My goal is to burn at least 1000 calories..

[solobiker]

So I am planning on trying to burn about 1000 calories every weekday and close to 2000 on each weekend day. I hope to achieve this with running, riding my bike and doing some high intensity weight workouts. On weekends I spend a lot of time backcountry skiing. I do work full time plus..( have been working overtime). My goal is lose to some more weight ( I have lost close to 20 pounds as of last March) and get stronger for MTN biking season. Just wondering if I am being too ambitious. What kind of workouts do some of you do on a daily basis? I have been working on this goal since last Wednesday and it is kind of challenging depening upon my workday ( I work as an OT in a rehab departmentso I spend a lot of time on my feet moving people around.)

Also just curious as to what kind of nutrition plan/dietary guidelines do you follow? I have been trying to be mainly Paleo. I still do eat my oatmeal with some protien powder in the morning.

Just curious what my fellow TE friends do.:D

[marni]

dear solo biker,

Good luck with your very (perhaps overly ambitious goal). All I can say is that taking 4 years to lose the weight I did, my typical workout these days is an hour of weights and resistance and an hour of fast HR on the treadmill 3 x a week alternating with long distance biking (50 miles a go each time this month) at 15-17 rpm. For either of those two workouts, 2 hours at the gym or 3 hours on the bike, my maximum calorie burn has never gone higher than 400 calories and hour. On this program I can do 5-6 days a week for 5-6 weeks before I burn out and have to take a week to ten days full out recovery. My average calorie deficit is 300-500 calories a day, which means that I am eating enough to maintain my current activity level and continue a slow steady weight loss. I am currently focusing in a bit more on the long distance riding since I will be doing a cross country south to north along the Mississippi in May and June.

Perhaps instead of focusing on how many calories you aim to burn through exercise, it would be helpful to also take a look at how many calories your body requires for your weight, body fat %, age and level of activity and fitness, and aiming to burn x amount more than that, or alternatively consume x calories less than you require for body maintenance.

If you burn tremendous of calories without balancing out your diet, you risk continuing damage to the muscles, organs and nerves. It might be better to set some more realistic goals in terms of calorie burn and make sure your diet (paleo, semi vegetarian, normal whole food emphasis on less beef and more fish, whatever) helps the whole balance.

Some sort of a calorie counting monitor is helpful. You can find charts for calories burned vs. cardio rate by using a heart monitor. I use a bodybugg which is an armband mounted monitor with a membership in a computer site that has the ususual amenities of being able to enter measurements, activity levels and download the calorie burn from the monitor. They also have various eating programs and a pretty good selection of recipes and tips plus access to a data base of calorie count for regular foods, an ability to track your measurements and progress but there are many others.

I would be interested in how it all goes for you. Yay for the 20 pounds lost and here's to the next twenty and some added core arm and leg strength from weight and resistance training. Like me, you might very well just be at the point where although you are not actually losing mssive amounts of weight, but you are replacing bady fat weight with lean muscle mass which is always a good thing.

Just my thoughts- I am not an expert, nor a nutritionist, nor a sports coach, ust raining the brain of thoughts that you posting brought forward.

marni

Perhaps rather than setting

[bluebug32]

I think the most important thing is for you to set up a healthy lifestyle that you can follow for the rest of your life. Is 1k calories a day realistic for that? I would start by tracking your calories (Myfitnesspal.com is a great way to do it) to see how your diet is playing into your weight loss. Everything in moderation. You don't want to end up injured from overuse and not be able to exercise at all. Slow and steady. Good luck!

[OakLeaf]

According to my Garmin, which seems pretty accurate, it takes me about a 16-17 mile run or three hours of moderately intense cycling to burn 1000 calories. Are you talking about ALL your calories over BMR, or just your workouts??

[Susan]

What Marni said.

From my personal weight-loss experience and without being an expert of any kind, I don't find it helpful to view exercise as a way to burn x amount of calories. Exercise helps with weightloss for various reasons, but a reasonable calorie defizit for weight loss is better achieved by nutrition. Personally, I would consider a 1000 calorie deficit far too high and would aim for some hundred calories deficit (10-15% of your total metabolic rate).


Edit - you asked about diet: I try to eat a balanced diet of natural or "real" food, with a focus on eating enough protein, 3-4 meals a day, organic if possible. But I am thinking about giving Paleo a shot. If only I wouldn't love my oatmeal-breakfast and yoghurt so much ;)

[Crankin]

You need to think about what is sustainable over a long period of time. While it is tempting to use large amounts of exercise as a way to control/lose weight, I can guarantee that eventually, as Marni said, you will burn out and in the end, perhaps not achieve your goal. All the things people have posted are good strategies.
I might look at portion control and when you are eating, in addition to everything else mentioned. But, I think the most important thing is to remember that when our quest to lose weight becomes like a job, it's not healthy.
When I had to lose 25 pounds, it took me close to a year. But, 30+ years later, it's still gone.

