No Carbs After Five

[GLC1968]

did you wear a HR monitor or something to measure calories burned so you could get a better gage??

Yep, always. It's a mental thing for me. I know what I burn (within reason), and I know when I'm overeating and yet I do it anyway. DH thinks it's the 'fat girl' in me that I have not yet quite beaten into submission with broccoli and frozen chicken breasts!

[HappyAnika]

I agree 100%. 'Deserve' is a word I am trying to eliminate from my nutritional vocabularly! As an example... When I started riding, I was already in very good shape. I wanted to lose about 8-10 lbs to get lean (down to 17% BF), but I was still quite fit. I have been riding for 2 years now and instead of losing weight, I've gained it. I'm now 15 lbs over where I started and 99% of it is because of this mental game I started playing with myself. "I just burned 2000 calories today...I deserve to eat what I want". Wrong. Whether or not my calorie burn is accurate is irrelevant when I am eating 3 times what I am burning because I've told myself I deserve it. It's a vicious cycle that I need to break.

I can relate to this. Last year was my first year cycling and I was hoping it would help me drop some weight, even though I was already in pretty good shape. I gained 7 pounds. After a 4 hour ride I felt I could justify eating a huge plate of greasy mexican food. I remember the day I first rode 50 miles and "rewarded" myself with a plate of fettuccine alfredo, one of my most favorite things to eat, which I hadn't had in years because of the guilt factor. I was eating way too much to compensate for what I was burning.

On the other hand I agree with RR that if you say "I will never eat x", then you crave and obsess about it. At least I do. (Mmmm, cake). So I managed to avoid the fettuccine alfredo for about 6 years, which is surprising. It just would have been a good thing if I didn't eat the entire plate when I let myself have it.

I'll be purchasing a heart rate monitor within the next couple of months to get a better idea of how many calories I'm actually burning. Calorie/food tracking helped me get a handle on how many calories I'm consuming. And at 1500 - 1700 calories a day with all the excerise I get, I must have the world's lowest base metabolic rate. I like to say I defy the laws of thermodynamics.

[GLC1968]

And at 1500 - 1700 calories a day with all the excerise I get, I must have the world's lowest base metabolic rate. I like to say I defy the laws of thermodynamics.

You and me both! While I know that I've been eating too much since I picked up biking...that wasn't always the case.

Before I started riding, I was working out an average of 500 vigorous minutes a week (70% of max HR, not including warm-ups and cool-downs), eating about 1400 - 1600 calories a day of GOOD quality real food, and not losing weight. That would be a little easier to understand if I were VERY close to goal (or already very lean) but I still had plenty of fat to lose. I was even careful to do plenty of heavy weight lifting (30% strength, 70% cardio) and even after 8 weeks or so...nothing. It sucked!

I think that's why I can't 'buckle down' now. I'm afraid of seeing that again. I think now, my twisted brain is figuring that if I don't try...I can't fail.

[Trek420]

- Food is fuel. It doesn't have to be indulgent, it doesn't have to taste good, it doesn't have to fill you up, it doesn't have to be pretty. I actually prefer food that doesn't taste delicious because it's way easier to back off when I start to get full and prevents me from craving more when I've eaten the proper serving size for me.

disclosure, I don't race, I'm waaaaay above my goal weight, I'm a slow but steady 50 year old.

But I'm an ex-souse-chef with an arts background.

We "eat with our eyes" first, and other senses too, sometimes more than the 5. It's fuel for the soul as well as the body.

Healthy meals and snacks that look good make it easier to meet a goal. Cutting soda from your diet? The slice of lemon and mint leaf in water or ice tea ... healthy meal in a crock pot so you open the door when you get home and *poof* whole house smells like good food ... using a favorite plate or bowl ... appearence means a lot and it does not take much to do that.

So what do you do to make eating "right" fun?

[equus123]

So what do you do to make eating "right" fun?

I guess for me its the comfort or satisfaction in *knowing* that I'm doing the right thing in order to reach my goals in this sport as well as for me, athletically.

I grew up in a huge italian family where we all lived 20 minutes from one another. small family dinners were 12 people. My mother is an INSANE cook, my grandmother is an even more insanely good cook. Needless to say, I grew up around a ton of delicious food. At the time my parents moved out of state, I was totally ready to stop eating so much good food. I swear...the way my mom cooks....she makes her food addictive. We had the fridge in the kitchen, a fridge/freezer in the basement, and a full freezer in the garage - ALL stocked with food, prepared food, leftovers, you name it.

My past (which you all don't/didn't know about) explains my current eating habits and views on food. I've experienced good food, I've had plenty of it, I know what everything tastes like. Now - I don't care if its good or not ( you know what I mean), I don't care if its not pretty, I don't care if its plain tasting.

None of that matters to me because it is what it is. Chicken is still chicken, pasta is still pasta, salad is still salad. My life doesn't revolve around food and that's not a bad thing.

[emily_in_nc]

None of that matters to me because it is what it is. Chicken is still chicken, pasta is still pasta, salad is still salad. My life doesn't revolve around food and that's not a bad thing.

I kinda get what you're saying. Yes, I love "good" food; nothing like dinner at a really fine restaurant to excite my senses (and cause me to eat way too much!) OTOH, for weight loss or maintenance, I think "plain food" is very helpful. My DH is retired and does most of the cooking now. He makes a lot of soups and other simple dishes that are tasty, but not fancy, not covered with delicious high-fat, creamy, winey, buttery sauces that might cause me to pack on the pounds. Eating simply has definitely helped me maintain my weight because it removes the urge to overeat whatever it is because it is *so amazing*. I eat a serving and I'm done. Earlier in our marriage, when I was doing more of the cooking, I tended to make dishes that were more my special favorites, and as a result, I had a much harder time pushing the plate away.

My mother has struggled with her weight for years and tried all kinds of diets. Her weight has gradually crept up-up-up. She also watches The Food Channel (Network?) a lot. I kinda in jest (but only partly!) suggested that she might want to change back over to HGTV or something, just to avoid such an emphasis on food in her life. She talks about shows she watches on that network all the time, different food prep methods, new recipes, etc. I think if she would focus her energy on something other than food, she might have an easier time losing weight. It works for me -- I'm much more likely to be thinking about, reading about, or watching TV about other areas of interest entirely, and I don't have a weight problem now. I used to be much more interested in cooking and food in general, and that's when I was overweight and had to "diet". Now that I've lost the weight I needed to (six years ago), I focus on fitness and fun in lieu of food, and it seems to be working....

Emily

[equus123]

Good deal Emily

[RoadRaven]

I think if she would focus her energy on something other than food, she might have an easier time losing weight.
>>>>It works for me --
>>>>Now that I've lost the weight I needed to (six years ago), I focus on fitness and fun in lieu of food, and it seems to be working....

Emily

I think you have hit the nail on the head, Emily... if you think about something all the time, you "do" it all the time...

Just look at us and our purty bikes!