I lost 100 pounds since September 9th but....

pwalmer
pwalmer Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all. I'll warn you now that this may be a little long winded but I want to get the BEST advice. In order to do that, I think one would need to know all the specifics. OK, so here we go...

On September 9, 2012 I started the OptiFast800 diet. I weighed in at 295 pounds. I spent the next two months drinking 5 shakes a day and I ended up losing about 45 pounds in just over 8 weeks. Now... cycling has always been a hobby of mine so after 8 weeks of nothing but shakes, I started the weaning-off process and went to drinking 3 shakes and having a salad for lunch and lean protein dinner. At that point, I started cycling every day. Over the next 6-7 weeks, I lost another 20 pounds. By New Years, I weighed about 230-235 pounds. I then stopped the OptiFast800 and started eating normal but very healthy meals. At the same time, I purchased an all carbon road bike and began to ride 35 miles every morning. Cycling has shed the pounds off of me and I'm now down to 194 pounds.

Yay me but....

As great that I feel and as comfortable as I finally am with myself, I still have a small bit of belly fat that is bugging the HECK out of me! Before anyone asks, NO, I haven't done any kind of ab exercises until just this week. I'm here to find out just what will actually work to get rid of this last 5 pounds of belly fat!!!

I've lost so much weight cycling that I'm not about to stop that anytime soon but I MUST be missing something. If you saw me, you'd see that I now have no double chin, skinny arms, and a skinny face but damn that belly!!!! LOL!!!

So what say you all? Is it just a matter of doing sit-ups every day? Is it perhaps just more dieting that's needed? Just so you know what I'm doing right now, I'm a commercial pilot and I work on a "week on-week off" schedule. The week that I'm home, I cycle 30-40 mile EVERY morning. I'm also hitting the gym about every other day now (only over the past week) and doing some light dumbbell exercises (biceps curls and bench presses) and I'm doing 100 incline sit-ups. The week that I'm on the road, I hit the treadmill EVERY night for 60 minutes starting at a 5% incline and increasing it 1% every 10 minutes. After that I'll do 100 sit-ups (only over the past week) and then some dumbbell exercises.

My typical diet consists of either a protein shake or a bowl of granola for breakfast. I'll have a banana right before my ride and one right after the ride. I'll have another protein shake for lunch. For dinner I'll have some sort of lean protein dinner like chicken or fish over a salad. I'll cheat once a week and have a wheat pasta dish. I'll have another bowl of cereal as a snack a few hours after dinner.

There.... now you have all the info I can give.

WHAT CAN I DO TO GET RID OF THIS LAST BIT OF BELLY FAT WITHOUT GETTING MORE SKINNY EVERYWHERE ELSE?????

Replies

  • MysticRealm
    MysticRealm Posts: 1,264 Member
    Start weight lifting (full body)
  • Etienne54
    Etienne54 Posts: 88 Member
    You'll need to reduce your Body fat%. So keep up with the program/dieting.

    For most, belly fat is the last to go.
  • pwalmer
    pwalmer Posts: 5
    You'll need to reduce your Body fat%. So keep up with the program/dieting.

    For most, belly fat is the last to go.

    Tell me about it.... LOL!!!
  • Cheval13
    Cheval13 Posts: 350 Member
    What most people have already written, it sounds like you're doing great! You just need to get your body fat down a little more. The diet sounds good, but weight-lifting (full body) will get you better results. As a biker, you'll appreciate the extra distance you can go with a stronger core and upper body. God for you so far!
  • sea_tern
    sea_tern Posts: 5 Member
    It sounds like you have a bit of an "apple" body type which is common with men. Unfortunately you can't really choose where you lose weight so as mentioned before the only solution is to just keep working on lowering your body fat percentage and it will (eventually) go. Good for you though! You've done so well to get here!
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member
    Whoops, didn't mean to post here.

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    * edited due to stupidity *
  • gregpack
    gregpack Posts: 426 Member
    Congrats on your loss. I have the same problem- some fat but also loose skin. My weight is not dropping but I believe my composition has improved over the past year. I would suggest try backing off the cardio a bit and doing some heavier lifting- look at starting strength or stronglifts 5x5 as a starting guideline.

    You might also want to search for articles about cortisol and it's effect on the body, Take steps to reduce cortisol.-Try to get plenty of quality sleep, make your workouts shorter (but more intense), and reduce as many physical and psychological stressors in your life as possible.
  • southpaw0
    southpaw0 Posts: 4 Member
    I would find a good personal weight trainer who can show you how to lift weights properly and also show you the best core training concepts for you. You can do 2 sessions a week when in home town and then do your own training while on the road. I cannot say enough good things about proper weight training techniques. Once you learn, you can just do them by yourself and keep up with it just like your cardio, and your belly will start to shrink. By the way congratulations on your weight loss, which I am sure is very important as a commercial pilot. My brother was one, and his physicals were very important. So good work!

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