# Changing body shape, but not gaining weight...



## sc00t (Aug 4, 2014)

Howdy-Doodie.

So, I'm trying to get my diet and exercise right.

I'm 5'10, 160lbs, but my tummy is 'round' and my legs look like they belong to chickens.

Exercise-wise, I cycle for 1.5 hours a day and have access to dumbells, but I've not been using them, heh.

What I am aiming to achieve isn't any weight gain as such, but instead a change in body shape - get myself toned & defined muscle. 

I've been eating 4,000 calories a day (roughly) with the following as a rough breakdown of my meals per day:

Meal 1: Porridge with whole milk
Meal 2: Jam on toast (2 slices)
Meal 3: Protein Shake
Meal 4: Protein Shake with Chicken Curry & Rice
Meal 5: Porridge with whole milk
Meal 6: Spaghetti & Meatballs
Meal 7: Protein Shake 

(This particular day comes out at 4,749 calories, 250g protein)

Any help on my calories and exercise regime and how I can tweak it to get the results I'm looking for would be appreciated.

-sc00t


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

You're 5'10" 160lbs, riding 1.5 hours a day, doing no weight training and eating 4,000 to 4,749 calories per day?

How sure are you about the accuracy of those calorie figures. Are you using something like My Fitness Pal to keep track of food and exercise and also weighing your food portions to see how much they actually are?

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/

The reason I ask is because if it's correct that's a lot of food to be eating for the hours on the bike spent riding that you're doing. If you want to get rid of the round belly and develop some muscle tone you really ought to be going the other way with the diet, by eating less to slim down and get some muscle definition that way. Eating that much for the amount of activity that you're doing is just going to see your belly getting larger as you're overeating currently.

That's also a huge amount of added protein from shakes. If you were doing bodybuilding with regular hard weight training it _might_ be justifiable but you don't need that much if your main exercise is riding a bike. If you want to build some extra muscle, especially upper body muscle, then you really need to be doing weight training because the cycling won't give you that.

My suggestion would be to cut down the protein shakes to two per day (one immediately after your ride and one in the evening) and begin to reduce your overall calorie intake until you start to see some weight loss. That's most likely going to mean sticking to less than 3,000 calories per day, possibly a lot less. If you can increase the riding volume a bit more also and make sure the rides are good quality - no stops and at a decent pace where you're working fairly hard throughout.

Along with weighing yourself keeping a record of measurements is a useful way of keeping track of changes.

This bodyfat percentage calculator gives an estimate of your current bodyfat levels:

How to Calculate Body Fat Percentages

As an example of how this looks this is what it gave for me back in January, 6ft tall, 148lbs and around 8% bodyfat.


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

sc00t said:


> Howdy-Doodie.
> 
> So, I'm trying to get my diet and exercise right.
> 
> ...


Drop the protein shakes.
Ride more, and harder.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

sc00t said:


> right now I do no exercise (Just bought my bike which will equal about 1 hour of cycling a day)


You posted this in another thread. If you're just starting out with cycling from doing no exercise at all don't go too crazy initially. Start off with steady rides at endurance pace, take a bottle of water to drink and enjoy being out riding. Riding five or six days with one day off is more sustainable long term than riding seven days a week.

For what you're trying to do adding some weight training sessions to your routine two or three times per week, as well as riding your bike, will help build strength and improve muscle tone. You don't necessarily need to go to a gym for this. If you haven't done any weights work previously research good lifting form, start off with light weights and note how to do the exercises correctly beforehand to avoid injuring yourself. Youtube has a lot of useful how to videos showing different exercises.


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## sc00t (Aug 4, 2014)

Thanks All,

Calorie-wise, if I am wanting to remain about the same weight (roughly) but tone/define my muscles, given the amount of cycling I am currently doing & presuming I incorporate weight training say 3 days a week, what calorie intake would you guys recommend, and with how much protein/carbs/etc?

Cheers,
sc00t


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Reading the Racing Weight book by Matt Fitzgerald is a good starting point as it explains a lot of these ideas.

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/1934030996/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

In terms of how much to eat you first need to get an idea of how many calories you're burning each day in total. It's not just when you're cycling that you're using energy. Whether you're cycling, working, watching TV, sleeping etc you're still burning calories.

You can use charts such as the ones at this link to estimate how many calories you're burning in total every 24 hours. Make a list of what you do every hour during the entire day, including sleeping, and then add up the totals to see what they are each day.

http://www.nutristrategy.com/caloriesburnedwork.htm

From there you can see roughly what your energy needs are and adjust how much you're eating to suit.


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## sc00t (Aug 4, 2014)

Excellent resource, WR. Thanks very much.

I'll grab a copy of that book, too.

3,165 calories burned a day with work (Care Assistant, 12 hour shifts) and 1.5 hrs of cycling... So my _presumption_ therefore is that if I hit that calorie count each day I work, and eat the right foods, that I will stay roughly the same weight, but my muscles will tone, right?

Does that sound about right?

Cheers,
sc00t


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

sc00t said:


> Excellent resource, WR. Thanks very much.
> 
> I'll grab a copy of that book, too.
> 
> ...


To lose that round belly you are going to need to reduce your calorie intake. The fat will not magically turn to muscle if you continue to consume the same amount you burn.


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## jrastories (Aug 2, 2008)

Where do you get a Baisel metabolic rate (BMR - how many calories you burn thoughout the day) of over 3000 at 160 lbs. Even at an active job standing and walking all day you should be closer to 1800 to 2100 cal a day. And then around 800 to 900 cal for a bike ride. Your pre and post ride snacks should cover the deficite that you create from the bike ride. then the other meals should cover your BMR.

I am not sure why you were eating 250g of protine either. That is just over 1.5g/lbs of body weight and nobody needs that much I would cut that back to around the 150 to 160g at least. 

If you want to tone your body you will have to do weights or strength training, cycling and cardio will go so far but with out training muscle you will not gain muscle. The one mistake I see at the gym all the time is people sitting on cardio machines for 2 hours a day and wondering why they are not loosing weight, and that is because they go at the same intensity for the same time every day there is no overload there is no change. By adding weights and resistance training it is easy to add overload every few weeks. Also add that increased intensity to your riding you will see gains from doing sprints and hills.


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

Estimating how many calories you need using tables is a starting point but they're never exact. It's usually best to assume they're over estimating how many calories you need by quite a bit still. What it does show is that you don't need to eat 4,000 calories per day.

If you eat a little less than the estimates say and stick to a good routine of regular exercise you should start noticing fitness improvements. It's not something that will happen overnight but after a few months the results should be starting to come through. Being consistent and keeping going with the fitness routine long term is what counts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?_r=0

Rather than focusing on just your bodyweight I'd use the measurements from Post #2 to keep track of progress also. If you lose some fat but gain muscle then your bodyweight could stay unchanged so it gives another perspective.


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