Ekdog

Regarding point number one, have you seen this?

Science shows that when it comes to maintaining your metabolism, it doesn't make a whit of difference whether you eat breakfast or not.

lindyfd

Started at 306 over a year ago, put at least 50 miles a week on the bike and cut out fast food and most junk food. I am now 309. Whatever, I give up.

Roody

Interesting article. Unfortunately, there are not enough details provided about the studies, so I'd have to read more. One conclusion mentioned in the article was:
However, eating breakfast doesn't have to mean consuming "extra" daily calories. (Just count the breakfast calories as part of your daily total, and eat a little less later in the day.) The study also doesn't mention the activity level of the subjects. The weight loss maintainers were exercising more than an hour a day, so perhaps appreciated the extra calories (=extra energy) early in the day.

Anyway, I do know fit people who graze throughout the day and don't eat regularly scheduled meals. That doesn't work well for me, however, thanks to various personality and medical issues.

But I don't doubt that the fasting and grazing and snacking works for a lot of people. Just not me, and not a lot of the successful weight loss maintainers I mentioned in a previous post.

BTW--What about those "light" European breakfasts? I remember years ago in France, the common breakfast was cafe au lait with a cup of whole milk in it, a couple croissants with butter and/or jam, and a piece of fruit. That was probably a good six or seven hundred calories--comparable to an American bacon and egg breakfast!

Roody

I can seriously gain weight eating only "healthy" food. Some of us have ****ed up metabolisms, and weight loss is always going to be an enormous struggle. I probably spend more than an hour a day thinking about/studying/researching/analyzing my food and exercise. It is totally unfair that it's so difficult for us! Genetics is a cruel *****!

But please don't give up. You don't have to reach your ideal weight, and maybe you never will. But it is so important to get the weight down to a healthier level. If nothing else has worked for you, please talk to your doctor about medical measures such as weight loss surgery.

wolfchild

French Paradox, yeah they can eat anything and still remain slim and avoid heart disease.. Europeans have a lot less obesity then Americans.

Roody

Those are poor countries that don't have access to modern health care. A lot of deaths are from communicable diseases and childhood ailments that rarely kill people in developed countries. For us, our diet is killing us. For them, it's poverty.

Dannihilator

Please keep the political stuff out of here.

Ekdog

What was political about the posts that were eliminated? We were discussing health, nutrition, obesity and longevity.

Roody

Like what French people eat for breakfast?

Seriously, there is nothing political in this thread! Give me a break!

katsrevenge

Had a French friend in school. She'd pile on the carbs and butter but thought nothing of walking three miles one way to do X, Y or Z. If more Europeans have that attitude than no wonder they have less of an obesity epidemic.

As for the thread, yup. Fat. Been fat since puberty. I think I wore a 16-18 in high school. Ironically enough, that seems 'normal' today-if the kids I see walking around are typical!

I've gone up and down over the years but an 18ish seems to be where my body likes to be. I've been trying to get back to the 16 side of 18 now, with some success.

I will say that using a bike for most of my transport needs has given me a wider bum and thighs. Is this true for most? Fat or thin?

Roody

Years of intense cycling and walking has given me a bigger butt, I think. For a middle-aged white male, that's a good thing...helps me keep my pants up!

Machka 

Use a tracking program ... like MyFitnessPal or one of the other ones, there are several to choose from. Diligently and meticulously track your calories. And most importantly, eat less than you burn.

"Healthy" food can be just as fattening as "junk" food. It's all calories, and if you're eating more than you burn, you'll gain weight.

Machka 

Regarding eating breakfast ...

I have found, over many years of experimentation, that if I eat breakfast before about 10 am, it's like a switch has been turned on and I am ravenously hungry for the rest of the day. I can have a decent-sized breakfast at, say, 8 am which should do me till at least 11 am or noon ... but nope, by 9 am I am absolutely starving and am raiding the cupboards.

However, if I wait and don't start eating until after 10 am, I'm OK. I'll have a small breakfast, and I won't be overly hungry for the rest of the day.


Regarding salt ...

