What to do?

[Catrin]

.....Yesterday, I drove to the gym. I did the full hour of weights plus cardio. I felt really good afterwards. I had more energy and was less tired than when I ride to the gym.

I don't know much about how all this works, other than calories in vs. calories out. Lean muscle is good, but how do I best get rid of the fat! bikerHen

I am in weight-loss mode as well, and while I can't speak to your question directly I have noted that when I mix things up that I have better results. Perhaps the best approach isn't either A or B, but both/and - mix it up.

Personally I have noted that when I am doing the same thing every day that I start tiring more quickly. Why not experiment and see how a combination of the two works for you?

[ny biker]

It works by burning calories. Unfortunately in practice it's not easy to figure out. Some things to consider:

Strength training is an important part of overall health, but you're burning more calories doing cardio than when you're lifting weights.

What is the total cardio time for the different workouts? And how do they compare in intensity? If the bike ride days have more cardio time at the same intensity as the drive days, then the bike ride days burn more calories. If the bike ride days are easier workouts over a longer time, you might actually burn fewer calories on those days.

If you have more energy when you drive, it might be because you're not fueling (eating) enough on the days you're riding your bike. A pre-ride workout meal or snack can help you work harder.

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, it's best to do it in a way that does not exhaust you and make you miserable and therefore make you burn out. Also you need to vary the intensity of workouts to give yourself easy days (or days off) so your body can recover from the hard workouts.

Also, read this book:

http://www.nancyclarkrd.com/books/sportsnutrition.asp

Good luck!

[GLC1968]

Perhaps the best approach isn't either A or B, but both/and - mix it up.

This.

You definitely need the weight training to keep the muscle as you burn the fat. You won't be able to add sizeable muscle while in a calorie deficit, but you want to retain as much of it as possible. Put simply, if you don't use it, you lose it and that is horribly detrimental to your ability to maintain your loss.

Plus, variety is the spice of life, right? I find that mixing things up keeps me entertained and if I am entertained, I am way more likely to keep going.

Just keep doing what you are doing. Keep the diet in check, keep the activity up, and keep lifting weights - you'll get there. The single most important factor in weight loss is consistency (I should know...I don't have it!! ) and if you have that, you'll get there.

[Zen]

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