Got the exercise part. Can't get the eat less part.

i hear the busy at work thing from clients a lot too. I always recommend the lunch bag. Bring enough food for the hours you plan on being in the office. people often don't pack enough and by two oclock are completley ravenous until they get home.

Vegetarian sources of protein are not as "concentrated" so to speak. that means you need a lot more of it to make up for the protein (more specifically to beans). So if you aren't eating enough protein and fat you will tend to be hungry and grouchy. make sure you have some kind of protein with every food, which also helps prevent blood sugar fluctuations.

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Originally Posted by Raindrop

I suggest that if you're really serious about having good food and snacks available you invest in a small container and some freezer gel packs. Then you can have meals and snacks that your control the caloric and nutritios value of.

Does this help at all?:confused:

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Originally Posted by Meaux
I have had the worst luck losing weight. I did the South Beach diet and was successful, but I can't not eat carbs. I was hungry all the time and grouchy. And the minute I came off the diet, all the weight came back and it brought it's nasty little friends I don't know what to do. I eat whole wheat bread/pasta/etc. and have been cutting down on my red meat in take (well, my meat intake in general) and have been TRYING desperately to exercise regularly (I work for a law firm, so my hours are often long and late), but with no luck. HELP. I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life and I'm going to ride the MS150 in April and can't bring myself to be seen in bike shorts in front of 12,999 other people. I'd like to blame the birth control and the anti-depressants I'm on, however, I've never been a really small person. (Even when I was thinner, I've always be very curvy.) Does anyone have advice? I'd like to find some bike shorts that fit!!!

I love food. Good food. DH and I both love to cook. I only eat fast food about 2x a year. I drink about 3 - 4 liters of water a day. I try to make healthy choices for my meals, and compared to most Americans I eat very healthy - no chips, no soda, no packaged cookies, rarely packaged candy. But, like I said, I love food, so the food I do eat I eat way too much of. Portion control is a huge problem for me. I noticed when DH cooks, he'll plate my food and give me as much as he gives himself (he's 6'5", 215 lb). I obviously don't need to eat as much as him, and I've tried explaining this to him, but he feels like he needs to be "fair" in portioning food. That "don't need to clear your plate" thing is a good idea, but my problem is if food is in front of me, I will likely eat it. Same thing at restaurants. I have a hard time responding to my fullness cue, to stop eating when I'm not hungry anymore. My other biggest problem is my carb addiction. It doesn't help that carbs tend to be more convenient for the busy person. For example I eat cereal every morning (healthy cereal, but still cereal, and a lot of it), and for lunch I like frozen pita pocket things, they are organic and filled with vegetables, but its still a ton of carbs. Damn carbs. I know that good carbs are essential to a healthy diet, but I go way overboard. Why isn't protein as convenient? :mad:

I am in the best shape I've ever been in, but I'm not the thinnest. Its so frustrating. I thought cycling would help me loose weight, but I actually gained weight. It was because I felt like I deserved more, but I was eating more than I was burning off. It didn't help that exercising so much made me so hungry!

A few things I've found helpful:
If I'm starving in the afternoon, have a snack, otherwise I will over eat when I have dinner. Plate my own dinner, or remind DH I don't need so much. If I'm eating at a restaurant, plan to eat half my food, then take home the rest for lunch the next day. Eat dinner as early as possible, metabolism slows in the evening, so a piece of bread at dinner can cause more damage than the same piece at lunch. If I feel like I have the munchies, I ask myself, do I want to eat because I'm hungry or because I'm bored. Usually its because I'm bored. There are all kinds of mental things that go along with my hunger. If I'm happy and busy, I'm not so hungry. Weight training is incredibly helpful. While cardio makes you feel like you're more in shape, weight training burns a ton of calories.

KSH and others from the triathlon board have inspired me to start keeping track of my food on sparkpeople.com. I hope that helps. I really need to make a concerted effort to eat more protein and ease off the carbs. Evil carbs!

