just 4 or 5 pounds

so i have this friend. he's fairly fit and active and you would never say he's overweight. but in his late 40's and working an office job, he's noticed that he's carrying a bit of extra weight and it's harder to shed than when he was a lad. he tells me he'd like to drop just a few pounds. he's vain it's true, but he thinks it will help him on the climbs and general athletic performance.

so i says to him, 'dude, you should drink less beer and eat less, especially processed food and breads, that'll probably do it' . is it that simple? do you have any better advice for my buddy? he's about 210 and his healthy weight would be closer to 205. small percentage of his weight, how hard can 5 pounds be?

It is exactly that simple.

Also, it'd be better if he concentrated on losing fat and not weight. Muscle is a lot more useful than fat.

Start riding to work instead of driving. Done.

eat smaller portions and eat slower and eat more times thruout the day , stop drinking fancy coffees and teas and cut back on the amount of beer and pop one consumes each day .

I have been slowly dropping my weight and maintaining it by simple tricks , I still eat like shit at times but just not as much or as often .

I was in the mid 190,s back in the beginning of Mar , got really sick and dropped 8lbs , liked what I saw adjusted my diet and did not pack on the weight once healthy again .

With race season here again and being healthy my increased mileage and diet changes have allowed me to drop my weight into the high 170lb range for the 1st time in 20yrs .

My end goal is mid 160lb range in the race season and somewhere in the 170lb range off season , currently it,s been low 200lbs off season to high 180,s low 190,s race time . The reduced weight has helped with longer rides and recovery times .

simple, cut back carbs, and done.

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As far as lowering calories and eating frequently, I would strongly recommend: The Obesity Code by Jason Fung. He makes a strong science based case for fasting (including for athletes) as opposed to calorie restriction and frequent eating (defined as a recipe for long term insulin resistance).

Reduce calorie intake or increase calorie output (activity/exercise) . It's as simple as that.

Assuming his current weight is stable, he needs to run a calorie deficit from where he is at now. That will ensure he loses weight. It should be fairly easy to calculate how to cut x calories per day.

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Depending on one's motivation losing a couple of pounds can be hard, or easy, at least that is my personal experience.

I upped my protein and fat intake and drastically cut out most of the carbs, which is difficult since over here we live in Bread and Carb Wonderland.

Does your friend lift weights? I experienced quite some changes in performance and body comp when I started to do swings and goblet squats with kettlebells on a daily basis, all the while being careful to not do too much. Throw in some easy long-distance work, and some short and intense work and this, along with lifting, might kickstart his body into change.

I think the stronger a person is, the easier it is for the body to lose fat, or use fat as fuel if the eating habits have been changed or altered.

I was creeping toward 220lbs after Christmas binging and am currently around 205lbs. I just made a half hearted effort to reduce mid-week beer and ice cream/junk consumption over the past few months. 2.5-5% bodyweight is not a lot to lose when you are over 200, and I agree with Reductimat it's gotta be fat to be helpful.

yep, lift weights. can't afford to lose muscle mass not at my age and not when you don't have much to begin with. getting off the beer and bread train is a big challenge but i can see that if i did that i'd be on my way. and i'm a bit naive about the whole few meals, insulin resistance thing. like gut biota, i knew nothing of until recently. looks like snacking, even fruit n nuts is not a great idea. 3 square and all that. ah nutrition, another black hole of learning to aspire to…

yep, lift weights. can't afford to lose muscle mass not at my age and not when you don't have much to begin with. getting off the beer and bread train is a big challenge but i can see that if i did that i'd be on my way. and i'm a bit naive about the whole few meals, insulin resistance thing. like gut biota, i knew nothing of until recently. looks like snacking, even fruit n nuts is not a great idea. 3 square and all that. ah nutrition, another black hole of learning to aspire to…

don't forget to share that with your friend ;)

ah nutrition, another black hole of learning to aspire to…

Black hole is right. If I can offer advice, don't. It's too damn easy to get overwhelmed and can push you worse into the direction you were coming from.

The easiest way to start is to eat a little less of what you're eating now. Leave some on the plate… if it's anywhere near the hyper-palatable, excessively-caloric shit that eat, those bites you leave on the plate add up fast.

Once that's in the bag, start swapping out a few major meals with salads, or other non-starchy meals. That's when the rubber meats the road. Don't forget the meat.

That's where I am now.. I won't win any physique comps, but I ain't fat, I can pick up heavy things and I can play all I want without being winded.

Win-win-win.

Get an Ebike and drink more beer.

Black hole is right. If I can offer advice, don't. It's too damn easy to get overwhelmed and can push you worse into the direction you were coming from.

The easiest way to start is to eat a little less of what you're eating now. Leave some on the plate… if it's anywhere near the hyper-palatable, excessively-caloric shit that eat, those bites you leave on the plate add up fast.

Once that's in the bag, start swapping out a few major meals with salads, or other non-starchy meals. That's when the rubber meats the road. Don't forget the meat.

That's where I am now.. I won't win any physique comps, but I ain't fat, I can pick up heavy things and I can play all I want without being winded.

Win-win-win.

all good advice. for a while i was getting a bit too hung up on every little trick in the book. many of them work but they come at a price and people have to ask themselves how much am i willing to sacrifice to look a certain way. i've found that even for people who are committed to regular exercise, most of them aren't willing to pay the price for cover model physique results. i always go back to the infallible idea of eat as much fresh, whole food as possible and as little processed food as possible and you will be golden. for most people this, combined with moderate levels of activity will yield good results.