[shootingstar]

How much weight are you trying to lose? Or maybe it's not really weight, but more clohing size. After all, muscle weighs more than fat.

I just would like to add that when I was unemployed, I was cycling over 2 hrs. daily. Yes. So I was cycling 45 km. daily most of the time. It included a couple of reasonable hill ascent --8-10% grade.
This type of increased cycling was over 8 consecutive months...which means not including winter since I did cycle but 50% less daily. Then there were 1-2 days I increased to 60 kms. per day.

My diet didn't really change. I think I might have lost 3-4 lbs. It swung back and forth, but then I only weighed myself a few times per month. I wasn't aiming to lose weight. Just had some time and needed to keep motivated while job searching.

You have very high expectations of self @ burning 1000 calories daily plus your regular work at OT.

[solobiker]

Thanks for all of your comments. I don't think I have too much more to lose. I am 5' 6" and weigh about 140. It would be nice to lose about 5 more pounds. I eat pretty clean...no junk food/processed food with the exception of energy bars of some sort on the weekends while backcountry skiing. I have pretty good endurance...can ski tour for many hrs without needing to rest. I am very goal driven. I guess I was just giving myself something to shoot for just so my training/exercise more of a purpose behind it... I would gladly take any other suggestions. :)


I do wear a HR monitor which I know is not completly accurate but it does give me a rough idea.

Thanks again!!

[westtexas]

But I am thinking about giving Paleo a shot. If only I wouldn't love my oatmeal-breakfast and yoghurt so much ;)

Do it. Follow the 80/20 rule - 80% of the time you're good, 20% you're not. So cheat on your breakfast if you have to. Once a week I go out with the girls and have some kind of ridiculous wheat and sugar laden dessert. I regret it for a day afterwards (especially since I'm celiac), but at the time... so delicious.

I will say I haven't lost a pound on Paleo. But I'm a full pant size smaller (probably actually two sizes, since I was like a 4.5 and now my 2s are too loose) and everything I own fits better.

[OakLeaf]

If only I wouldn't love my oatmeal-breakfast and yoghurt so much ;)

You know, I thought breakfast was going to be hard, and it probably would be if I cut out all the processed foods, but as far as eliminating grain, it turned out to be easy. I just have everything I used to add to make my cereal nutritious and palatable, but skip the cereal. :p Fruit, nuts, chia seeds, raw sprouted protein powder and milk analogue, and I barely even notice not putting in a couple of flakes.

[indysteel]

I think one other thing to consider is that effect that intense or high-volume exercise has on your appetite. When I had the time and energy to ride 5k+ miles a year (on top of yoga and some resistance training), I was hungry all the time. Plus, I had to eat a fair amount to even sustain that level of activity. I find it far easier to lose a few pounds with more moderate exercise as it seems easier--at least to me--to maintain a modest calorie deficit.

[Susan]

You know, I thought breakfast was going to be hard, and it probably would be if I cut out all the processed foods, but as far as eliminating grain, it turned out to be easy. I just have everything I used to add to make my cereal nutritious and palatable, but skip the cereal. :p Fruit, nuts, chia seeds, raw sprouted protein powder and milk analogue, and I barely even notice not putting in a couple of flakes.

Thanks Westtexas and OakLeaf for your input. I'm thinking about Paleo not from a weight-loss, but more from a health-perspective (doesn't mean that a few less pounds would hurt me all too much ;)). I'm hypothyroid and from what I've read eliminating Gluten or even all grains could be helpful.
But as I already eat very health-conscious, it would be quite a commitment for me further limiting my food options by cutting out grains, certain vegetables, milk... and, depending on how far you want to go, even nuts and seeds.

Sorry for the thread-hijack - maybe I should better start a Paleo-yes/no thread? :)

[jessmarimba]

I'd also worry about what happens when you STOP burning 1000+ calories a day. You'd really, really have to be conscientious with food and diet to taper down from that or it can be really easy to rebound right back up to that weight.

[shootingstar]

I'd also worry about what happens when you STOP burning 1000+ calories a day. You'd really, really have to be conscientious with food and diet to taper down from that or it can be really easy to rebound right back up to that weight.