I guess I'll throw my 2 cents into the hat as well.

I lost 40 lbs over the span of a couple of years. I took it off slowly in about 12 lb chuncks (and I'd kind of stagnate for a few months before starting the weight loss again -- I swear that helped it STAY off in the long run). I was on Weight Watchers and learned some good stuff from them. Ultimately, it was just the right combination of diet and exercise that made the difference for me. Here are some of the things I learned ...

Everyone needs SOME fat in their diet. If everything in your cupboard and fridge says "fat free," you're making a mistake. Instead of a fat free salad dressing, try olive oil (just 1-2 teaspoons) & vinegar with some herbs and a dash of Splenda for sweetness.

Carbs were my enemy. I almost completely wiped them out of my diet. I'd have bran flakes for breakfast and a wheat wrap for lunch (with meat, lots of veggies, no condiments). I completely cut out pasta, rice, potatoes and bread. I found it to be true that carbs actually caused me to feel hungry faster.

Lean proteins are my friend. A very small portion of scrambled eggs at 8:30 keeps me satisfied until lunch at 1:00. However, a huge bagel with margarine at 8:30, and I'll be hungry by 10:30-11:00. So, proteins really do stick to your ribs!

Many experts recommend that you graze instead of eating "meals." Combining the lean proteins, less carbs approach, I'd have one scrambled egg for breakfast (and coffee) or some bran flakes. Mid morning maybe a slice or two of turkey. And water. Lunch I'd have my wrap (no condiments, no chips on the side!) and water. Mid-afternoon maybe some tuna with lemon juice or a TOUCH of lite mayo or some nuts. And water. Dinner a HUGE salad, or a piece of fish with a HUGE portion of veggies. Dessert would be some peanuts in the shell (they take longer to eat) and water. And I always take a vitamin and calcium supplement.

Then there's the exercise part of the plan. Whatever you are doing for exercise, either double it, or change it altogether. Sometimes your body needs a kick-start by using different muscles than you usually do. (And weight training is a must.)

Offthegrid - I struggle with the same thing, am hungry all the time. I'm eating the wrong stuff. The ladies here are very supportive and not at all judgemental. I like this thread so much I printed it and am going to use the advice I see here.

I've started really watching what I eat, increased the water and the vegetables, cut out the sugar, fast food, processed food, nothing fried. The water really helps a lot. I was not drinking what I should, I'm still not, but am a lot better at it. I eat out once a week, ask for 2 servings of vegies and bypass the potato or rice. I cut out all sweets, just eat lots of fruit. I've lost 7 lbs in 7 weeks, not a lot, but it is something.

You have some fantastic goals, good for you! Keep us posted on your progress.

Congratulations on yourweight loss.
I was one that battled with weight all my life, until I started biking. Then the weight just melted off. Now, I find I have to work to keep it on!
I find that if I eat a protein with carbohydrate for each meal it balances out the blood sugar. But, you need to know that often hunger pangs are mistaken for lack of water. Sometimes when my stomach growls...I am just thirsty, Have you been keeping up on your water intake? Just a thought.
I snack on fruit and low fat dairy. Plus sometimes lowfat popcorn, not the healthiest, but fun.
Good luck on your quest. You can do it, just keep riding.
Bionica

I agree, Grog - REAL peanut butter, like Crazy Richard's. Ingredients: peanuts. Yes, it's a pain to stir when you first open the jar, and no, there is no salt so the taste is different, but it is so much better. I eat it rarely, though, so I can't blame peanut butter for my extra pounds...:(

I also agree with drinking lots of water (I add a slice of lemon to mine), eating oatmeal with no sugar (I add things like raisins, dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, sliced almonds or walnuts.) I buy only fresh ingredients and make most everything from scratch. When I eat meat it is usually chicken breast, salmon or ground turkey. Red meat 1x month - though I could probably eat a nice slab of steak once a week if I would let myself. I use low-fat yogurt, vanilla flavor because I just can't eat plain. Fat free salad dressings. All the right stuff - and I still can't get that extra 15 lb. off!

