Oh, to be a loser...

[e.e.cummings]

It is frustrating to find the right balance between eating less to lose weight, but eating enough to fuel my workouts and rides. I saw my trainer yesterday - I am part of a 4 month program at my local gym - and there was no weight loss this week despite the fact that I did a 200 km ride on the weekend, and worked out during the week (I gave myself three days total rest before the ride). I know that muscle weighs more than fat and my body composition is doubtlessly changing. Actually I think a gained a pound since last week. I paid attention to eating very well, I was a good girl.

The evening of my first day of riding on my 200 km tour, I ordered a good meal and could only eat a quarter of it, my appetite seems to have shrunk. It is good on one hand but not so good on the other, I need to eat! What a problem to have ... I don't feel like eating as much, I get tired, I don't have good fuel for my workout. I am forcing myself to eat. In the back of my mind, I don't want to lose control and go back to my evil eating habits. I am paying more attention now to recovery nutrition, making sure I eat the right things immediately after my workout. That helps.

One of my issues was wanting to lose my protruding tummy. I look around in my spinning class and see women who have the same goals, but they have been spinning a lot longer than me and still have the tummy - they have the great legs, etc. but the tummy seems to be the stubborn bit. The trainer says the only way to work off that tummy is with cardio to burn the fat off to reveal that six pack, but it is discouraging to see others who have spent much longer at it who still have the same issue (people who I know are working hard and watching what they eat).

I read a post by tctrek (hey, Altanta - great town! I go there for AmericasMart! Amazing people...) and she said that she seemed to have more success shedding pounds with a more sedentary lifestyle than when she upped her training when it seemed to level off. Is this common? I feel like I am starting to experience that.

I am working on pacing myself on my workouts, and not overdoing it, alternating days, etc. I know overtraining is like one big sleeping pill that can knock you out and it is not an effective approach to weight control. I need to find balance!!!! By the way I am not premenopausal or have a thyroid issue, that's been checked. Any advice, referrals to books or websites, and experience is welcome....

[papaver]

relax... you'll lose weight eventually. Give it some time.

[GLC1968]

Unfortunately, some people are genetically predisposed to carry extra fat/flab in the belly and only some serious strict eating and disciplined workouts will get rid of it (and sometimes, not even then!).

Me? I have very little belly fat. Whoopdie do. I've got a lot of visible fat on my legs though and would kill to have a the long, lean legs that some of my 'belly-hating' friends have! Genetics can be a b1tch! ;)

[Veronica]

Still have a bit of a belly myself at 21% BF. All that fat is below my belly button in the belly and my legs.

Upper body looks fantastic, but sometimes all I see is the belly and legs. Upper body was so easy to get to look good. I get lots of compliments, but I feel like a fraud because it was so easy...

I always get a little concerned when people start throwing out terms like overtraining or talk about not fueling enough. Training wise, listen to your body. It will tell you when you've had too much, if you listen.

Nutrition... well everybody has an opinion. :D

Veronica

[ny biker]

Not sure if this will help, but, I used to find I would stay at a steady weight or gain a few pounds when I was training for a century (100 miles, not metric). I would be very hungry after the ride so I'd eat a lot, and then would be so tired for several days afterwards that I had no energy for any exercise. I'm much better off doing more moderate efforts and doing them consistently.

I still do a few long rides each year but no longer than 60-70 miles, and most weekends during warm months I keep it to 30-45 miles (2-3 hours or so). That way I'm still able to exercise during the week and my appetite doesn't get as messed up by burning 4000+ calories in one day. During the winter I exercise indoors so I keep it to about an hour per session.

[Starfish]

I too am in month 4 of working in the gym with a trainer. I wanted weight loss and cross training for better overall strength, balance and athleticism. And, I am hoping to train for a really hard ride that is next August.

In about 4 months, I have lost 18.5 pounds, and it seems to have come off of everywhere pretty equally. I have 23 pounds more to lose. I am ADAMANT that I want them off by the end of January, because I plan to start harder training for the bike by then.

It is my experience, just for myself, that once I start hard outdoor bike training and mileage building, that it is VERY difficult for me to lose weight (and therefore work off the belly fat, or other fat).

So, for right now, instead of biking much or building volume, I am doing a 4-day split of resistance training, and only 30-45 minutes of cardio those days, plus one other day of cardio. I will start to build cardio volume on that day, and hopefully be up to 3 hours by end of January so I can start harder bike training.

I guess my long-winded point is, for me, for weight loss, frequency of workouts combined with weight training works better than really building volume and doing a lot of long rides. Once I start long hard rides, balancing the rest and fueling, let alone dieting, is challenge enough.

[e.e.cummings]

If I do 3 spinning classes a week, each followed by half hour of circuit training, would that be sufficient for boosting weight loss? More, less?

[ny biker]

If I do 3 spinning classes a week, each followed by half hour of circuit training, would that be sufficient for boosting weight loss? More, less?

How much do you eat?

[Veronica]

If I do 3 spinning classes a week, each followed by half hour of circuit training, would that be sufficient for boosting weight loss? More, less?

Who can really say? I work out 60 - 120 minutes six days a week - a combination of riding, running, weights and plyometrics and the occassional swim. I eat about 1500 calories a day. My weight has stabilized at 146.

Veronica

[Biciclista]

I hope you guys will take a good look at what you are saying. Are you healthy? does your life make you happy? Quit looking in the mirror and trying to appear like some imaginary beautiful woman.

You know the day i was stuck in Italy with a back pack and a suitcase and no idea how to get in touch with my friend (i lost her phone number) and I had to walk for 11 kilometers, the shape of my belly did not enter my mind, not once. what i thought about (among other things) was how wonderful it was that I was in good enough shape to lug my stuff up and down hills 11 kilometers without any trouble.

[Biciclista]

PS your weight is a number, like the day you were born. it's all relative. REALLY.

[Veronica]

I hope you guys will take a good look at what you are saying. Are you healthy? does your life make you happy? Quit looking in the mirror and trying to appear like some imaginary beautiful woman.


Yes and yes. I don't care about the mirror. I care about doing better in tri. The mirror just shows where I'm storing my extra fat that I want to get rid to be faster. Higher power to weight ratio would be nice.

