Help, not sure if I am doing weight loss correctly

[Myfiggy]

I have been eating healthy and excercising alot for the past two years.  I initially lost sixty pounds in about 8 months.  I know it took awhile to put on, so I am not in any hurry to loose quickly.  But i do want to continue to loose.  I have lost an addtional few pounds, and gained them back and lost some again.  I want to loose and keep it off.  But i feel i may be working out too much, if that is even possible.  I cycle for my major workouts, and mix it up with aerobic workouts as well during the week.  I have started to add in weight training 3x a week.  the pounds are coming back.  i dont like the yo yo effect and worry that i am working on endurance and is interfering with just plain weight loss.  i have read alot of posts on this and am still confused.  I am not sure my diet is great for weight loss either.  I eat better, healthier choices, but they still contain carbs, fats and protien.  I just feel that  I am at the end of a rope and I have no where to go.. HELP. 

[Tylluan]

Carbs, fats and protein are what your body needs. Do no demonise a food group - your body needs nourishing!

You need to keep a log of how much you're eating. MyFitnessPal is popular and easy to use. You log what you eat each day and, vitally, HOW MUCH, so use electronic scales. Xg of cereal, Yml of milk. You can get a barcode scanner app to scan in packaged products and use their database for things like eggs, chicken etc. It remembers all your foods so after a few days you're just clicking from a list of favourites and it's much quicker.

Now you have a good idea of what's going in. It's very easy to eat more calories than we burn.

OK, your workouts. So are you taking any rest days? I see 'major cycling workouts' and 3x a week strength training. My tip would be to cut back on the cardio (but then, I don't do cardio, besides walking 😛 I just love - and achieve great weight loss - with strength training only) but that's up to you. Use the HRM during the cardio to get an estimate of your calorie burn. Don't eat back all the calories - MFP can be used to log your exercise and will recalculate your daily total. So if you burned 2000 on a particular day, just eat 1500. Or 1700. Or 1800. Whatever you feel is right that day.

Eat plenty of protein to ensure you stay full and satisfied (0.8g protein per lb of your bodyweight) and eat carbs to fuel your workouts. Fats will also keep you full and satisfied, as well as your mood high and hormones stable. It's all good. MFP is also useful for traking your macros so you can ensure you're getting the carbs, fats and proteins you need.

[Dominique]

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@Tylluan wrote:

My tip would be to cut back on the cardio (but then, I don't do cardio, besides walking 😛 I just love - and achieve great weight loss - with strength training only).

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Well, your profile indicates you're doing a decent amount of cardio, even if it's "only" walking:

Many proponents of lifting appear to "diss" cardio, as if they were mutually exclusive, or if the only purpose of cardio were to burn calories. I don't really understand why. What's the point in being lean and muscular, if you can't climb a couple of floors without being completely out of breath?

[Tylluan]

Same line of thinking; what's the point of devoting hours on a treadmill/fake bike thingie, if it's not enjoyable, not doing anything for your weight loss and not giving you the body aesthetic you're seeking? Yes, OK, endurance matters if people are out of breath on stairs - never happened to me, and as you can see I walk for transport, hike for pleasure, which seems to be enough cardio to prevent that happening.

I'm not 'dissing' it, per se. I guess I just figure if people are doing it, they should know WHY they're doing it 🙂 A marathon runner can probably tell you why they enjoy marathon running, or a swimmer, or a long-distance cyclist. They probably have a good idea why they're doing it. But there seems to be a lot of people who just think it's THE thing you should do. There's still so much media out there telling us to run or use a spin bike to 'get fit!' and 'look like this lady here with toned abs and biceps!' and 'promote wellbeing' without telling us why. Sure, move, be active, walk, climb a hill or three, get on your bike - all for fun. And benefits that you desire and that you see/feel happening.

But if you don't find jogging, running, treadmills or spin bikes fun, there's no strict fitnessy rule that you HAVE to do those things, which is what I seem to come across a lot. People saying they hate the gym, they hate their hour on the bike. People who think fitness IS cardio. Like they feel if you're not on a stationary machine, it's not fitness.

I mean, hopefully all these Fitbits around will make people think more about how their daily walking does count, and their other activities too. That there's more to this idea of 'fit' than cardio. And also that you know why you're doing X activity, what it's doing for you and what the benefits are, rather than just doing it for the sake of it.

[Myfiggy]

Thanks for the info.  I use Fitbit to log my food, but i think i am going to start using My Fitness Pal.  I have seen others have more success and ease of use with MFP.  i need to get a scale and start to weigh my food to get a better reading on my intake.  That may help.  I probably need to change my workouts.  I feel i do way to much cardio because i do like it.  I enjoy and feel better when i work out.  I ride real bikes and not recumbant.  i do a cycling class and am working on some day doing a century on a real bike.  with more powerful legs and more muscular to boot, may not be helping my weight loss goals.  I think they are competing with each other.