chefisaac

I will be starting a new path and journey of trying to find a new relationship with food. I really dont know how I will do or how I will do it. I love sweets. I am not much of a salty person but sweets, I can eat all day and I dont know why.

Let me ask you all.... to the people who lost the weight and kept it off, do you feel like you have a new relationship to food and how was the journey to get to that point?

goldfinch

I have a sweet tooth too. I find I do best with sweets if I only go for fruit and fake sugars, like Erythritol and stevia. For example, a few minutes ago I was wanting something sweet. I had a half a cup of blackberries, with fake sugar, and real milk. Not a lot of calories and satisfied my sweet tooth without too much of a sugar hit.

Otherwise, I am maintaining my lost weight but I need to be religious about calorie counting. I still do not find that I have a good off switch when eating and do not have a good feel for when I should be full. I am, however, adapting to the discipline.

david58

I feel like I am on the journey - not at the destination, but it is a good road.

I love sweets as well, and generally love food. I don't count calories, but my premeditated start of the day includes a reminder to myself to live on a calorie deficit (still working on the second half of the weight loss). This has turned out to be the most "victorious" battle I have fought against the bulge, and riding has been a large part of it. The exercise helps kill the appetite, I feel good after the exercise (better than after eating, not as good as after connubial bliss...), and I enjoy the food more. I think that has been the key - by not indulging the craving, I enjoy my food more.

Still on the way. The more time I spend on the bike the less I spend eating, and I can allow myself an occasional indulgence of my weakness (barleypop, primarily). But it is funny how the cravings work - some days it has to be something with ketchup, some days I need a cookie. But equally funny - I no longer buy the package of fig newtons and eat it solo - I'm good with a cookie or two and that's it. In the end, though, I think I've practiced poor diet so well in the past 53 years (even when I was in top shape) that I will always have a battle, and that horrible relationship will always be trying to intervene and influence.

gbg

I have the sweet tooth thing to.
For what it is worth, I went on the Atkins diet and lost 30lbs in 30 days (was riding 25-50 or roller blading 25 miles a day as well, on weekends sometimes both).
Once I was on it my craving for sweets totally went away. I think because of the low
blood sugar the diet produces. And no you don't ONLY eat meat on Atkins. You can have all
the veggies and fruit you want as long as you don't go over your carb limit.
Broccoli, cauliflower (in fairly large quantities), and strawberries, blueberries were highly recommended.

I guess my sweet tooth won out though. Actually there were a couple of times I thought I had the weight thing
licked, because I knew what worked. It is falling slowly back into bad habits that make you gain the weight back.

sbattey

For me, I found the first week of cutting the sweets and salts out to be the hardest. After that, it gets better all of the time. I find that it is always best to treat yourself every now and then.

@gbg - don't get me started on the atkins diet!!! That diet is a load of crap. Your brain will ONLY consume carbs as fuel, you are starving your brain by choosing to limit carb intake. Your carb intake should be around 70% of your total caloric intake, followed by fats second and protein at a distant third. The atkins diet flips this around a little bit and usually results in people being very tired (this is because your brain has no food - the brain can not metabolize fats and protein, only carbs)

Hoss Cartright

Lucky for me, I'm not into sweets.

No soda, almost no bread, almost nothing fried, nothing breaded, only skim milk.

This may seem weird, but in addition to NOT eating fast food,
my wife hides the Pater Pan, she doesn't buy any munchie food anymore. (Out of site, out of mind.) I used to shovel the Pater Pan. For sure I am a peanut butter addict. Premium saltines and Peter Pan, I could eat a whole sleeve of crackers in one sitting. Also the Fritos and Kraft cream cheese and chives.. The evening access to munchie food was killing me!

We installed one of those Reverse Osmosis machines and added the faucet for this water. Now I drink the water like crazy. Our town water was not that tasty and I think many people like myself have an aversion to drinking tap water.

I've lost 85~90 pounds and dropped cholesterol from 245 to 120 without medication. Corrected diet, walking, and biking.

See my post with before and after photos at this thread https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/228767-Weight-Loss-Post-Your-Before-and-After-Pics-here!/page38

Best wishes for success.

chefisaac

Thats awesome Hoss.

