Weight Loss

mr_eddy

Need some thoughts on this.

I have been trying lately to drop some weight but without losing muscle so for the last 2.5 weeks I have adhered to a very strict diet, namely having low fat foods, High protein and carbs only in the day. I have pretty much cut out all processed crap, the occasional treat after a big ride maybe a ice cream etc but 95% good stuff.

Despite all the above and counting calories never going over 1800 a day I cannot shift any weight, I am constantly hovering around 171lbs, I weight myself everyday in the morning before I have had anything to eat and before I get dressed and I also weight myself as soon as get to work again whilst undressed before putting on my uniform. So that's 2 different sets of scales and with no clothes weight.

Can't figure it out.

I am 5'10" and 30yo I want to hit sub 10% body Fat and be around 160lbs

Thoughts?

Thanks

mr_eddy

I have always rode to work (5 miles each way) but at least a few times a week I go the long way home which adds another 12 miles each time I do it I also hit the gym twice a week and work a second job as a very busy waiter so excercise is not the issue.

Must be something I eat, do people have a natural limit at which you cant really go below?

bikergirl17

it is 3500 calories per pound -- so assuming you need 2500 calories per day, you would have only shifted about 1-2 lbs tops in 2 weeks. if there is a lot of sodium in your diet, you may also be retaining water.

i personally believe it is the calories, not the type of food. only eat 4 snickers bar a day (c.1200 calories) and you would still drop weight.

phil s

I'd up the good fats. Nuts, decent oily fish.

bisoner

Always look at these threads hoping to read the 'easy' solution to all our weight problems!!! 8)

I seem to toil between the ongoing dilemma of reducing calories to lose weight or eat more intelligently but not necessarily in a calorie deficient manner. Of late, I have tended towards the latter.

I've cut out bread and tried to up the vegetable and fruit consumed (specifically bananas). I've also stopped snacking in the evenings - I find this really hard at times but I am trying. I'm 183cm (6 foot) and have dropped from around 75-76kg's to 72-73kg's (my scales are rubbish) over the past few weeks. I'll also throw in the fact I've been doing pressups for the past 3 weeks - 2-3 sets of 40-50 once or twice a day in an effort to reduce my upper body weediness.

Riding wise, due to a young family and a wife who dislikes me cycling, I tend to ride harder for say an hour rather than do the longer fat burning style rides. I prefer to go faster too!!!

Note, due to kidney stone issues I have to drink plenty of water so I do this as a matter of course anyway.

What am I saying? There is no easy answer!!!

t.m.h.n.e.t

Eat more and stop watching the scales.

styxd

Eat more

nferrar

Having regular off days is worth considering (like once a week), where you eat whatever you want as otherwise your metabolism will just naturally slow down to adapt to the reduced calorie intake, and off day will help you kick-start it again so although you'll take in more calorie that day over the course of the week you'll burn more naturally than the extra you took in.
You seem slightly obsessive about it but are you actually keeping a food diary and recording everything you eat? It's easy to not factor in the odd snack if you don't and in fact be eating a few hundred more calories a day than you realise.

Murr X

styxd wrote:

Eat more

He is being sarcastic I presume.

Threads like this come along frequently. A similar one is this from last week viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12855090&start=20
I have copied and pasted my last reply from that thread at the bottom of this post.

You may wish to assume that you are actually consuming more than what you may believe you are consuming most people trying to lose weight do fall into this category - even if it is difficult to convince them otherwise. Losing weight isn't rocket science but is highly dependent on willpower. It can be very motivating to see progress and if you (mr_eddy) wish to make public a log of weight loss on this forum then that would be great and you may find it makes things easier for you and lifts brings enthusiasm to a notoriously tedious though immensely rewarding task.


From last weeks thread below;
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

t.m.h.n.e.t

Murr X wrote:

styxd wrote:

Eat more

He is being sarcastic I presume.

Far from it. I wasn't being sarcastic either.

Murr X

T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:

Murr X wrote:

styxd wrote:

Eat more

He is being sarcastic I presume.

Far from it. I wasn't being sarcastic either.

I'm interested in your thoughts on why eating more (assuming more calories rather than a higher volume of lower calorie foods) will lead to weight loss. Unless you are suggesting to the OP is to stop watching weight as losing weight is not the right idea for him.

Murr X

rick_chasey

Indeed.

Want to lose weight? Put the fork down & cycle more.

If you're not shifting it, eat even less, and cycle more.

What I wouldn't recommend is getting too obsessed/concerned about weight. If you're healthy, it's all good in the hood.

t.m.h.n.e.t

Murr X wrote:

T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:

Murr X wrote:

styxd wrote:

Eat more

He is being sarcastic I presume.

Far from it. I wasn't being sarcastic either.

I'm interested in your thoughts on why eating more (assuming more calories rather than a higher volume of lower calorie foods) will lead to weight loss. Unless you are suggesting to the OP is to stop watching weight as losing weight is not the right idea for him.

Murr X

It's a basic principal of weight loss. The OP consumes 1800 a day but could burn in the region of 1000 cycling. That leaves 800 calories to power a human being through a days work or whatever else. It's a massive deficit and massive deficits only increase the bodies ability to store fat(commonly referred to as a term I hate "starvation mode" it's actually a response. Yep it's possible to lose weight in this way,but I can't put a figure on the chances of a rebound (fecking high though) Heavy calorie restriction simply isn't a sustainable way to lose weight.

The OP stated that he weighed himself every day which really won't show much progress other than daily variance which happens to everyone,a 500cal per day deficit isn't itself going to show on the scales. Every two or four weeks is much better in that regard as you can see progress.

To maintain current weight with 3-5 moderate exercise sessions a week would be roughly 2800cals per day before deficit is taken out. 2300-2500 would be somewhere in a sensible region to promote gradual,sustainable weight loss.



*Based on Harris Benedict forumula