Question about dropping ten pounds

Is adding a daily bicycle commute of 7-8 miles each way sufficient to drop a few pesky pounds without dietary change, or do I need to add some lousy diet to my efforts? If so, can you recommend a fairly uncomplicate, normal diet plan?

And pretty quickly, as well. Also, if you drink soda or juice, cut those and replace them with milk (for the protein if you're exercising that much) or water :)

and cut back on the sugar. Add the bike and you'll be surprised how fast the weight comes off.

You may want to adjust it anyway once you start regular exercise, simply because it will give you more energy to do so :).

Hell, even if you don't drop ten pounds by riding, you can re-locate the ten pounds by exercise :)

Caloric intake vs. caloric burnoff. I would think that if you ate sensibly adding the additional biking would assist in a small weight loss.

..cardio with weights. The secret is to get your heartbeat going in the target range on cardio - then switch to about 5-10 minutes on weights and then go back to cardio.

Also, she suggested (and I have bought) a heart monitor watch. If you're not in your target heart range you won't burn fat. A watch will constantly monitor your heartrate and notify you when you're in your target range and even if you're getting to far above.

This is the watch I bought, but I also wanted an everyday watch I could wear


http://www.polarusa.com/Products/consumer/a5.asp

It also comes with a strap that you can wear around your heart to monitor there too

serving of non-fat yogurt, (add your own fresh fruit).

Ditch the diet soda, (too much sodium) and keep hydrated with a reasonable amount of water (60 to 80 oz. daily).

Just a bit of tweeking with your food intake coupled wiht your daily bicycle commute will do it!

controlling easily controllable meals.. Breakfast.. I switched to one orange. Lunch, I go to McD's and eat two Parfaits (extra benefit, they're on the dollar menu). then just try to eat only when I'm hungry at night.. but it's the daytime food that helped me lose weight.

If you want a little extra help, limiting fat intake should help a little more. Carbs won't be bad if you are doing that much biking because the carbs will be used for energy.

How did I wind up double-posting?

What changes can I make? I have a pretty reasonable diet.

I hardly ever drink diet or regular soda. Hate that stuff. I'll be sure to take it easy on the juice, though.

Starches are my downfall. Cut back on the starches.

I usuallly have a glass of beer or wine with dinner. Lay off it until the weight's gone.

More fruit.

Only eat 1 sandwich a day with no condiments. Nothing else.

But I might collapse at work.

Starting out a 7-8 mile per day running schedule is bad enough as it would be a great shock to your system--many pro long distance runners don't find it necessary to do upwards of 40 miles per week. Worse, denying the body the necessary nutrients to recover is just asking for injury. Start slow and steady--for general weight loss, keep an eye on your caloric intake and start a cardiovascular training program that provides you with 45 minutes of heart workout three times a week. If your weight drops 1-3 pounds per week, stick with that. If it doesn't drop, lower your caloric intake. If it drops 5-6+ pounds per week, add some more calories. This way you won't burn up too much muscle mass as you lose the fat.

You might not want to be so concerned about weight and focus more on your measurements. It's pretty possible that you could acquire the body changes that a 10 lb weight drop would give you without actually loosing 10 lbs. You will likely gain muscle which, I'm sure you know, weighs more than fat.

As far as the diet goes. I'd recommend a moderate increase in protein although this may not be necessary. Also, you could incorporate a couple of small fruit snacks into your day.

I used to ride 13-16 miles 3-5 times a week and I was in the best shape of my life. My abs were toned and I dropped pesky fat from hard to tone areas. I think you'll be very happy with the results!

when I biked everywhere in all seasons, was as slim as a reed and in great shape.

if you only have 10 pounds to lose, biking should drop it.

if your diet is good, i wouldn't change anything. you'll need carbs for energy.

if you eat crap, cut out the junk food.

eating is about moderation. you can eat anything you want, as long as its in moderation. and with vigorous exercise, you'll be craving healthy foods. it'll change your metabolism and energy.

have fun! i am envious. good luck!

Not a real junk food junkie. Had a slice of cake last night but hey, it was a family birthday!
Also sometimes go for ice cream with my little one. But I get a small.

Diet's okay, should eat a smaller dinner and lay off the beer, even though nothing tastes better after a hot sweaty ride than an ice-cold brewski!

after gardening all day, i come home and slam a cold one, then i feel great. but the extra exercise burns it off while you're drinking it! hahaha good rationale, anyway...

there is some good advice on there. What is your diet like? You can do all the exercise you want but your diet needs to be good to lose weight, especially the last ten pounds. Congratulations on you wanting to exercise, it's a step in the right direction.

It's time on bike that counts. And you'll need carbs to do it.

I've ridden on Atkins and I've ridden while eating big bowls of chicken and pasta for dinner. As soon as I switched to the pasta after a rapid weight loss to get me motivated, my distance just about double in a couple days since my body had a reserve to draw from.

i have great things to say about atkins. i lost 35 pounds in about 6 months. i do much better with high protein eating.

anyway, when i started, it was spring time. i was working outside landscaping, digging holes and moving mulch around. i thought i was going to faint! i went to taco bell, about a mile away from this job, and gobbled up a high carb thing (don't remember what). i felt SO much better all day! so i tweaked atkins to my needs, but i am pretty much still high protein.

and exercise. that makes a huge difference.

good SENSE as far as changing one's eating habits and shedding that pudge.

It's a great, amusing and practical read and easy to follow the suggestions and advice. No deprivation, no starvation, just trimming back portions and eating GOOD food, not crap!

Enjoy!

Does the book make mention of the not-so-sunny side of French women staying slim? When I lived there 20 years ago I noticed immense pressure on women to not gain weight (even stronger than here), and a tendency to smoke with abandon relative to Americans.

Has that changed in 20 years?

If you're 30 pounds overweight, then probably, in time, with no dietary changes (and assuming you aren't currently GAINING weight) you'll lose 10 pounds. However, if you're already fairly fit and just want to lose 2 or 3, although possible, it isn't likely.

Remember too, "scale weight" isn't a measure of fitness. You could drop 10 pounds of flab and put a couple pounds of muscle on. Your clothes would fit very different, but that damn, lying scale would state differently.

A 1-3 pound loss per week will guarantee that you will be losing as little muscle as possible along with the fat, and maintaining more muscle mass will help keep the weight off with less effort from you later. The big thing for general weight loss is keeping an eye on calories and doing cardiovascular work at a good heart rate for 45 minutes or so three times per week. If you aren't losing those 1-3 pounds per week, drop some calories. If you are losing 6+ pounds per week, take in some more calories. Most of all, find an exercise program you find exciting and not tedious so you can stick with it.

:evilgrin:

That should be enough. Sometimes when people start exercising or increasing exercise though, their appetites increase as well. Resist the urge to eat more food if this happens unless you lose weight too quickly or continue to lose weight after you've reached your goal.

You can't take it away from me!

Oh, okay. I do see your point.

This is how I lost seventy+ pounds in less than eight months