I cant seem to drop the "I want this" attitude when it comes to sweets. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

CraigB

"I want this" is something I find myself bumping up against constantly. I really think, at least in my case, it stems from some fundamental lack of maturity. It's exactly the kind of attitude you'd expect from a child with no grasp of concepts like delayed gratification, setting limits, or even the greater good.

I've learned to think of food in "budgetary" terms, at least when I remember to stop and think about whatever I'm about to put in my mouth (this is, unfortunately, a step in the process I often forget to do). In many ways it's much like money - you have x calories/dollars to spend for a given time period, and when they're gone, they're gone. Accepting that and living within its bounds are big steps toward a post-adolescent attitude toward food. Money, too, for that matter. I have exactly the kind of personality that can get in big trouble with either.

himespau 

My "I want this" is with salty snacks. I could eat them all day if it was an option. Lately, we've had more fruit around the house and I can pretty successfully substitute my need for an evening post dinner snack with an orange, if there are no salty snacks around. If there are, I'll still be craving them after my orange (or applesauce). Out of sight, out of mind does help, but sometimes it's just not enough.

avmech

Our downfall: good bread.....................we could eat a whole loaf in one sitting, each. Wife also a Coke-a-holic, no other soda.

Nutritionist gave us menus to follow after doing the weighing and checking metabolism, which we have been. Lots of greens, vegetables, brown rice, sweet potatoes, turkey breast, chicken breast, fish. Problem we had at the beginning was the portions were way too big! Now we eat 6 times a day, breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner and two hours later another snack. For us the last snack is a grape fruit and juice bar. Once in a while we will have a Coke (none of the diet crap, the real thing). "cheat" once in a great while, but I still managed to drop about 20 pounds in the last 8-9 weeks, especially with Thanksgiving and the holiday parties.

I have strong willpower and am stubborn as mule. Wife has none, but she has managed to drop pounds too, albeit less than me.

Hoss Cartright

Man, this is us! I also am stubborn and she has no will power. We were Coke addicts big time. I quit the Coke and Iced tea cold-turkey two years ago, she can't. (and all caffeine) I drink only water, orange juice and skim milk in small doses. She has also lost weight just helping me with my changes.

She broils all kinds of stuff now days with EVOO olive oil spritzed on there from a little pumper bottle. Broiled talapia or chicken breast fillets with herbs is one of our favorites. I love the potato, sweet potato, onion, Brussels sprout medley she broils on a pan with herbs sprinkled on top. - I also snack on Oranges and Apples.

Bread - grrrrrrr. With PETER PAN! -
I just returned from 14 days in Spain and ate way too much bread, wine and cheese. Good thing that the bread here is not as good as in Spain. (Yes, I gained three or four pounds in 14 days in Spain. Not walking, not biking and going out to eat two times a day with business associates and friends. If I lived there, for sure I would be huge again and then some.)

gbg

Well that's the opposite of my (and 2 other friends that went on at the same time) experience.
I found I had a lot more energy during the day, and never had that sugar craving in the late afternoon.
I did find that 15 miles into a 25 mile rollerblading session I got very tired, actually had to sit in the grass a few times to recover.
The solution to that was bring along a bottle of gatorade. As soon as I felt weak I took a drink and felt better in 30 seconds and it would
last a few minutes, then take another drink. I would just stop about 10 minutes before the end of my exercise so I knew I would burn
up any residual carbs. Worked great for me.
By the way my other 2 friends lost 37 and 42lbs in 6 weeks and they didn't even cycle. I exercised the most by far and lost the least,
but I do think I gained a lot of muscle.

RGNY

i trained myself to "eat better and eat less".

as a morbidly obese child that slimmed down, then blew up again and have now lost a lot of weight; i've realized that i can't -eliminate- anything from my diet. cravings should be indulged to a point.

now i don't eat portions larger than sandwich / fist-sized, and i've discovered Northern Italian cooking which stresses fresh ingredients and minimalism. i also don't eat multiple starches in the same meal. if i'm having a beer, i skip things like rice/pasta/bread. i will have wine w/ pasta though. i buy 9oz packages of pasta and split it w/ the wife and i. same w/ a steak. i avoid HFCS when possible and don't use excess salt. about once a week i'll have a donut because the old ladies at my laundromat insist. i cook, i bake, i brew; but i've become very aware of what is going in my face. it's hard in a culture where we're trained to "clean your plate" and eat until torpid.

