Weight Plateau - Shared Experiences

[FrankBattle]

There is nothing new under the sun. So, there must be others who have lived the weight plateau issue. I'm after the simple things you may done (not talking abject starvation). It would be nice too if you
1. have a 9-5 job
2. live in the northeast US
3. have a family or at least a wife
4. travel for work (and have a bike at home and at your destination)

My situation is that I'm not ovely crazy about my eating. I have not gained weight; and may have actually lost some by continuing to eat small meals (celery, carrots, etc) spread out over the day. Occassionally, I indulge when I know I'm riding over 50 miles the next day (weekends typically). I'm 6'3" 205 lbs. Generally fairly fit. I have not seen 190 since I graduated High School 17+ years ago. I lifted weights for some time, but switched to cycling/running in the off season early '04. Since 03, I have lost ~70 lbs. But I've been 205 for 1 year with substantial riding. It's not so much that I'm frustrated. I suppose if I had more time and were a racer or at least rode more, I'd drop more. But I think there are many more in my boat than not. I'm essentially just curious to see what folks have done.

My goal is 190 - 195. What I'm after is people who've done similar and what's worked for you ..

 

[Induray]

It took me around three years to finally loose the 5 lbs that I targeted for. I am currently at 165 lbs , not skinny by any terms for a 5'6" frame (I am quite muscular due to years of weightlifting), but had a small roll of fat around the obliques. Here is the things I did to accomplish it.

1. Started drinking more water on a daily basis.
2. eat a lot less bread
3. Drink a lot less beer during the weekends. (Drink wine instead but it small amounts)
4. I do less weight training as well and more aerobics. Weight training will make you very hungry.
5. More fruits and vegetables, less meat

 

[John Budnik]

My goal is 190 - 195. What I'm after is people who've done similar and what's worked for you ..

I've done this a couple of times 2 different ways... the first was after a car accident. From lying in bed and recovering I ballooned from 155 to 203, while losing all my muscle. I was a huge piece of fat on legs. I went on a plan of working out intensely each day (3 to 5 hours/day, 7 days/wk) and eating the way my mom raised me, 3 typical meal, and one snack per day. I did o this with a family and full time job. Obviously I was a motivated lunatic, but it worked. I dropped to 165 @ 4% body fat within a year. That was 20 years ago.

More currently, after 10 years of sitting behind a desk and no more than some light exercising I was back at 197. That was this past July. The new more human friendly training schedule has me riding about 100 miles per week and eating a balanced diet that is 500 calories short of my required caloric intake given my weight & activity level. The one pain in the ass part of this is the balanced diet part.... you can't guess that. I spend probably 45 minutes a day making suure that what I'm about to eat will keep me in my targets for fat, protein & carbs. These targets are 20% to 25% fat, 10% to 15% protein and the rest in carbs. In doing this I eat when ever I want and pretty much whatever, but I stay away from saturated fats. Anyway, the side effect of keeping you eating balanced is that you tend to never be hungry and it is actually pretty hard to consume that quantity of food when you keep things balanced. I've now gotten to the point of seeing the veins in my arms and legs and no fat around my middle