Vegetarianism/training and maintaing good weight

wigsy22

Are there many other vegetarians out there who have got their daily diet sorted?
I've been vegetarian for a few years now. My goal/focus has changed over the course of the winter so that cycling has become a much larger part of my training regime and I am now working towards 2 triathlons later in the year.
I'm 6-foot and weight fluctuates between 11stone 7 - 11stone 12 ish.

What I am looking for is your suggestions and advice (including portion sizes) for entire daily food intake for dropping half a stone or to be nearer the 11stone mark.
I realise that training regime is important as well, this is as follows:
Monday - swim 1000m, cycle 2x15km
Tuesday - cycle 20km, run 5-7km, cycle 20km
Wednesday - cycle 20km, run 5-7km with intervals, cycle 20km, swim 1000m
Thursday - cycle 20km, run 5-7km, cycle 20km
Friday - swim 1000m, cycle 2x15km
Saturday - swim 1000m, run 5-7km with intervals
Sunday - 100kms cycle

The weekday cycles are commutes to work and back.

any advice/help welcome :-)

Cleat Eastwood

i was 11.5 in october and by xmas I was 10.5, i wanted to a bit lighter for the cheshire cat and figured that towards xmas it was best to be lighter than heavier too, as it is i've maintained the weight.

I started by having about 3 days of just eating soup just so my stomach felt emptier.

Key for me was cutting out the fatty stuff, beer, cakes, chocolate and much more importantly smaller portions. I'd read an article that said that your stomach was the size of a closed fist and that most peoples meals were 3 times this size, so i reduced portions and cut out the processed food (the quorn burgers etc), but did continue eating the mince which could bulk out a bare meal.

I did find though that I needed to take iron supplements and noticed a real difference.

what helped too was having a list of recipes that I could dip into just for variety- many of them used bulgar wheat/cous cous or quinoa as its easy to make - heres a few

http://www.companyscoming.com/recipes/s ... 07/10/379/

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/519 ... llot-salad

this is simple and good for protein

http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/02/s ... nsexy.html

http://www.womans-world.co.uk/grilled-b ... wheat.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html

One other thing when I reached my target weight I found it easier to resist the fatty foods - and oddly the lighter I got the more I found I could stay out for longer. Do listen to your body though, it'll let you know when you need feeding good and proper.

simon_e

Personal thoughts here, I'm no expert!

At 6 foot I'd say your weight is already OK. It will vary, that's entirely natural, both daily and over a longer period. You could potentially compromise your fitness and training by trying too hard to lose weight. That's not to say it shouldn't be done but that weight loss is no magic bullet.

If you want to lose weight then, to quote Shane Sutton, "Prepare to feel f***ing hungry." OK, it's not quite that simple but I find there are days when doing this is easier than others (some days I could eat whatever's put in front of me, the whole day). But the body and brain will adapt to smaller portions if you stick to it, and I'd echo Cleat Eastwood's comments, and specifically about both listening to your body and keeping away from 'naughty' food most of the time (though everyone needs some treats, maybe try the 80:20 'rule'?). I'd look to reduce the amount of sugar and starchy carbs, eat a greater proportion of protein and lots of veg. Portion sizes? I don't think anyone other than a personal coach/nutritionist can advise you on that.

There is no day off in your training regime, which may lead to fatigue, and I's say there's not enough variety either. Repeating the same kind of workout will probably lead to plateau in fitness and possibly staleness unless you can vary it. Quite a few people recommend cyclic training periods of 3 weeks of increasing intensity then a very light week, or a few days off.

team47b

Vegetarian diabetic here so I have a really strict regime, all about the right food, the right amount at the right time. Portion size is critical.

Because we are all different the only accurate way to work out portion size is to start with what you eat now.

But as a starting point for the 'average' person to loose weight, intake needs to be reduced by about 500 calories a day seven days a week to loose 1lb per week.

Analyse what you eat now, weigh it, calculate carbs etc start a food diary, this diary will show you some things you really don't need ie that extra beer! and assuming you are maintaining your current weight, calculate the reduction you want to achieve, and timescale, to get a better idea of what your personal portion size should be, weigh everything you eat, accuracy is key. This was the advice given to me by my nutritionist.

Eat less but eat more often to avoid feeling hungry (I eat 6 times a day, that is 3 meals and 3 snacks) slow release carbs only, avoid white bread, white rice, white pasta, potatoes, these produce sugar highs and lows increase your insulin levels, one of insulin's jobs is to store fat. Only eat fast acting carbs just before and/or during exercise for instant energy.

Once you have calculated for example how much wholemeal pasta constitutes a portion for you to loose weight you will then be able to re-adjust the quantity to maintain your ideal weight for your 'extreme' exercise regime

Velonutter

Another Vegetarian Diabetic here as well.

Simple ride more miles and don't eat more.

A bowl of Porridge for Brekky, slice of whole meal bread mid morning, cheese and biscuits or bowl of Soup for Dinner, light meal in the evening followed by a yoghurt.

I find as long as I ride over 175 miles a week then the weight drops off and I can eat generally what I like, through the winter when I drop down to only 100 miles a week, the weight can climb.

wthrelfall

Peanut butter on rice cakes.

ric/rstsport

wigsy22 wrote:

Are there many other vegetarians out there who have got their daily diet sorted?
I've been vegetarian for a few years now. My goal/focus has changed over the course of the winter so that cycling has become a much larger part of my training regime and I am now working towards 2 triathlons later in the year.
I'm 6-foot and weight fluctuates between 11stone 7 - 11stone 12 ish.

What I am looking for is your suggestions and advice (including portion sizes) for entire daily food intake for dropping half a stone or to be nearer the 11stone mark.
I realise that training regime is important as well, this is as follows:
Monday - swim 1000m, cycle 2x15km
Tuesday - cycle 20km, run 5-7km, cycle 20km
Wednesday - cycle 20km, run 5-7km with intervals, cycle 20km, swim 1000m
Thursday - cycle 20km, run 5-7km, cycle 20km
Friday - swim 1000m, cycle 2x15km
Saturday - swim 1000m, run 5-7km with intervals
Sunday - 100kms cycle

The weekday cycles are commutes to work and back.

any advice/help welcome :-)

i've been a vegetarian (ovo-lactose) for over 20 years now. been up and down a variety of race categories. the only trick that is available to make you lose weight (i presume you mean fat mass) is to eat less energy than you expend. you do this by exercising more, and/or harder or eating less. or some combination of those 3. after that it really depends on what you're currently eating and exactly how intense your exercise is (we dont these variables),

ric