+1
I hope you'll find a good long-term solution solobiker.

[Irulan]

Thanks for all of your comments. I don't think I have too much more to lose. I am 5' 6" and weigh about 140. It would be nice to lose about 5 more pounds. I eat pretty clean...no junk food/processed food with the exception of energy bars of some sort on the weekends while backcountry skiing. I have pretty good endurance...can ski tour for many hrs without needing to rest. I am very goal driven. I guess I was just giving myself something to shoot for just so my training/exercise more of a purpose behind it... I would gladly take any other suggestions. :)


I do wear a HR monitor which I know is not completly accurate but it does give me a rough idea.

Thanks again!!


I'd look at the food piece of things. I recently went from 130 to 121, from 30% body fat to 21%. The main thing I did was nutrition tracking and ramped up my cardio. My goal was to lean out so I was pushing a little less me around skiing and biking. The food tracking thing was huge. I was thinking "sure I eat pretty healthy" but to be concrete about portion size and calories was rather enlightening. Also what I learned about the relationship between base calorie needs, and what you can earn through exercise, was also enlightening.

The main tool I used was a smart phone app, MyFitnessPal. Now I know a lot of folks dis these apps as approximate at best, but it sure worked for me. I used my age, starting weight and desired weight to set the parameters for the nutrition guidelines it used. The database is huge, the bar code scanner is great, and even adding the scratch stuff I make at home ( I do this a lot!!) wasn't much of an issue. I followed the calorie guidelines pretty much to the t and was even able to follow my intake of protien carb and fats and make adjustments when needed. It was a very educational process and I'm really glad I did it. Plus leaning out like I did - can't complain about that.

[Wahine]

Hi solobiker. Everyone here has given you really good input. I just wanted to add that there is some good research out there to indicate that once or caloric intake drops below 80% of caloric expenditure, you run the risk of messing up your metabolic hormone levels. You and I are about the same size. I usually shoot for a 400 to 500 Cal deficit, and that done consistently over a period of a couple of months seems to get me on the weight loss track, without being that hungry our feeling too tired. But it does take time to kick in. About 4 weeks for me before I actually start to lose weight.

I don't worry as much about caloric balance on the weekends. Since I'm out doing a lot. In fact I eat more to make sure I don't fall too far bellow the 80% guideline.

[Becky]

The database is huge, the bar code scanner is great, and even adding the scratch stuff I make at home ( I do this a lot!!) wasn't much of an issue. I followed the calorie guidelines pretty much to the t and was even able to follow my intake of protien carb and fats and make adjustments when needed. It was a very educational process and I'm really glad I did it. Plus leaning out like I did - can't complain about that.

Irulan, any suggestions for speeding up the entry of "from scratch" meals? I've downloaded MyFitnessPal, but find myself losing patience with entering recipes. Otherwise, its great!

[zoom-zoom]

Irulan, any suggestions for speeding up the entry of "from scratch" meals? I've downloaded MyFitnessPal, but find myself losing patience with entering recipes. Otherwise, its great!

THIS is the thing that makes it hard for me to lose. I don't lose unless I track, but I LOATHE not being able to eat food that's not prepackaged without trying to find something similar that someone else has already added or spending a lot of time making custom items.

[Irulan]

Irulan, any suggestions for speeding up the entry of "from scratch" meals? I've downloaded MyFitnessPal, but find myself losing patience with entering recipes. Otherwise, its great!

I found there were a few options. I do agree the first couple of weeks were tedious at times but it's a short curve I think.
1. look for a recipe someone else has done that closely resembles yours. or
look for an ingredient combo that's similar. One example is, I make stir frys a lot. So instead of doing 1 c broccoli, 1 c red pepper and so on, I might look for mix chopped vegs and find something close enough.
2. enter yours - you'll be surprised how easy it is to edit it later for when you make something kind of like it. Example, I do a tomato/veg saute that gets various different things added ( shrimp, poured over pork chops, black beans and some Mexican seasoning) and once its in there, I would just adjust a few ingredients.
3. Use the bar code scanner as much as you can. For example, when I made spaghetti sauce, I'd scan the jar of Classico, scan the can of diced tomatoes, scan the pasta package, scan the Costco Parm/reggio cheese; enter a few chopped vegs in an the meat and good to go.

Once I got the bar code scanner, that was great. I think I only scanned two items in the whole three months that weren't in there already.
After the first couple of weeks, everything I make was pretty much in there. What I had a hard time with was entering restaurant food.

