weight loss question

[uphillbothways]

I have been riding on and off for years, but not much in the last couple. I recently starting riding again in order to lose weight and found a great paved bike path that allows me to do up to 10 to 12 miles each way. Because of time constraints, I usually do about 6 miles and turn around on weekdays. I will likely do longer rides on the weekend. I'm doing these 12 mile rides in about 40 minutes. My question is does anyone have any insight to whether or not this is going to be enough to lose some weight? I am eating pretty healthy now. 2000-2200 cal/day I think.

Any weight loss tips would be helpful

 

[John M]

I have been riding on and off for years, but not much in the last couple. I recently starting riding again in order to lose weight and found a great paved bike path that allows me to do up to 10 to 12 miles each way. Because of time constraints, I usually do about 6 miles and turn around on weekdays. I will likely do longer rides on the weekend. I'm doing these 12 mile rides in about 40 minutes. My question is does anyone have any insight to whether or not this is going to be enough to lose some weight? I am eating pretty healthy now. 2000-2200 cal/day I think.

Any weight loss tips would be helpful

If you are doing 40 minutes of aerobic exercise a few times/week, that should be a solid basis for a weight loss program, provided that your caloric intake is controlled. One key is to make sure that your exercise is indeed aerobic. You could purchase relatively inexpensive heart rate monitor to help assist you in maintaining your effort in the appropriate intensity range-not too hard nor too easy. There are several good books out there to assist you in determining your aerobic range, or you can seek the assistance of a professional trainer.

Good luck.

 

[RapDaddyo]

The number of hours/week you are riding is going to have a modest weight-reduction effect, even if you ride at a high intensity. It's better than nothing, but if you want to start losing weight from cycling you're going to have to increase your time in the saddle to whatever your schedule permits. Otherwise, you're going to have to modify your daily consumption. I've lost 42 pounds in the 4 months since I started riding again after a long layoff, but that's with 14-20 hours/week in the saddle.

 

[RickF]

In a study conducted at Duke University and reported at the American College of Cardiology meeting ni March of 2005, it was shown that patients who exercised a little bit every day lost more weight than those who did the same amount of work per week, but did it in three days. As expected, those who excercised a lot every day lost more weight than those who exercised a little ever day or a lot three days per week, but all of them lost more weight than those who did not exercise at all.

To put it in cycling perspective, if you rode 12 miles per day six days a week, you would loose more weight than if you rode 24 miles per day three days per week, even though the total amount of work is the same. On the other hand, riding 24 miles per day six days per week is better than either 12 miles six days per week or 24 miles three days per week, but that should be obvious, since 24 x 6 is more than 24 x 3 or 12 x 6. What was not obvious is that 12 x 6 is better than 24 x 3.

In a study that was reported just a few weeks ago (and has no bearing to cycling as far as I can tell) showed that for obese patients, walking slowly burns more calories than walking the same distance quickly. The theory as to why this occurred has to do with the mechanics of walking and how much of the weight of the body is being supported by the skeleton versus how much is dependant on muscle activity.

 

[RickF]

There was a study conducted at Duke University and reported at the American College of Cardiology Meeting in March of 2005 that showed that patients who exercised a little bit six days per week lost more weight than those who did the same amount of total work, but did it in three days per week. As expected, those who exercised at the higher work level for six days per week lost the most weight, and all of the patients who exercised lost more weight than did those who did not exercise.

To put that in biking perspective, if you rode 12 miles per day six days per week, you would loose more weight than if you rode 24 miles per day three days per week; however, if you rode 24 miles per day six days per week you would loose more weight than riding 12 miles per day six days per week or 24 miles per day three days per week, and riding any is better than not riding at all.

Another study, the results of which were announced a few weeks ago and will be published soon, showed that obese patients who walked slowly burned more calories than those who walked the same distance, but walked more quickly.

While these two studies are in no way related, and the reasons for the findings are not fully understood, it appears that weight loss and cardiovascular fitness are separate entities. To improve cardiovascular fitness requires exercising hard enough to increase the heart rate, which translates into exercising above a certain threshold level (i.e., intense exercise for a short period is better than light exercise for a longer period). Weight loss, on the other hand, appears to be related more to how long and how frequently one exercises, and not to how strenously one exercises (i.e., light exercise for a long period of time is better than strenous exercise for a shorter period of time).

The bottom line is that for both cardiovascular fitness and weight loss, any exercise is better than no exercise.

 

[uphillbothways]

When you speak of modifying my daily consumption, what do you suggest. Right now I am 6'1 205lb. I would like to get down to 185ish.

The number of hours/week you are riding is going to have a modest weight-reduction effect, even if you ride at a high intensity. It's better than nothing, but if you want to start losing weight from cycling you're going to have to increase your time in the saddle to whatever your schedule permits. Otherwise, you're going to have to modify your daily consumption. I've lost 42 pounds in the 4 months since I started riding again after a long layoff, but that's with 14-20 hours/week in the saddle.

 

[robkit]

as a rule of thumb...

- basal metabolic rate (number of cals you burn just by living and going about your business before any deliberate exercise is included) for a guy is 2500 cals per day
- there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat
- 1 hours cycling = 800 cals

every day take the sum of (2500+calories burned) from what you have eaten, then divide the result by 3500. that should give you the number of pounds you would expect to gain or lose.

i put on 20 pounds over the winter and i remember working it out as 70,000 calories or about 390 too many per day over the 6 month period. half an hour of cycling per day would have made all the difference.

 

[dgregory57]

It is my understanding that calories expended need to exceed calories taken in by about 3600 calories to lose one pound.

Healthy weight loss is supposed to be 1 to 2 pounds per week (as stated by several weight loss sources).

Assuming before cycling your diet maintained your weight, then I would say to decrease your intake by about 500 per day, and increase your activity by about 500 calories per day, and and you will lose 2 pounds per week (or some other variation that leads to a 1000 calorie deficit per day).

Do your exercise at a reasonable pace (as stated elsewhere, a relatively slow pace seems to work better).

Drink lots of water, and very little of the things that will make you fat (including sugar and alcohol).

Do strength exercise as well, to increase muscle. This is good for two reasons. 1) it makes riding more fun, 2) muscle is active tissue and burns calories as opposed to fat which is passive tissue and does not.

Don't be disappointed if your weight doesn't come off on some weeks, especially if you did the work and feel healthy, because at times you will be gaining muscle, which offsets the loss of fat on the scale. This however should not be used to excuse too many weeks in a row.

I have lost over 100 pounds, but not much lately, so take all of this with a grain of salt... When I get to my goal weight, I will be able to say accurately, "I am half the man I used to be!"

 

[RapDaddyo]

When you speak of modifying my daily consumption, what do you suggest. Right now I am 6'1 205lb. I would like to get down to 185ish.

Well, for starters, let me give you confidence and encouragement that you can, in fact, lose the weight by cycling. I am 6' 3/4" and weighed 212 on 3/20 when I got back on my bike. I did not modify my daily consumption one iota, but rode 14-20 hours/week since 3/20. I now weigh 172 and my goal is to reach my old racing weight of 165 by 8/17 (birthday). Oh, and I have gotten a bit faster even though the vast majority of my time on the bike has been at ~75% MHR. When I said that you might have to modify your consumption if you can't put in the hours in the saddle, I mean a combination of how much and what you eat every day. You know, the old water, fruits and veggies story. I'm fortunate -- I don't drink alcohol, don't like sweets, like veggies, fruits, fish and chicken and love water.