Struggling to lose the weight

User2024

So I've recently picked up cycling since around Feb/April, I'm in early 20's and work with computers so basically sit down 24/7.

I weighted 100KG around 2 years ago but during university gradually dropped to 84KG, since then it has been up down (staying within 80KG) I am now 89KG, although I did loose 4KG in Ramadan, but put it straight back on! I'm quite active and have changed my life style, I did have a strong routine of going to gym in morning for 90 minutes with a mix of cardio and strength pretty much 5 days a week, since cycling and holidays that has stopped not completely, but routine is not there.

I haven't cycled since I was young so it was quite hard but it has improved over the last two months, I can now probably cycle 11-12 miles in an hour (It's all country side here, so up hill STEEP CLIMBS), which has got me going and improved my leg strength, BUT

My weight won't move, I eat way too much junk and we Asian's tend to have a lot of oily food (curries etc). I won't my weight to be around 65KG it should be around there I'm 5.9"

Any tips on balance diet? I feel hungry a lot, work can get boring and that's when hunger kicks in.

cooldad

Eat less, eat better, and exercise.

But you already know that. The rest is just excuses.

Cycling is not good for losing weight. A bit of weights, and running helps.

mamil314

Not sure what your target weight of 65kg is based on, but if you are overweight by 25kg while being physically active, you need to put down that spoon. It will take willpower. Use MyFitnessPal.

kajjal

Losing weight mainly comes from diet. Exercise helps but cannot compensate for a poor diet.

If you mainly avoid junk food , heavily processed food, sugary drinks / snacks your weight should drop consistently. Outside of that eat as much as you want and don’t go hungry as it means you have less energy and will be prone to binge eating.

User2024

cooldad wrote:

Cycling is not good for losing weight..

And where have you got this info from?

cooldad

Bicycles are a very efficient mode of transport. If you want to burn calories there are better ways to do it.

jgsi

cooldad wrote:

Bicycles are a very efficient mode of transport. If you want to burn calories there are better ways to do it.

So true... but trying convince people... I'd give up

milemuncher1

Cut out too much of anything that’s calorie dense ( lots of calories, without a lot of substance ), and avoid sitting down for extended periods. Sitting is just about the worst thing you can possibly do, it encourages the body to produce certain things that encourage calorie retention, and inhibit energy consumption. Also, try to be mindful of when you eat, as well as what you eat. You need to eat the right things regularly, if you’re riding / active. Be mindful of what you eat, in the periods that you’re not riding / active. You didn’t say how tall you are, but unless you are 5 ft nothing, your weight isn’t far off where it needs to be, to be healthy / no problem. If you want to drop to ‘pro rider’ BMI levels, you will have to be a bit more extreme with your calorie intake vs exertion levels. For example, many many years ago, I used to mainly play Rugby, and do Judo / JuJutsu / Karate, with some cycling, to maintain Cardio fitness. I was deliberately a big guy, ( 110Kgs at about 5ft 10). When I stopped with the rufty tufty stuff, and went to cycling as my only real physical activity thing, I dropped to 65 Kgs, at one point, I got to 75Kgs, by dropping ( the relatively huge) portion sizes, but maintaining the nutritional ratios. The last 10 Kgs were very difficult to shift ( because that weight was not a natural weight for my frame size ). I had to go onto a 600Kcal a day regime, for about a month, and it wasn’t fun. I found out that if you come off, and you have no natural ‘padding’ to speak of, it really hurts, so I put about 10Kgs back on. I don’t need to be a ‘snake’ I don’t race / compete, and maintaining 75 Kgs is a lot easier than trying to maintain 65Kgs. In short, if you don’t need to lose the weight, your body will make it relatively difficult to do so.

cougie

You can always out eat whatever exercise you do.

Sort out the diet first. Restrict the oily curries to the week end ?

Do the 5-2 ?

It's just up to you.

milemuncher1

Try and avoid 5-2 or any other ‘alternate day fasting’. It plays havoc with certain hormone / biological enzyme levels / concentrations, and unless you’re trying to shift weight for a specific reason, it’s not a particularly clever idea. Especially if you’re doing an increased level of physical activity than is ‘normal’ for you.

