kc0bbq

The sodium thing might be more along the lines of water retention to keep sodium levels reasonable in your body.

It's kind of a moving target. If you sweat out all of your salt weird things happen, too. One hot summer I wasn't getting enough salt (only drank water for hydration), I felt strange for a day or two and then developed massive cravings for McDonald's french fries. Specifically McDonald's. Got some, they tasted like they came from the gods themselves, next day I felt fine again. Then I had the "Oh, I know what was wrong now..." moment.

I don't even like McDonald's french fries.

frantik

one "easy" way to reduce your calorie intake is to cut out the sweets.. sugar has a lot of calories and doesn't offer much in the way of nutrition. If you still find yourself craving sweets, try eating fruit. That way at least you're getting vitamins and fiber along with the sugar

magohn

Agreed. As previously stated I tend to 'ignore' the exercise cals.


Thanks all - a ton of great advice here (and recipes!). I'm leaning towards the realization that Im eating something that stalls my weight-loss. Whether its carbs, sugar or sodium, I need to figure out the pattern. I really dont want to eat less that 2000 cals a day as I am 6'0" tall and quite active. With the treadmill work and the bike riding Im usually doing some form of exercise daily. I dont want to up my miles as I feel a ballpark weekly mileage of 45-50 miles is enough for me right now.

My first test plan is to eliminate bread/crackers/dairy (cheese mainly) and see where that leads me.

For the last 2.5 days, I have limited my bread/sugar intake (but not eliminated). I weighed myself this AM and I was 1.5 lbs down! Possibly coincidental water-weight but its is interesting that after 2.5 days of limiting these items the scale started to move.

Thanks again and I will update as progress evolves.

CliftonGK1

Whatever you end up buying, ride your bike there.
This is what my last grocery trip looked like:

https://vimeo.com/57350161

goldfinch

Nice socks.

magohn

Very much 'Cat in the Hat'

LiamSkymom

Yes, that is why it is something to be extremely careful - a fine line. Too much, you retain too much water. Too little and you get sick.

drorgo

Quality of workouts are probable more important than quantity. Do you use a heart rate monitor? If you do, what is your heart rate when you exercise? The intensity of the workout is also very important. If you do not use one, I would suggest that you do. Then figure out what your different heart rate zones are. For me I have an average heart rate of about 125 to 130 for an easy workout and average up in the 140's for my intense workouts. My workouts last 45min to 1hr and are either running (4 to 6 mi), riding the bike, doing an AMT (adaptive motion trainer) 4 to 5 days a week and weight lifting 2 days a week. Doing this I have lost 35 lbs in the last year (43 lbs of fat w/ 8 lbs muscle gain).

Bob

magohn

Thank you. Yes, I use a heartrate monitor. I have a Garmin 705 with all my 'zones' dialed in. I used the HR monitor to ride back to back centuries (miles), two years running. I could keep my HR at a reasonable level using the device. When I ride, I usually get my HR in the high 140's.

MY HR from last weekends ride (MTB):



Its not as if, I havent lost weight - 42lbs since I began my journey and Ive kept it off. The issue is the weight loss stalled for the last few months. However, this AM, ANOTHER 1lb down! No bread yesterday and no obvious sugar (cookies etc)

InTheRain

Kill the carbs. To lose weight, your carb intake should be under 100 grams per day. I use net carbs (total carbs - fiber or sugar alcohols) as my guide. I started at 234 lbs at Thanksgiving, I've lost 20 lbs in less than two months. I follow the guidance given in the book "Primal Blueprint" and marksdailyapple.com. I'm not perfect with this plan. But following it 80 percent has produced some fabulous results. I used to be a "bread-a-holic" but the cravings for it went away after the first 10 days and I have not had any white or whole grain soft breads in two months.. I don't miss them. The only bread I have occasionally is a light rye crispbread by Wasa... low carbs/high fiber.

If I want to pig out... I eat a ton of broccoli. I happen to like it and it's low in carbs, high in fiber, and very filling. For my sweet snacks that I need occasionally I'll eat some of the Atkin's bars that are also very low in net carbs. Keep track of your calories (I keep mine under 2200 per day) and your carbs (under 100) and you'll be sure to lose the weight at 1 to 3 lbs per week. Keep doing your exercise. Heart rate should be between 55 and 75 percent of your max HR during exercise... 1 hour per day 5 times per week.

Good luck. This plan has been working great for me. None of us are perfect. When you mess up, just start again the next day. There are a ton of suggestions out there. I've tried many of them. They all work for a short while. We'll see... Primal Blueprint has been excellent for me for the last two months. I guess I'll find out how sustainable it is in the long run.

magohn

Thanks InTheRain.

My concern with this type of diet is the mass reduction of carbs. As a bike rider, wont this reduction affect my endurance in the saddle due to low carb eating? I did the Atkins diet years ago and dropped 35 lbs in a few months. However, when I 'came off' the diet and ate a sandwich, the lost pounds came back in a flash

I not only need to lose weight for the 200 mile ride but also train for it. From past experience, some days 6+ hours in the saddle is not unusual.

