Weight loss vs muscle gain

[KnottedYet]

If you operate at a deficit for too long, your body goes into "famine mode." It will find sneaky ways to save calories to keep it going until after the famine ends.

It frustrates the heck out of people, but it's a survival mechanism that I'm sure has kept human beings from going extinct several times.

[Catrin]

If you operate at a deficit for too long, your body goes into "famine mode." It will find sneaky ways to save calories to keep it going until after the famine ends.

It frustrates the heck out of people, but it's a survival mechanism that I'm sure has kept human beings from going extinct several times.

Good point, and I've had this happen before. A nutritionist helped me set up my current "diet" but I am thinking that 1,500 calories just isn't enough for me at my current activity level. I am NOT hungry, but a high-protein diet does help with hunger pangs...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

You can be totally out of shape and weigh X number of pounds and look like a blob of pizza dough....OR you can be fit and in shape from riding your bike and actually weigh exactly the same but have a great looking athletic body.

I weigh the same as I did 5 years ago but my body shape looks nicer.
Don't worry so much about the pounds, concentrate more on getting into better condition....the changing shape will start happening all by itself over time. If you keep riding your bike or doing various exercise frequently, one day you'll look in the mirror and say "wow, is that me?"

Be sure to fuel your body properly when exercising. Read up on that a bit if you're not sure. The goal is to get healthier, not to get sick.

[Trek420]

You can be totally out of shape and weigh X number of pounds and look like a blob of pizza dough....OR you can be fit and in shape from riding your bike and actually weigh exactly the same but have a great looking athletic body.

+1 :

Few people want "diet advice" from the chubby cyclist but I'm gonna give my .02 anyway. Your body is a lean mean MS fighting machine you need fuel to do that.

You would not put junky fuel in an Indy race car and expect it to perform. Your body's no different. So if you're eating junk, stop. If you're already eating good quality foods great! Keep going.

The thing I did in training that took me from size 20 relaxed fit jeans with elastic to size 12 (besides ride lots) was "eat food made from food". If I don't recognize the ingredients, can't pronounce it, I don't eat it. I dropped a lot of inches in that time and weigh nearly the same.

In general if I've seen it on TV or worse on a Super Bowl ad it's probably not good for me. I'm not a vegan or even vegetarian, I eat a variety of foods. I just try to eat food that's made from food.

When it comes to the post ride meal you do need to eat after a workout. You can find what fuels you both physically and emotionally (as in "that was tough. I deserve a big treat").

Lots of good info and tips right here on TE

[HipGnosis6]

You would not put junky fuel in an Indy race car and expect it to perform. Your body's no different. So if you're eating junk, stop. If you're already eating good quality foods great! Keep going.

The thing I did in training that took me from size 20 relaxed fit jeans with elastic to size 12 (besides ride lots) was "eat food made from food". If I don't recognize the ingredients, can't pronounce it, I don't eat it. I dropped a lot of inches in that time and weigh nearly the same.

In general if I've seen it on TV or worse on a Super Bowl ad it's probably not good for me. I'm not a vegan or even vegetarian, I eat a variety of foods. I just try to eat food that's made from food.

When it comes to the post ride meal you do need to eat after a workout. You can find what fuels you both physically and emotionally (as in "that was tough. I deserve a big treat").

This.

On the same vein - when I was in college, I got boxing scholarships. I was in wildly good shape, though still had a comfortable layer of insulation - and weighed over 200 pounds. I watched the other girls choke down nasty chemical based protein powders and weird bars. I ate smoothies I made myself made out of nonfat yogurt, fruit, and fresh raw eggs. It didn't inhibit my ability to build strong, lean muscle one little bit, and I was eating FOOD.

Most foods are perishable. Stay out of the center of the grocery store, where everything is canned, chemically stabilized, and processed beyond recognition. Instead shop the perimeter, where you'll find produce, dairy, and fresh meats.

[Dogmama]

+1 :

You would not put junky fuel in an Indy race car and expect it to perform. Your body's no different. So if you're eating junk, stop. If you're already eating good quality foods great! Keep going.

