Shifting from Fat loss to Weight loss?

[Nokomis]

I needed to do something real about fitness & diet, so I started the body for life challenge. I think I'm following it appropriately, but now that the warm weather is arriving I'd like to start moving into more cycling and less short cardio sessions.

My success on the plan has been muscle building and a lower percent body fat. (Almost 5% body fat lost thru week 9) I've lost inches here & there, but my total weight hasn't moved. I really want to drop 20 lbs ~ get back to a weight that I was comfortable at years ago.

I don't know how to fuel the weight loss - or what to change vs. what I'm doing now. (Historically the only time I've lost wieght is when I was sick and had no appetite - coincidentally it was also an illness that shot my weight up in the first place.) I'm currently eating 5-6 meals a day, balance of lean protein, mostly whole wheat carbs or fruit, and veggies. I'm exercizing 6 days a week, half weight training & half cardio or cycling.

My summer cycling goals:
Move up from the B17 40 mile group to the A19s at 60+. Our club is hosting their 2nd century - would really like to make a good effor there (saddle permitting) and to be conditioned for the Livestrong century at the end of the season.

[equus123]

What are you doing in the gym? Excercises, # reps & # sets, # days per week?

I have a good background in strength training so I might be able to help modify what you're doing to decrease the amount of muscle building....lean it out....and also support fat loss.

Losing 5% BF in 9 weeks is really good. You should be very proud of yourself. And just based on what your summer goals are for cycling - in achieving them you'll definitely end up cutting off a lot more BF just because of the nature of the sport. In fact, that exact type of exercise, long and easy to moderate, are the best way to burn the most amount of fat as energy. Of course the biggest thing is to moderate your nutrition. Just be careful as to not gain weight if you're increasing your volume of training. Manage calories burned, calories consumed, grams of carbohydrates, grams of protein, and electrolytes. Those are the most important aspects of nutrition for the endurance athlete.

Good luck!

[Nokomis]

Thanks equus!! I am proud & motivated - just trying to identify the right changes to reach my goals.

Simplification of the plan so it doesn't take forever to explain.. hopefully this is clear.

Workout rotation is Cardio / Upper Body / Cardio / Lower Body , repeat. 6 days on, 1 day off, pick up the rotation w/ next work out. So one week will be 2 days upper body, the next week would be 2 days lower body.

Upper: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Bicep & Tricep work.
Lower: Quads/Glutes, Hamstring, Calf, Ab work
Increase weight per set, reps go 12, 10, 8, 6, then lower weight for 12, and add 12 more of a second exercize for the same muscle group - totalling 6 sets per muscle. Goal is to fatigue the muscle group w/ the final set.

I do change up the exercizes and challenge the muscles in different ways, and am seeing progress in tone, strength, and definition.

[equus123]

Thanks equus!! I am proud & motivated - just trying to identify the right changes to reach my goals.

Simplification of the plan so it doesn't take forever to explain.. hopefully this is clear.

Workout rotation is Cardio / Upper Body / Cardio / Lower Body , repeat. 6 days on, 1 day off, pick up the rotation w/ next work out. So one week will be 2 days upper body, the next week would be 2 days lower body.

Upper: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Bicep & Tricep work.
Lower: Quads/Glutes, Hamstring, Calf, Ab work
Increase weight per set, reps go 12, 10, 8, 6, then lower weight for 12, and add 12 more of a second exercize for the same muscle group - totalling 6 sets per muscle. Goal is to fatigue the muscle group w/ the final set.

I do change up the exercizes and challenge the muscles in different ways, and am seeing progress in tone, strength, and definition.

That actually looks pretty good and sounds like you know what you're doing. That's VERY good. Couple comments - do you take rest & recover weeks? That's the one major flag that's raised in initially looking at your schedule. As long as every few weeks you take a couple days off during a week or a few consecutive days to rest then you're okay.

How do you feel with the amount of lifting you do? Are you okay with the total time spent in the gym per day or per week? I'm asking this because you can actually combine muscle groups and reduce the number of exercises - if that's an option you would like. Another thing I notice is that you seem to be doing a lot of sets. This in combination with only having 1 day off per week for recovery might come back and nip you in the butt later on down the road. Please be careful about overtraining. Lifting takes a good 2 days to recover from so if you never give your body the opportunity to do so then you might fatigue and do your body harm. Did somebody prescribe this workout for you or did you create it yourself?

I have some suggestions but they would be to change what you're doing and how you're doing it. I'm sure you don't want to do that because I know how good it feels when you finally get into a schedule but if you're interested, I'm more than happy to share other ideas of what you could do to continue strength training but modify the way in which you're doing it to help elicit a more aerobic type of lifting.

[Nokomis]

I have some suggestions but they would be to change what you're doing and how you're doing it. I'm sure you don't want to do that because I know how good it feels when you finally get into a schedule but if you're interested, I'm more than happy to share other ideas of what you could do to continue strength training but modify the way in which you're doing it to help elicit a more aerobic type of lifting.

I'm using the body for life 12 week challenge / plan. I'm open to suggestions - the plan has helped me change my body composition, maintain regular exercize and better eating habits. I am trying to explore what to do next that will best compliment my cycling + fitness goals. I'm very interested in your suggestions.

gnat - I am very happy about my progress thus far! I'm still waiting for that pivot point to kick in where the extra muscle increases metabolism & my weight starts to drop I am now stronger & better able to push 160 lbs up hill, but i'd rather be pushing 140 up hill instead

RoadRaven - I rarely have white bread, the majority of my grain carbs are being supplied by brown rice or quinoa, or whole grain granola in small amounts.

