New Bike... Calorie burns way up... Weight loss.. STOPPED!

MrWThompson

Ok, frustration is building up. And motivation is going down.

In my birthday, 20 April, I bought a new mountain bike. My first bike in.......... well, let's just say...... many years. I started to ride and re-found my love for just riding around. By workouts have gone from 300-400 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (circuit training) to over 3000 in the last week alone. The problem, my eating habits have not changed, I am coming in right at the calories I should take in (for 2 pounds per week of weight loss) and then I log in my exercise (making me 500-750 calories under on biking days) but the weight has just plain STOPPED coming off. 35 pounds from Dec 1, 2012 to April 19, 2013...... and .2 (Yes, 2 tenths of a pound) since! That is two weeks of solid excercise and diet and for just two tenths of a pound.

What am I doing wrong? I am not going to stop riding, I have found I like it too much, but I need something to kick start the weight loss again!

-Will

mamamc03

Up your calories. Just experiment with it. Up them for a week or two and see what happens. Just make good calories choices. Don't just allow a binge. Make sure you refuel after a workout with protein. You can do this. It's just an interesting journey. Best wishes! My hubby's a cyclist if you have any questions for him. bigmc03

olDave

I too ride bicycles. The same thing happened to me that is happening to you. My solution was to eat back my exercise calories. It seemed illogical to me at the time, but it worked.

Good luck.

diannethegeek

Eating more is good advice. You want to make sure you're fueling all that activity. You may also be holding onto some water weight with the new exercise routine. It's not uncommon to see the scales stick when you start a new routine because your body floods sore muscles with water to help them heal, masking any fat loss that's happening.

CaffeinatedConfectionist

Eating more is good advice. You want to make sure you're fueling all that activity. You may also be holding onto some water weight with the new exercise routine. It's not uncommon to see the scales stick when you start a new routine because your body floods sore muscles with water to help them heal, masking any fat loss that's happening.

This ^^^^

jchite84

1) Eat back your calories 2) Make sure you drink extra water. When I ride a lot and do not up my water intake some processes get slowed down and it can lead to some weight stagnation. Then a week later after 20 minutes in the bathroom I will have miraculously lost a few pounds.

MrGonzo05

It's not wise to run a large sustained deficit because it can cause too much of your weight loss to come from muscle. Your weight loss probably arrested because you increased your exercise dramatically and recently. It will start coming off again even if you change nothing. It will also come off if you eat more, but eating more will not "cause" the weight loss.

Ejourneys

In addition to what everyone else has said, keep on keepin' on.
My longest plateau so far has been 18 days, with several 10- and 11-day plateaus in there. It's part of the process.
What helps me when I feel impatient is to remind myself that I am in much better shape now than when I started, I've picked up good habits that I want to keep no matter what, and I'll get to my goal when I get there.
PS: Awesome job on the bike!

JulesAlloggio

I personally would increase calories slowly... maybe mix in some weight lifting. Sounds like you hit a major plateau and in order to break through that you need to change your diet/exercise regime.

If you are constantly doing the same exercise over and over your body will become so used to the same training that it will start working against you. That's why its good to switch it up at least every 6-8 weeks.