# Gotta get rid of this fat



## Meoutdoors37 (Apr 8, 2013)

Am 42 yrs old been riding for 3 yrs now ( road and XC ) been hitting the gym pretty hard for a year. I have put on probably 10 lbs of muscle which I know can be detrimental for cycling, thing is I can't get rid of the fat!! I am in the 16% BF range. I am in great shape otherwise, great stamina, strong, probably feel the best I have felt in 15 or so years but I am getting burned out from the lack of results in the mirror. I want to race my mountain bike at the end of this season and be competitive. What does a guy need to eat??


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

What does your diet look like?


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## Treyness (Feb 24, 2013)

Yeah, it's gotta be your diet if you are riding and lifting.


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## Meoutdoors37 (Apr 8, 2013)

Well today I had 2 scrambled eggs (only one yolk) for breakfast with coffee, break time I ate some pickled beets and carrots, for lunch I had a can of Sardines in Mustard with some sugar free peaches. For dinner after riding the bike I will have steak a couple of boiled eggs, sweet potatoe and maybe something green. Now I will say I don't always eat this clean buy man I bust my azz whether I am on my bike or lifting in the gym, I also work in construction and am on my feet all day. I don't drink soda but do drink beer (I mean a guy has to have something) most I drink is a 12 a week an most weeks I don't at all. I just need someone to feed me like a dog LOL


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## grandsalmon (Oct 24, 2005)

It is going to be the diet, most of all, and the regular eating. Even though the body will go into hibernation mode when it thinks there isn't a 'next meal coming', overall it is the prolonged stretches of little eating but long output exercise (think endurance events) that will change the rate and mode of your metabolism. I only found this to happen after extended hikes, scrambles, bike/hike/tours which got my body in better shape and lose excess fat. Instead of many many months, I could get in shape in weeks, comparatively.
As I get older, this gets a bit more difficult (and fat goes on more easily!!!), but I am asking a lot as my time is more filled with sedate activity -I am not running around all happity-doo like when I was a whipper snapper. Very unscientific, but every time I resist the country-to-city mouse transformation, my body is still willing to drop all things and respond.


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## steadite (Jan 13, 2007)

IME it's all about what u eat. I used to bust [email protected] at the gym but didn't lose weight till I got my diet under control. What it took for me was zero sugar, no calorie drinks of any kind (including beer), minimal meat, no bread or starchy stuff...


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## beanbag (Nov 20, 2005)

If I were u I would try:

Shift more calories towards the early part of the day
Eat some more green stuff (do as I say, not as I do LOL)
Look into leangains.com for intermittent fasting stuff (never mind that the author seems to be having a mental breakdown at the moment...)


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## 2ridealot (Jun 15, 2004)

Sounds like you're good on the activity side but for the short term I would spend some of that gym time doing longer moderate intensity road rides (2 hour plus) and cut back on sugar/corn syrup and bread/pasta until the fat is burnt, then go back to your prior workout regimen and moderate the food. This has recently helped me get rid of much fat. I have found that eating walnuts and almonds for snacking keeps me from craving as much junk. Good luck!


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## Meoutdoors37 (Apr 8, 2013)

Anybody care to drop a list of what they eat in a day when trying to drop LBS


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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

Meoutdoors37 said:


> Anybody care to drop a list of what they eat in a day when trying to drop LBS


Vegetables, fruits, nuts, 1 serving of whole grain and a couple of eggs. If still hungry, more vegetables and occasionally some fish. Drink a lot of water, stay hydrated and stay away from sugar and artificial sweetener.


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## knutso (Oct 8, 2008)

Sounds like you are a really active dude OP.

I say eat as many quality carbs as you possibly can before, like, 4pm. No grains (IMO) but any kinds of potatoes and fruits; quinoa with sauteed onions and soy sauce is a favorite of mine. Try chewing chia seeds for protein and omega 3, a mouthful chewed for ten minutes does wonders!. 

Your body will torch good stuff like this, making you feel like you are running on rocket fuel. Maintain your activity and avoid anything rich within 4 hours of bedtime. 

No fruit juices or oily foods.


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## Gundam168 (Dec 19, 2012)

Meoutdoors37 said:


> Well today I had 2 scrambled eggs (only one yolk) for breakfast with coffee, break time I ate some pickled beets and carrots, for lunch I had a can of Sardines in Mustard with some sugar free peaches. *For dinner after riding the bike I will have steak a couple of boiled eggs, sweet potatoe and maybe something green.* Now I will say I don't always eat this clean buy man I bust my azz whether I am on my bike or lifting in the gym, I also work in construction and am on my feet all day. I don't drink soda but do drink beer (I mean a guy has to have something) most I drink is a 12 a week an most weeks I don't at all. I just need someone to feed me like a dog LOL


Now there's your problem...

