How to lose that last bit of weight?

dave milne
dave milne Posts: 703
My current weight (10st 3lbs) isn't far off my optimal but I can definitely lose a few more pounds safely as I still have excess fat round my chin and in the "love handle" area. I'd certainly like to lose this last bit before I do the Marmotte in 12 weeks time.

Any ideas on how to do this safely without losing muscle mass? Is it as simple as just cutting down on my carbs for my regular (not before training) meals.
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Comments

  • Infamous
    Infamous Posts: 1,130
    ride 300 miles a week for 12 weeks.
  • Get a fat friend to get you a month's supply of Orlistat over the counter at a Chemist.

    Be sure to let us know how that goes.
  • Stokie
    Stokie Posts: 80
    The easiest or hardest way depending on how you look at loosing weight is in the kitchen, your diet needs to be spot on eat 6 small meals a day and train hard then the weight comes off.
  • Bhima
    Bhima Posts: 2,145
    Eat less fat!

    Just like carbohydrates, protein, etc, I know that the "average person" needs to eat a certain amount of fat per day. As a cyclist, carbohydrate/protein/vitamin/etc requirements obviously rise, but i'm unsure about if the fat needed by the body also does... Can anyone shed some light on this?
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    10 stone 3!!?? :shock:

    Are you 5 feet tall?
  • Blimey - I'm 5'3" and I'm not 10st 3lb! I wish...

    Mind you, it is all muscle - except for the bit that isn't... :lol:
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  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    Pokerface wrote:
    10 stone 3!!?? :shock:

    Are you 5 feet tall?

    You took the words out of my mouth.Either that or he`s a stick insect.
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • JonEdwards
    JonEdwards Posts: 452
    Well I'm 5' 10" and 10stone dead, but my scales claim that about 18% of that is fat. I figure if I really wanted to I could ditch a stone of fat to get down to the 10% mark. I like my food too much though... No stick insect either. I'm slim, but far from anorexic.
  • Aggieboy
    Aggieboy Posts: 3,996
    dave milne wrote:
    My current weight (10st 3lbs) isn't far off my optimal but I can definitely lose a few more pounds safely as I still have excess fat round my chin and in the "love handle" area. I'd certainly like to lose this last bit before I do the Marmotte in 12 weeks time.

    Any ideas on how to do this safely without losing muscle mass? Is it as simple as just cutting down on my carbs for my regular (not before training) meals.

    Try swimming regularly as well as cycling. You'll soon see those love handles disappear.
    "There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t'would be a pity to damage yours."
  • alp777
    alp777 Posts: 211
    JonEdwards wrote:
    Well I'm 5' 10" and 10stone dead, but my scales claim that about 18% of that is fat. I figure if I really wanted to I could ditch a stone of fat to get down to the 10% mark. I like my food too much though... No stick insect either. I'm slim, but far from anorexic.

    Do you have any muscles? :wink:
  • nasahapley
    nasahapley Posts: 717
    JonEdwards wrote:
    Well I'm 5' 10" and 10stone dead, but my scales claim that about 18% of that is fat. I figure if I really wanted to I could ditch a stone of fat to get down to the 10% mark. I like my food too much though... No stick insect either. I'm slim, but far from anorexic.

    Could it be that your scales are inaccurate then? I mean, you're BMI is right at the bottom end of the 'normal' range, I assume you do a reasonable amount of exercise, and yet you still have 18% body fat? Trying to lose 10% of your body weight on that basis sounds a bit dodgy to me, but then for all I know you may have a very slight build.
  • Infamous
    Infamous Posts: 1,130
    yes, quote the BMI, that'll help :roll:

    I would suggest starting a weights program, but that won't help you with the marmotte, the only thing that will help there is riding your bike a lot.
  • agnello
    agnello Posts: 239
    bit of power in the shoulders and upper back always helps up the big mountains I think. probably more of a winter/spring exercise than last minute training.

    i'm doing the marmotte too. did the white hoss challenge and struggled a bit. still need to be fit in july not april!
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  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    JonEdwards wrote:
    Well I'm 5' 10" and 10stone dead, but my scales claim that about 18% of that is fat. I figure if I really wanted to I could ditch a stone of fat to get down to the 10% mark. I like my food too much though... No stick insect either. I'm slim, but far from anorexic.

    Alberto Contador is 5'10" and weighs 10 stone. And he IS stick thin.

    If you think you have 18% body fat AND that you could lose another stone - you either have broken scales or no muscle. At all.
  • zammmmo
    zammmmo Posts: 315
    edited April 2009
    Be careful mate - I know everyone is different but I am 5'11" and at one stage was down to around 141 lbs and it was counter-productive - and I definitely did not have love-handles at that weight - my stomach was flat. You probably don't think you are THAT skinny at the time, like I did, but you may be going worse for it. Don't get sucked into the pro mentality - I don't know anything about you - but you almost certainly don't have the same level of support monitoring you physiologically. How do you even know where optimal is for you? Are you just going by fat level? I think losing fat without muscle at that level is going to be very hard. I got my best results when I was more like 151 lbs and was doing 150-220 miles a week, week-in week-out.