Veronica

[Veronica]

PS your weight is a number, like the day you were born. it's all relative. REALLY.


That's easy for you to say. As I recall you weigh like 120 pounds or something. That's a number that society thinks it's okay for a woman to weigh. Not everyone can shrug off what society thinks is good so easily.

Veronica

[Biciclista]

I weigh closer to 130 and i am 57. For a while i was gaining weight and not muscle. I started to look pretty bad in my opinion so i started doing the same kinds of stuff you guys are doing, but I did not start obsessing about it. I can do pushups. I'm be da%%ed if i'm going to start fussing about my weight; and so many of you are SO fit and SO healthy but you're still fussing about that number instead of marveling about how beautiful you are and how nice your muscles have become.
I guess if you want to be a bathingsuit model, these things are important. But for a lot of you, i've seen pictures of you and you really look great! Have fun, be healthy, etc...

[shootingstar]

You know eecummings, sometimes our body bone frame just seems to keep certain lumps..positioned in place. How gravity pulls down on skin and over the bone, with remaining slack /firm skin over.

It makes me giggle when one used to read measurements of female model curvaceous measurements of 36-24-36 or similar.

Really? I've never had a 24 inch waist after I was approx. 11 yrs. old. And I never will. Waist has been and will always be bigger. I'm 50. I will always be one of these women who has only 4-5 inch difference between her bust and waist measurements.

And I'm slim, even underweight to some folks.

Just enjoy the regular cycling and other workouts. Throw your cycling passion in there and then weigh yourself in 5 months. Weighing yourself daily helps some people, but obviously it's driving you abit nuts. Great things happen when you aren't always paying attention daily. :) So better, to exercise consistently, eat healthy and weight yourself only occasionally.

[e.e.cummings]

It's like when they tell you not to open your investment statements every month - the ups and downs of the market will drive you crazy. So will stepping on the scale every five minutes. Being in this program for four months makes me too conscious of all of this. However, I will live through, take some of the good advice here and try to enjoy the ride. I am not shooting for barbie doll, but I would like to get some fat off of this tummy and feel more fit.

[Crankin]

Well, I am fit, slim, and have no belly (genetic), but I still care about looking good, even at almost 56. There, I said it. I am pretty happy with my body and have accepted the fact that my bum will never be firm (it is smaller, though). My power to weight ratio sucks. I am weak. Even when I worked with a trainer, I was weak. I have to work on this...
I have found, the older I get, the less cardio I need to do to maintain my weight. It gets to a certain point (3-5 hour rides), I just get ravenously hungry. My appetite seems more consistent when I moderate my cardio. If I do at least 30-60 minutes 4 times a week, I will maintain. But, if I miss my yoga, core, strength stuff, I notice the difference. Try adding in more core work??
I weigh myself everyday. I look for a trend. Over two pounds up, I cut back on carbs. Since I like to eat and cook, this works for me.

[e.e.cummings]

nybiker - according to my program I am supposed to eat 1600 calories a day.

I used to be slender and very athletic before I had my son. I have always been athletic from the time I was a young teen - cycling, running, swimming, scuba diving, kayaking, etc. Once I had my son, and went through other attempts at pregnancy, my body went soft. It just does not feel like the me I always knew. As far as genetics go, my mother is in amazing shape for a 75 year old - very fit, lots of walking. I want to get back to being her size again (we could wear the same clothes), not because I want to be some magazine version of an ideal, but because I felt natural at that stage of fitness.

[Biciclista]

Crankin, I didn't mean you shouldn't care about how you look. I just have seen so many well built lovely women on here griping about their imperfections. Then we get gals on here who are 100 lbs overweight; how must THEY feel?

[Kano]

Crankin, I didn't mean you shouldn't care about how you look. I just have seen so many well built lovely women on here griping about their imperfections. Then we get gals on here who are 100 lbs overweight; how must THEY feel?

The thing about being 15 pounds overweight this evening is that it's a slippery slope. ESPECIALLY if one has been 100 pounds overweight in the past. It really DOES require constant vigilance, because it creeps up way too easily and way too fast!

karen in Boise

[Biciclista]

why this evening?

[Tuckervill]

When I'm actively in weight-loss mode (started again Monday vacation! oy vey), I weigh every single day and I weigh all my food and I write it all down and I exercise every single day.

I do all that KNOWING that the scale fluctuates. I'm a big girl. I can take it. I just factor it in.

eta: My investment accounts, I have NO control over. I have complete and total control over what goes in my mouth and what I do with my body. :)

Karen

[channlluv]

Crankin, I didn't mean you shouldn't care about how you look. I just have seen so many well built lovely women on here griping about their imperfections. Then we get gals on here who are 100 lbs overweight; how must THEY feel?

Well, as one of the gals with 100 lbs to lose, I can only speak for myself. When I hear the uberfit complaining about their bellies or whatever, I just sort of shrug. It shows me that we all have body image issues. It sort of blows me away what some of my superfit friends say. Once I was at a dinner party with four friends and me - they're all thin, fit, active people. We were talking about pregnancy and they all have more than one child. I've got one miracle child and I've lost five. I just sort of stay quiet for conversations like that, when women start talking about how challenging it is to juggle more than one kid's schedule, all the work it is, and so on. I feel really blessed to have my daughter and we get to do an awful lot together that I'm sure would be more challenging if there were a younger sibling inthe picture, but oh, to have that opportunity. Anway, in the course of the conversation, one of the women said she got up to nearly 200 pounds when she was pregnant the second time, with her son, and she felt like a total cow. She's 5'11". She could carry 200 pretty easy, but she weighs about 130 now, runs, swims, black belt, etc. I just about sank through the floor, sitting there weighing around 250 at the time. I wanted to leave, but it would have been really conspicuous.

I just think sometimes really fit people forget how lucky they are (and maybe lucky is a bad word - it's a lot of work being that fit, I know), or maybe they figure they've worked themselves into this kind of enviable physical shape, why can't they conquer this last little flaw, whatever it is.

