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Also, remember that most experts say that a reasonable goal for women is 1 -2 lbs. per week. Don't expect too much too soon and don't fall off the wagon just because of a discouraging weigh-in or a cheating binge here or there. Just forgive yourself or whatever you need to do and get back on the program! You'll get there!
we're all friends here...so here's my advice on a good relationship with the scale:
weekly. I use saturday. I make sure that I've had a bowel movement before and have had nothing to eat. I weigh myself completely naked. If there is any reason that I cannot achieve all these variables (if I ate too soon, my bowels didn't do their thing...whatever), I do not weigh myself. I hate to second guess what the darned thing says!! You can get over your habit, and you'll be saner for it!!
oh, and I know what you mean about not regularly using a scale. I tell people all the time: never get depressed in a house that has no full length mirror and no scale!! (I'm a teeny little thing...happy to be around 120, though still have some padding I hope to lose once we're seriously riding....without those two items, in the depths of a depression I saw 145 on a scale one day. :eek: that was my wakeup call!)
Keep trying! And never, ever beat yourself up over any of it! Have fun, strive to eat healthy food, and keep active! :)
Namaste,
~T~
Sorry this is kind of beating a dead horse but it sure helps me to talk about it and get some encouragement and tips.
I too make sure all business is taken care off and only weigh with my socks on.
It seems so difficult for me to lose at this point but I know I have more I can lose. I was only looking for 1 lb. a week that is why I kept my calorie intake at 2000, I will keep it there for my hard weeks and around 1700-1800 for my easy week. I have eaten 1104 already and still feel hungry, I am downing sugar free crystal light right now hoping to fill up on that, snack time isn't until 3:30. I did just have a tbs of lowfat creme cheez and one of s/f jelly, hopefully a little protein will help.
Thanks again ya'll, as I said talking about it really helps me :D
Hey, trigurl
try boiled eggs! boil about 6 of 'em...keep 'em in the fridge and handy, bring one to work for you mid-morning snack each day.
it's frustrating when you've got the desire to eat. I really have found that what I'm drinking makes a big difference. a tip from another friend is 4 drops of chlorophyl in water. I've tried it before - it tastes a little minty, so it's not just water, and it might fool you into not wanting to eat more.
all that sugar free stuff you're eating is probably not helping at all!! sugary tasting things (whether it's sugar or artificial) will make you feel like eating more sugary things. try to find real food with real nutrients and eat what you need.
you can do this!! Really you can!! And weight loss is much more about long term than short term. don't get too hung up about this little blip. be nice to yourself. :) you're working very hard!!
how about this: the next time you decide to eat something - anything - stop whatever else you are doing. if you're reading this post and putting something in your mouth. STOP. think about what you're eating. enjoy the flavour of it, the texture of it, the process of chewing, how does it smell? think about the food, savour it, enjoy it fully. when you're done have a sip or a gulp of water or herbal tea. take a breath and enjoy the flavours you've just injested. now you can go back to whatever you were doing.
I do believe that's the number one thing to do when eating just happens. take control of it by totally giving yourself over to the food for just that moment. I bet it will help!!
:o
Keep smiling, trigurl!
Namaste,
~T~
Geez, I almost wish I hadn't looked. Here's a quote from her article "Fighting Fat with Exercise Myths, Truths and Gender Differences":Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
Quote:
Men and women differ in their response to exercise.
That is, men who add on exercise are likely to lose more
weight than do women. In one study with previously sedentary,
normal weight men and women who participated in an
18-month marathon training program, the men increased
their intake by about 500 calories per day; the women
increased by only 60 calories –– despite having added on 50
miles per week of running. The men lost about 5 pounds of
fat; the women none (Int'l J Sports Med, Vol 10 (S1),1989).
Similarly, other studies suggest normal weight women fail
to lose fat when they add on exercise.
Lean female athletes, in particular, struggle harder than
do males to lose body fat and maintain an even leaner
physique. In terms of evolution, nature wants women to
have fat and be fertile; men are supposed to be lean hunters.
