Weight loss help

[trigurl]

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

[alison_in_oh]

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!

[SnappyPix]

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! 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>>>

[MightyMitre]

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!

LOL - very true!! Join the club

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...

[bounceswoosh]

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

What's T.O.M.?

[LBTC]

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!!

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~

[trigurl]

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.

[SnappyPix]

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!!

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).
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!