_"For dinner after riding the bike I will have steak a couple of boiled eggs, sweet potatoe (sic) and maybe something green"_

How about dinner first before the bike ride?


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## prldecivic (Jul 19, 2012)

if you must have that steak for dinner make sure its grass fed, lower calories and fat than regular meat.


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## Metalhack (Aug 13, 2011)

Go caveman or Paleo style. Worked well for me.


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## morkys (Jul 27, 2005)

Before taking mine or anybody else's advice, please taylor things to your own personal needs depending on your health needs, and consult a doctor.

I followed a no sugar, complex carbs and protein/fat diet and ran, used an eliptical and bicycled and most important, I weight trained. I went from 190 LBS and 18 % body fat to 150 LBS and 8% body fat in 3 or 4 months. More importantly, my strength, fitness and endurance went way up. I started being able to bench press 25 LBS dumb bells in each arm up to, in the end, 70 LBS dumb bells each arm 8-12 times. That was years ago. Life, job and other issues makes it hard, but I am back on the path. Changing my diet, and exercising more and more.

My method for fat loss:

Avoid starving yourself or eating too much sugar. Avoid added or artificial sugar. Sugar causes your body to release insulin which makes you store fat. Starving or going too long without food does the same thing, makes your body store fat. you want to burn fat. Also get enough sleep. This is what you need to build muscle. You need to build muscle to both become stronger and to become (temporarily) less efficient, so you burn more fat.

No added sugar. No processed food. Avoid bread. Get a list showing foods and their glycemic index. Eat slower complex carbs. Eat mostly only stuff found on the outside of the grocery store aisles. Fish, poultry, eggs, fruit and veggies, nuts (if not allergic) complex carbs like whole grain brown rice and steel cut oats. Avoid juice, alcohol etc. Eat enough complex carbs, protein and un-saturated fats to have energy to ride and/or do other sports and activities. Eat many times a day. Split up your meals. Not just 3 meals. Eat every 2 to 3 hours. You must eat breakfast. DO NOT SKIP ANY MEALS. After breakfast, a few hours later, have a snack. Eat lunch, then eat a snack a few hours later. Eat supper. Cycle, run, weight train. Measure your body fat once every day or so (scales have this feature) and keep your eye on it.

Let my simplify it a bit:

1) Avoid sugar, bread, juice, alcohol and high glycemic foods
2) Eat fruits, veggies, nuts, protein (fish and poultry) and complex carbs
3) Eat every few hours.
4) Exercise including some strength training, either weight training, or sprinting/intervals while cycling. Running and eliptical, swimming are also good.
5) Get some rest.

You don't have to do the above indefinitely, just until you reach a level of fitness and lower fat that you are happy with. Then carefully alter your diet a bit but always check body fat and revert to the above if you need to burn excess fat.

Good luck.


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## RIDESLOW (Dec 21, 2007)

I try to eat like a King for breakfast, a Queen for lunch , and a Pauper for dinner.
Snaks in between are lots of apples, bananas,dates,raisens.
And lots of water , once or twice a week i'll have a couple of beers.


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## steadite (Jan 13, 2007)

Morkys is right!


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## Meoutdoors37 (Apr 8, 2013)

Thanks for all the input, I pray that I get this straightened out because it is starting to burn me out.


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## canuck_tacoma (May 1, 2011)

*Simple: You are eating too much!!*

I was like you, worked out all the time and ate "right" but was having a hard time losing fat. It was coming off but very slowly.

I mentioned this to a guy at work who was quite overweight and sedentary, had just lost a lot of weight. He said, " It's simple you're eating too much." First I thought, " You don't work out, so you don't get it, I need to eat."

Well, I took his advice and logged everything I ate. While it was very healthy, it was too many calories. So I started with reducing portions, then sugar, etc. Sure enough the weight fell off.

You need to burn more than you put in....that's it. Doesn't matter if everything you eat is super healthy, vegan, organic. If it's too many calories than you will store it as fat.

P.S. - Expect to be super hungry for the first two weeks until you get used to it. Also, try to do this during off season such as winter. I tried this while riding and crashed hard. Was very successful during the winter when I was only going to the gym and could be tired and hungry.


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## craigstr (Sep 19, 2003)

Your bf% is 16 but what is your height and weight?