I say we write a letter to Mother Nature in protest! this just doesn't seem fair. The other thing is she gives us T.O.M. then takes it away, what's up with that :confused:
Heya. Are you on LJ? Your tribulations sound familiar from someone whose journal I found on the trigeeks group. :)
For endurance training, Chris Carmichael says you need about 50-60% of calories as carbo, 10-15% as protein, and about 30% as fat. To snack without throwing off a diet, get thee protein, fat, and a little carbo for a boost, staying power, and satiety (nuts, seeds, yogurt, cheese). But otherwise, base your diet on the principles of healthful eating: get lots of veggies of many colors, whole-grain and low-gi carbos, high-quality protein, not too much animal fat and plenty of vegetable fat, don't forget your essential fatty acids, try to avoid hydrogenated fat and high fructose corn syrup at all costs. I love Andrew Weil's no-nonsense explanations of macronutrients, micronutrients, and what your body needs. (drweil.com) Your low-gi carbos (see glycemicindex.com) will provide the muscle glycogen and blood sugar you need for your training so try not to skimp on them.
Unfortunately you kind of have to focus on one goal at a time. Build power -- and eat to fuel your body; OR lose weight -- and ease up on the training. There are some good articles on this site: http://www.roadcycling.com/training/ in particular this one: http://www.roadcycling.com/news/article900.shtml is about that plateau that athletes invariably hit for those last 5 to 10 lbs.!
Finally, remember that as a woman, your body needs fat for a lot of reasons including proper generation of estrogen, and it's going to hang onto that fat if at all possible. Below 20% bodyfat and you're infringing on your reproductive system; below 15% and you run the risk of losing your period and possibly even doing long-term damage. I have to recommend getting comfortable with your body image with some padding, unless your sport is important enough for you to take those risks.
Good luck!
Trigurl
Hang on in there! I too need to hone up - but I wholeheartedly agree with LBTC, don't get too hung up on the scales - or the calorie number crunching, otherwise you'll develop a really unhealthy obsession with food/nutrition/body image and cease to enjoy the food you eat.
After all, it's body fat you want to lose, not weight. It's irrelevant what you weigh. Your body is made up of fluctuating elements, water, muscle, fat, blood - the only really important factor is the percentage of body fat you're carrying (and the energy you're inputting/expelling).
I know this isn't especially helpful in a practical sense - you want specifics of what you should be eating, what your calorie intake should be, but everyone is so individual that only you will know what's right for you through trial and error. Fitday is a good free resource for tracking food and balancing the energy in/energy out equation (and food groups), but remember to stay happy and healthy and fuelled. Are you honestly prepared to spend your days weighing food, sitting with a calculator to work out your rations - life's too short to be a slave to the scales.
I eat a really healthy diet, but probably just too much (hence the extra saddlebags!) - I need to get on track with portion control, reduce the amount of carbs I eat.
Just because something's natural, doesn't mean it's the best form of food to eat and it matters what quantities of something you eat too! Granola bars can contain lots of hidden sugars, as can fruit! :eek: Nuts can be high in fat, low fat can be high sugar, high sugar can be low fat!
You need a healthy mix of low GI carbs (that will release energy over a sustained period - ie wholewheats, bananas, pulses, grains, fruit), proteins (cottage cheese, lean meat, oily fish), fats (healthy fats from nuts, lean meat etc), veggies and lots and lots of water.
See, I know all the theory, I just don't have portion control!
I'm going to cut out alcohol for a month (only have a couple of bottles of wine a week max tho at the most), and prepare myself scrummy salads to eat for lunch. Rice salads, couscous salads, with rocket, pumpkin/sunflower seeds, chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, etc. etc.
We only get one body and it's up to us what we do with it - I figure there's no point buying carbon bits for my bike when it's my arse that's carrying the excess, not the bike!
