Nutrition advice
Comments
-
Excellent work!
Most of us have been over weight while wearing Lycra but remember it’s only a snap shot in time, it doesn’t define you and whatever anyone thinks your still lapping the bloke sat on the sofa.
If zwift works for you, great, I cycle indoors in the winter and use TrainerRoad for same reason as you, getting fitter. Which amplifies the individual journey we are all on with our fitness.
Embed the new behaviours for diet and fitness while taking a long term view but reward yourself for hitting goals, what ever they may look like.
Enjoy Portugal!“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”
Desmond Tutu0 -
That time again for another update, some time since my last post and its been an interesting time to say the least.
Currently sat here wondering whether I will ever get this sorted out, feel like a total failure at the moment and I just cant seem to get going again, have ballooned back up to 21 stone and I feel so fed up with it right now.
Recently been to the doctors and other than my weight they are "happy" with other things such as blood pressure and cholesterol, been checked and I'm not diabetic or showing any signs and everything else seems to be ok.
My problem is I just don't know how to break this cycle of losing weight then getting fat again, I hate it, sometimes I just think sod it I am just destined to be fat and whatever happens to me happens, but then I realise that's just stupid and to be fair its just selfish of me as i dont want to be ill and have a heart attack etc but it seems like i am on a self destruct mission and i will only truly take it seriously once something bad has happened to me.
I am happy in my home life and work life, I have nothing to be worried or concerned about given everything else thats happening in the world these days, lucky enough not to have any money worries or anything like that, I just cant pin point why I am so bad at this!
Apologies for the rant, I know there isnt a magic answer out there and it takes a lot of hard work and commitment, but i just dont seem to be able to muster any conviction in myself at the moment and get this sorted out once and for all, I am "only" 47 but I know the danger years are approaching if not already upon me where things start happening, which again makes me wonder whether I am just a very stupid person who knows what can happen but chooses to do nothing about it, or whether i am jsut lazy.
Anyway I will no doubt post again in the near future as I battle this whatever it is thats going on!
Cheers
Tony0 -
Sorry to read this Tony.
You're proved you can lose weight, so maybe that part isn't the real issue or challenge for you? Maybe the real challenge is somewhere else?
I am of course guessing here, but maybe it's more like what happens when you've lost the weight? Maybe when you lose the weight, you think "I've made it, I can stop now" - and at that point you revert to the behaviours that got you heavy in the first place?
Most of us have repeating behaviours in some part of life, they are not easy to overcome, but hang in there.0 -
" i dont want to be ill and have a heart attack etc but it seems like i am on a self destruct mission and i will only truly take it seriously once something bad has happened to me."
Reminds me of my mum and a lifetime of smoking. Despite our pleading she kept it up even as her lungs started packing up. And then she had a heart attack. Coming round in the hospital they asked her if she smoked and she said no. And to her credit she never touched another cigarette. Right up until the second heart attack which killed her.
So don't leave it till it's too late and the damage is done...
My personal struggle with weight in middle age was initially like yours; endless bouts of dieting and exercise but invariably failing again. I simply cannot stick to a calorie restricted diet 24/7. I get bored. I need comfort food at times. And I discovered I can out-eat any amount of exercise.
What finally worked for me was intermittent fasting. Popularised by Michael Mosely in his 5:2 diet. 5 days a week I eat / drink what I like and on Monday / Thursday I eat just 600 calories. Personal preference is to just drink tea all day then have poached eggs or beans on toast in the evening. I can get through the fasting days easily knowing I can eat properly the next day. Body fat disappeared steadily and more importantly stayed off. I'm now at a weight / shape I'm happy with and want to stay that way
Been doing it for 7 years now and suspect I'll stick with it for life. It's not a diet, it's just the way I choose to eat.
If you haven't tried it or considered it, give it a go - you might be surprised...
0 -
The best way to view it is that dieting does not work. What you need to look at is your general diet/eating patterns and how you can keep it consistent and controlled.
