Weight Watchers eating while riding

I am struggling with my weight. I'm 47 probably peri-menopausal, though with no nasty symptoms, except this weight gain. I walk 4 days a week, ride 2 days a week. I know I eat the wrong stuff, but I do eat a lot of the right stuff. I just need to balance it out better somehow.

I was in weight watchers 3 years ago and lost weight. My one bug a boo was when I went for weigh ins, if I hadn't lost a lot of weight or seem to be stalled the ladies there would say I had to stop eating energy bars (while riding) that this was causing my weight gain. I wonder did they look at the tortilla and cheese I ate the day I wasn't riding? I tried to explain to them I was riding 100 miles in one day and couldn't survive on apples alone, and the rest stops don't have green salads available! I got dumbfounded looks. Anyway, the bike riding didn't seem to factor in to the WW plan. And I was always hungry on ride days.

But alas I realize WW may work for me in a sense because I will be thinking all week of the next weigh in and will watch myself if I know I'm being monitored. Additonally WW has a location a block away from my office and I can go on my lunch hour.

So how do you eat the right foods when riding and still be on WW. Do I just turn a deaf ear and come up with my own strategy for ride days? Trying to loose weight alone isn't working, I need to be kept accountable. And WW is the right price. Help.

There is a new Curves diet that I'm trying, and have had some success. I tried it before and lost the weight, but did not stick to phase 3 correctly. It is not bike season yet here, so I am wondering if I will be able to behave myself with my diet once I start riding more.

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Originally Posted by ACG

...the ladies there would say I had to stop eating energy bars (while riding) that this was causing my weight gain. I wonder did they look at the tortilla and cheese I ate the day I wasn't riding? I tried to explain to them I was riding 100 miles in one day and couldn't survive on apples alone, and the rest stops don't have green salads available! I got dumbfounded looks. Anyway, the bike riding didn't seem to factor in to the WW plan. And I was always hungry on ride days.

So how do you eat the right foods when riding and still be on WW. Do I just turn a deaf ear and come up with my own strategy for ride days? Trying to loose weight alone isn't working, I need to be kept accountable. And WW is the right price. Help.

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First, don't listen to the people at WW who don't have a clue how much energy it takes to ride a bike for hours.

You're earning activity points while you're riding, so you should eat them. Whether that's a luna bar or a banana or a bagel with peanut butter doesn't really matter, as long as it's something that's providing nutrition and energy.

My guess is that it's not the food you're eating while riding that's slowing the weight loss, but everything else. As long as you track everything, and you eat within your weekly points and activity points, you should lose, although some people have better luck when they don't eat all of their weeklies.

Just know that losing weight is a really slow process as we get older. I'm 52, and my weight loss on WW has been incredibly slow--40 pounds in 15 months. Patience...

A few of the women on my club's race team are on WW. They balance the points they earn by riding, so they seem to be able to stick to it. Although, on a very long 12-hour race, they just did whatever they had to to get through the race. I doubt they could have gained weight...

The bars are factoring into it if they are putting you over your point allotment! I can't imagine every ride you do is 100 miles. On a 100 mile ride bars and gels are needed but if you are just doing 1 or even 2 hrs you really don't need anything on the bike other than water. This is of course assuming you eat at regular intervals prior to the ride and supplement. I don't know the brand you buy but Promax makes a 70 cal bar if you need a bar. The only time I eat on the bike when I am training is if my ride exceeds 2 hours and then it may be 1 gel and i'll start drinking gatorade. Once I hit 3 I'll have 1/2 bar if I plan on doing more ... the rest 30 min later and just go from there based on how much time I have left.

I did WW initially to lose weight. I had started cycling then, but probably not to the extent I am now.
I have struggled w/ getting back on WW for years now to lose the final wieght. I continue to struggle w/ the eating enough to fuel/train and yet not eat so much that I can't lose weight. I have NOT been successful yet. Of course I think I just keep slipping into my bad habits.
I have tried reading books about endurance atheletes and nutrition---but rarely find anything I can use since it normally is not about weight loss and I worry that my "intensity" is not there same. Nor do I want to or can I do all those calculations. Just need it simple.
I think I always "revert" back to "counting points" since I know about how many calories = 1 point and aobut what I used to have on a regular day. But I find it very hard to maintain!
So let me know if it works for you or what others have found works!

I agree with Diving Biker. Those people that are telling you to stop eating while exercising don't have a clue. Ignore them.

As alot of people here know, I've been very successful on WW. I always eat my activity points, and I eat them on the day I earn them. If you do not fuel your body, you will not be successful at sustaining exercise for any long/intense period at one time.

That said, energy bars can be quite high cal. Don't OVERindulge on them. Make sure you calculate the points in the bar, and be sure to factor them in to the day's training plan. I usually have a good idea of how many points I will earn on my ride. I plan out the food I will eat on the ride and bring it along, so I ensure that my blood sugar stays relatively constant. If I still find myself hungry, well then I find something else to eat at a store and add in on to my tracker later. That's what we have the extra 35 weekly points for.

You might try to find a WW group that has a larger proportion of active women in it. Or see if you can get a knowledgeable leader to be willing to start one.

Best of luck,

Susan