It's easy to get body image out of perspective - especially self-perception, but if you want to measure anything at all, measure body fat percentage - get yourself a set of scales that read bf, or a set of calipers, or a reading from the gym. As with weight, there are lots of variables, and readings can vary to within +/- 5% (and the different methods of measurement can vary, so pick one and stick to it), but if you want to map your progress and see the numbers fall, it'll give you a more realistic stat to crunch than how much your body weighs on any given day!
Good luck Trigurl, rooting for you (and myself!), you can do it - it just takes tweaks and patience.
<<<Group Hug>>> :)
LOL - very true!! :p Join the club :)Quote:
Originally Posted by SnappyPix
In the past I've lost weight through portion control and it worked. I didn't cut out any foods, in fact I ate anything and everything, just in smaller and smaller amounts. Sometimes if I felt like some nice gooey blue cheese or something equally 'bad' I'd just go for it, but instead of eating a normal portion I would have maybe a mouthful or just a taste.
Admittedly this does require a lot of discipline to begin with but I believe if you forbid stuff it's not constructive. By just having a taste, ok, you're 'giving in' but at the same time it's then out of your mind, and you're not craving or obsessing.
I also agree with LBTC - actually paying attention to the taste, texture and flavour when you eat is vital.
Try this test: make yourself a snack, say hot toast and butter, or whatever is your favourite, then sit in front of the tv or computer and eat your snack while being absorbed in the TV. Nice snack? Did you even notice what was going in your mouth?
Repeat the next day, but with TV/ computer/radio etc off and taste the difference!
Good luck everyone trying to loose weight - (I'm hoping to drop 8lb before my wedding in May) It aint always easy... :)
What's T.O.M.?Quote:
Originally Posted by trigurl
Snappypix, your salads sound great!! Summertime we make a huge salad with a bag of coleslaw, the kind of veggies and beans that you mentioned, and more, and season it with spices, not dressing, and it lasts for a couple of days. In winter I can't really get into that, and make more "hearty" foods, freeze them in portions and eat those for lunch. Your salad sounded so great and made my tummy rumble - tonight I just might make the first one of the season - a sure sign of spring!! :D
MM and SP, I like your philosophies a lot. They both dovetail with and were part of my weight loss strategy (and my DH's) from a few years ago. Sometimes I forget about portion control....oops...but usually I'm pretty good about it.
There's a new book that sounds fun: French Women don't get fat...and the ideas they mentioned when I saw the piece about it on the news were very similar. nothing is forbidden...make any indulgence worth it - you've got to really love it - don't eat too much....enjoy your food.... those kinds of notions. sounds like words we can live by! <smile>
hmmmm...is it lunchtime yet? haha
You can do it! All of you (and me too!) yay us!
Namaste,
~T~
:D TOM is time of month. No I am not on another forum only this one.
I do tend to obsess some but not to the point where it becomes dangerous
I hear all of ya! if we stick together we can do it. Maybe we need a new topic on diet/food or something similar.
I made some hummus last night from a vegetarian cookbook, OMG is it good! I used great northern beans and some spices mmm mmm,I had some in 2 pita pockets with l/f cheez and spinach then a l/f pudding, I haven't been hungry since! Usually by now (3:00) I am hungry.
So on to exercise, it is 50 now, snow coming tonight, I have my bike in my van, but alas I only have running shorts :( I suppose I will go run a bit then hit the gym for my weight workout.
Mmmm - sounds good! I'm a huge salad fan, and love to experiment with different stuff - I get pots of "hot seed mix" from the local health food store - chilli seeds mixed with sunflower, sesame, linseed and pumkin, and sprinkle a little on top - makes me eat my salads slower as I can't gulp those chillis! In winter I try putting in things like pearl barley and different beans, to give it a bit more of a substantial base - and lots of fresh herbs to give flavour (usually cilantro/coriander).Quote:
Originally Posted by LBTC
MM - good point about savouring the food you eat - I've made a concerted effort in the last few weeks to chew more, make sure I've emptied one mouthful before I'm stabbing for the next, that kind of thing - it's more effort, but I'm enjoying my food more and going for feeling satiated through taste rather than fullness.
Yay TE girls - we can do it!