As Munsford highlights, the only was it really works for most people is to acknowledge that you have to find a way of eating that benefits you and that will stick with you for life, should you choose too.
It really is a psychological thing and part of that is understanding our own eating habits and how to change them if we are not happy with things.
0 -
"Been doing it for 7 years now and suspect I'll stick with it for life. It's not a diet, it's just the way I choose to eat.
Nail, head.
We all need to find a way to eat that meets our health goals and we are happy to live with for the rest of our lives.1 -
Do you find on the days where you eat what you like, that it is less than you used to eat?Munsford0 said:
What finally worked for me was intermittent fasting. Popularised by Michael Mosely in his 5:2 diet. 5 days a week I eat / drink what I like and on Monday / Thursday I eat just 600 calories. Personal preference is to just drink tea all day then have poached eggs or beans on toast in the evening. I can get through the fasting days easily knowing I can eat properly the next day. Body fat disappeared steadily and more importantly stayed off. I'm now at a weight / shape I'm happy with and want to stay that way
0 -
Not really. Especially the day after a fast when I'm hungry so if anything I seem to eat more. But over the course of the week it has the desired effect0
-
Thanks for the advice, apologies for the rant yesterday, think I had a moment but when I got home my missus made me go out on a walk and had me pushing myself again, I really enjoyed it and when I got home I realised that my rant on here yesterday was a little embarrassing as I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.
I am going to look into the fasting 5:2 as I have never thought about that, even if it just helps point me down the right road.
I need to choose a plan and stick to it and stop feeling so dam sorry for myself, only I can fix it and it isnt easy, no magic wand, so off we go again!!1 -
No need to feel embarrassed at all. Sometimes the rant is helpful to refocus! You're not on your own here.
I'm in a similar pattern dropping from 108kg down to 95 then back to 107. Back to 104 now by just thinking more about what I eat and getting out more. My wife's support helps a lot too which it sounds like you have.
Do you ride alone? I find having a ride/walk buddy means I make myself get out for that Sunday morning as I don't want to let him down too. If you can find someone to ride with it's a great motivator.
0 -
I have a local cycle group not so far away from me who I have often thought of joining up with, problem is I have that dread of not being fit enough/showing myself up and getting on their nerves, they have different levels of cyclist from super fit to beginners etc but I just cant shake that feeling of I dread at not being fit enough, think I need to do the walks with the good lady first and get some weight off me and then see about joining up with any groups to go cycling.
I know it looks like an excuse but I think I just couldn't put myself through the public shame just yet of being the guy unable to keep up!0 -
Im a similar age and trying to get down from 20 stone back to 15 without dieting at all over the last 6 months.
Currently I’ve been stuck for a few months at 18.5 stone without changing what I eat much. I rarely drink alcohol now. Once a week is too often. Exercising twice a week is only just enough. Substituting alcohol free beer also tends to prevent my weight loss. Better to just have a cup of tea.
I’ve realised all the other times I’ve lost weight I didn’t really lose any fat and gradually put all the weight back on when I reverted to normal. My weight still varies up to 1/2 a stone despite not drinking beer so it’s easy to think I’m winning and sink a few beers and a kebab after a 5000 calorie ride but the maths doesn’t work like it should and it wrecks the weight loss.
Drinking alcohol ruins sleep quality and slows recovery. The resulting tiredness is a killer for mood and positive choices.
Anyhow, good luck, it’s a slow process so try to commit to doing whatever you decide for at least 6 months.0 -
Keep at the good work, I don't know if it's encouraging or not but it's really not any individuals fault. The food industry as a whole is designed to make you spend money, maximise profits and eat more than you need.
There are some good books around Ultra processed foods which cover the wider food industry too. It's systematic.
https://youtu.be/l3U_xd5-SA8 0 -
re. the comment above. “Ultra processed people” is a book you want to read if you want to start any journey in nutrition.