Another friend, also 5'10-11" and the wife of a professional athlete and she's got legs down to there and plays volleyball and looks like she just jumped out of a magazine ad most of the time, she's doing this triathlon I'm doing this weekend, too. They both are, actually, she my other tall friend (I have a lot of really tall, thin friends, go figure). She was trying to convince me to do the triathlon, too (I'd brought it up that I'd like to do it, but hadn't been able to find a wetsuit to do the swim portion - I can swim the distance, but it would take me over 45 minutes because I'm just not fast yet, and hypothermia is a real concern, so I hadn't committed to doing the race), and she said they'd all been talking about how I'm probably the strongest of all of us, with my 50-mile bike rides, and how it's unfair that I've had so much trouble finding a wetsuit to fit, but mentioned that she has, too, being so tall and thin.

It gave me a new perspective. As someone once told me when I was lamenting that woman in black who rides around my lake on my path looking all gorgeous and powerful and leaving me and my mtb in the dust, everyone has their own issues.

I'm just so grateful to be moving around under my own power at all. I don't need assistance for anything physical. I'm way overweight, yes, but there are people who are so much more challenged than I. I feel lucky to be able to go ride my bike and feel like an athlete, and to get in the pool and swim ten laps with little breaks here and there, but ten laps, and sometimes fifteen, under my own power.

I do weigh frequently - every other day or so - and it helps keep me focused on the goal. I don't freak if the scale moves up a pound or two. It's all relative. I've lost 15 pounds over the last month and hardly anyone has noticed. Really, it's all relative. I'm still very weeble-shaped. (reference the photos on my new used Ruby Comp off Craigslist thread)

And maybe when I'm down to 135 and struggling with the remnants of the belly roll, I'll be lamenting the same way the uberfit are now. Who knows.

Roxy

[GLC1968]

Roxy - thanks for your thoughtful post on the subject. Really. It's nice to see all perspectives.

rant/

I'm one of those who moans about my weight and my inability to lose it. In fact, in the past 4 years (since I added cycling to my list of favorite sports), I've done nothing but gain weight. Quite a bit of it (for a short person). But I've also posted pictures of myself and I know there are those that think they would be happy to have my body. First of all, those pictures are OLD and I don't look that way now. Secondly, like Roxy posted, we all have our issues. The blessing about TE is that we can come here and commiserate. I don't mention to all the guys I work with how it annoys me that the hills I use to love climbing now make my stomach turn because I'm so much heavier (and not that much stronger). I don't mention how I'm ravenous after a long ride and have a hard time controlling my intake to my mom. My girlfriends have no idea how many saddles or bike shorts or whatever I had to go through to find ones that fit that now no longer work quite right because I've gained weight... The only people who hear this are the women on TE.

While it's true that we don't want to beat ourselves up or waste our lives whining about the extra fat on our legs or our guts, it is important to recognize that when most of us complain about our desire to lose weight, we are doing it in the right context. We are doing it to other women with similar issues on a forum where weight and performance often go hand in hand. We aren't b1tching about not being able to wear a size 0 skinny jean or see our ribs in the mirror. We are all (almost exclusively) talking about dropping weight to improve performance.

Honestly, it's more than a bit off putting when women who likely have never really had a weight problem try to tell us that we all should just love ourselves for who we are. Honestly, I'm sure most of us do (in our own individual ways), but that doesn't mean that we can't want to make improvements and share those challenges and successes with others who will understand. Please don't take our need to discuss this stuff (small little pooches or hundreds of lbs) as a sign that we need to be told to get over ourselves or our hang ups. Please.

Thanks.
/end rant

[Veronica]

I just think sometimes really fit people forget how lucky they are (and maybe lucky is a bad word - it's a lot of work being that fit, I know),

I was talking to my trainer the other day about how I used to look at all the really fit people in the gym and think that they must find working out really easy. Now that I'm one of those really fit people, :p I can tell you, it doesn't get easier. If you're really serious, you keep pushing that envelope. Yeah, I can pump out lots of regular push ups, but how many can I do with 45 pounds on my back? It doesn't get easier. I come home sore, my muscles get tight, I get creaky if I sit too long...My hips hurt after a hard run or a tough spin session. I do lots of yoga and stretching in between workouts.

And yeah, I do lament that I still have a belly and that my genetics gave me large thighs. And then I take a big suck it up pill and continue working out, because I like it... most of the time. :rolleyes:

Veronica

[shootingstar]

I just think sometimes really fit people forget how lucky they are (and maybe lucky is a bad word - it's a lot of work being that fit, I know).

Keep that thought for future, channelluv as you reach your desired weight. My family and long-term friends had not seen me for last 2.5 yrs. when I visited them just a month ago. I told some of them IF we did chat up about our health- I said that for me to look the "same", it now requires 3-4 x times more exercise/physical effort and additional diet changes to maintain the weight as one ages with slower metabolism, menopause, etc.

I'm just so grateful to be moving around under my own power at all. I don't need assistance for anything physical. I'm way overweight, yes, but there are people who are so much more challenged than I. I feel lucky to be able to go ride my bike and feel like an athlete, and to get in the pool and swim ten laps with little breaks here and there, but ten laps, and sometimes fifteen, under my own power.

You got that right...to be able to move around under your own power. The first competitive bike race that I saw, ...was a national wheelchair race by paraplegics. The Canadian national champ, Jeff Adams is on the international circuit. Their effort is truly inspiring and I would argue strongly even more than the TdF, since their physical effort in a wheelchair to move around is for life

And maybe when I'm down to 135 and struggling with the remnants of the belly roll, I'll be lamenting the same way the uberfit are now. Who knows.

Roxy

You are losing weight 'cause you think of the Ruby bike, the golden eagle.. great distractions of inspiration. :D

[Starfish]

channl, thank you for your vulnerable and honest post. :)

eta: and while I was responding, V & GLC added a lot of what else I was thinking! :-)

[ny biker]

PS your weight is a number, like the day you were born. it's all relative. REALLY.

That's not actually true. The day I was born will never change. My weight has changed plenty over the years and I'm sure it will change again.

I'm a bit confused by this thread. I have no idea how much e.e. cummings weighs now, how much weight she is trying to lose, what she looks like, what her health is like, etc. She did not say she is weighing herself every day; it sounds like it's more like weekly which makes sense for someone in a four-month program. She's just trying to find a balance between food and activity and she would like to continue to lose some weight. I don't think it's uncommon to have trouble figuring out how to eat enough to fuel intense exercise while not overeating.