overall i weigh calories in vs. calories out. if i'm going to enjoy some sedentary activity (computer/gaming) i make sure to balance it w/ exercise (just got back from 2hrs of fencing practice).

on Atikins/Paleo/low-carb: it is awesome. it works and when i was a competitive powerlifter (6', 275#) i was doing less than 20gr carb/day and felt godlike. lost about 20# initially, but it's hard to make it a lifestyle. i was -starving- (stomach in knots and talking up a storm) every four hours. would have a pound of hamburger w/ 3 eggs and cheese every morning. my bloodwork was fine, but i just couldn't take living for my next meal....

green427

To answer your question:

My new 'relationship' with food is different from the past. When I want ice cream for dessert, I force myself to use a coffee cup instead of a bowl, which makes the portion smaller. When I want cookies, I will limit myself to two small ones. Chocolate? I will limit myself to two or three small pieces.

If I am surrounded by a big buffet of food, I will stuff myself with veggies and meat before eating the sweet stuff.

It is not easy. I've gotten into the habit of looking at food and imagining how much weight I am going to gain.

p.s. As for the Atkins diet....big mistake on my part. Lost 25lbs in six weeks, only to gain it all back plus more. The carb craving was uncontrollable.

cyclist2000

You need to keep in mind that food isn't anything but a fuel. The proper fuel is necessary to power the motor more efficiently. Eating all that crappy food is like putting diesel fuel in a high performance engine and just turn it into junk. At least that is what my wife's trainer says.

My daughter quit eating meat, chicken and duck this past summer. Because of her, I have cut down on the junk food and reduced my red meat intake by 90 percent. I'm not sure if I feel any better but by blood sugars have gotten better. I still have the craving for the junk food or to overeat but I seem to find a better alternative..

sbattey

You could easily have lost the weight with a more conventional diet. I did, and so have many other people. The fact that you weren't super tired probably means you got lucky. Many people who choose the Atkins diet experience extreme fatigue all day.

JusticeZero

Try to taste the things you eat. Seriously. Examine the flavor.
I cut the sweetest sweets for awhile. After a couple weeks, I popped something sweet in my mouth, and it was vile! It's not that I disliked the sweet, it's that it was TOO sweet, and not very well made. A lot of the sweets people eat have a lot more sugar/HFCS than the recipe strictly needs, to cover for the fact that the stuff it's in tastes nasty and is poorly made junk. It actually amazes me how bad a lot of snacky foods and drinks that people gobble down by the metric ton actually taste when i'm actually trying to, you know, TASTE it instead of just shovel it into my mouth. I end up being a lot more picky with my snacks, and then I have one serving at a time instead of scarfing the whole bag.

green427

Reminds me of the dessert section in most Chinese buffet restaurants. Since I am so used to USA's desserts being laden with tons of sugar, the Chinese version of dessert tastes really bland. I would imagine that if I lived on a Chinese style diet (not the USA Chinese version), those lightly sweetened desserts would taste really sweet.

gbg

Well I guess all three of us got lucky, and I tried tons of conventional diets with 1/4 the success.
I never tried a diet that the pounds melted away so fast, I lost more in 2 weeks than 2 months
of a low calorie low fat high carb diet.
The reason I fell off it was it is hard to buy food that is low carb and convenient and at a reasonable price.
I am not the make your own breakfast and lunch person.
I should do more of that so I can better choose/control the low carb food.
The entire food industry is hi carb hi sugar.

merlin55

read The End of Over Eating, a very useful book that describes how food companies have developed foods that result in addiction to added sugar, fat, and salt with the result that people eat much more food than they need. It was a huge help for me.

Mr. Markets

Atkins (or shall we say controlled carbs), works VERY well. Today it is better known as the Paleo Diet. Basically stick to what you could have eaten as a cave man, which is lots of protein, veggies, seasonal fruits in moderation, and you balance yourself out. all the carbs do you plenty of harm, and not much good.

