Losing Weight?

[pardes]

German genes, huh, TahoeDirtGirl. So THAT's my problem. I grew up in "outten the light" Pennsylvania country where everyone cooked Pennsylvania Dutch food. Everything was sweetened. Even the vegetables. I never liked sweet foods so it was torture for me.

Of course now that I eat unsweetened everything (but southern iced tea), I still struggle with the later life weight gain. German genes indeed.

[divingbiker]

Yeah, I've got those "German plowing hips" too.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

Pardes- I grew up on the edge of Lancaster County in Chester County. There is nothing better than chow chow, fried up potatoes and that shoo fly pie. No seriously, some days I crave weird stuff like shoo fly pie, pickled eggs...best of all the bread.....or worst of all? Smorgasboard anyone? My mom was from Germany and my dad Italy. We were raised on the Italian end as my father's mother made sure the good German woman knew how to cook for her baby boy But I think I am more German. Stubborn. Cankles (aka no ankles all calf lol). Big hips. Did I mention stubborn? I am my mother's daughter.

When I get down there I'll be loading up on apple butter and whatever else I can get my hands on in a jar.

I wish I paid attention to my mother when she was canning. I would really love to can up some tomatoes. I guess this year it will be a freezer stuffing festival.

===============
To keep somewhat on topic, a friend of mine told me about that P90 program they see on TV. She said it got her reinterested in weight training. I hate working out at home. I bought ...are you ready?...Hip Hop Abs. Still in the box almost a year later. I have to stop watching infomercials.

I'm looking at taking Pilates. That would really be good for me because my core workouts are really boring. I get in a rut and need something different...

[channlluv]

What if you "plateau" at the very beginning? I've been riding pretty steadily over over two weeks now and haven't lost any weight. Nada. I'm feeling it in my knees, and my muscles are feeling tighter, but my clothes aren't fitting any differently, and the scale's not budging.

I know, two weeks is hardly enough time to see any results. I'm getting a little worried, though. You'd think four-five 15+-mile rides each week would have knocked a couple of pounds off.

I'm not binging on the food, either. Quite the opposite. I just had to throw out the chocolate birthday cake (I turned 44 on Friday) because it just wasn't the least bit appetizing and no one was eating it.

Maybe I need to drink more water, or start an actual calorie count. How do you all track that stuff?

I've heard that you're supposed to divide your weight in half and drink that many ounces of water each day. Is that true? If so, I'm looking at a gallon of water a day.

CL

[Veronica]

Do you really need to drink Gatorade on your rides? Even watered down Gatorade?

Where I live, most days are still in the high 80s when I work out. But, if it's less than a two hour workout, I only drink water.

I've lost ten pounds since I started a serious weight training program and cutting out sugary drinks.

I didn't lose weight when all I was doing was cycling and I'm an ultra distance cyclist, so we're talking 10+ hours on the bike at least once a month, plus the training rides to support that.

Veronica

[RoadRaven]

Just a suggestion for those of you who are plateau-ing (like me... and I have actually put on 5kg this year, my goal was to lose 10)

After reading that in a 6 monuth study of women on a diet/exercise regime... those who kept a food diary lost an average almost twice the ammount than those who didn't, I started keeping a food diary.

In one week of keeping the diary I have lost almost 1kg/2 pounds.
I reckon its because I don't want to write some of the snacks I often eat, so I don't have them. I am not making/buying milky coffees and hot chocolates - I have water instead. I don't have a few spoonfuls of icecream as I serve dessert. I still have treats (yesterday it was chocolate paricots, mmmm) but I just dont have them as often or as much in a sitting.

Its really helping me to focus on whether I am actually hungary or not too.

[channlluv]

RoadRaven, what's a chocolate paricot?

What do you record in your food diary?

CL




Channel the love, baby. Channel the love.

[bikerchic]

RoadRaven, what's a chocolate paricot?

They look yummy to me, course you could cover most anything with chocolate and I would at least try it, once. Found the pic on Google, gotta love Google!

But then again Google could be wrong?!

[Grits]

This cycling/weight thing has been a complete mystery to me. I can't believe that I have not lost weight with all the extra hours of activity I am doing. My weight was under better control when I did half an hour on the elliptical and 20 minutes of strength training 3 or 4 times a week. But, it wasn't as fun. I think I will get everything fine tuned pretty soon as far as what I have to have for fuel, but it is discouraging to ride over 100 miles in 2 days, be really careful about what you eat and drink, and still come home two pounds heavier.

[greycoral]

I have been doing weight watchers for about 10 months now, and have lost 45 lbs. I had a plateau for almost three months and it was so frustrating! The way I finally broke it was upping my exercise intensity and also lots of variety! In a week, I will probably hike twice a week (one long, one short), one long bike ride (20+ miles), do a spinning class and an aerobic class at the gym, and then be slightly active for my 6th day. Usually entails riding my bike to work, or to lunch, or taking my dogs on a long walk, etc. You can't be afraid to mix it up, and also be sure to take measurements! At first I was losing weight ever so slowly when I upped my exercise, but my clothes were fitting so much better.

[Tuckervill]

Record everything that crosses your lips in your food diary.

I have alternately used Calorieking.com and sparkpeople.com. There are others, like fitday.com and the daily plate.

To add to RR's statistic, in the database of people who kept their weight off for 5 or more years, 95% of them exercised every day and ate breakfast every single day as well.

Karen

[emily_in_nc]

To add to RR's statistic, in the database of people who kept their weight off for 5 or more years, 95% of them exercised every day and ate breakfast every single day as well.

That would be me...

I might miss a day of exercise every couple of weeks, but it's rare. I walk, run, work out with weights, and ride, so I try to do something every day. I do eat breakfast every day. Have kept my weight loss off for 7 years now.

[channlluv]

I dunno. It must be caloric intake, but I swear I eat pretty well. I'm riding 60 - 80 miles per week, for a month now, and the only things getting looser are my watch and my bra. Ack.

Also, I'm noticing an ammonia smell when I'm showering after a ride. Anyone know what that's about? It's after soaping up, too.

Thanks,
Roxy, about to go South Beach to see if that helps nudge some of these pounds off

[OakLeaf]

Also, I'm noticing an ammonia smell when I'm showering after a ride.

IANAD...

but ketosis is a possibility. Are you getting enough carbs? I'd stay away from South Beach (at least the initial weeks) if you're already in ketosis...

[Dogmama]

I dunno. It must be caloric intake, but I swear I eat pretty well. I'm riding 60 - 80 miles per week, for a month now, and the only things getting looser are my watch and my bra. Ack.

Women tend to lose weight from the top down (sigh!).

+1 on the food diary. It keeps you from popping things into your mouth & forgetting about them.

Water helps fill you up. Some say it flushes fat out - but there's no evidence of that.

-1 on South Beach. You need carbs. Carbs help drive protein into your muscles. Good carbs = complex carbs.

+1 on weight training. Building muscle helps burn more calories at rest. Think of your muscles as your body's engine. A bigger engine needs more gas (calories) even when resting (idling.) We don't build muscles as easily as men, but it can be done. Put down the pink weights. Pick up something that will make you crank out 10-12 reps in good form. Now do it again.