I think as previously stated, we are all different. What works for one may not work for another so I'm searching for my enlightenment.

PS - I HATE broccoli...

vesteroid

I cant argue with Paleo on some aspects, but I can tell you that when I was strict on it, and not eating any type of starchy carb really, I would crash horribly after long runs. I was training for a half last year in the first quarter and once my weekend runs got over 7 miles I was a hurting puppy when I got home. I couldnt recover the rest of the day. I went back to eating carbs, and it all but went away. (then of course it still hurt, but it was a tired hurt, not a lay down and die hurt).

I try to eat non processed carbs like brown rice, quinoa, etc, but I eat them, and eat quite a few of them, and dont seem to crash any more.

I did a 1:45 minute ride last weekend at about my redline the whole way. I was hurting pretty good at the end. I did have a crash for about an hour, but I soon recovered and was again, just tired the entire day.

Not saying this is what anyone else should do, just sharing what happened to me.

erig007

Here are some tips:
wheat is usually slightly better than rice in terms of nutrient
avocado is great at cutting hunger and is good especially before going to sleep
wheat bran is great at cutting hunger and can be added to lots of meals
soy milk exists
salt substitutes exist

here are some recipies:

recipe 1 (easy meal)
-fat free greek yogurt no sugar
-wheat bran
-almonds
-a little bit of honey
-some fruits (banana, strawberries, pineapples or whatever)
-optional: cinnamon

recipe 2: (vanilla ice cream substitute)
-frozen bananas
-slices of pineapples
-some honey
into the mixer

recipe 3 (high protein soup)
-cooked green lentils
-cooked beans
-salt substitute
-some pepper
into the mixer

magohn

Thanks - great info.

erig007

some mixer/blender can't handle frozen bananas


an alternative recipe 2 (vanilla sorbet substitute)
-bananas
-slices of pineapples
-a little bit of soy milk or fat free cow milk
-some ice
-some honey
into the mixer

honey is still sugar so with moderation

iforgotmename

Have you considered commuting to work? When I started commuting the weight just fell off. If the ride is to long a partial commute is an option. My jobsite changes and is usually more than 25 miles from home so I find a place to park and ride 10 to 15 miles each way. I park at a shopping center/hospital etc. There is no way IO will go home and ride 20 to 30 miles but if I commute I get it done. What does 10 miles take? 45 minutes at an average pace? Consider it even if it is 3 days a week. It is also a great way to build up your base miles.

youcoming

The best advice I was giving that will always hold true was giving to me by my doctor. Buy 90% of your food from the outside walls of the grocery store as hardly any of it is refined most of the whole foods our body require are found on the outside. At least in Canada it holds true, all the packaged foods are in the aisles. When I live this way and stay away from the liquor store my weight goes down.

magohn

Unfortunately, my work is 17 miles away through busy, busy areas. So 34 mile round trip in busy traffic and dark is not something I want to do. As stated, I don't think the riding is the issue. In the last two years I have ridden over 4000 miles so Im good with that.

This AM I was down another 1lb, that's almost 4 lb weight loss in 4 days! I have changed my diet by cutting out 90% of bread and all 'sweets'. I will admit I don't feel as 'peppy' as I usually do but nothing too drastic. Its almost tempting to do less riding for a few weeks so that I can focus on pulling back my cals and dropping some weight. I'm eating approx. 1500 a day right now.

magohn

Interesting. Makes sense too.

NashNathan

I tried to send you a PM for some advice on this all, but i guess i need 50 posts to do a PM. I will do a post tomorrow for some answers from everybody. Hope it is going good.

InTheRain

As far as carbs reducing endurance on the bike... it may be true for the most seasoned athletes (which I doubt are posting here in the Clydes/Athenas forum) but fat is an excellent source of energy for physical activities. By dropping your carb intake, you'll be converting your body into a fat burning machine instead of a carb burning machine. Your body will adjust over time and will be satisfied with fat as a fuel during exercise. Track your calories. If your going to be doing a long ride, go ahead and eat more calories (still low carb) but make sure your exercise still results in a calorie deficit if you want to lose weight.

If I'm going to ride hard, I want it to result in weight loss. I'm not going to set any speed records. I'm not going to race. I enjoy cycling but one of the side affects that I want to get from riding is fitness and weight loss... not performance and speed (I'm sure both will show improvement, but I don't have any goals in those areas.)

Rhodabike

One issue I have with the Paleo diet is this idea that humans suddenly and abruptly started eating grains just 6000 years ago and never ate them before that.
This is simply not true. Where did people get the idea of planting grains and other foods? From watching the wild grains and other seeds that they'd gathered sprout if water got into the storage gourds. That would be the "gathering" part of hunting and gathering, and studies of modern day stone age hunter-gatherers has found (at least in warm climates) that only 25% of their calories are from meat brought in by the hunters, the rest is vegetable matter from the gatherers.
So, I'm going to throw oatmeal into the suggestion list. When I have a bowl of oatmeal, just half a cup, it seems to keep me full until lunch time, on only 190 calories.