One downfall I have is that dinner is almost always late in the evening - say, 8 p.m. By the time my SO and I get home from work & work out & shower, it's after 7, then time to fix dinner. If only I could work 4 hours/day instead of 8 - oh, and get paid the same, if not more :D then maybe I could get dinner on the table earlier!

It is comforting to see that I am not the only one carrying extra pounds & wrestling with the same issues! I love this forum & having this "sisterhood"!

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Originally Posted by IFjane

I agree, Grog - REAL peanut butter, like Crazy Richard's. Ingredients: peanuts. Yes, it's a pain to stir when you first open the jar, and no, there is no salt so the taste is different, but it is so much better.

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I've always been told to store the jar upside down that way there is less stiring.:)

I pour off the oil to create my own reduced-fat peanut butter;)

I'm also working on a new trick - I'll report back if it continues to work. Whenever I get the urge to snack, or have seconds of something, I'll fix a cup of tea, with the understanding that if I still want the snack after my tea, I'll eat it. So far, after the cup of tea, I've forgotten about the snack, proving to myself that I'm not really always eating out of hunger. It might be emotional eating, or I'm just thirsty. I'll let you know if it works in a few weeks.

Ok.....call me slow...but I never thought of storing the jar upside down! :rolleyes: I have thought about pouring out some of the oil but have not actually done it....

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Originally Posted by Pedal Wench

Whenever I get the urge to snack, or have seconds of something, I'll fix a cup of tea, with the understanding that if I still want the snack after my tea, I'll eat it. So far, after the cup of tea, I've forgotten about the snack, proving to myself that I'm not really always eating out of hunger.

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I think tea and coffee actually reduce appetite... I'm not sure it's only psychological! :) I do that all the time when I'm getting super hungry at 10:30am. It saves me until 11:45, at which time it's okay to ask co-workers to go for lunch!!

Coffee (which I love) makes me hungry. Could be I associate coffee with biscotti. :rolleyes:

Tea, for me, will usually curb the desire for something sweet.

For me, the easiest way to lose weight was to phase out the concept of the big evening meal.

I know it sounds like heresy, esp when dinner time is the prime time for families/loved ones to get together, communicate and get rewarded for the labors of the day.
But when I started living and working on my own, my whole concept of day-planning changed. Instead of three solid meals a day, I found myself eating a huge meal in the morning after my workouts (and I mean HUGE), and slowly tapering off throughout the day with a series of smaller and smaller meals/snacks. When dinner time came around, I found that I wasn't really hungry... so I just stopped having dinner. Hence, no 600-800 calories piled on right before bedtime. My body gradually became accustomed to it and any excess weight I was carrying just fell off.

Even now, when I get invited out for dinner by the BF, friends or family, everyone remarks at how little I eat. It's unconventional, but I now view dinner as more of a social convention than a dietary requirement.

I just had to pipe in on the peanut butter discussion - because I am a pb addict.

My local organic store has a peanut butter and almond butter machine. It does taste different, but I so love it. And none of the extreme oily mess from the organic jars. Its so fun to flip the machine on and watch the nuts get mushed into a paste right in front of me. Almond butter is my new guilty pleasure. :p If you can find a health food store with their own nut butter press...its definitely worth the try. :D

The Whole Foods near me have the peanut butter presses - four of them. One with regular peanuts, one with almonds, one with honey-roasted peanuts, and the last one - get this --- peanuts and chocolate chips!:eek:

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Originally Posted by Pedal Wench

The Whole Foods near me have the peanut butter presses - four of them. One with regular peanuts, one with almonds, one with honey-roasted peanuts, and the last one - get this --- peanuts and chocolate chips!:eek:

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I think I'm addicted to the grind-your-own honey-roasted peanut butter. I've never seen the peanuts and chocolate chips though - guess I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for that treat!

--- Denise