I have tried Atkins in the past, lost weight, got lazy, and went off it. I just restarted a Paleo/Atkins Diet. Seven pounds down in 11 days, and I eat all the time. Literally. Beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, salads, nuts for the most part. NO grains whatsoever. No wheat (which is funny ecause I am a wheat farmer), no soy (I farm that too), and when I want a "sweet" snack I have an Atkins bar (DayBreak Chocolate Hazelnut) -- and damn those are good!

Cutting sweets is cutting carbs, pure and simple. As for your belief Atkins in crap, I highly suggest you read either of the following:



The first one is so extensive and extensively footnoted by scientific studies your eyes will glaze over. the second one is the Cliff Notes version.

BTW, your body will MAKE the carbs it needs even if you were on a 100% protein diet. Simple proof is the American Eskimo, who subsisted off nothing but animal meat and fats pretty much year round. They were quite healthy before they adopted a "western" diet.

Sounds like you cut much of your excess simple carbs out of your diet.

Soda, diet or not, is VERY addictive. The "sugar high" causes a crash which demands yet another "sugar high".

I quit Diet Coke this past summer. Since August I have had maybe 4 of them. And man I can tell you, they taste WAY good when I have one. Took me three tries to basically give it up. (And I consider one a month to be okay).

Here's a cyclist who put together a site around "primal" (eg Atkins) eating. Well worht a look.

https://primalcycle.com/eat/

gbg

Yeah, if I were to give the definition of a hardy people it would be the Eskimo of 100 years ago.

You should also watch "my big fat diet" about a northern native community that went on a low carb diet.
The community had a high rate of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Most lost weight, got off all their meds and the
lowering of cholesterol was much greater than any cholesterol drug could have produced. It was very interesting, and I believe
it was supervised by a doctor.

Mr. Markets

If you look at what the food mix of a feed lot is for fattening cattle, you are looking at the US food pyramid. Lots of grains at the bottom of both.

I was a "thin guy" before I was told to "eat more carbs" and got hooked on them. And I am amazed as a heavy guy how taking them out of the mix drops pounds like nothing.

I make sure to get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, and eat LOTS of food -- just no carbs. If I can do this and not "fall off the wagon" I expect to lose another 20lbs in the nexttwo months. Hopefully at least 50 total this year. We shall see.

I have to add the first time I tried "Atkins" I was not really a believer. I had not read any of the "science" and everyone and everywhere you turned you heard how it was bad for you, blah blah blah. Go eat more healthy grains. Fat makes you fat. blah blah blah. Well about a year ago my wife gave up wheat, and dropped weight immediately (and she is not fat). I have no food "allergies", but it appears that anything processed and carb loaded gets packs onto me. I suspect this is much of the US population. And of course all processed foods are just loaded with carbs, especally HFCS, which is insidious in itself for how it can play havoc with your system.

Going "low carb" is not all that easy per say. I miss some things, particularly chocolate, and I miss textures of cruncy, and mostly miss milk a lot. But i still have a little of all of it. Giving up the Diet Coke was the best thing, as that artificially make me hungry and tricked my body into producing more insulin.


There is a TON of literature on all this post-Atkins. the stuff by Taubes is interesting (and you should listen to an audio of him on The Livin La Vida Low Carb podcast at iTunes). the stuff by the Eades is also very good. I have been trying to get a good feel for exactly what I am doing while doing it. The first time I just did it. I think it helps to know...

Last year I tried watching every calorie I ate, exercising more, counting calories burned, etc etc. I make some progress, but nothing like this...

One last comment:

It is really hard to give up everything at once and completely change. We are not psychologically built to turn on a dime and go another completely different direction. I finally recognized that, and have taken my path in stages. First the insidious Diet Coke addiction, then the exercise every day challenge a few months later, then the "paleo diet" yet a month after that, and next month I start lifting weights again in moderation. Full weights in a few months so I do not get hurt.

You don;t get to where you are in one giant step, and you won't get out of where you are the same way either...

drbenjamin

Re the OP question, if I understand what you are asking, the answer is no. The difference for me is that I now exert control all the time. 2 years and 80 lbs later I am still having to pay constant attention to my eating. And sadly, cycling actually makes it harder, I get so hungry that I slip and overheat. But it's definitely worth all the effort. Getting back on my bike was one of the big reasons for losing the weight in the first place.

goldfinch

One year and 48 pounds later it is the same for me. And I agree, it is worth the effort.