutUpLegs

cougie wrote:

That's about 30 lbs ? I think they say 2lbs a week is a safe and sensible amount - so thats about 4 months you need to allow ?

Good luck with it !

^
This

Fat only gets one way into your body.

DavidJB

symo wrote:

Hi otherself.

OK lets give you my story; I was 88kg last November, currently I am just under 7kg, so it is possible. My diet has changed radically. However it is the exercise that is important.

Thanks some weight loss :twisted:

symo

DavidJB wrote:

symo wrote:

Hi otherself.

OK lets give you my story; I was 88kg last November, currently I am just under 7kg, so it is possible. My diet has changed radically. However it is the exercise that is important.

Thanks some weight loss :twisted:

Sussed out

I went from 88kgs in September 2008 to 70kgs in March 2009. It took a while to get going but once you get a glycogen debt your body will just munch the fat away. 500g a week is do-able. I have to compete at 70kg when I race (rowing) and find if I have a few days of low food/lots of veg my body clicks into weight loss mode and I can do up to a kg a week.
However this is doing 2 sessions a day of 60-90 mins rowing with weights 2-3 times a week. Just eat less and do some decent exercise, youll be surprised how it falls off once your body gets going.

styxd

Its not just about eating less, its about eating the right things. Good quality protein and the right carbohydrates. Unles you are exercising hard, cut out all the starchy carbs like potatoes, ride, bread, pasta and grains like cereals etc.

Eat plenty of lean meat, fruit, veg and pulses.

shedhead

Hi Styxd,

I cut starchy carbs like bread & have bvery limited spuds, however i still have rice & pasta, are these a complete no-no? if so what carbs do you recommend? as they are obviously needed for fuel.

Cheers

kevin69

i went from 88kg to 77kg in about 9 months.
I started commuting by bike (about 1hour per weekday) as well as riding at weekends.
For calories, i cut out beer (but still drink wine with meals).
For food, i didn't give up anything, but changed the proportions so that
most meals are now about half a plate of veg, and one quarter each of protein and carbs:
previously a would have had more carbs and less veg.

Now i can easily maintain this weight, and so allow myself an occasional beer too.

alex1rob

OK. So weight loss is simple maths. Calories in < Calories out.

If we say you are the standard male who requires 2500 calories per day (with no exercise) then if you eat 2500 calories any exercise you do will put you into a deficit. Obviously the more/faster you ride the more calories you burn and the more of a deficit you have.

100 calories burnt exercising daily = 1lb (0.4kg) loss per month. So 14 kg would take roughly 3 years to burn off.
300 calories burnt = 2.6 lb (1.2kg) loss per month. So 14 kg would take roughly 11 months to burn off.
500 calories a day = 2kg per month. So 14 kg would take 7 months.

Cycling at 10-12mph light = 450 calories per hour roughly.
Cycling at 14-16mph vigorous = 750 calories per hour.

It's important to remember that as you lose weight you begin to require less calories to sustain yourself (<2500), you will also burn less calories when exercising. So as you do lose weight you may have to reduce portion sizes further.

phil s

How on earth is cycling at 16mph vigorous?

alex1rob

I agree. But these figures are based upon a non cyclist. Those who ride in general sports clothes and on hybrids.

kevin69

16mph on a 8% gradient is vigorous

Alex_Simmons/RST

alex1rob wrote:

It's important to remember that as you lose weight you begin to require less calories to sustain yourself (<2500), you will also burn less calories when exercising. So as you do lose weight you may have to reduce portion sizes further.

Maybe, or you may need to eat more.

Base metabolic rate is more related to lean body mass rather than total body mass.

And if your weight loss is through an increase in exercise, then it is highly likely you will burn more through exercise, not less, because your improved fitness enables you to exercise more vigorously and for longer.

If you train enough, you may need to increase overall intake to ensure one is adequately fueled to exercise more/harder.

But overall, a steady sustainable negative calorie balance is what's required to reduce excess adipose tissue.

keef66

phil s wrote:

How on earth is cycling at 16mph vigorous?

