Weight loss - mental strength....

Peejay56

I've been trying to lose weight all this year with mixed results. Plenty of riding including my 50 mile commute three times per week - but...
When cutting down on food, how do you cope with the hunger pains, and, when you've eaten not having the feeling of satisfaction you're "full".
I know lots of you have lost weight and have gone through this, have you any tips or advice to combat these feelings? I know it's "all in the head" but it feels like mental torture.

Thanks, Pete.

high_tower

Pete,

I ended up having to break down my meals from 3 to 5 to stop myself getting hungry. I didn't eat anymore calories just moved things around or made sure I ate a banana or something at 11, had lunch at 1330-1400 and then something about 1600 with dinner about 1900. Took a bit of getting used to but I found it reduced my hunger and helped me quite alot.

sitting hungry just made me want to go back to what I was eating before...

-Ben

nferrar

What are you actually eating? Protein gives you a fuller feeling for longer (although don't do Atkins...) and cut down on refined carbs and increase the amount of water you drink. Worth checking out the iDave diet to IMO, it's partly designed to avoid blood sugar spikes that then lead to cravings. That said you still need willpower (unfortunately ) and to avoid buying the crap stuff when shopping.

Tom Dean

lose

ozzy1000

i'm currently trying to loose wieght too.... having some success what i've found usefull is to think about carbs and insulin. apparrantly insulin stores blood sugar away into fat to keep blood sugar stable. eating carbs spikes insulin production, especially refined carbs. also thinking about food encourges insulin production (thus lowering you blood sugar and making you hungry)..

soooo...

what i'm doing is trying to cut right back on carbs, especially refined sugars. i get my calories mainly from protien fats and massive piles of leaves/salads/nuts. fruit is ok but fructose is supposed to be bad for the whole insulin thing too.

by eating protiens/fats for your calories, you keep blood sugar more level and don't promote to much fat production by spiking insulin. I also try to eat more often which stops me getting too hungry.

I do eat more carbs around the times I train. I might have a peanut butter sarnie before training, then usual bits and bobs when riding.

this approach seems to be working for me and feels sustainable, plus I get to eat loads of meat for lunch i've lost 3kg in the last 4 weeks.

meanredspider

I found a substitute worked well when I was doing my big weight loss - whenever I felt hunger pangs, I'd drink a large glass of fizzy water instead (fizzy because it felt more of an event than a glass of tapwater) - seemed to do the trick. I've read also that hunger sensations can actually be thirst or tiredness or boredom - the water trick deals with at least 2 of those.

meanredspider

Tom Dean wrote:

lose

+1

lose weight = loose jeans

Peejay56

Thanks for correcting the spelling - sorry guys

Pete.

danowat

Just make small adjustments to your diet.

I've maintained the same weight over the whole racing season, and now wanted to lose some over the winter, just over a week ago I cut out bread from my diet, and have lost 3kg......

amaferanga

danowat wrote:

Just make small adjustments to your diet.

I've maintained the same weight over the whole racing season, and now wanted to lose some over the winter, just over a week ago I cut out bread from my diet, and have lost 3kg......

3kg in just over a week - are you sure? Around a 23,000 kCal deficit in just a week and a bit.

How many kg of bread were you eating each day?

danowat

Positive, I know it makes no sense (in terms of cals per g fat), but thats the only thing I've changed, and thats what the scales say, 10 days, no bread, unless I am doing a Homer Simpson and resting my gut on the towel rail........

Seriously though, that is what it is, I am as suprised as the next person.

ut_och_cykla

I struggle to get my weight down (chubby 50+ female) and have tried eating more protein etc which does help with hunger, eating more nuts/fat didn't help - just too many calories adnd only eating wholegrain carbs which is helping a bit certainly with hunger.
But if I'm honest I need to adress 2 things - portion size and nibbling when cooking.
Nibbling when cooking I've adressed by making sure I have some water to drink whilst cooking but portion size is a big struggle for me. Sure I could just not serve myself so much but I HATE waking up hungry in the night etc.
I'm also very confused - when I logged everything for 3 months on Livestrong I ate an average of 1500kcal a day And exercised on average 400kcal a day (an hour or so huffing & puffing)but only lost 1,5kg. Even if my food log was 50% too short I feel I should have lost more...

ozzy1000

danowat wrote:

Positive, I know it makes no sense (in terms of cals per g fat), but thats the only thing I've changed, and thats what the scales say, 10 days, no bread, unless I am doing a Homer Simpson and resting my gut on the towel rail........