If this helps, a sample eating plan (today):
Beverages - Black coffee, Water, water, water, and more water
Breakfast - 1/4c granola, 1/2c TJs fat free greek style yogurt, 1/4c blueberries
Snack - 1/2 Odwalla super protein
Lunch - grilled chicken breast (3oz), steamed broccoli/carrot/cauliflower, 1/2c brown rice
Snack - other 1/2 Odwalla super protein
Dinner - ~5oz jerk chicken, 3/4c quinoa w/ tomato & cucumber
Snack - 1/2c lowfat cottage cheese, 1/3c berries

[RoadRaven]

Nokomis... sounds like your diet is alright (though I'm no nutritionist)

The point, we were told, of droppng all bread is to eliminate gluten as much as possible from the diet, and the fat you "lose" is "internal" fat that accumulates around organs. I haven't researched this for medical back-up, but it is resulting in our weight loss.

But it sounds like you couldn't eliminate much more gluten (if you wanted to) from your diet anyways...

[gnat23]

My success on the plan has been muscle building and a lower percent body fat. (Almost 5% body fat lost thru week 9) I've lost inches here & there, but my total weight hasn't moved. I really want to drop 20 lbs ~ get back to a weight that I was comfortable at years ago.

One thing that BFL taught me years ago is this: that bodyfat percentage is WAY more useful than the number on the scale!

I know it's frustrating not to see the scale number go down, but the bodyfat number is where it's at. And the fact that you aren't losing scale weight at the same time means you can be pretty darn sure that you are LOSING FAT *and* GAINING MUSCLE at the same time. That I could be so lucky these days! Lately, I have been *gaining* weight, but my pants are fitting better and I feel more like I can cruise up those 14% grade hills like they were nuthin. If I just tried to get down to a scale weight, I'd be losing muscle, too. That's not what I want anymore!

Instead of the number on the scale as a goal, I would recommend setting a dress- or jeans-size goal that you're comfortable at. Or a fitness goal (like riding XX miles at an average speed of XX). I say keep doing what you're doing, get through the 12 weeks, enjoy all those inches being lost, and re-evaluate how you're feeling when it comes time to reset those goals.

-- gnat!

[RoadRaven]

Shifting weight is about everything discussed above.

However, the most successful strategy my partner and I have tried is to remove bread from our diets. We eat loads of rice now though.
We already didn't eat cake, biscuits, pastires etc. (except for the very occasional treat).

He did it for a few months and after two had dropped 8kgs.
I have been doing it for a month and have dropped 5kgs so far. My goal is another 14kgs.

Of course the drawback of losing weight this quickly is that you don't have the energy reserves you had. So now he has plateued and is maintaining his weight, he has found his power and strength are back - plus he can stay with the top cyclists in our club on hills.
He did maintain his cycling distances (about 4-500km per week) but didn't do intense rides, just distances. now he is building the intense rides into his distances again.

I am finding I don't have the endurance in races, but thats ok. Already I am climbing a tad faster, and that is my the reason for me wanting to lose weight.

[teigyr]

I am reading this with great interest because I also do the same type of routine. I do four sets instead of six but it is the same concept. Is it better to fatigue the muscle than to do the same weight? I used to do step increases and still kind of do it sometimes.

Also, if you're doing at least two day gaps between muscle groups (ie upper body/cardio/lower body/cardio then back to upper) is that sufficient? Or by rest does it mean no weight training? Lower body rest is the worst because everything requires lower body!

Great thread though and I am sure many people appreciate the information here.

[equus123]

I am reading this with great interest because I also do the same type of routine. I do four sets instead of six but it is the same concept. Is it better to fatigue the muscle than to do the same weight? I used to do step increases and still kind of do it sometimes

Depends on what you want out of it, how you want to look, and what your goals are. You can still fatigue the muscle by doing the same weight or even with 2 lbs! ....it's all in how you do it. Using the example you stated above, if you use the same weight for each set and it's still somewhat easy at the end of each set and by the last set then you can change your tempo. Tempo in lifting refers to 3 measures of time - 1 for the eccentric, 1 for the climax, and 1 for the concentric. Ex: a bench press. You pick the bar up and your arms are fully extended. The eccentric movement is from max extension down to your chest. The climax would be that lowest point. The concentric movement is the actual "lift" whether it be a push or a pull. Back to your example.....you can use the same weight for all 4 sets and either use a slow eccentric movement (~3 second count) or you can squeeze at the end of the push/pull (~2 second count). This will burn towards the end of the last set and you'll definitely feel the fatigue. These types of lifting techniques tend to build strength and stamina or endurance. Lifting heavier weights with lower reps tend to build strength and power. So again, everything boils down to what you want out of your strength training, how you want your physique, and what your goals are.

Also, if you're doing at least two day gaps between muscle groups (ie upper body/cardio/lower body/cardio then back to upper) is that sufficient? Or by rest does it mean no weight training? Lower body rest is the worst because everything requires lower body!

When it comes to defining "rest" - you can have designated body part days (i.e. Tuesday - chest and shoulders; Friday - back and arms) or you can do full body workouts each time you go into the gym. What differs is the total number of sets and reps per body part that distinguishes the amount of rest needed for the muscles to recover.

Focusing on one muscle group and doing that twice per week is okay, more than that will likely not provide enough rest between. On the other hand if you do full body workouts then you can lift up to 4 days per week because it's not as targeted and specific as the other.