I need the salt. My blood pressure tends to be low-normal, and sometimes quite low (Monday, my blood pressure dropped so low, I couldn't stand). And adding a bit of salt to my veg stops my cravings for higher calorie foods.

I exercise just about every day, so I'm losing a little bit of salt in sweat.

And then there are the hot flashes ...


Regarding high calorie breakfasts as seen in places like Europe or rural Canada ...

IMO the main reason why people can get away with eating food like that, and still live long lives without much in the way of a weight problem is because of the activity level.

When I've been in Europe, I've observed that a lot of people walk or cycle to get around, especially in the smaller towns. People will walk to the bakery, walk to the butcher in the next shop, walk to the fresh fruit and veg shop around the corner, walk to the newsagency down the next street ...

And from what I've observed of my grandparents and great grandparents, who lived in rural Canada, they were active to tending to large gardens, farming, and walking to get places. My grandmother is 93 and still walks everywhere. She slowed up a bit for several months in about her mid-80s when she had a hip replacement, but it wasn't long before she was back in action again.

CbadRider

FYI, posts that discuss national healthcare are considered political.

wolfchild

Speaking of breakfast, I often eat a couple of waffles with peanut butter and jam for breakfast, it's about 1000 calories total, and I am still lean. I am not a big fan of fast food but once a week I stop at MacDonalds and get two sausage, egg, cheese McGriddles a total of 1100 calories in one sitting for my breakfast. With my level of activity I need to consume minimum of 2500-3500 calories per day or else I'll be too lean.

Machka 

When I was cycling 10,000 km/year, I could eat anything I wanted, whenever I wanted ... and I still had trouble keeping weight on. I hovered right around the border between underweight and normal on the BMI scale.

Roody

Everybody's different. when I was cycling >5,000 miles a year, I would still gain weight if I didn't pay close attention to my intake.I inherited metabolic problems and it's been a struggle all my life. At age 59, I recently started taking a pill for my diabetes. It had been controlled by diet and exercise for many years, but finally got the better of me.

Ekdog

The mere suggestion that part of the reason Canadians and citizens of other developed countries are so long-lived might have something to do with the fact that they have access to good healthcare systems is "political" and leads to a thread being censored heavy-handedly? No one even suggested that one kind of system was better than another. There was no debate about that at all. This is becoming Orwellian.

Roody

That's what they were upset about? That was so briefly mentioned that I couldn't even figure out was upsetting the mods. If health insurance had become a side discussion, I can see why the mods would have intervened. But it seems heavy-handed to delete posts that just mention it in passing.

ussprinceton

I've lost 27 lbs. since January this year. I now weigh 201 lbs. My dream weight would be 160ish. I'm 5'10"

lindyfd

I just want to get rid of my man-boobs.

Machka 

OK you two ... enough whining. The mods have more than enough to deal with right now ... they don't need this.

Machka 

You might be interested in this thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/training-n...-websites.html

lindyfd

Thank you! I appreciate it. I will check them out but I already have MyFitnessPal on my phone. More often than not I would come in under my calorie allowance and it would proclaim that I will lose such and such pounds by such and such date.
Part of my problem is that I leave for work at 8 am and come home about 10 pm and I work out of a truck. It makes it difficult for me to plan out proper meals as I can't refrigerate anything or heat anything up. I can only eat so many dry sandwiches before I eat a bullet. lol That leaves delis and such for salads and sandwiches. Some of these places in Brooklyn smell like urine and body odor so I end up getting something prepackaged which is never a good idea. Don't have much time at home to prepare much other than cold cereal (grape nuts rule!).
I know these are all excuses and I'm probably just not strong enough to choke down salad after salad everyday. I get easily discouraged when I see my skinny friends eating pizza and guzzling beer and I have water and toast. Pretty sure one of them stole my metabolism.
My next step is my doctor, maybe get a prescription for a piece of duct tape on my mouth.

Joking aside, even though I fail time and again I won't stop trying. The only way to guarantee failure is to not try at all.
Thank you all for the encouragement.

Ekdog

There was no mention of health insurance.