Well I seem to have to pedal extremely vigorously to achieve an average of 16mph. Last night I was out for less than an hour, did just under 20 miles, and I was drenched in sweat and my thighs were burning. Bloody computer said I'd averaged 15.3 mph!

James H-S

How long will it take for me to lose 14kg of fat? My goal is around 74kg, 33" inch waist with 12% bodyfat or thereabouts.

Im sorry but at 74kg and 5"10 your body fat will not be 12%, it will be more like 20% imo

alex1rob

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

alex1rob wrote:

It's important to remember that as you lose weight you begin to require less calories to sustain yourself (<2500), you will also burn less calories when exercising. So as you do lose weight you may have to reduce portion sizes further.

Maybe, or you may need to eat more.

Base metabolic rate is more related to lean body mass rather than total body mass.

And if your weight loss is through an increase in exercise, then it is highly likely you will burn more through exercise, not less, because your improved fitness enables you to exercise more vigorously and for longer.

If you train enough, you may need to increase overall intake to ensure one is adequately fueled to exercise more/harder.

But overall, a steady sustainable negative calorie balance is what's required to reduce excess adipose tissue.

It's pretty unlikely that muscle mass will be increased to a significant extent from medium distance cycling, while you may put on some muscle I doubt it would require you to eat more than pre weight loss for your basal requirement. Although yes you would need to ensure you are not starving yourself of protein and energy required for exercise. I guess it depends on the ops goal. If you want to become a faster cyclist then you will have to eat relatively lots while weight loss you would be better off not eating more.

That being said, your metabolism remains increased after exercise while your body repairs and recuperates so I suppose that could require you to eat more comparatively to before you exercised to maintain the same calorie deficit.

alex1rob

James H-S wrote:

How long will it take for me to lose 14kg of fat? My goal is around 74kg, 33" inch waist with 12% bodyfat or thereabouts.

Im sorry but at 74kg and 5"10 your body fat will not be 12%, it will be more like 20% imo

This is wrong.

It is impossible to question his body fat percentage without seeing him. I am 5"11ish and 72kgs 32W and on a recent body calliper assessment I came out to be 6-7% body fat. It depends entirely on frame size, muscle mass etc.

Murr X

alex1rob wrote:

James H-S wrote:

How long will it take for me to lose 14kg of fat? My goal is around 74kg, 33" inch waist with 12% bodyfat or thereabouts.

Im sorry but at 74kg and 5"10 your body fat will not be 12%, it will be more like 20% imo

This is wrong.

It is impossible to question his body fat percentage without seeing him. I am 5"11ish and 72kgs 32W and on a recent body calliper assessment I came out to be 6-7% body fat. It depends entirely on frame size, muscle mass etc.

Hi Alex,

There is often confusion with regard to body fat levels and measuring them accurately. The only commonly used sure way to measure body fat is the DEXA scan (Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry sometimes called DXA). Most other methods tend to underestimate often greatly.

It is very common for people to believe that their body fat levels are significantly lower than they really are with many often claiming to have body fat levels lower than 8 percent which in reality is quite rare and quite shocking for many to see visually. A funny story was a few years back when a friend (who was a cat 1 road rider) worked on getting himself very lean for some time eating very little, it was doable, worked well and his performance improved even though he would have already been considered "thin". Anyway he (but not I) was very surprised to find out that his body fat measured just over 9.5%! This reading from someone who looked very lean even for a cyclist.

In males 12% body fat does not by any means look "fat" even for most athletes and at this level you may well find others saying that you are too thin and trying to put food in your mouth at every opportunity! I have experienced this behavior from others close to me and so have many I have known and whether it's from jealousy or genuine concern for health is debatable.

Without getting into the details in any level I do believe that males overall function better with a lower bodyfat perhaps 12% or below both for optimal health and athletic reasons, but a no longer necessary yet very strong human behavior deep within us tends to dictate that more food shall go into the mouth than is required...