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## miatagal96 (Jul 5, 2005)

Ditto what people said about diet.

How much are you riding and working out? I've been an avid biker for years (3-4 times a week) and ws surprised that it was still hard to lose weight.

In January, I hired a coach who promised he could make me faster (and he did). I've increased biking to 5-6 time per week and an average of 10 hours a week and I've really reduced the intensity. I used to kill myself trying to go fast every time I went out so I couldn't bike more than 3-4 times a week. Now, I can get more hours in and they are more pleasurable hours. Suddenly, I noticed that pounds had come off.

So, in addition to food intake, look at your biking. From your post, I could't tell how many hours a week you bike or at what intensity. If you are like I was and went out with high intensity about 3-4 times a week, try throttling back on the intensity and going for longer rides.


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## Ramborage (May 7, 2013)

Calories in - Calories out. You gained 10lbs of muscle working out and staying active, but you can't lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. This is called a bulk cycle. I've been there done that, you're eating too much and need to track your calories. The food you mentioned don't mean crap if you're eating three to four servings of everything putting you on a surplus. Get a scale, look at portions and get on a meal plan that will enable you to hit all your macros everyday while being in a slight deficit.


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## Jamesm925 (Apr 17, 2013)

how are you not bonking on every ride eating only proteins?
carbs aren't the enemy.
like others said: it's simple math. you have to eat fewer calories than you burn or burn more calories than you consume.


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## Blueallah (Jun 16, 2005)

Try a free app called My Fitness Pal to track everything that crosses your lips as well as all your cardio output calories burned. It will also track protein, carbs, sugars, fiber, fat, etc. It even has a bar code reader to scan packaged food. As others have indicated, it all about math and you'll probably be surprised by how many calories you are eating, especially if you continue to include steak and sweet potatos. The app will also help you pick which beer you choose if you, like me, arent going to completely give it up. Only 136 cals in a 16oz Coors light, or splurge 20 more cals and drink a 14.9oz Guiness draught can. The key is you have to stick to just one to get all the good stuff you need and still keep the calories where they must be.


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## Joshua_B (Oct 1, 2011)

If you eat good carbs (fruits and veggies) you will not gain fat, your liver can store up to 2lbs of glycogen in it hidden away. You need to drop all the fatty meats and heavy protein and carb up. Don't be afraid of carbs and don't listen to all the western world marketing hype that carbs are bad and all you need is protein. A whole food, plant based diet will change your life and performance.


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## henrymiller1 (Apr 25, 2008)

Try running. It sucks, but fun on the trails. It burns a lot more calories than riding. I started because many times i didn't have 2 hrs for a ride, but could get in a 1hr run. Don't stay up late drinking beer, eating snacks and checking out MTB Forums


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## .40AET (Jun 7, 2007)

When I'm trying to loose weight, I work hard to make sure that everything I eat does not have an ingredients list. Lots of fruits, vegg, meats. No soda, beer, or anything fried. 

good luck


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## KevinShoes (Apr 30, 2012)

Without knowing your exact level of excercise every day, you might not be eating enough... It's counterintuitive but not getting enough calories can also cause weight gain by slowing your metabolism. Try incorporating carbs into the diet, which will give you some energy for your workouts and help increase your metabolism


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## Nubster (May 15, 2009)

I'd check into intermediate fasting like suggested before. The science behind it makes sense. Those that say it slows your metabolism...it's been proven that it takes 36+ hours of fasting before your metabolism slows. So not eating for 16 hours isn't going to hurt you. Great thing about it, you can stop eating at around 8-9pm and by the time you wake up, you're already nearly done with the fast. I just started. Can't wait to see if it works. I've lost 40+ pounds since Christmas by cleaning up my diet. Now I'm stuck at 277-280 for a month even though I'm riding a lot more. I suspect some is muscle gain. I'm just hoping the IF breaks me out of this plateau.


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## tigris99 (Aug 26, 2012)

Well ill put my story into this, I've lost 80ish lbs in the last yr without going insane on dieting or killing myself on my bike. And I have retained most of my muscle mass. I'm wording this "you " because I had to tell myself this several times over the course of a few weeks when I first got into making myself healthy again.

First off, avoid 2 things, processed foods is #1. Secondly is anything heavy in fat. Example: steak unless very lean cut and grill cooked, any method where heated fat runs off meat and away from it. Fish is ur best friend for meats, next lean natural poultry.