Two key messages
1) If you want to lose weight, you need to get out of a diet based on ultra processed food (basically most food that has a brand name)
2) the concept that you can eat more because you move more is flawed. Where you ride your bike for a couple of hours or not, the calories consumption for the day is almost identical, it is counter intuitive, but the body has ways to save energy in other ways, if you use it for cycling…
left the forum March 20231 -
Another good one is Ravenous: How to get ourselves and our planet into shape.
It covers more than just nutrition/diet/UPF but it's still a good read.0 -
Thanks for the recommendations I will take a look into that as well.
As an update, I have started back on the journey to get slim again but I had to order some bigger shorts for when i'm out on the mountain bike which is all I will be using at present, bit worried about the wheels on the road bike being strong enough although I did buy some bigger guy wheels specifically because I am a bit chunky at the moment so hopefully will only be a week or two then I will be at a more reasonable weight for using the road bike.
I've lost just over 2kg in just over a week from just purely changing my diet as in avoiding white bread, cans of pop, crisps, pies etc which is pretty obvious really when you look at it but I just need to keep building from this, also did some walking as well, helps that my partner is joining me on this as well, we've been doing a house up so lived at my parents house for 9 months and they are feeders so cake is given with everything so we have both put on a bit of weight.
Anyway i will keep popping in every now and then to give updates mainly for me so i can look back and see how i have progressed from my last post.0 -
That is a good start, keep at it.Antlancs76 said:Thanks for the recommendations I will take a look into that as well.
As an update, I have started back on the journey to get slim again but I had to order some bigger shorts for when i'm out on the mountain bike which is all I will be using at present, bit worried about the wheels on the road bike being strong enough although I did buy some bigger guy wheels specifically because I am a bit chunky at the moment so hopefully will only be a week or two then I will be at a more reasonable weight for using the road bike.
I've lost just over 2kg in just over a week from just purely changing my diet as in avoiding white bread, cans of pop, crisps, pies etc which is pretty obvious really when you look at it but I just need to keep building from this, also did some walking as well, helps that my partner is joining me on this as well, we've been doing a house up so lived at my parents house for 9 months and they are feeders so cake is given with everything so we have both put on a bit of weight.
Anyway i will keep popping in every now and then to give updates mainly for me so i can look back and see how i have progressed from my last post.
I never had to lose vaste amounts of weight, but during lockdown 1, as the nation got fatter, I lost about a stone, which is significant, as it was about 8% of my whole body. I didn’t do anything specific and wasn’t even aiming to lose weight at that point, the only difference is that I was no longer exposed to the daily free biscuits and weekly supermarket bought birthday cakes in the office, as well as the easy to reach supply of chips from the canteen. At home, I would snack on less processed alternatives, like sourbread toast with butter.
If you can eliminate as much processed food as you can from your home, you are guaranteed to lose weight, even without trying. The problem with soft, energy dense (but nutrition poor) delicious and easy to eat processed food is that you eat a lot of it, far before your brain builds up enough hormones to make you feel full… in other words you would probably get bored of eating after only 200kCal of raw vegetables and pumpkin seeds, maybe 400 of rye bread and jam and probably 800 of Tesco value carrot cake…
left the forum March 20230 -
I've never really thought about it like that, I've always just looked to cut snacks out completely when I try and change my eating habits which is probably why I fail so often as I get really hungry, start feeling a bit faint/weird and then snack on a chocolate bar and then use the old "I will start tomorrow" excuse and I will be back where I started before I know it, I know this sounds dumb but I've never really thought of having a bag of carrots for example in my desk at work and munching on those instead
Thing is with this eating stuff, its so obvious what I need to do but its changing my mental approach to it, I also play golf and where I play they have pies on offer once I have finished on a Sunday, so I would eat a pie as I would excuse that because I have just played golf for four hours meaning my body needs it, but then I would go home and have more food as its "lunch time" and that's when I am supposed to eat my lunch, so I would just pile on food after food into my tummy
So now I make sure I have a banana and apple in my golf bag, when I finish I now avoid the pie and just have something healthy when I go home, as I say it sounds so obvious but for some reason the excuse side of my mind says just eat it and start again tomorrow so its a never ending cycle until I break it!
