How many calories?

[speccy1]

As a rough guide..........

I`m 88kg, 5ft 11in and would like to drop, quite a bit, in weight, as I`m sick to death of being "flabby".

My question is, what do I need to take in in calories to lose weight at a slow and steady pace? I`m riding, on average 150 miles per week, and it`s hilly. For the last two weeks I`ve been on 2000 cals/day, and with alll that riding have lost feck all, but am always hungry, so much so that it keeps me awake at night.

I can`t cut it down any more, so what the hell am I doing wrong?

I don`t get it.

Please don`t give me the "it`s muscle it weighs more than fat", that crap is wearing a bit thin now, I have too much wobble for it to be muscle

 

[vickster]

Try some gym work? Add walking into the exercise, and swimming for toning
Drink loads of water too if hungry, eat more protein and less carbs in the calories? Cut out sugar. And limit or cut out alcohol.
Don't rely on the exercise for weight loss, use it as an extra boost only and for fitness

Why not try slimming world, perhaps the structured eating plans and group support would help?

Maybe your body type simply is like that?
Or Try liposuction?

 

[Dayvo]

For reasons quite clear, I like to post this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epZjMuRRXLo


Build up slowly, 1-2 minutes until you learn the technique and coordination, then, once mastered, skip twice a day for 5+ minutes each time.

 

[ianrauk]

Do you keep a food diary? It's very easy to see where calories add up during the day. Beer can add a lot of calories too. Portion size can also be a problem.


Like you I am still on the little bit flabby side despite doing even more mileage per week. I put mine down to my complete and utter lack of will power when comes to food, how much I eat and what I eat. I'm just a gannet who loves to eat too much and too much of the wrong things. I keep telling myself to cut back and cut stuff out but it just never happens.

 

[Kajjal]

It partly depends on age. As you get older loosing weight gets harder. Also your body has a natural build it tends towards. If you don't eat enough your body will lack energy and strength making things harder. I would try first cutting out all processed and sugary foods. Aim for fresh produce, meat and fish. Drinking also piles on the pounds. Think eating quality food rather than quantity.

 

[Bollo]

Getting weight loss advice on any forum is a minefield but @ianrauk has probably nailed it.

Keep an honest food diary, and, in the beginning at least, weigh food out to get a sense of how a food's volume relates to its weight. After a short time you'll be able to do it well enough by sight. Online loggers like myfitnesspal can make this easier.

BUT don't obsess about it! Fretting about every gram is counterproductive. Food diaries are about changing your habits and understanding of your food; theyre not a goal in themselves. Definitely definitely avoid any of the forums/social aspects of the online loggers. Weight loss isn't a competition and there is a lot of garbage advice and worse.

When I bit the bullet a few years ago it was my eating habits that needed changing. It was a real eye opener to see how many calories I was consuming. I've never been one for the junk food, but portion size, snacking and a "fondness for wine" meant that I was rarely under 2500cals a day. Even with some decent rides mixed in, it was enough to keep me north of 100kg, which at 6ft was way too much. I logged my food intake and aimed for a net calorie intake of 1600-1800 a day. I won't pretend it was easy, but it taught me how to eat moderately. I'm now down to 78kg, which is ideal for my height and build. I don't bother with a food diary anymore because my eating habits are more sensible.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

2000 calories isn't very much considering your weekly mileage, so you will be losing/re-allocating weight.

I don't know how long you've been doing it for, but I experienced a recent halt in weight loss.

I've been riding a similar mileage to you for the last 14 months. I dropped from 18 stone down to 15 stone within the first 6 months, then the weight loss just stopped!

It was very annoying. I went through a 6 month period where I lost no weight at all. People were saying that I still looked like I was losing weight, but I knew I wasn't.

Then, a couple of months ago, the weight started to drop off again. I've lost another 1/2 stone in the last couple of months and from the places I really wanted to lose it from as well. My moobs have now reduced and I no longer look like 'The only gay in the village' when I put a cycling top on.

So. My message to you is to keep going, be patient, and you'll start to lose weight again.

Graham

To quote Douglas Adams.... Don't Panic!

 

[Travs]

Slow-digesting stuff might help with the hunger pangs; Greek yogurt or cottage cheese etc?

 

[PhilDawson8270]

For reasons quite clear, I like to post this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epZjMuRRXLo


Build up slowly, 1-2 minutes until you learn the technique and coordination, then, once mastered, skip twice a day for 5+ minutes each time.

Twice per day, once with a speed rope, once with a heavy rope.

Heavy rope is a really good shoulder workout too

 

[Nibor]

measure your self you will be turning fat into Muscle and muscle is denser than fat

 

[PhilDawson8270]

measure your self you will be turning fat into Muscle and muscle is denser than fat

Muscle is only built with a calorie surplus. Which is why the method is usually cut, then build with high protein, cut, build, cut, build. You can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, as one requires a defecit, and the other a surplus.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

measure your self you will be turning fat into Muscle and muscle is denser than fat

There is no physical mechanism for this to be possible.

 

[s7ephanie]

Have a look at www.myfitnesspal.com put i your details and it will give you amount of calories you need to eat to lose weight x

 

[vickster]

It'll give you a guesstimate based on the algorithms they use based on the limited info you provide. It's a useful diary for logging stuff though

 

[ColinJ]

I saw a TV show a few years back where several people were saying the same thing. They swore blind that they were on 1,000-1,500 cals/day but still couldn't lose weight. When the show's doctors monitored the participants' daily intake it turned out to be nearer to 3,000 cals/day ... It is very easy to forget/ignore stuff which actually contains a lot of energy.

Over a period of time it is a physical impossibility to use up more calories than you take in without the extra cals coming from burning up stored fat/muscle. (If you disagree with that statement, where exactly does the missing energy come from? )

A man 5' 11" tall weighing 88 kgs would probably need 2,000 cals/day to maintain his weight even without doing any cycling. Riding 150 hilly miles a week would burn thousands of extra calories, easily enough to lose a pound of weight.

If you really are not getting any lighter than either you are taking in more calories than you think you are, or you maintaining your weight by retaining fluid.

As for being hungry all the time ... Try eating things that are incredibly filling but don't contain many calories such as big bowls of salad (without calorie-dense dressings) and home-made vegetable soup (mainly water, low-cal veggies, don't add sugar or beans/lentils etc which DO contain quite a lot of cals). You can absolutely stuff yourself but still only take in a few hundred calories.