Murr X

alex1rob

Thanks for this post MurrX. I enjoyed reading it and it's good to hear different sides of the stody. Do you have any information I could read contrasting the DXA scan with manual measurements of body fat? I'm curious as to why there is such a big difference between the two and why the other measurements have not been adjusted to reflect the underestimation. Or is it simply a case by case basis with some individuals carrying fat in different places and hence a calliper measurement will never be accurate?

Does a DXA scan pick up intra-abdominal fat, visceral/omental?

Alex_Simmons/RST

I once had a door to door salesman try to sell me his electronic bathroom scales, and after he ascertained I was an "athlete", he zeroed straight in on the benefits of the body fat % measurement feature of his scales.

"So, how would that work for me?" I asked, while pointing out my prosthetic leg.

"You just stand on the scales and it'll tell you your body fat %" he replied.

"hmmm, I don't think you know your product too well. No thanks."

To be fair, the scales were actually quite good quality and would wirelessly auto update an Ipad application if you were so inclined.

Also note that such body fat% measurement by these scales is unreliable and affected by many things.

dw300

1lb fat = 3500 calories, so 14kg = 107,800 calories.

If you train and burn 500 calories per day and eat 500 calories below your maintenance level, then you'll need 108 days to loose that weight. If you just do it through training then 216 days. And aim for about 7 - 8 lbs below your target so that when you go back to eating maintenance you level out at your target (Muscle glycogen / water levels etc returning to normal).

Remember that eating below maintenance you'll not be in great shape as far as high intensity performance goes.

What i do is eat at maintenance + 1/3 of training calories burned during low intensity training, or add 2/3 of training calories burned to replenish the energy burned from high intensity training. This accounts for energy that came from muscle glycogen in order to keep it topped up so you can still retain your performance. This ensures that your only deficit equal to that of the energy burned that came from bodyfat.

It's a rough guide but works reasonably well.

Southgate

First off, I would re-audit my calorie intake as it's very easy to underestimate, particularly with drinks. 2100 sounds a bit low for your current weight, unless you're very sedentary. Secondly, I would look at what you eat and drink - cut down on the carbs (especially sugary carbs) and increase the protein content of your diet. Cut out or drastically reduce alcohol intake. Eat your '5 a day', but make it 1 x fruit, and 4 x green veg (spinach, broccoli etc). Eat a high protein breakfast (eggs are great), and if you can, eat 5 or 6 small meals a day, rather than 3 big ones.

Thirdly, do a mixture of resistance training (weights) and cardio (cycling, running, swimming etc). As you get fitter, integrate some interval training into your cardio workouts, and then some HIIT (high intensity interval training). This will encourage your body to burn more fat whilst maintaining muscle mass.

Good luck!

CyclingObsession

I went from nerly 100kg down to 66.5kg it is possible, do not lose weight quickly I know it's tempting, I suffer from lose skin as a result so Max 2lbs a week, Try by riding on a heavy bike if you have one helps to burn more calories, you will need a deflect of 3500 calories per week through food and exercise, Try by not using butter on toast if you are using jam, dont drink soft drinks, try cordials ie MiWadi, avoid packaged dinners as full of sugars, cook everything yourself, buy the healthy frying spray instead of olive oil, switch from high fat milk to low fat, buy smaller dinner plates and bowls to help with portion control. The hardest thing will be keeping your energy cycling on less food intake, drink lots of water more than normal. It will take you 15weeks to acheive your goal in theory. It is all about eliminating pointless calories. If you are low energy working out make your own isotonic drinks, cordial dash of salt and water. Your going to have to cut out the drink as it basically adds fat, I used to be a heavy drinker on nights out 4-6 pints plus mixes etch, I now drink once in a blue moon. If u want the lower Body fat it's worth it, ive gone from 25% down to 6-7% so it is possible keep your hopes up and never lose faith. Best of luck 8)

keef66

"I went from nerly 100kg down to 66.5kg"

Bloody good effort there; inspirational!

CyclingObsession

It's completely doable for anyone start small and keep building . Former coach Potatoe managed to find the only sport that you sit down in