Another thing that has also crossed my mind is that for years I have tried to figure out a reason why I eat so much, am I unhappy in my relationship? is it work? is it just life in general causing me to feel depressed? but then I have come to realise that its none of those things, its just me, I enjoy food, I like to eat but I have to control it better, probably comes from this "everything is somethings or someone's fault" world we live in now but I have nothing, life is all good, apart from being a fatty!0 -
You sound very similar to me.
I have a mental fixation with food, I'm always thinking about and planning my next meal/food source. I have to really control myself when it comes to food. It does make me laugh when podcasts or "experts" say it's impossible to overeat on non-processed foods and the body "knows" what it needs to be lean...nope, my body/mentality (it's hard to tease apart) just wants all the foods.
I very rarely eat anything obviously processed, I have oats for breakfast, salad for lunch and I home-cook dinner from scratch every night so it's not even an addiction to processed foods.
I've always managed to control my weight in the past but it's now creeping up and all my efforts do is stop it going any higher. I would like to shift a few kilos before it becomes too big of a mountain to climb but I am finding it much harder now than when I was younger (and not a parent of a toddler who still doesn't sleep well, lack of sleep makes me a real sugar magnet).
I find a big bag of carrots a perfect snack for my oral fixation and to be eating something and satisfying the itch which I know has very low energy density.0 -
ugo.santalucia said:
I find the opposite true for me. I can totally overeat on sourdough bread alone, and hugely more so, with butter or olive oil. I will keep eating till its all gone. It is still incredibly palatable, being the combination of simple carbs and fat our brains crave so much, and toasting, or generally, the taste of high temperature processing, makes it even more palatable.Antlancs76 said:
At home, I would snack on less processed alternatives, like sourbread toast with butter.
...in other words you would probably get bored of eating after only 200kCal of raw vegetables and pumpkin seeds, maybe 400 of rye bread and jam and probably 800 of Tesco value carrot cake…
The overwhelming sweetness of industrially made cake and sweets, on the other hand, makes me feel sick quite quickly so I can't go beyond a couple bites.0 -
Yeah I could get through a lot of sourdoughkatani said:
I find the opposite true for me. I can totally overeat on sourdough bread alone, and hugely more so, with butter or olive oil. I will keep eating till its all gone. It is still incredibly palatable, being the combination of simple carbs and fat our brains crave so much, and toasting, or generally, the taste of high temperature processing, makes it even more palatable.ugo.santalucia said:
At home, I would snack on less processed alternatives, like sourbread toast with butter.
...in other words you would probably get bored of eating after only 200kCal of raw vegetables and pumpkin seeds, maybe 400 of rye bread and jam and probably 800 of Tesco value carrot cake…
The overwhelming sweetness of industrially made cake and sweets, on the other hand, makes me feel sick quite quickly so I can't go beyond a couple bites.- Genesis Croix de Fer
- Dolan Tuono0 -
I also find most industiral cakes overly sweet, but I can still scoff them, often removing the revolting sugar paste icing. On the other hand, I could probably eat unlimited amount of Twix or a box of 6 Magnum ice creams.
Real sourdough is hard to come by, the Supermarket ones are not and bakeries who still use artisanal methods are probably in triple digit in the all country. Round here there is a bakery in Leamington SPA who sell some. Interestingly, virtually every spreadable butter is full of junk, I think President is the only exception, in fact it does not spread as well as Lurpak… of course you might use real butter, but most don’t. Vegan options are far worse. I don’t think many have strong enough muscles in their jaw to go through more than a couple of thick slices of sourdough, which is another issue.
