ackfugue wrote:
I'm sure this question has been asked a million and one times, but I am
desperate.

Between my childhood, into my teens and into my 20s, I was at an ideal
weight. I'm 6 feet tall. I used to be all of about 145 lbs in my
early teens, then worked up to about 155 and to 160. I was always
active, always outdoors, always playing sports. I won 3 physical
fitness awards from elem. school into middle school. In high school, I
was in track & field. My friends and I played football in the street
practically everyday. I got into biking in my late teens, but not
seriously, just for exercise. In my 20s, my activity was going out to
the nightclubs and dancing 2 or 3 times a week, for 6 hours a night.

Then, I entered my 30s and things went down hill from there. My jobs
pretty much made me sedentary like so many other Americans, and I could
no longer just eat whatever I wanted to and get away with it. I guess
you could say, what people told me finally came true: my matobilism
finally caught up up me and ran on past me.

I saw so many of my friends turn to cycling to lose the weight. Some
of them surpassed me in weight by MANY lbs. As soon as they began
cycling, they became virtual tooth-picks! I couldn't believe me eyes.
I still can't. "What is your secret?" "What diet are you on?" ...
"Nothing, I just started bicycling."

So, then I started doing the same, and as hard as I ride, and as far as
I ride, it has done NOTHING to change my weight, and I am getting,
frankly, quite depressed. No pain, no gain? Well, I have done the
pain and showed little gain, except a fatter ass. I'm going out, riding
at least 200 miles a week with no results. Sure, my legs feel like
wrought iron underneath the layer of fat that encases it all. My
stomach keeps sneaking a little more outwardly pudge everytime I look
in the mirror. I weigh myself everyday looking for results and find
none.

I rode 100 miles this past Saturday, and when I got home, I lost about
4 or 5 lbs. I was just shy over 190. Then, I weigh myself today, and
I am just under 200. What the HECK is going on?? I'm wondering if
most of that is water gain. I mean, I felt like I couldn't get enough
to drink the past few days, and with all the liquid I am drinking,
you'd think I would be ****ing like Niagara Falls. Nope.. Just a
tinkle here and a tinkle there. So, my body must be absorbing it like
a sponge and storing it all up.

And I am finding it hard to believe that my friends (not really CLOSE
friends) are doing NOTHING aside from cycling. They must be dieting,
also. But as much as I tell myself that I will not eat a tall
cheeseburger and fries after a hard ride, it just doesn't happen. The
bad side always wins. It is SOOO hard when my body is hanging on by a
thread after a long ride in the saddle.

The odd thing is, with all the cycling I have been doing lately I can't
sit down and eat a large meal. What I used to pack away before, I can
no longer do. Value meals, etc. Whatever - I eat about half of it and
I throw the rest away because I feel full. But, even though I am
eating half the portion that I used to, I am NOT losing weight.

At this point, I don't know what to do. I'll keep on cycling because I
love doing it. I just want to know: Is water gain a real issue, and
does it affect how my body breaks down solids? Is there a "biker's
diet" that I can follow that will help me lose the weight and yet feel
as full as if I bit into a steak & cheese sub or a slice of pizza? I
need a sensible solution.

I keep reading how complex carbs are important for athleticism, but
where do I draw the line? How many complex carbs are too much? Maybe
I am just eating the wrong kinds of carbs after a day in the saddle. I
pretty much feel like I am gaining back everything I burn off in a
matter of one or two days, and more!

HELP!

Your "friends" did not lose weight by bicycling alone. Unless they
were training for RAAM. Bicycling is too efficient of an activity to
burn many excess calories unless you are watching your calorie intake.
Roughly 700 calories are burned going 18 mph. Roughly. In the US
eating excess calories is very easy since there are so many high
calorie processed foods around. Many people gain weight on RAGBRAI.
Riding 500 miles in 7 days is far more than anyone but professionals
ride in a week. Yet RAGBRAI riders gain weight because they eat more
calories than they consume.

A fast and furious evening ride of two hours (40 miles) consumes about
1500 calories. But if you drink a couple Pepsis before the ride (300
Cal) plus a couple granola bars (220 Cal) to make sure you have enough
energy to get through the ride, and after the ride you re-energize
yourself with an extra Big Mac (500 Cal, you eat supper at McDonalds)
and lo and behold, you merely burned 500 calories net during your two
hour fast and furious ride. Do that every single day and you will lose
1 pound in a week. So you will have to increase your weekly mileage
from 200 to 280 and make sure you are riding racer fast for all of
those miles to take off 1 pound a week.

To lose weight you must reduce the number of calories you consume.
Exercising is great and fun and should be done too. But you have to
reduce the calories you consume to lose weight. You have to run
roughly a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose 1 pound. So to lose 1 pound a
week, you have to eat 500 fewer calories a day than you burn. I think
a Big Mac has a bit over 500 calories. So for lunch you could skip the
Big Mac and just eat the french fries, and diet Coke.

I'm sure what types of food have some impact on weight loss. Maybe
eating all fat or all protein or all carbohydrates matters some. But a
balanced diet of healtyhy foods is probalby best for most people. And
in the end no matter what types of calories you consume, the key aspect
is eating fewer calories than you burn. You also have to stay on your
diet/meal plan forever to keep the weight off. Reducing weight
permanently involves a permanent lifestyle change. A permanent change
in your eating habits.