Next, watch your carb intake carefully. Natural fruits, veggies for snacks but don't over do it. Bread can be eaten in very small amount, and natural whole grain bread only. I wasn't much for veggies beyond corn and potatoes prior, now i eat those 2 the least. Limit high simpler carb veggies like regular potatoes. If you want a bit of potato use reds instead when possible. Make sure to eat plenty of greens (i hated before but now favorite is spinach)

Also if you enjoy spicy food, even just mild, mix in thinsg like crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper into seasoning food you cook, especially breakfast. Jalapenos are great too. The thing of spicy foods to help weight/fat loss is no joke. I can notice I actually feel a tad better and more energetic on the days I add spicyness to breakfast.

Next the calorie thing. Don't just go "oh I can eat 2500 a day" and just watch that. Calorie intake has to be balanced. First couple months I cut fat way down to about 20% of daily allowed and carbs no more than 75% of allowed intake for normal, non riding day. Riding days this put me at about 50% of allowed carb intake. Largest deficit in calories you want to have is in fat and carbs. Keep fiber up though.

Also, make sure you vitamin intake in your diet is where it needs to be. I use a multi vitamin to fill in gaps. But if you do this get what you need not just what looks good on a label.

Hydrate. Limit coffee to morning only (makes you per hence loose water quickly) water mostly. When i am in need of something flavored I drink non-sweet tea.

Final note, drink plenty, everything in moderation and variety and 0 junk food or soda. And mix it up throughout the day, meals and snacks eat a little something every couple hours.

I type this while loosing a few pounds at least every month regardless of how much riding I get to do. Adapt as you need but follow the principles and fat will melt away as body takes from it to fill in where you don't eat.

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2


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## tigris99 (Aug 26, 2012)

Forgot the workout side of this:

Stay out of a routine. One day ride 45mins hard, next couple much less intense but enough to break a light sweat however go for a long period, couple hours. Also change your routes to add hills of varying grades. On a long ride find a couple small hills to ride hard quickly but let u return to previous pace within a short distance.

Same applies to the gym. One day work out intense and higher weights, next is less weight, less intense but more reps/longer duration.

I know the points were touched on but this came from my doctor explained how I'm doing it and may take some adapting to get best results for you but its worked excellent for me. Fitness has gone from 3 miles paved ride on flat ground having me ready to collapse to 10mile very hilly trail riding with only stopping a couple times to hit water bottle (I won't put the accelerade or hammer, etc in my hydro pack so bottle has that.). And when i get back to trail head I still feel good and can go ride again. On top of my 80+ lb weight loss (from 360lbs...)

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2


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## AirKuhl (Jun 11, 2012)

I lost a lot of weight. I'm proud of that but also embarrassed that I let myself get to where I was.

Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% activity. You have to do both, but rebooting your eating habits is not optional.

What worked for me is getting educated about what I ate. Read every label. Product A says 100 calories and Product B says 150 calories, but Product B serving size is twice Product A.

Lots of stuff that is supposed to be healthy is very calorie dense. Granola has at least twice the calories of Chex. You can eat 500 calories of trail mix is a few minutes while watching TV.

Many "low-fat" foods are much higher in simple sugars and other "bad" carbs. Read the labels. 

Avoid stuff that spikes your blood sugar, usually simple sugars. That why so many people get that 3:00 PM tired/starving dip after eating a high-carb lunch.

Take nothing for granted, especially eating out. Some restaurant salads have 1,500+ calories. Americanized Chinese food is notorious, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a typical restaurant serving of General Tso's chicken provides approximately 1,300 calories, 11 g saturated fat and nearly 3,200 mg sodium. That's not counting the rice, egg roll, and wonton soup.
The chicken sandwich often has more calories than the hamburger (because it has bacon, avocado, mayo, maybe it's fried, etc). Many restaurant desserts are over 1,000 calories. If you want to eat out, get a steak with veggies and a baked potato, pass on the appetizers and dessert. It'll be very filling and nutritious, just do it as a treat every once in a while, not every day.

Fat is good. It's a perfect fuel and keeps you sated. But beware because it's about twice the calorie density of carbs or protein, so moderation is especially important.

The "Eat This Not That" books were an eye opener for me since I travel and eat out a lot.

Many people drink more calories than they eat. There are plenty of zero calorie liquids out there, find some that you like. I'm partial to water, coffee and tea myself.

Purge the evil foods from your house. You can't eat a bag of Cheetos if you don't own one.

Find a go-to healthy standby. Sunflower seeds work well for salty snacks because it takes a while to shell them so you eat slow. Turkey Jerky, same thing. I found that a half cup of 0% fat Fage Greek yogurt mixed with a teaspoon of Nutella freakin' rocks.


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