Ideas for reaching BMI target weight

[IanHayes]

Hello, I'm a reasonably active (just retired) 66 year old male who is looking to lose weight to reach my BMI target weight of 90Kg. 

My stats are:  height 188cm, weight 96Kg.

Current exercise:  2 spin classes a week, and walk regularly notching up 10K steps at least twice a week

Diet:   mainly vegetarian to fit in with my wife's preferences

In the Spring/Summer I restart my road cycling

Problem is I can't shift any weight to get down to my BMI target of 90kg.

Any suggestions or life lessons on how to break this impasse?

[Glenda]

Mr. Hayes,  You could DUCKDUCKGO the number of calories you are probably eating to maintain your weight.    Then try to eat 500 calories a day less or just  use some restraint eating less sugar and flour, & processed food.  Being a vegetarian may not be helpful, since chocolate is a plant.  I wouldn't know.  But what you eat determines what you weigh.  You are actually in very good shape compared to most men since the average weight for men is 197 and the average height is 5'9" which would be at least 20 pounds heavier than you.   It is commendable that you are trying to be your best weight.  Good for you.

[Glenda]

I forgot to mention,  just in case,  alcohol  is better avoided.  It has calories and I usually eat something like salty nuts along with it which is more.  It could be considered a sugar???   Of course you know that.  Lots of people exercise to lose weight but eat more and don't lose weight.  So don't exercise so much that you eat more.   Best wishes.

[Heybales]

Accurate food logging. In order to eat less than you burn.

You reference doing extra activity - which is great for heart health and body shaping.

But diet is for fat loss if done right - you reference what you are eating, but it's the calories that count on your body. The what just can make it harder or easier for you to adhere to those calories.

You need to eat less than you burn. For your stated exercise - the Spin bike calories are going to be inflated, if this is typical interval high intensity spin bike classes. Correct the workout to be 3/4 the calories originally stated. The walks for those steps should be fine unless it's going into HR-based calorie burn instead of more accurate distance-based. If you are starting a workout for walking - don't.

When you start the road bike - typically inflated unless you can ride steady-state HR. Heat also makes most HR elevated not because of bigger calorie burn but to stay cool.

At just that little left to go, suggest the lowest diet option because that's reasonable now.

Log your food accurately by weight eaten, not volume. Log everything.

You might be surprised. Heard from plenty of vegans that gained fat eating that way, if they didn't account for calories.

[jigglyjawa]

Honestly, ignore BMI, it's utter rot with no scientific basis at all.

It might be more helpful if you go for a feel and look rather than a weight?  If you've only just started doing that amount of exercise you will be toning up and slimming down but your weight might not be changing at all.  Are you also measuring your body (tape measure) to track changes?

If you haven't already, have a really good look at your diet and make sure it's giving you what you need, your wife will have different requirements so you both shouldn't be eating the exact same meal and snacks (portions, constituent parts, etc).  You may need less starchy foods and more protein, or vice versa, have a good look at how your body reacted to how you've eaten before, it should give you an indication of what your body isn't great at dealing with (high fat or high carbs, very rarely can bodies do well on both) and cut that down.  And make sure you're getting the right amount of protein.  There are plenty of free charts, trackers out there and loads of good vids explaining this on youtube.

I give myself a rough weight to aim for 9.5 stone say, and then see how I look at each half stone loss, if I'm fit and am close to looking how i'd like then I generally don't need to lose the rest of the weight per se but instead up the weights I lift, and just keep an eye on junk intake. I don't go just for weight as it's not a good measure by itself.

Good luck with your goals.  Brave going for road cycling considering the state of our roads (assuming you're a Brit), I stopped doing that 5 years ago, I felt I shouldn't need my mtb just to go to the shops let alone a 20 mile saunter, I wouldn't put my poor road bike on the horrors 5 years' further neglect has wrought - turbo only for me now.

[charleskn]

I totally agree with ignoring the BMI. You're pretty close already. Eat healthy and keep exercising, and you should see some positive changes over the next 3-6 months that may have nothing to do with your weight.