It's nice to say your weight doesn't matter as long as you're healthy, but being overweight can cause you to no longer be healthy. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to look better in addition to being healthy.

Unfortunately I really don't know what the answers are. Maybe 1600 calories isn't enough to keep you fueled, maybe you're really eating more than you think you are, maybe you're plateauing, etc. I think there's a certain amount of trial and error involved in figuring all this out. There could also be other factors -- for me a certain medication I take every day has affected my appetite and changes in dosage have caused weight gain/loss over the years.

As I've mentioned elsewhere I've found Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook to be very helpful. Other than that, I just try to eat reasonably healthy foods, only eat when I'm truly hungry, and do activities that I truly enjoy.

[e.e.cummings]

Nybiker, you are right, my biggest issue, is not to bellyache over losing the fat, it is to find the BALANCE between what I eat versus how much I can work out and still have energy. These are issues that I brought up to my trainer this week and I will talk to my nutritionist next week when we have our appointment. (By the way, I have the Nancy Clarke book, it is excellent!)

I have had a couple of weeks of little, if not backward, progress and it is a mystery because I have been doing a lot and very careful about my diet (unless you count that whole cheesecake the other day, JOKE!!!) Perhaps I am over-training, perhaps I am creating a 'famine' climate within my body because I am just not that hungry, I just want to understand so I can be effective in what I am doing. This is a learning curve. I have a son who is precious to me, I have so little time with him during the day after school, and I want to know that the training time that I take is going to be as effective as possible so I can go have fun with him. (I manage to get him in my outdoor workouts on weekends!)

For the record, the goal that the gym has set for me is to lose 20 pounds, that would get me to a healthy weight for my frame. It is really easy to start comparing each others goals and minimizing them if they are less, but all of our goals are important to each of us. My mom is in great shape, but if she gains five or ten pounds her pants don't fit her right anymore, but is that not important because someone out there has 100 to lose? It is not a competition. This can be a pretty sensitive topic. My sister-in-law has a lot of weight to lose - you can be darn sure that I don't do a lot of talking about my working out, my cycling, my weight goals to her, because honestly I think it would depress her. The same with my brother who is really overweight. He wants to lose but lacks the motivation, he's been talking about losing weight for years. I don't talk weight loss with him, unless he brings it up. Years went by when I was not ready or motivated and there was nothing more depressing than listening about other people's workouts when I was cutting off a second piece of cake.

As stated above, it is great to have this forum to discuss these things because as cyclists I think we all want to strive to be healthy and fit, we are out there doing something healthy, and it is terrific how much encouragement I see for each other in these threads.

[tctrek]

e.e.cummings>> you are correct, I did post about losing weight when I wasn't working out. I actually lost 30 pounds by eating 1200-1300 calories a day. I was completely sedentary.. went to the office and sat at the computer all day and came home. After losing 30 lbs, I started feeling so good, that I joined a gym and went to spinning classes. I loved that so much, I bought a bike... then a road bike... here I am 3 years later and I still weigh exactly the same as I did when I went into my 1st spinning class.

I go to an endocrinologist for my thyroid, and he tells me everything is perfect. I am post-menopausal and he says "sometimes that just happens". Big help he is... not!

I still have 25 pounds that I would like to lose, but it won't budge. 3 months ago, I decided to give up on *trying* to lose weight. Now, I just ride my bike, eat healthy and that's it. I don't eat whatever I want, but I don't diet either.

I still think that I SHOULD lose weight, because I know I burn more calories than I eat. After years of logging my food intake and my exercise I am 100% sure I do not eat too much. Posts like this, make me think about it and then I get kinda p.o.'d again that it won't come off... but I have to not dwell on that.

So whatever it is, genetics, age, hormones... I'm not going to let it take my joy anymore.

[Biciclista]

I'm a bit confused by this thread. I have no idea how much e.e. cummings weighs now, how much weight she is trying to lose, what she looks like, what her health is like, etc. She did not say she is weighing herself every day; it sounds like it's more like weekly which makes sense for someone in a four-month program. She's just trying to find a balance between food and activity and she would like to continue to lose some weight. I don't think it's uncommon to have trouble figuring out how to eat enough to fuel intense exercise while not overeating.

It's nice to say your weight doesn't matter as long as you're healthy, but being overweight can cause you to no longer be healthy. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to look better in addition to being healthy.

Unfortunately I really don't know what the answers are. Maybe 1600 calories isn't enough to keep you fueled, maybe you're really eating more than you think you are, maybe you're plateauing, etc. I think there's a certain amount of trial and error involved in figuring all this out. There could also be other factors -- for me a certain medication I take every day has affected my appetite and changes in dosage have caused weight gain/loss over the years.

As I've mentioned elsewhere I've found Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook to be very helpful. Other than that, I just try to eat reasonably healthy foods, only eat when I'm truly hungry, and do activities that I truly enjoy.

so you are all right, GLC, no i never had a serious weight problem but ask anyone who has ever been around me, I watch what i eat EVERY SINGLE MEAL and i never overeat and i still started gaining weight a few years ago, so have become even more fastidious. I am surrounded by family members with weight problems and my DH spent 5 years trying to get below 150 pounds and never ever could.

you're right, the OP didn't really state her specifics, until just now, so each of us just went off on our own rants about whatever it is we each think, sorry about that. I just get sad when people are not happy with what they have -- twenty years down the road you're going to slap yourself in the forehead and say "And I wasn't happy about THAT?" I've already done it a hundred times myself.

EE Cummings has now stated that she's on a diet and working with a trainer. I didn't know that before.

Channluv, you are very brave and keep doing what you are doing, I read all your posts and think you are a hero.

and Veronica, you've got more balls than most the guys on BikeJournal. I read all your adventures too - keep it up.

I wish you all the best and sorry if i PO'd the lot of you.

NYBiker, what i meant was, when i was 25 I weighed 110 pounds. I had skinny skinny legs. I had no energy. flash forward
I am now 57 and am creeping up to 130 pounds. I have INCREDIBLE LEGS, I can walk miles, ride many more miles, do pushups, etc, etc. Should i be freaking out because i am carrying all that extra weight? no, it's just a number. It does not reflect my BMI or the muscles in my legs. i gained most of that weight when i started cycling. that's GOOD weight. And my husband, back to him; when he weighed 144 pounds (when we got married) his legs were wimpy; his knees had hardly any muscle around them. So now when he whines about getting to that weight, i know it really IS impossible for him to do without losing those gorgeous muscles. if you don't eat enough, your body's going to start using those muscles as fuel and you're NOT going to get stronger.
Enough. shut up mimi.