User2024

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Cut out too much of anything that’s calorie dense ( lots of calories, without a lot of substance ), and avoid sitting down for extended periods. Sitting is just about the worst thing you can possibly do, it encourages the body to produce certain things that encourage calorie retention, and inhibit energy consumption. Also, try to be mindful of when you eat, as well as what you eat. You need to eat the right things regularly, if you’re riding / active. Be mindful of what you eat, in the periods that you’re not riding / active. You didn’t say how tall you are, but unless you are 5 ft nothing, your weight isn’t far off where it needs to be, to be healthy / no problem. If you want to drop to ‘pro rider’ BMI levels, you will have to be a bit more extreme with your calorie intake vs exertion levels. For example, many many years ago, I used to mainly play Rugby, and do Judo / JuJutsu / Karate, with some cycling, to maintain Cardio fitness. I was deliberately a big guy, ( 110Kgs at about 5ft 10). When I stopped with the rufty tufty stuff, and went to cycling as my only real physical activity thing, I dropped to 65 Kgs, at one point, I got to 75Kgs, by dropping ( the relatively huge) portion sizes, but maintaining the nutritional ratios. The last 10 Kgs were very difficult to shift ( because that weight was not a natural weight for my frame size ). I had to go onto a 600Kcal a day regime, for about a month, and it wasn’t fun. I found out that if you come off, and you have no natural ‘padding’ to speak of, it really hurts, so I put about 10Kgs back on. I don’t need to be a ‘snake’ I don’t race / compete, and maintaining 75 Kgs is a lot easier than trying to maintain 65Kgs. In short, if you don’t need to lose the weight, your body will make it relatively difficult to do so.

I'm 5ft 9" as mentioned in first post. Weekdays I'll sit down 7 hours on PC (1 hour lunch) as I have an office based job, so that does make it difficult. I have made a diet plan and will see how I get on for next two weeks, I do some volunteering on the weekend which is quite active as we can be walking around quite a lot, especially on big events, but thanks for advice, I'll cut calories back and see how it goes for next 2 months.

billycool

Helpful guide telling you what you've already been told, but it helps reinforce the point.

https://www.self.com/story/10-insanely- ... eight-loss

Stuart46

Fasted cardio.
Skip breakfast and go for an early ride, your body will be low on blood glucose so it will have to burn fat for energy.
Fat does not make you fat, the curries are fine except for the rice, although rice is better than flour (bread), its carbohydrates that make you put on weight.
Carbohydrates are converted into blood glucose, any excess glucose is converted into body fat, some carbs are worse than others (glycemic index) those that also contain fiber will slow down the conversion and eliminate glucose spikes

Ilinor

There are other forms of cardio that you can do for free, exercise bikes are more for gyms, if you had a bike and just bought a turbo trainer i could understand.

Low carbs and high protein like mentioned earlier. Also if you are serious about losing weight then do it properly, dont starve yourself and eat the right type of food (im sure theres a sticky on this). Aim for 2 pounds a week, it takes a few weeks to see results.

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imafatman

Losing weight is a simple lifestyle choice of having control over your eating.

My mum is Indian and I know from experience that in most family meal times there's an over abundance of food and it's quite easy to polish off two big plates of home cooked curry and before you know it you are probably 1500 calories down.

You have to train yourself somehow to simply eat less. It's difficult but there are lots of strategies to doing this.

High intensity interval sessions reduce hunger. Protein dense food will also control your hunger. Eating smaller meals more often is a way to get used to eating smaller meals whilst not depriving yourself. I eat like 5-6 smaller meals through the day. I'm so used to it that I struggle to eat a "normal" sized portion which helps me stop shovelling the food in.

I aim for 500 calorie deficit each day because that's very comfortable without feeling like I'm starving myself.

I do a lot of calories on the bike, average session is maybe 1000 calories, 4-5 times a week. So I make sure to eat enough to keep going.

simono5

Battled with weight all my life. Mid 40's, work in IT, sit down a lot and just got from about 108 to 98kg.

Eating the wrong food, portion size, alcohol all being my vices. Amount of exercise never a problem as I ride and run regularly.

This has worked wonders for me;
1. Portion size breakfast - 2 x weetabix and skimmed milk
2. Salads with fish or lean meat. Maybe roast veg and couscous for lunch.
3. Three pieces of fruit throughout the day
4. Healthy family meal in the evening.

I'm power walking now most lunchtimes as it's wasted at my desk. Also do stair walks rather than a power walk (six flights to walk up and down at work which I did five times today (30 flights). Plus running and riding as much as I can. Rest days tend to be a 4km power walk with the wife.

Avoiding alcohol (dry for six weeks now), chocolate, cheese, potatoes, bread, rice. I love a curry but managing to order off the tandoor and avoiding before mentioned and sauces :-).

Weight is flying off, almost too quickly. Lost almost 10kg in six weeks.

Committed until Christmas break and want to get to 92kg which is achievable......then to keep it off which I'm useless at!

Good luck!