But ultimately you have to find what works for you. I am quite stereotypical, in the sense that all the junk food knowledge applies very well to my case and as long as I avoid it, I tend to keep a constant weight. Every time I nudge up a couple of kg, you can bet it is necause I have started eating products from the Pieminster range, or I bought supermarket cheesecake or I used supermarket pastryleft the forum March 20230 -
There is no reason why sourdough needs to be hard on your jaw. The tough crust is just the current style of sourdough bread most often sold. You can make super soft sourdough dinner rolls. The sourdough just replaced the commercial yeast, everything else can be kept the same.ugo.santalucia said:I also find most industiral cakes overly sweet, but I can still scoff them, often removing the revolting sugar paste icing. On the other hand, I could probably eat unlimited amount of Twix or a box of 6 Magnum ice creams.
Real sourdough is hard to come by, the Supermarket ones are not and bakeries who still use artisanal methods are probably in triple digit in the all country. Round here there is a bakery in Leamington SPA who sell some. Interestingly, virtually every spreadable butter is full of junk, I think President is the only exception, in fact it does not spread as well as Lurpak… of course you might use real butter, but most don’t. Vegan options are far worse. I don’t think many have strong enough muscles in their jaw to go through more than a couple of thick slices of sourdough, which is another issue.
But ultimately you have to find what works for you. I am quite stereotypical, in the sense that all the junk food knowledge applies very well to my case and as long as I avoid it, I tend to keep a constant weight. Every time I nudge up a couple of kg, you can bet it is necause I have started eating products from the Pieminster range, or I bought supermarket cheesecake or I used supermarket pastry0 -
it’s not that sourdough is particularly tough, but most people are used to eat only crustless soft bread and soft food… jaw muscles are like any other muscle, use it or lose it. Most would be unable to eat a steak other than the three classic tender cuts you find in supermarkets. Rump is already off limits and harder to come by, other steaks impossible to buy.joeyhalloran said:
There is no reason why sourdough needs to be hard on your jaw. The tough crust is just the current style of sourdough bread most often sold. You can make super soft sourdough dinner rolls. The sourdough just replaced the commercial yeast, everything else can be kept the same.ugo.santalucia said:I also find most industiral cakes overly sweet, but I can still scoff them, often removing the revolting sugar paste icing. On the other hand, I could probably eat unlimited amount of Twix or a box of 6 Magnum ice creams.
Real sourdough is hard to come by, the Supermarket ones are not and bakeries who still use artisanal methods are probably in triple digit in the all country. Round here there is a bakery in Leamington SPA who sell some. Interestingly, virtually every spreadable butter is full of junk, I think President is the only exception, in fact it does not spread as well as Lurpak… of course you might use real butter, but most don’t. Vegan options are far worse. I don’t think many have strong enough muscles in their jaw to go through more than a couple of thick slices of sourdough, which is another issue.
But ultimately you have to find what works for you. I am quite stereotypical, in the sense that all the junk food knowledge applies very well to my case and as long as I avoid it, I tend to keep a constant weight. Every time I nudge up a couple of kg, you can bet it is necause I have started eating products from the Pieminster range, or I bought supermarket cheesecake or I used supermarket pastry
In other news, I can’t write more than 3 or 4 lines with a biro before my hand hurts… used to write pages and pages as a kid… same thing.
left the forum March 20230 -
My point was it's easy to make crustless soft sourdough bread, that's all.0
-
Ok so just thought I would provide an update, so far I have done a small bit of cycling, mainly on the mountain bike for now, but walking with the other half has tended to be the main thing, I think I am chickening out of the cycling at the moment as I am very self conscious as to how I look.
I've purchased some larger size cycling clothing but because I am used to hiding myself under baggy clothing it just feels a little weird! but I will no doubt get used to it and will get better and less self conscious as the weight comes off.
Talking of that, I have so far lost 3kg which I am happy with, taking the long term view this time and making sure I do it properly and in a controlled way, not just loose loads then pule it all back on again!
Anyway I will no doubt put another update on in the future as things progress but for now life is good, legs are aching and fitness is improving!2
