Quick exercise and weight loss question

[farmerisme]

Started on an exercise bike about 3 weeks ago with the general plan of losing a little bit of weight. Had a pretty sedentary lifestyle previous with admittedly poor diet as well. Currently 215, want to be 190 eventually. I used to bike a whole ton so still have fairly stong biking legs, but been pushing it fairly hard, going about 25 miles 4 days a week, 35 miles 2 days a week, with one day off. Usually stints of 1.5-2 hrs at a good pulse rate. Fairly hard resistances too (read: I am usually beat when done for the day).

 

My question for those that have started exercising to lose weight at some point (specifically those who kinda started out of nowhere).

 

Feels like I must be burning tons of calories, I feel like the gut almost seems to be shrinkin a bit (from what I can tell), but the scale shows absolutely no weight loss, even a slight gain! What the heck? I wasn't expecting instant results and did not improve my diet all that much (and it isnt THAT bad) but this seems like a gyp to me.

 

I was under the impression that aerobic stuff was good for loss, anyone run into this experience before? Any other stuff I should try and throw into a workout that might be better? Any stories of the pounds coming off after a longer stretch of an exercise plan?

[farmerisme]

Oh and FYI, not a fan of running or lifting if I can help it.

[mohawk]

couple quick thoughts on why you might not be seeing the results as much as you want:

 

-whenever I take some time off from daily exercise and start back up, my appetite jumps through the roof.. usually takes a couple weeks to find an even keel. Are you eating more then before? How's the diet? It sounds like you are crushing it on the bike. Are there some slight changes to your diet you can make that won't have a big affect on your likes/dislikes?. Even if you just tailor your diet around the exercises, it should help.. in no way endorsing the elimination of beer and wings while wathing your vikes get pounded.

 

-try some interval workouts.. bike hard for a mile / 5 minutes / 10 minutes.. then bring it back down and rest, then push it back up.. try throwing in a couple interval workouts a week as opposed to a steady pace for 35 miles. consistent increased heartrate is great for your heart.. getting a couple sprint / interval workouts in will really help you shed fat.

 

-give it more time

Edited October 15, 2008 by mohawk

[mohawk]

something I forgot to add..

 

muscel weighs more then fat.. if you're riding that much, you are def building muscle while shedding the same if not more fat.. the number on the scale doesn't mean anything.. keep up what you're doing.

[farmerisme]

Well I have always had a pretty crappy diet, though I don't really eat that much. I have not really been keeping track but the way I figure it I am eating about the same amount of food as I did before I started the plan... only minor change is I am trying to eat breakfast, a bigger lunch than normal, and a lighter supper. I am not really dieting at all though, want to avoid it if I can lol.

 

The bike I use has 12 different riding programs built in that range and vary the resistances... I try to keep a constant 18-20 mph through the distances, it does give a reasonable interval workout I think.

 

I never thought about the muscle thing keeping up with the fat loss. I am pretty sure that I am losing fat cuz the vikings beer belly is trimmer. Perhaps it evens out pretty well, I suppose like you say if it looks good who cares what number the scale says.

 

It was freaking me out a bit, because by my estimates on pulse rates and my body size I was burning an extra 4000-6000 calories per week and not losing lbs. I am certainly not eating 5000 calories of food per week. I want to be back in biking shape so I can start doing trail and road events in the summers so I will keep going at it, it has only been 3 weeks.

 

A dude at work said to throw some resistance exercise into the plan, but I don't want to lift (no gym, no interest in buying equipment). Anyone know of any reasonable resistance exercises that don't require much of any stuff? Is that just like crunches and pushups?

[Fairweather]

It was freaking me out a bit, because by my estimates on pulse rates and my body size I was burning an extra 4000-6000 calories per week and not losing lbs. I am certainly not eating 5000 calories of food per week. I want to be back in biking shape so I can start doing trail and road events in the summers so I will keep going at it, it has only been 3 weeks.

 

ur not eating over 5000 calories a week? i hope thats typed wrong, a normal guy of ur size should be eating a MIN of 1500 a day.. although not 1500 crap calories like when u hear a guy at the gym talking about how he ate a box of cookies the other day cause hes trying to gain weight.. makes my head wanna explode. especially with the amount of physical exercise ur doing in my opinion i'd say u should be eating more (healthy food more) throughout the day, u dont want ur metabolizm slowing cause ur not eating enough.. thats just my opinion tho.