[tctrek]

Mimi -- we know you didn't mean harm. It's just weight around your middle is the worst. It's not just an evenly distributed weight -- it's the dreaded belly fat! I have nice arms, thin face, fabulous legs, small hips, no butt and BELLY FAT!!

Arggghh... must stop reading this post. I love me just the way I am :):)

[channlluv]

I recently fell prey to Prevention's marketing of their editor's Flat Belly Diet book. I was several chapters in when I finally got tired of the hype and fakey-fake nutrition.

Some of the tips here:

Don't chew gum because you could swallow air, which can cause bloat.
Avoid fibrous foods like broccoli and carrots and Brussels sprouts because the can cause gas which can make you bloat.
Avoid salt in any form because it makes you retain water, and that cause bloat.

Some of their recommended foods include white bread and Rice Krispies because they have almost no fiber, so they won't bloat.

THESE are people with an unhealthy obsession with their bellies.

I was surprised Prevention was backing this book, but when you look at their pharma-heavy advertisers base, they're probably not worried about the long term health of their readers.

Oy.

Roxy

[tctrek]

I recently fell prey to Prevention's marketing of their editor's Flat Belly Diet book. I was several chapters in when I finally got tired of the hype and fakey-fake nutrition.

Some of the tips here:

Don't chew gum because you could swallow air, which can cause bloat.
Avoid fibrous foods like broccoli and carrots and Brussels sprouts because the can cause gas which can make you bloat.
Avoid salt in any form because it makes you retain water, and that cause bloat.

Some of their recommended foods include white bread and Rice Krispies because they have almost no fiber, so they won't bloat.

THESE are people with an unhealthy obsession with their bellies.

I was surprised Prevention was backing this book, but when you look at their pharma-heavy advertisers base, they're probably not worried about the long term health of their readers.

Oy.

Roxy
Yep. Prevention Magazine is a bunch of hooey.

[channlluv]

I love reading your posts, too, Mimi. And we love you just the way you are, too, Tctrek.

Roxy

[Veronica]

and Veronica, you've got more balls than most the guys on BikeJournal. I read all your adventures too - keep it up.



Thanks Mimi! I had no idea you read about all my silly shenanigans. :p

And I'm not POed. Life is too short to get upset about stuff on an Internet forum.

Today was boxing day with my trainer. I LOVE boxing day. In between boxing was sprinting up and down the basketball court. Somewhere along the line I actually developed a sprint, instead of a lumber. :D It felt good - tiring but good.

I did these things today too. No that's not me. http://z.about.com/d/exercise/1/5/y/o/captainschair.jpg

Except I kept my legs straight. When I started working out I could barely do these with bent legs. Don't tell my trainer 3 sets of 20 with straight legs wasn't so bad. She'll make it harder somehow.

Last week I was jumping rope with a regular jump rope. 207 jumps in a minute. :eek: This week I had to use the weighted jump rope. She didn't have her stopwatch so I had to jump a hundred times. The rope only weighs a pound - but that makes such a huge difference.

It never gets easier. :D

Veronica

[Starfish]

I have had a couple of weeks of little, if not backward, progress and it is a mystery because I have been doing a lot and very careful about my diet (unless you count that whole cheesecake the other day, JOKE!!!) Perhaps I am over-training, perhaps I am creating a 'famine' climate within my body because I am just not that hungry, I just want to understand so I can be effective in what I am doing.

Just FWIW, about 2-3 weeks ago, I finally had a week where I was TIRED, CRANKY, and CRAVING. I didn't do it on purpose, but I ended up just eating for about 3 days: chips, ice cream, beer, etc. Well, that week, I did not gain a single pound, and it was the following week that I started to lose again. My body needed some more food and rest, I think.

And, Veronica: This was a great night for me to read about your sprints, etc. Tomorrow morning with my trainer, it is just me, him, an empty room, and some stuff: medicine ball, various sticks, etc. It is non-stop-motion day, and I will be soaking wet in minutes. I am still lumbering. How wonderful to hope that someday I could have a sprint. :rolleyes:

[Crankin]

Mimi, you didn't piss me off either. I don't talk about weight or exercise in front of anyone except my cycling friends or my DH, unless someone asks. I feel extraordinarily lucky that I have a flat stomach. Sure, flabby thighs and big bums run in my family, but the exercise has taken care of that. I think that's why, even when I *was* overweight in my early 20's, I didn't see myself as overweight. I didn't have a belly, so I wasn't fat. I just got wider and wider and wider, until I had to buy pants 2 sizes bigger to get past my knees.
When I weighed even less than I do now, most people assumed I was anorexic, which really angered me. Anyone who knows me, would laugh at that suggestion. I was a compulsive exerciser, but eventually, injuries took care of that!

[NJ Jess]

In college I competed in track and field,..discus and shot put. I was out bench pressing and squating the guys. I was 150 pounds at 17 % body fat actually calculated via underwater weight. I still had a stomach,...and boobs! Solid as a rock in my arms, legs, back,....but my tummy and sisters where the only places I was storing my energy.

Then came in season sprints. Lots of them,....
For the next 6 months I was the at 143 pounds and 11% body fat.

It was beautiful for the moment in life, but the work to maintain that regime for a lifetime would be impossible.

My parents and siblings all weigh over 300 pounds each. Three of them have had gastric bypasses. My twin got down to 150, but after 4 years has grazed herself up to 250. Gentics are nearly impossible to overcome. I "workout" at least 3 days a week my entire life and have a physical job to boot.

Make yourself happy, but don't kill yourself doing so.

[shootingstar]

In college I competed in track and field,..discus and shot put. I was out bench pressing and squating the guys. I was 150 pounds at 17 % body fat actually calculated via underwater weight. I still had a stomach,...and boobs! Solid as a rock in my arms, legs, back,....but my tummy and sisters where the only places I was storing my energy.

