Biking to Live Week 3 Summary

= Now, even though I didn’t lose weight I have noticed a significant change in the fit of my clothes.

In a technical sense you may not have lost a single lb. However, it's possible you lost 4 lbs of fat, and replaced it with 4lbs of muscle. I generally get that "clothes fit better feeling" right before I'm about to shed a few lbs. I tend to eat more on the weekend but ride more on the weekend as well. I generally don't see my weight loss from hard weekend workouts until Tuesday or Wednesday. Compare a mid-week morning weight (before eating) to the next weeks morning weight. You will probably see more consistency if you are looking to track weekly weight loss.

Anyway, it sounds like you are getting stronger. Good to hear about your longer / harder riding. Keep it up!

dave

Here's the analogy I try to use with women who want to give up on their new exercise routine.

Side Note: I believe one of the biggest problems with our society (in general) is that there are tons and tons of guides to weight loss, but nobody really focuses on size loss. So let me tell you why you should occasionally feel good about gaining a lb or 2.

To get a good fire going, you have to get the fire started, then add more logs to the fire. It will then produce more heat. If you guys fire up your muscle content, you will burn more fat. It's like throwing more logs on the fire! Now if you are gaining weight and starving yourself, you are probably doing more harm than good. You must eat enough to fuel a faster metabolism. So listen to your body. I particularly know when I need some type of chicken or meat.

Now, I use Wednesday as just a guide. It's probably the most consistent time of the week for me as far as eating habits, and that's why I use it. If I happen to hit a cook-out on Saturday afternoon and I had a long ride that morning – I'll eat a good amount of chicken, some pasta, and try not to drink carbs. That way, I am ready for a good workout on Sunday, and by Monday or Tuesday, I'm able to pull another hard workout again.

Like I said in a previous thread, there are way too many day-to-day factors that can influence weight. The weekend can throw even more at you than a weekday. A better way to tell is week to week.

Having said this, I must admit to weighing myself every day. I do this for two reasons.

a.) Determine if I am losing too much – too quick – which usually means I'm not hydrating well enough.

b.) To make sure I don't lose power by dropping weight. Losing the weight make no sense to me if it means a lack of fitness through losing muscle. If you ever smell ammonia after a ride – you are burning muscle and not fat. Yes, Ammonia!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabolism

Many will refer to this as going anabolic or catabolic.

Due to what I've seen here, I am thinking about my own training blog or putting my logs on my website. In case you are curious, right now I'm trying to build a great base by riding some long mileage to take off weight. The focus is not so much on speed, but mileage and burning calories without going anabolic.

For me, and I suspect most people…if weight loss were charted on a spreadsheet graph, it would not be a steady line. I'm sure it would look more like a set of stairs.

Dave