Seriously though, that is what it is, I am as suprised as the next person.

the other day i picked up a reknowned "health" magazine marketed at "men", (i don't usually look at these things as they're a tad too homo-erotic for my tastes) but it had somthing on the cover about cutting fat/weight loss, so i read it... it was all about carbs and how carbs signal our body's to store fat differntly... according to the theory; more carbs= our body ramps up fat storage.....

this is what Dr atkins is all about. a freind of mine who trains for triathlons has just started the atkins diet, he is eating a tonne of meat and fat, so alot of calories! but he's eating next to zero carbs, he's lost 7kg in under 2 weeks!! this also doesn't fit with the bathtub model of calories in calories out...

I think the striaght forward bathtube model doesn't reflect the hormonal influences of the types of food you eat. an example from the above homo-erotic magazine made this comparason; you could have 2 people, both comsuming 2500 calories a day, one gets his calories from salads, fruits, meat, fish, nuts etc... the other gets their 2500 from pure tate and lyle sugar. these two people would be very different shapes and carry fat very differently..... i know this example is extreem and imprbable as the later would die of skurvery in no time... but it i think it makes a good point... also the resutls seen from people doing things along the lines of dr aktins demonstrate (also rather extreemly) the influence your balance of carb consumption can have.

I definately feel better and lighter for moderating carbs within my dieting.

just my tuppence worth

hulla the hulla

IMHO it's all about an intelligent dietary approach and whole heartedly agree with most of the comments above however the issue with Atkins, as good as it is (depending on your POV), is that it's about protein with no distinction for what is good protein and what is bad. EG - lean chicken breast vs lamb / pork based, the latter being very fatty and generally not that good for you in large amounts. The fats your body needs can be aquired from healthy sources, nuts, seeds, veg oils etc, rather than animal based.

The best dietary advice I heard (and now follow) was the "caveman" diet (as in, if you were a caveman the likelihood is that all the food you had access to was natural and unrefined) - now before the you think, fad diet number 437, hear me out. It's based around lean protein and lots of fresh veg. It doesn't say thou shalt not eat carbs, but the carbs you should eat are healthy, unrefined, eg natural sugars in things like carrots, peppers, fruit and fruit juices. When you do need to eat non naturally occuring carbs, eat brown rice / pasta, whole wheat, oats rather than white bread / pasta, sugars etc, and try and make sure you only eat them within 45 mins - 1hr of exercising when your metabolism is at it's highest.

I find it very easy, don't feel too hungry and have plenty of energy as, as well as having a lot more to eat than you would expect, it's based around 5 meals a day (as has been mentioned above) so you are never too far away from your next feed. I lost and more importantly maintained decent weigh loss and when I feel like I am putting some back on, I revert back to the diet for a fortnight to tip the scales back the other way.

Try it for a fortnight and see how you feel. If you want more info PM as I have a couple of decent PDF's with meal plan examples and the background behind it all.

hulla the hulla

Oh and one more thing, unfortunately will power and hunger will come into this which ever way you approach it. We are constantly bombarded with opportunities to eat food that is bad for us and short of locking your self up and having a dedicated "feeder" you will be the one making the decisions on what you eat.

Just think of the feeling of hunger as a reminder of the good you are doing yourself.

meanredspider

I'm always struck when I read these threads or the fitness threads just how little we understand about how our bodies do some of the most basic things. We can hunt for quarks and send probes into deep space but we don't have hard and fast "best" ways of losing weight or getting fit.

hulla the hulla

ut_och_cykla wrote:

I struggle to get my weight down (chubby 50+ female) and have tried eating more protein etc which does help with hunger, eating more nuts/fat didn't help - just too many calories adnd only eating wholegrain carbs which is helping a bit certainly with hunger.
But if I'm honest I need to adress 2 things - portion size and nibbling when cooking.
Nibbling when cooking I've adressed by making sure I have some water to drink whilst cooking but portion size is a big struggle for me. Sure I could just not serve myself so much but I HATE waking up hungry in the night etc.
I'm also very confused - when I logged everything for 3 months on Livestrong I ate an average of 1500kcal a day And exercised on average 400kcal a day (an hour or so huffing & puffing)but only lost 1,5kg. Even if my food log was 50% too short I feel I should have lost more...

More "lean" protein, chicken (no skin), turkey, eggs (2-3 a day max), fish, pulses is fine but don't think that because it's protein it is a free for all. There are calories in all of these - the general rule of thumb is a piece of meat the size and thickness of your palm and make sure that the cooking method is grill, boil, oven bake, not fry and not covered in breadcrumb or other fat absorbing coating.

Try and avoid carbs unless you are eating them after exercise (45 min window is best).

Portion control - if like me you often cook too much, save it for another meal. I for one love leftovers (where appropriate) as the whole, cook once, eat many times logic really appeals especially knowing you can have proper cooked food without the hassle of clearing up again.

Exercise is clearly essential as part of a healthy lifestyle but when trying to lose weight it is only 20% of th battle, the main consideration is the food you eat.