Then came in season sprints. Lots of them,....
For the next 6 months I was the at 143 pounds and 11% body fat.

It was beautiful for the moment in life, but the work to maintain that regime for a lifetime would be impossible.

Wow. Yes, it is alot of work, more like overtraining (?) to maintain that weight + low body fat.

Had my fat measured 1 and only time so far, over 4 yrs. ago. I can't even remember the %.. don't really care nor have a need to know. Too much effort to plough through my papers to get to the set of medical test results.

[GLC1968]

Mimi - I'm not PO'd. I just felt the need to express myself. And I didn't mean that rant to be directed solely at you. There are lots of people here who try and tell those of us who need to lose weight that we should embrace our curves and our muscles and I think they are missing the point.

I've been party to other forums where there are TONS of women who were going to extremes so that they could have that 'willowy' look. They complained about 'big thighs' when their thigh measurement was 17". The goal was 15". Seriously? :eek: I had NOTHING in common with those women.

I just find it so refreshing here on TE that when women talk about losing weight, they truly want to build muscle and lose the extraneous fat to improve performance. And because I'm so happy to have FINALLY found camaraderie on this subject, I'm quick to defend it.

No worries!

[e.e.cummings]

I recently fell prey to Prevention's marketing of their editor's Flat Belly Diet book. I was several chapters in when I finally got tired of the hype and fakey-fake nutrition.

Some of the tips here:

Don't chew gum because you could swallow air, which can cause bloat.
Avoid fibrous foods like broccoli and carrots and Brussels sprouts because the can cause gas which can make you bloat.
Avoid salt in any form because it makes you retain water, and that cause bloat.

Some of their recommended foods include white bread and Rice Krispies because they have almost no fiber, so they won't bloat.

THESE are people with an unhealthy obsession with their bellies.

I was surprised Prevention was backing this book, but when you look at their pharma-heavy advertisers base, they're probably not worried about the long term health of their readers.

Oy.

Roxy

I am glad to find someone else who feels the same way about that book. I bought it, and I found it as shallow as you do. The only thing missing is to tell you to wear vertical stripes and dress in black to hide your belly.

[channlluv]

<snort!>

No kidding. Shallow - that's exactly the right word. I'd like to donate the book and the cookbook that accompanies it, but I'd feel guilty inflicting that thing on anyone. Most of my friends are really health-conscious. I suppose I could donate them to the public library.

The last time I had my fat measured was about a year and a half ago. It was 46%. I was about the size I am now and doing yoga, but not much else, and honestly, not much yoga because my belly and thighs just wouldn't allow for a lot of those positions. (Love me some Warrior, Bridge, and Shevasana, though.)

I don't even want to think what my BMI is.

But I can ride 50 miles on my bike and live to tell the tale, so there.

Roxy

[shootingstar]

I've been party to other forums where there are TONS of women who were going to extremes so that they could have that 'willowy' look. They complained about 'big thighs' when their thigh measurement was 17". The goal was 15". Seriously? :eek: I had NOTHING in common with those women.

I just find it so refreshing here on TE that when women talk about losing weight, they truly want to build muscle and lose the extraneous fat to improve performance. And because I'm so happy to have FINALLY found camaraderie on this subject, I'm quick to defend it.

A 17" thigh is getting pretty thin. 15" thigh on grown women..any height is anorexic...This is purely a subjective judgement.... but already I know, since I'm pretty small myself in bone structure.

Their desires must be based on the starving, thin models stalking down the runway.

[spindizzy]

<snort!>
I suppose I could donate them to the public library.
Roxy

I'd suggest you throw it out - or burn it! No-one should be exposed to that sort of drivel.

[deeaimond]

This is a really interesting thread.

I'm 150lb, and 5' 3". As things go, even though my BMI is high, I'm not FAT. I have a muffin top but i also have proportionately large boobs, butt and thighs. My waist to hip ratio was under 0.8 (until recently, now 0.82) As all things go, I know i'm pretty alright.

Thing is, I live in the land of the small. Here, females weigh an average 100lbs or less at a similar height to mine. And they are just that way. no exercise nothing. When i was in secondary school, i weighed about as much as i do now. I was 12 - 16 yrs, and for those four years i was the largest girl in my class. I got made fun of, was last to get picked for any games, called fatty etc.

I'm not saying that that was ok, but.. thing is i wasn't really fat but was made to believe i was because everyone kept telling me that. Instead of being motivated to lose weight, i avoided the issue even more, i never did any sports, hated running everything, ate in secret. It was like there was some hidden shame. It kinda messed me up. As I grew older, I started on activities that made me fitter, and for some periods helped me lose a decent amount of weight. But somehow I always had a very negative mindset towards being fat. If I were PMSing and emotional and my weight got abit high, I'd wear baggy clothes and stay away from people. There were times I'd look in the mirror and then just cry...

Since I started cycling however, I've started doing some pretty tough things, things many people won't even think of doing. Maybe also it coincides with age, I'm not surrounded by as many tiny willowy teenage girls who all have 20" waists. I've slowly begun to shed that negative self image. And now I want to lose weight because my spare tyre makes me feel uncomfortable in my very expensive cycling gear. I feel like, hey, I might be bigger than the rest, but I can do some pretty incredible things. Riding 320kms in 18 continuous hrs?

I rant about my weight to everyone (its easy here coz everyone else is tiny... hahha..) but honestly i need to keep letting myself hear it, otherwise i get caught up in work and i forget i need to work on the weight. and then another day passes without extra exercise and just one cookie/timtam. in a way its good, coz it means i'm learning to let go of my negative self image, but in a way its bad coz, the weight gain gets out of hand...

but i still need to lose weight. because next to the BF i still look like an unfit slob. he's gonna dump me and go for one of those babes eyeing him in the gym is i continue letting myself get out of shape. :p I just wanna keep him on the tip of his toes..

I guess, it doesn't matter what weight we are, everyone has issues with self image. and here it is good that somehow we are all very supportive of each others' efforts and resolve our differences in a very amicable manner. I do love the people on this forum :D

[e.e.cummings]

It takes a lot of strength and self-awareness to be as honest as you have been in your post. You are proud of your accomplishments and that is only going to build. I am sure your BF is proud of you as well - what is really attractive in a woman (or man for that matter) is believing in yourself, and it sounds like you have that - it sounds like you've come a long way - you go, girl!