[solobiker]

I'd look at the food piece of things. I recently went from 130 to 121, from 30% body fat to 21%. The main thing I did was nutrition tracking and ramped up my cardio. My goal was to lean out so I was pushing a little less me around skiing and biking. The food tracking thing was huge. I was thinking "sure I eat pretty healthy" but to be concrete about portion size and calories was rather enlightening. Also what I learned about the relationship between base calorie needs, and what you can earn through exercise, was also enlightening.

The main tool I used was a smart phone app, MyFitnessPal. Now I know a lot of folks dis these apps as approximate at best, but it sure worked for me. I used my age, starting weight and desired weight to set the parameters for the nutrition guidelines it used. The database is huge, the bar code scanner is great, and even adding the scratch stuff I make at home ( I do this a lot!!) wasn't much of an issue. I followed the calorie guidelines pretty much to the t and was even able to follow my intake of protien carb and fats and make adjustments when needed. It was a very educational process and I'm really glad I did it. Plus leaning out like I did - can't complain about that.


Thanks!! This is pretty much what I have been doing since December of 2010 and is what I think helped me to lose those pesky 20#. I, like you stated above, want to see if I can drop just a few more to make mtn biking a little more easy on some of the more challenging hills out here :-)

I do appreciate all of the comments and the thought has crossed my mind many times that I may be over doing it or my body might getused to that kind of expenditure.

I guess I just need a goal/plan to focus on so I just picked those numbers as they are conrete vs..I am going to ride my spin bike with a training dvd.

My diet is pretty clean...mainly lean meat, fruit and veggies....although today I cheated as it is my B-day so I had some awesome lasagna.:D

[solobiker]

Hi solobiker. Everyone here has given you really good input. I just wanted to add that there is some good research out there to indicate that once or caloric intake drops below 80% of caloric expenditure, you run the risk of messing up your metabolic hormone levels. You and I are about the same size. I usually shoot for a 400 to 500 Cal deficit, and that done consistently over a period of a couple of months seems to get me on the weight loss track, without being that hungry our feeling too tired. But it does take time to kick in. About 4 weeks for me before I actually start to lose weight.

I don't worry as much about caloric balance on the weekends. Since I'm out doing a lot. In fact I eat more to make sure I don't fall too far bellow the 80% guideline.

Thanks for your input! I don''t worry too much about calories on weekends either since I am always doing long fairly intesive carido activities. Maybe I will try to go for a less ambitious goal then 1000.:p We will see...I do have a hard time just kicking back and relaxing. :p

[Susan]

I was listening to a podcast not long ago, where a fitness coach mentioned something along the lines of "if you don't compete in a sport, it makes much more sense to try to minimize your trainingtime, rather than to maximize it". He said that trying to balance things out, so that you do enough to stay as fit as you want to be, and do all the things you want to do, but as little as possible in terms of time invested and "exercise load" on your body, is actually much more beneficial than trying to maximize exercise time.

This thought was very enlightening for me, as I was always striving to "exercise enough", without thinking about negative effects too much training could actually have. But as ever, more isn't always better ;)


Maybe a goal outside of "training time" would be better? Like doing x pushups or pullups or climbing that steep hill or whatever it might be for you :)

[solobiker]

I was listening to a podcast not long ago, where a fitness coach mentioned something along the lines of "if you don't compete in a sport, it makes much more sense to try to minimize your trainingtime, rather than to maximize it". He said that trying to balance things out, so that you do enough to stay as fit as you want to be, and do all the things you want to do, but as little as possible in terms of time invested and "exercise load" on your body, is actually much more beneficial than trying to maximize exercise time.

This thought was very enlightening for me, as I was always striving to "exercise enough", without thinking about negative effects too much training could actually have. But as ever, more isn't always better ;)


Maybe a goal outside of "training time" would be better? Like doing x pushups or pullups or climbing that steep hill or whatever it might be for you :)



Thanks! This was very insightful. Since reading everyone's posts I have thought quite a bit about my goal. I think I will change the focus of it because I am sure it will start to feel like a job and I will not enjoy doing it anymore. Plus I have so many other hobbies that I would not be able to do if I was spending all my time trying to achieve some #. I always tend to put a lot of pressure on myself both at work and at home to achieve fairly high standards...which I sometimes can't achieve.:o Drives my DH and my co-workers crazy sometimes. Oh well...I am still happy with my decision to back it down a bit and change my focus to more quality vs quantity which would be more beneficial and decrease my risk of overuse injuries.

Once again, thanks for all of your input. It is nice to come to my TE friends to bounce ideas off of. I always get great advice!!:D:p