The thing I did in training that took me from size 20 relaxed fit jeans with elastic to size 12 (besides ride lots) was "eat food made from food". If I don't recognize the ingredients, can't pronounce it, I don't eat it. I dropped a lot of inches in that time and weigh nearly the same.

I wonder how much of our current obesity epidemic is caused by chemically altered junk foods. Would not be surprised if the future research finds truth here. Remember when margarine was supposed to be healthier than butter & transfat was just a word?

BUT (as she digs out her beads & sandals from the '60's) there is a big business in promoting fruity pebbles, top ramen, and other foods that will last beyond Keith Richards & roaches. Sadly, many families are looking for cheap foods that will fill them up quickly.

Food preparation takes planning & time. Fruity pebbles are easy.

[Trek420]

I wonder how much of our current obesity epidemic is caused by chemically altered junk foods. Would not be surprised if the future research finds truth here. Remember when margarine was supposed to be healthier than butter & transfat was just a word?

BUT (as she digs out her beads & sandals from the '60's) there is a big business in promoting fruity pebbles, top ramen, and other foods that will last beyond Keith Richards & roaches. Sadly, many families are looking for cheap foods that will fill them up quickly.

Food preparation takes planning & time. Fruity pebbles are easy.

+1, well said. (as she drinks camomile tea from the mug made by her commune along with a plate tofu scramble).

We're all paying a high cost to cheap fast food. Poor communities particularly are hit hardest with a triple whammy of all the impacts of obesity, lack of access to "real food" as well as open space to exercise and bike. I'm glad to see many organizing to bring in farm markets, even community gardens in.

It's not hard to make cheap, fast, delicious meals from real food. I'm no sociologist, I used to be souse chef. I didn't go to culinary school as all of my coworkers did. If I know anything about cooking I learned from my parents just being in the kitchen with them (yes, Dad cooked too).

One thing is people lack the basic knowledge of food prep. I'm not saying "it's the break down of the family! Aaaaaaaaaargh!!! Run away, run away " I feel we're not getting those "kitchen lessons" from cooking with family and friends.

Guests in the cafe I worked in hung around/over the counter fascinated, amazed, astounded even ... as I'd dice tomatoes, peppers, prepped a pineapple ...

It was nice to be so admired but a little sad. I felt like saying "people, it's not rocket science, it's food prep. You can do this. Get a knife and fruits and or vegetables. Just put food on your family "

But fruity pebbles have a budget for: ads on TV, to be placed strategically in the supermarket (at eye level for you, or slightly lower for your kids to hound you "Mommy, I want this")**, designers for splashy packaging ....

Fresh berries do not. They have us.

** that's why one trick when in a supermarket is to bring a list, shop the edges first and get your produce, then when in the middle look UP. Often the healthier, less heavily advertised brands are above eye level.

[KnottedYet]

My body monitor lets me know when I've burned enough calories by sending me a signal that says "gimme beer, steak, and broccoli!"

If I actually eat what I'm craving when I crave it, my weight stays healthy and my cholesterol behaves itself. Eating something else instead leads me down the primrose path to perdition... cuz then I've eaten some form of food (not always crap) but I'm still craving some other form of food, so I continue foraging the urban jungle and eat more of what I don't actually want while still seeking that holy trinity of beer, beef, and broccoli.

I did grow up on a hippie commune for a while (gets out her tie-dyed rompers) and we ate like kings. Incredible fresh food, fresh milk, fresh eggs, fresh meat. (canned, dried, and frozen in the winter) Our parents did crazy amounts of drugs and crime and worked crazy hard farming and caring for livestock, we kids often fended for ourselves and ran wild through the hills. We got into big trouble, but we always knew where there was food: in the garden, in the chicken coop. I firmly believe children foraging in the environs of a hippie commune leads to healthier food habits than children foraging in urban areas where easy-to-find food is usually fast food.

But as for the rest of what comes from growing up on a commune, I don't recommend it.