[channlluv]

Yeah, what she said.

Deeiamond, you rose your bike for 18 straight hours? Holy-moly. That's a story I'd like to hear.

Roxy

[mirliluck]

I just read through this thread for the first time, very fascinating. Thanks to those ladies who shared their stories as well, especially the never-quit attitude displayed by Roxy. I did want to respond to a few points and also share what has worked for me in losing about 20 pounds.


It is frustrating to find the right balance between eating less to lose weight, but eating enough to fuel my workouts and rides. ..

I completely understand this frustration, it is such a fine line. You want to lose weight not just for looks but for performance, but cutting back on cals too much can sacrifice performance! I can say I've had a lot of success with nutrition immediately surrounding my workout. Making sure there are enough carbs right before the ride to fuel you, and the post ride nutrition is SO important. It's critical to get something down the hatch within minutes of finishing a ride or workout as it's the timeframe your body is deciding how to respond to your workout - build muscle or no?, etc. Must be the right carb/protein ratio.

And somewhere someone else mentioned their trainer said that you have to do lots of cardio to lose belly fat. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Excessive cardio is sabotage. ( And this is hard for me to say as a cycling junkie). True it is one of the important elements, but not to be overdone killing yourself in the gym. We need some cardio + weight training, but WHAT you eat is most important. The abdominal area reacts ( for most of us) to diet. They say great abs are made in the kitchen. It's all about lean protein, good fats, and the right amount of carbs from clean sources ( unfortunately that doesn't include cheesecake everyday :( ... I have had a lot of success sticking to these rules.


For the next 6 months I was the at 143 pounds and 11% body fat.

It was beautiful for the moment in life, but the work to maintain that regime for a lifetime would be impossible.
....

Make yourself happy, but don't kill yourself doing so.

This is very true. I reached my 'dream weight' once about 9 months ago but discovered that the happiness of being there didn't outweigh the pain of maintaining it. We have to find that sweet spot where we are happy with our bodies, feel strong and capable, yet aren't starving.


Who can really say? I work out 60 - 120 minutes six days a week - a combination of riding, running, weights and plyometrics and the occassional swim. I eat about 1500 calories a day. My weight has stabilized at 146.

Veronica

I worry you are not eating enough. With 1-2 hours of exercise, you are easily burning in the range of 600-1000 calories. 1500 cals is super low, unless you mean that is your 'net' ? We need to feed the machine!

And last I wanted to say to Mimi - for the most part I agree with you and think you bring up some very valid points about not obsessing over weight and finding happiness in ability. I do think that we should stop thinking about weight loss in terms of pounds on the scale and start thinking of it as an endeavour to gain health, strength, and fitness.

[Veronica]

Thanks for your concern. I am working with a trainer/nutritionist who really knows her stuff. Plus I do my own research and investigating.

Veronica

[GLC1968]

I worry you are not eating enough. With 1-2 hours of exercise, you are easily burning in the range of 600-1000 calories.

Says who? If I work super crazy hard (70%+ of max), I can burn about 400 calories in a hour. That's not much. If I just go about my day with no added formal exercise (bearing in mind that I do farm chores twice a day which is more than a lot of people), I burn AT MOST 1700 calories. If I ate 1500 calories a day, I'd be barely creating a deficit unless I did a LOT of working out.

While I agree that there are absolutely many people out there who eat too little to fuel their workouts and end up throwing off their metabolisms...there are just as many of us out there who eat too much. Metabolism is HIGHLY individual. Making assumptions about what every person burns based on calculations in books or online is about as smart as judging bike fit based on stand-over height. It works for some, but certainly not for everyone.

[indigoiis]

When I was drinking and smoking, I was a size 4. I had pencil legs and no belly.

Now I'm older (wiser) and with all the running and bicycling and healthy living and just eating when my body needs it, I'm a size 8. But I can pass boys, bench press my 110 lb 16 year old daughter, and ride all day long if I want to.

A wise woman told me back in the day,

"You'll look real nice and skinny in that coffin."

Sometimes, when I need a lift, I reach down and feel how muscle-y my legs have gotten, and take a deep breath and know that I have a strong oxygen uptake, and look in the mirror and honestly think, at 41 I look pretty hot, curves and all.

I say, move your body, and eat to fuel. Everything else adds to anxiety and anxiety is fattening. :D

[Veronica]

And a lot depends upon where those calories are coming from. I eat very few sugars, mainly complex carbs and protein. I'm often a little hungry, but I'm also in tune with what exactly that means. Am I a little hungry because I'm bored, am I craving some chocolate... or did I have a super hard training session and I need some peanut butter now. :D

At 2,000 calories a day and riding my bike like crazy when I was training for and doing double centuries, I could not lose much body fat. Drop the sugars, add in some weight work and viola... a body I'm pretty happy with. :D I'm a triathlete now and a not very fast runner. I don't really care about getting skinnier. I'd just have to buy more clothes... again! I do care about getting faster. Getting my run faster means, I can think about getting a time trial bike and doing a full Ironman.

I've been training for a long time and I know that what I am doing is the correct thing for me.

Veronica

[deeaimond]

Yeah, what she said.

Deeiamond, you rose your bike for 18 straight hours? Holy-moly. That's a story I'd like to hear.

Roxy

Hahaa... I think i told it before on here somewhere. It was a charity ride and I'd signed up, 24 hrs ride. So I rode. and rode and rode. 10am until... 3am.. i could not ride anymore coz my bits were very sore.. (moisture and padded tights don't mix very well) I turned off the route and went home for a short nap. As i lay my head down, i saw lightning and thunder in the distance anyways. So i was glad to escape the rain coz i had an exam to sit for the day after. Then i woke up at 7 and rode the remaining 3 hrs to the final pitstop.

during the ride, i had lots of encouragement, coz i signed up with a friend and some of our friends came and rode some parts with us. There were many pit stops with drinks and gels and bars available for us. and fruit and meals. At some parts i really crashed hard, but then i started taking a gel every 2 or three hours so i did alright.

It was mentally hard to keep going, coz physically it was tough but not as hard as convincing yrself that u had to go on. And i'm quite impressed that I did it.. :D

But that was almost a year ago.. But for some reason I think i could still do that now. just maybe at a more relaxed pace, coz i havent been riding that much recently.

everyone should try it at least once. U'll be amazed at what you can find in yourself to do something like that.

