You've gotten some GREAT advice form LV & Hardy B. Let me try to add to it.
When I started I was about 270 and I'm at 5' 8"...so I know where you're coming from, we probably have similar builds. I also started with a lot of biking and messed with weights as well. Let's do this:
Right now for a workout, I am doing a rather long workout, and I bike for around 30-60 minutes also. ?)
Biking is GREAT exercise. It's relatively low-impact and it utilizes your largest muscles in the body...burning some good calories! My bike rides kept getting longer until they were about 3 hours....you worked upto it, it's great. Some people would argue with this, but I found that after an hour you were kinda in a "golden zone"....with your glycogen being tapped to some degree, the body will really start tapping into the fat reserves! burn baby, burn!!! :SaiyanSmilie_anim:
I'd also like to suggest trying some swimming. It's the ultimate in low-impact, it's very refreshing after a bike-ride and it'll then work your upper body for cardio. And everyone knows how woman are so fond of "swimmers bodies"
That being said, I think I used to have a decent frame, meaning I could gain muscle back rather quickly, as stated before. Also, I have genetics on my side. ?)
I think this statement was misunderstood earlier. You're an endomorph/mezomorph.....you can put-on muscle easily.
Let me warn you right now: I spent my first month doing crazy-hard mountain bike rides, working-out and really pushing it hard. When I got on the scale it showed a gain!!! I almost cried, but then my nutritionist pulled-out the body-fat calipers and we found I had dropped a ton of body-fat!!
Be warned, you will put-on muscle and it can offset (on the scale) your fat-loss. Don't focus on the scale...that springy bitch will ruin your day every time! Measure yourself, take body-fat readings, take pictures....but don't get hung-up on the scale! #1 lucky-best advice I can offer ya! Muscle weighs more then fat!
and HELL-YEAH, you can easily lose fat AND gain muscle at the same time; don't let anyone tell you differently! (more on that later)
I read that 1 pound of new pure muscle burns an extra 50 calories. I think I should be able to put 15-20 pounds of muscle back on in a decent period of time.
Recent research shows that different muscle burns different amounts of calories, and the worse news: while previous studies sugggested that muscle can burn upto 50 calories per day just sitting on your body, newer studies (I can source the info if you want), now suggest that figure was way too high. Turns-out muscle on the body only burns between 5-20 calories per pound per day. That's what the expert told me and he's good.
And despite your ability to build muscle, it'll take quite a bit of time to put-on that much muscle.
Just FYI; the main reason we do weight-training while dieting is to place a "toll" on our muscles and let our bodies know that, despite the calorie deficit, that we need our muscles and don't skin 'em to reduce the caloric demands and lack of calories our bodies are faced with! Your body doesn't know you're intentionall trying to lose weight...it'll adapt in many ways and some of that is to lighten the load: bye-bye lean muscle tissue! You can maintain this lean muscle by simply using them...and you don't have to lift until your face turns red and you puke. Reseach shows it takes very little to keep the muscle.
Also FYI, it's not that our metabolism slows down as we age, it's that as we age we lose lean muscle tissue...so we need to eat less, yet we eat the same....so that's why most people get fatter as they get older!
Okay, moving along....
My main goal is to lose weight, but in the past I have always expected it to happen overnight. So this time around, I want to take it slow, and try to do everything that I should do to make it come off. (Also, I'll add, I've read about what I should do as far as diets and exercise for both gaining and losing, my main concern is what I should focus on.)?)
What you've been told is correct; just eat less and get some exercise in. At this point you really just wanna lose fat and maintain or even gain a bit of muscle. It took a while to get there and it'll take a while to get off. And let me assure you of something: watching yourself lose weight is like trying to look in the mirror and see your hair grow....YOU WON'T SEE IT. I lost some 40-pounds and swore I saw no difference in the mirror! This is a long-haul project, but the long trail is initiated with the first step. For more philosophy do a search on "Chillen"
So, do you think I should try to put the muscle back on first, then try to lose fat while retaining as much muscle as possible, or should I get right into really cutting calories back, and biking as much as possible? (In the long run, which way will burn the most calories?)
Stick with the advice you've been given. Get yourself into a 20% calorie deficit and exercise as much as possible. Weight-train to maintain muscle, push hard and you'll gain some too. I'd suggest weight-training about 2-3x per week and hitting cardio about as much as you can stand!
But understand this....it's much easier to lose weight by dieting then it is by exercising....and don't accidently let your massive exercise mistakenly lead you to believe you can eat big.
Shooting from the hip, I'd suggest about 1,750 to 2,000 calories per day. Whatever calories you burn in exercise, you eat 20-30% of those calories (burn 1,000 calories on the bike, you can eat an extra 200-300 calories that day).
If (and when) you succeed in losing the weight, it'll be the greatest thing you've ever done for yourself...and with each day it'll get easier and easier.
Welcome to the forum. Initiation complete; please cop an attitude and prepare to be bitch-slapped by the boys!
