No Carbs After Five

[CycleChic06]

- Is this food something I deserve to eat? Have I worked out to afford these calories or the extra calories in candy/chips/snacks/etc?
.

This is an idea that caught my eye. Everyone looks at dieting or eating right their own way, but I think looking at food like you "deserve" to eat it because you worked out today is the wrong way of looking at it. There have been lots of articles recently showing that people who excersize more tend to take in more calories than those who just eat healthy. As in, I ran an extra 2 miles today, I'm allowed to eat that cookie. There have also been discussions here about how many cyclists (or bike riders...whatever) tend to overestimate the number of calories they burn during a ride.

We need to move away from thinking of food as something we deserve and, as many women do, as a way to comfort ourselves, and more in the direction of what we need to sustain a healthy living style. Does this make sense? I'm not sure I'm explaining myself well.

[equus123]

to clarify my point of view - my perspective comes from maintaining my current weight. i'm as low as i want to go and i just want to keep it. if i do have a hard or long ride one day i will tend to eat bigger meals that may have some yummier stuff (yummier usually means less healthy) instead of being as strict as i usually am because i now feel like i deserve to eat these kinds of food - i worked my *** off that day and i'm gonna eat what i want dammit. that's what i mean by "deserving".

[RoadRaven]

CycleChic and equus... I see both your perspectives... and here's my "take" on it.

If you are limiting your food intake in order to lose weight, then it is inevitable that some of the things you want you will not be able to have.

However, in order to stick to a tough regimen, I think it is also important to give yourself permission to have a "treat" every now and again - whether its a pizza or its double choc-chip extra creamy icecream. If you never allow it, you will crave that thing.

So I think its just word-smithing... yes, limiting our food intake is part of what needs to happen if we are to change shape or lose weight... but eliminating fave foods forever is not achievable.

I have a moro bar waiting in the fridge for me... I got it in my "pack" at the Sunday race. At the moment I don't feel like it, and part of me doesn't want to eat it regardless. It is there for when I want to eat it. A couple of years ago I would have eaten it within the hour of receiving it, and then felt guilty about it for days (possibly weeks). Now I know I will savour and enjoy it when I do eat it, and know also that I "deserve" it because not only have I listened to my body, I have done loads of cycling and been eating sensibly as well.

[equus123]

yes

[CycleChic06]

to clarify my point of view - my perspective comes from maintaining my current weight. i'm as low as i want to go and i just want to keep it. if i do have a hard or long ride one day i will tend to eat bigger meals that may have some yummier stuff (yummier usually means less healthy) instead of being as strict as i usually am because i now feel like i deserve to eat these kinds of food - i worked my *** off that day and i'm gonna eat what i want dammit. that's what i mean by "deserving".

I was just trying to open up what I find an interesting area of debate related to road raven's question.

[equus123]

gotchya...

[GLC1968]

This is an idea that caught my eye. Everyone looks at dieting or eating right their own way, but I think looking at food like you "deserve" to eat it because you worked out today is the wrong way of looking at it. There have been lots of articles recently showing that people who excersize more tend to take in more calories than those who just eat healthy. As in, I ran an extra 2 miles today, I'm allowed to eat that cookie. There have also been discussions here about how many cyclists (or bike riders...whatever) tend to overestimate the number of calories they burn during a ride.

We need to move away from thinking of food as something we deserve and, as many women do, as a way to comfort ourselves, and more in the direction of what we need to sustain a healthy living style. Does this make sense? I'm not sure I'm explaining myself well.

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.

Anyway, just my 0.02.

I do whole heartedly agree that you should tailor your intake to your activity levels. On days you burn more, eat more. On days you rest, eat less. By being smart about where in your training that you consume your calories, you can avoid severe hunger pains, killer cravings and most importantly, bonking. (Now I just need to take my own advice! )

[lph]

you can avoid severe hunger pains, killer cravings and most importantly, bonking.

Hee-hee... ok, I have a dirty mind...

Did you know that "bonking" in England is slang for, well, what I thought offthegrid was talking about when she said "some of us do workouts at night".

To get back on topic - I'm a huge fan of the idea that food is fuel. Tank up often, with small amounts of quality fuel, and your body will be happy

[RoadRaven]

Hee-hee... ok, I have a dirty mind...

Did you know that "bonking" in England is slang for, well, what I thought offthegrid was talking about when she said "some of us do workouts at night".

LOL, lph.
That was the funniest thing when we came ( can I say that???) to cycling to!
Everybody was obsessed with talking about boking and how to avoid it.

In NZ, lots of people say "hit the wall", but I am hearing bonking more and more from many!!

[equus123]

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.

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

[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!

[equus123]

hahaha nice

[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.

[caligurl]

OK... i'm happy now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i thought i was the only one that GAINED weight after taking up cycling!

phew... it's NOT just me!

*doing the happy dance*

uh..... no offense ladies... but misery loves company!!!!!