 

and ya the wieght gain would be from the jacked quads ur gonna have at the pace ur goin, but man STAY AWAY from the scale, it is ur worst enemy, all it does is make any progress ur making seem non existent and that = ppl quitting their programs, i cant remember the exact conversion but its like for every 2kgs of muscle u put on u lose 1kg of fat or somethin along those lines

 

and i know u said u hated running but nothing is a better aerobic workout as its a whole body motion, even if its just like once or twice a week it'll do some good, it'll also work the muscle areas not quite hit when ur biking

[farmerisme]

ya ROFL that is typed wrong. Meant to say that I am definitely not eating 5000 MORE calories per week as I was before. Meaning the extra cals I'm burning are way way more than any extra food from extra hunger. Never counted cals but Im sure I eat in the area of 2000 a day.

 

I don't run because my knees can't take it, I played catcher thru HS and now I have old man knees when I run. Hobble for days afterwards. Biking doesn't even seem to make em sore. I can't afford any elliptical stuff as well. Not to worried about arms and chest and back, never had probs there.

 

I guess mostly just trying to get the legs back in shape and trim the fat. But the lazy way, lol. I don't like diets and biking is about the only exercise I actually enjoy. I'm going to give it a few more weeks and can the damn scale. Maybe quit smoking too. Maybe.

[Fairweather]

lol well if u enjoy it all the more power to ya my friend!

[Squinty]

something I forgot to add..

 

muscel weighs more then fat.. if you're riding that much, you are def building muscle while shedding the same if not more fat.. the number on the scale doesn't mean anything.. keep up what you're doing.

 

Like mohawk says, scales don't mean anything. I'm 5lbs heavier than last month, yet lost an inch on my waist, and put on 1/4-1/2 inch on each arm, 1 inch on my chest. You said that you were on a pretty high resistance for it? then yes, you're building muscle volume in your legs, while cutting fat, so that would explain the lack of weightloss. Worrying about the scale will drive you crazy, isntead try concentraiting on how you feel (as ridiculous as that may sound).

 

 

as for resistance exercise, basic push ups are way underrated. diff variations are always good to do to stress diff parts of the arm. before a standard workout, I'll do a 3x 3x 3x set. Start with hands slightly wider than shoulderwidth, hands aimed inward about 45-ish degree angle, and do 3, then standard pushups, do 3, and then narrow stance do 3, and perform these 3 in one set. Do like 5 to 6 sets 3-5 days a week, and eventually work your way up. Instead of standard crunches, try reverse crunches (incase you don't know what it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V07I8i0uBBI). they help a lot more with lower abs and will help with the "beer gut". for a back exercise, invest in resistance bands (around 10$). they won't feel like a lot of weight, but they are extremely underrated. Sit on the floor, both feet in front of you, and put the middle of the rubberband at your feet. take your arms and pull outward and back (I dunno how to explain it clearly, so if you're confused say something) so your arms are stretched out completely to your sides... (do about 3 sets of 20, depending on resistance of the bands) as long as you continue biking, and do these 3 easy things (while maintaining the diet you have) you should be able to see results without having to have expensive weight sets, or joining a gym.

 

 

 

Squinty >.<

[Fairweather]

for a back exercise, invest in resistance bands (around 10$). they won't feel like a lot of weight, but they are extremely underrated. Sit on the floor, both feet in front of you, and put the middle of the rubberband at your feet. take your arms and pull outward and back (I dunno how to explain it clearly, so if you're confused say something) so your arms are stretched out completely to your sides... (do about 3 sets of 20, depending on resistance of the bands) as long as you continue biking, and do these 3 easy things (while maintaining the diet you have) you should be able to see results without having to have expensive weight sets, or joining a gym.

 

 

 

Squinty >.<

 

squinty maka good suggestion, doing lots of abdominal work without working the antagonist muscles will result in hypertrophy of ur ab muscles = bad back from ur stronger abs pulling ur thoracic cavity to ur pelvis and ur weaker back muscles trying to keep ur spine extended

[Squinty]

squinty maka good suggestion

 

 

lolz what?

 

 

 

Squinty >.<

[Unclean]

squinty maka good suggestion

 

 

lolz what?

 

 

 

Squinty >.<

Sounds like SOMEBODY doesn't know Italian.

[Squinty]

Ha, I suppose not =\

 

 

Squinty >.<

[farmerisme]

Thanks for the advice guys, it was always easy in the past to get back in shape, guess I am getting old.

[Fairweather]

Thanks for the advice guys, it was always easy in the past to get back in shape, guess I am getting old.

 

ur only as old as u feel! and hopefully thats a little higher than me.. as i have the maturity of a 7 year old

 

 

... what u guys dont like my italian? .. jerks lol