Oh and NO DAIRY - AT ALL !! In weight loss terms 'Tis the work to the Devil !

jgsi

amaferanga wrote:

danowat wrote:

Just make small adjustments to your diet.

I've maintained the same weight over the whole racing season, and now wanted to lose some over the winter, just over a week ago I cut out bread from my diet, and have lost 3kg......

3kg in just over a week - are you sure? Around a 23,000 kCal deficit in just a week and a bit.

How many kg of bread were you eating each day?

I agree, just how much bread per day were you on?
A 6 and1/2 pound weight loss in 1 week has probably had the effect of someone reading that and struggling to match the recommended 1 lb per week target of saying'' oh stuff it.."
Go calibrate your scales...

Herbsman

Maybe he weighed himself whilst in a lift. Going down.

geoffgomez

Slimming World did the trick for me, even if it is a bit girly sounding. I didn't go to meetings or anything and I'm not sure if any of the "science" they give is real, suspect it's more about making you think about what you eat and drink.

Pokerface

'Losing' 7 pounds in 10 days is not as difficult as it sounds. However, it depends on if it's 'true' weight loss.

Depending on when I weigh myself, what I've eaten, etc - I can swing 5 pounds a day easily.

After a particularly grotesque eating binge recently, my weight post-meal was 15 pounds more than what it was post-ride today. And that's since Saturday night. But neither figure (the heavy weight or the light weight) represents my actual weight.

That would be closer to something in the middle.

Eric Cartman

That must have been one huge shit you did!

hulla the hulla

meanredspider wrote:

I'm always struck when I read these threads or the fitness threads just how little we understand about how our bodies do some of the most basic things. We can hunt for quarks and send probes into deep space but we don't have hard and fast "best" ways of losing weight or getting fit.

You're right but a lot of the mystery comes from the fact that everyone is different, different shape, body composition, metabolism, activity level etc - with so many variables, it's no wonder there is no "one size fits all" answer and there are so many different opinions.

Generallly speaking, I think nutritionalists have a good handle on it, where it all falls down is human greed and lazyness. Often people are too lazy to plan to eat healthy, don't like the taste of certain things, or more accurately, prefer the unhealthy, fatty, sugar/carb laden option and more often than not, eat far more than is necessary - that is not sustainable and is why we are turning into a nation of fatties !

Zoomer37

OP, when your struggling on times with your diet always keep in mind that if you are doing this to increase your performance on the bike then the results of dropping extra weight can make a huge difference with a good training routine in place.

Since May ive shed about 20lbs and even though im still quite a big lad, the weight loss and training ive put in has (i'd like to think) transformed my riding.

Stay focused

KnightOfTheLongTights

Hulla - I take almost all of your points as sensible sounding.

But why no dairy?

I always thought eggs were a god source of protein and handy for weight loss as they give that full feeling?

I also like a drink of milk to get some recovery proteins in after a hard ride.

Pokerface

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

But why no dairy?

In general - dairy is fattening. Even low fat dairy is still fattening. There are other sources of protein you can go for besides eggs (although eggs are better for you than say.... milk).

And you can always go for a recovery powder mixed with water (like SIS Rego, etc).

N=1 - I've found the less dairy I eat, the easier it is to lose weight.

FCE2007

Bread is my downfall, too ...

elmsallmissile

amaferanga wrote:

danowat wrote:

Just make small adjustments to your diet.

I've maintained the same weight over the whole racing season, and now wanted to lose some over the winter, just over a week ago I cut out bread from my diet, and have lost 3kg......

3kg in just over a week - are you sure? Around a 23,000 kCal deficit in just a week and a bit.

How many kg of bread were you eating each day?

It's only a loaf and quarter per day, a mere snackette!

elmsallmissile

I have drunk at least a pint, sometimes more of full fat milk (3.6%) per day and have lost 32lbs since the beginning of July, if it's the Devil's work bring him on!

KnightOfTheLongTights

I'm all for cutting down on carbs - although I don't really need to lose weight, 4 or 5 lbs maybe to be at best racing weight - but I get nervy about running out of steam on training rides.

Like if you're hammering it hard on a 2 or 3 hour club run and you've had minimal carbs all day, something's gonna give isn't it?

hulla the hulla

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

Hulla - I take almost all of your points as sensible sounding.

But why no dairy?

I always thought eggs were a god source of protein and handy for weight loss as they give that full feeling?

I also like a drink of milk to get some recovery proteins in after a hard ride.

As mentioned by Pokerface, dairy in the main is fat based so not great for weight loss / maintenance. Eggs are fine as they are not dairy (at least the last time i looked cows werent laying them..!?) and as I said in my posts above, are included as an OK food, in moderation though.

Let's not forget, in the main we are talking about weight loss here. Once people are at their desired weight they can slowly start introducing carbs and dairy until a balance is reached.