    I'm 160 lbs (around 14% fat) now and am 37 i.e. fat(ter) and old...so take the above with a pinch of salt if you want. :lol:
  • volvicspar
    volvicspar Posts: 208
    well I'm 5'7 and only weigh 7 1/2 stone so there :twisted:
  • zammmmo
    zammmmo Posts: 315
    Have you had one of your legs cut off?
  • volvicspar
    volvicspar Posts: 208
    Let me check... no, just really skinny :?
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    Pokerface wrote:
    10 stone 3!!?? :shock:

    Are you 5 feet tall?

    nope i'm 5' 11'', very slim build and arms like bits of spaghetti
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    dave milne wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    10 stone 3!!?? :shock:

    Are you 5 feet tall?

    nope i'm 5' 11'', very slim build and arms like bits of spaghetti


    That's insane. I'm 5'11" and weigh 14 stone!

    Granted I'm overweight for a cyclist - but a good weight for a human being.

    I know you asked in a friendly way about losing a few more pounds - but you are dangerously underweight for your height - spaghetti arms or not.
  • alp777
    alp777 Posts: 211
    That's insane. I'm 5'11" and weigh 14 stone!

    Granted I'm overweight for a cyclist - but a good weight for a human being.

    Now i would say you are overweight :)
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    alp777 wrote:
    That's insane. I'm 5'11" and weigh 14 stone!

    Granted I'm overweight for a cyclist - but a good weight for a human being.

    Now i would say you are overweight :)


    I'd agree - except for the arms like tree trunks. :mrgreen:
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    Pokerface wrote:
    dave milne wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    10 stone 3!!?? :shock:

    Are you 5 feet tall?

    nope i'm 5' 11'', very slim build and arms like bits of spaghetti


    That's insane. I'm 5'11" and weigh 14 stone!

    Granted I'm overweight for a cyclist - but a good weight for a human being.

    I know you asked in a friendly way about losing a few more pounds - but you are dangerously underweight for your height - spaghetti arms or not.

    I am not dangerously underweight. I just have a very slim build. I went for a sportstest in December and I weighed about 10st 7lbs then and I had body fat of 11.8%, seeing as I can get down to 6-8% I don't see this as an issue. If was too underweight I wouldn't have love handles
  • richa
    richa Posts: 1,631
    Pokerface wrote:
    I know you asked in a friendly way about losing a few more pounds - but you are dangerously underweight for your height - spaghetti arms or not.
    Might be worth having a proper fat% test done. If 18% is correct then there should be room to lose some more.

    Doubt it'll be easy though. Keeping fat% is going to be essential. If you are training hard - which i expect you are in the build up to marmotte - then I would suggest increase protein. Read somewhere recently that hi-protein/lo-carb leads to v.slightly more weightloss than hi-carb/lo-protein, but more importantly the hi-protein option lead to less muscle loss.

    Ultimately it'll come down to hard training and focus on the diet.
    Rich
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    To each their own I guess.

    Love handles or loose skin!? I've seen lots of underweight people with fat deposits in really odd places!

    To state that you are dangerously underweight was wrong of me to say. I have no basis for this whatsoever. You are, however, on the lower end of what is considered to be a healthy weight for your height. But that isn't taking into consideration muscle mass.

    I assume you have some decent leg muscles that will compensate for your lack of upper body muscle.

    Without preaching, I'm guessing you really DON't need to lose any weight. But to shed more weight - it's a simple formula: less calories in, more calories out.

    You've managed to drop some weight since you took that sportstest - keep doing what you're doing and the last few pounds will come off.
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    the hi protein-carbs thing sounds like a good idea, I am trying to follow that at the moment, so see how that goes for a few more weeks. Ok I don't need to lose any weight but the easier I can make it for myself...

    cheers guys
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    dave milne wrote:
    the hi protein-carbs thing sounds like a good idea, I am trying to follow that at the moment, so see how that goes for a few more weeks. Ok I don't need to lose any weight but the easier I can make it for myself...

    cheers guys



    I dropped 6 stone on a low-carb/high protein diet. The downside was that with so few carbs in my diet, I lacked the endurance needed for long cycling efforts. I was good for a few hours a day though and it only lasted for 3 months.
  • shakey88
    shakey88 Posts: 289
    I am not dangerously underweight. I just have a very slim build. I went for a sportstest in December and I weighed about 10st 7lbs then and I had body fat of 11.8%, seeing as I can get down to 6-8% I don't see this as an issue. If was too underweight I wouldn't have love handles[/quote]

    Are you familiar with a condition called Anorexia Nervosa Dave?
    It's when you look in the mirror and think you have love handles when in fact you're stick thin :wink:
  • bobtbuilder
    bobtbuilder Posts: 1,537
    I dropped 6 stone on a low-carb/high protein diet. The downside was that with so few carbs in my diet, I lacked the endurance needed for long cycling efforts.

    I have tried the low carb / high protein diet for weight loss and also found my ability to ride more than 3hrs severely impacted.

    Is there a way to beat this, or are the two irreconcilable?
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    I dropped 6 stone on a low-carb/high protein diet. The downside was that with so few carbs in my diet, I lacked the endurance needed for long cycling efforts.

    I have tried the low carb / high protein diet for weight loss and also found my ability to ride more than 3hrs severely impacted.

    Is there a way to beat this, or are the two irreconcilable?

    Supplements can help. Not the best for your body. I believe that your body relies greatly on carbs for energy - and when you starve the body of carbs - it turns to burning fat. Thus the rapid weight loss on a low carb diet - especially when you are burning lots of energy.

    I have used various supplements to give me artificial energy for long term cycling efforts. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone though. Hopefully someone else has some bright ideas on how to keep energy levels high without carbs...