[mirliluck]

Says who? If I work super crazy hard (70%+ of max), I can burn about 400 calories in a hour. That's not much. If I just go about my day with no added formal exercise (bearing in mind that I do farm chores twice a day which is more than a lot of people), I burn AT MOST 1700 calories. If I ate 1500 calories a day, I'd be barely creating a deficit unless I did a LOT of working out.

While I agree that there are absolutely many people out there who eat too little to fuel their workouts and end up throwing off their metabolisms...there are just as many of us out there who eat too much. Metabolism is HIGHLY individual. Making assumptions about what every person burns based on calculations in books or online is about as smart as judging bike fit based on stand-over height. It works for some, but certainly not for everyone.

Geez, talk about making assumptions. Of course I didn't arrive at that amount using an online calculator, and of course that wouldn't be smart. I do think it's possible to burn as much as 600 cals in an hour depending on your activity level, I have done so calculating with an HRM not an online calculator. And I didn't assume anything that's why I suggested a range of 600-1000 for 1 to 2 hours of activity.

But let's use your 400 calories in an hour as an example. If you are eating 1500 calories ( not taking into account the thermic effect of food even), then you have a net of 1100 calories. For most people, this is well below even a basal metabolic rate. I've seen it recommended that a female shouldn't net below 1200 calories. I realize that this number changes as we age, but I don't see how it's a good idea to be chronically on a caloric intake below what's required for functioning.

My only point is that eating too little can actually cause more harm than good by damaging muscle mass and potentially throwing off metabolism.

[Crankin]

I just read the rest of this thread (since i responded in the beginning). It just shows everyone is different. If I worked out the same amount as Veronica and ate 1500 calories a day, I think I would faint! My BMI is 20 and has been at that point for many years. But, I do agree that many people over estimate how much nutrition they need to fuel their work outs. I suspect I am the opposite. I seem to need more food now than I did 10-20 years ago. I basically weigh the same as I did in HS and I am turning 56 in 3 weeks. But, when I was teaching aerobics 6 days a week and weighed 92 pounds, I was definitely not eating enough. I didn't "starve myself," and I went out to eat a lot, but I ate small breakfasts and lunches and would eat no snack before working out in the late afternoon. No wonder, I often felt faint. Then I would go home and eat a normal, healthy dinner.
My weight seems to stabilize on the days I do an easy workout or take a rest day. I think it's because when I do long and hilly rides, I just need a lot more fuel.

[Biciclista]

If you read Veronica's ride reports, you can tell she's eating enough. I'd be challenged to keep up with her on ANY ride.

[Crankin]

Oh, I don't doubt that! I am weak, basically. But, I know I eat more than 1500 calories a day (probably around 2,000-3,000) and my weight (106) and my body fat (18%) remain relatively stable. I've noticed more lately that my legs just give up and I am cramping up more. I always attribute it to my fibromyalgia, but it's more like I need to do some major weight training. I also think the nutritional aspect is playing into it. I just need to figure out what I need to change.
I am putting myself and my husband through a self-styled boot camp, starting in December. We are doing a cycling tour in May, which is a bit early for that type of riding. So, over the next few weeks, I need to experiment with my calories, and other stuff.

[featuretile]

I have also been struggling with how to get stubborn pounds off (about 30). In the process, I have tried several different things. I was eating a really healthy diet with between 1200-1500 calories a day and going to water aerobics 3X a week and hiking once a week. That was not enough. I started cycling about 6 months ago. Now I ride about 20 (hilly) miles 3-4 times a week, and I am 57 years old.

I had a natural doctor check my thyroid. Although the TSH test was normal, the T3 uptake was on the very lowest normal range. I started to take a low dose natural thyroid pill to speed up my metabolism.

Then I went to Tibet and got horrible diarrhea which required many days of cipro (heavy antibiotic). I realized that I had probably killed every bacteria - bad and good in my body - so when I got home I took some probiotics (healthy bacteria like in yogurt). I started to lose a little weight after that with the same amount of exercise and diet as before the trip. I am wondering if there was something stuck in my gut that was preventing weight loss and this involuntary purge cleaned it out.

Then I read a book recommended by a doctor about leptin resistance. The book suggests that inflammation is preventing leptin from regulating your metabolism. I did not want to go on the no carb diet in the book because I don't think you can cycle with no carbs. It makes me feel tired and cranky. I eat mostly whole grain carbs now. But there are certain anti-inflammatory foods that you can add or sub in that are helpful. So I added blueberries, pomegranate juice and green tea to my diet.

I have lost 12 pounds and am fitting into some of my old pants. I think it is mostly the cycling with the help of the other things. I just feel better. I know I have to eat while I'm riding, so I always bring something healthy to eat like nuts and raisins or a granola bar, and lots of water. I can get up hills that I could not get up before, and a 15 mile ride is easy. Hopefully, I will continue to lose weight, but I have already benefited so much that I am grateful for having gotten hooked on cycling. I ride with a woman who is over 200 lbs., and I am really impressed that she is riding and improving.

[e.e.cummings]

Featuretile, where I come from there is a saying 'you have been up and down the road' meaning that you have experienced a lot - this definitely applies, with all puns intended for cycling. Your story is very interesting. And Tibet - wow!

[tulip]

Hi. This is really interesting. Until I was 39, I was around 145lbs. I'm 5'6". I was never happy with the way I looked. Belly fat--I had it. But, like GLC said, all I got was, "You look fine, love yourself, yadda yadda."

Then, for a variety of reasons, I lost 20lbs in a couple of months a few years ago. Wow, I can tell you, it's great. I have stabilized at 127 and I actually AM delighted with my body--for the first time in my life, at age 42. I'm stronger and faster. But for me, the most important result is that I am more confident in myself in all sorts of ways--not just athletic.

So for some people, it does matter. It would have been nice, really nice, if I could have allowed myself that confidence and freedom back when I was heavier--all of my adult life til then. But now I have it, well most of the time anyways.

If you love yourself whatever your weight, then that is fantastic and so much more than I could accomplish. You should be commended, because what you do is not easy at all.