Biggest Diet Change Bang for the Buck
I have been riding now for about two years and have not lost a significant amount of weight. On the other hand, I can tell that I have had a significant improvement in my stamina and overall health. Now, it is time to confront the elephant in the room and tackle the diet side of the equation.
For those of you who have made diet changes, what changes have given you the biggest bang for the buck in terms of weight loss? |
For me it was going low carb. Prior to that whenever I went on a diet it was always the same: lose 30 ponds over 3 months then stall
and gain it all back. When I went on low carb I lost 50 pounds in 3 months and then over the folllowing year lost another 80 pounds. I still have 60 pounds to lose but for the first time I have hope that I can get to my ideal weight. Charlie |
For me it was realizing that food isn't the problem, its my attitude towards food that needed to be changed.
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Find out what your BMR ( besal metebolic rate) working with this number start tracking all food you eat. ( I use loseit.com they have a great app also)
Bmr can be found with onlinr calculators |
I had a lot of luck with going paleo. I was pretty strict in the beginning and I lost a lot weight pretty quickly. Now I'm doing more of a modified paleo diet, trying to keep carbs and sugar pretty low, but not cut them out entirely so that I don't feel deprived. I pretty much eliminated bread and pasta too.
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I track I lose. I don't track I don't. Tracking lets me see consequenceds of my choices and then I make better choices. Hershey bar or apple? t
though I am looking at the Vegan before 6 concept....less from diet and more from impact. |
Originally Posted by squirtdad
(Post 15273170)
I track I lose. I don't track I don't. Tracking lets me see consequenceds of my choices and then I make better choices. Hershey bar or apple?
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The biggest single bang for my buck, health and weight, was giving up sweetened drinks. All of them. It seems drastic at first but its not bad once you learn how to deal with eating out (another thing I wish I could give up). Seriously, most sweetened drinks are nothing but empty calories. Water, coffee, and tea are all you better than soda, juice, or energy drinks.
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Originally Posted by Arvadaman
(Post 15272997)
For those of you who have made diet changes, what changes have given you the biggest bang for the buck in terms of weight loss?
I try to workout at lunch at least 4 days a week. I eat a restaurant lunch at most once per week. If I can't ride for some reason, I make sure to bring my own lunch so I have control over portion size and calorie count. |
Originally Posted by squirtdad
(Post 15273170)
I track I lose. I don't track I don't. Tracking lets me see consequenceds of my choices and then I make better choices. Hershey bar or apple? t
though I am looking at the Vegan before 6 concept....less from diet and more from impact. |
Watch carbs, especially refined ones. I try to stick with those with more fiber. I try to avoid any sweetened drinks and sodas (including diet). I avoid processed foods and fast foods. Portion control is important. Watch out for snacking. Try to fill up more on fruits and veggies.
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Originally Posted by BeachBum63
(Post 15273199)
The fact is that calorie intake has to be less than calories expended in order to lose weight.
Keeping track of what you eat is a good idea as many have pointed out because it makes you really consider your decisions (I have a friend who takes pictures of everything she eats for similar reasons). To the OP: If you are in pretty good shape from biking but not losing weight like you'd like, by all means change things up. Keep track of what you're eating and see where your calories are coming from. I recommend small modifications (e.g., making better food choices, eating a little less at each meal, giving up non-juice sweetened drinks) instead of big ones. Being healthy is the big goal, not a number on the scale. Cheers, Charles p.s. OP: You didn't mention your height/weight, so I'm assuming that you do have an excess of body fat. It is very possible to change body fat into muscle, not lose weight, and not need to. Don't rely on weight alone and take body fat percentage into account. |
Giving up grain based carbs and eating almost no processed foods, except for specific nutrition for training. My eating, other than when training, is grain-free, low sugar, no processed foods. The weight melts off, although I still hit plateaus occasionally. On one right now that has last a couple months, but I broke through last week by being stricter with no grains.
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I'm a filipino, giving up white rice isn't going to happen:lol:
I'm a cyclist, giving up carbs isn't going to happen. Carbs = energy to pedal my bike faster:speedy: Want to give up something? sweet drinks will make a HUGE difference |
Originally Posted by jsigone
(Post 15273779)
I'm a cyclist, giving up carbs isn't going to happen. Carbs = energy to pedal my bike faster:speedy:
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Originally Posted by Neil_B
(Post 15273024)
For me it was realizing that food isn't the problem, its my attitude towards food that needed to be changed.
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Originally Posted by jsigone
(Post 15273779)
I'm a filipino, giving up white rice isn't going to happen:lol:
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I tired it....our dishes don't taste the same w/o either Calrose or Jasmine white rice. Tried cutting back on carbs too but I pay the price in energy levels on and off the bike. Rice carbs has been in my blood for 32 yrs, cutting it is like a smoker going cold turkey. It's not easy:lol:
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Zero out intake of high fructose corn based sweeteners..
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Eating less food.
I start by cutting carbs down and increasing fat. I have my best energy levels this way. Currently I -only- eat carbs after resistance training. And I eat tons of them (300g) in one sitting. It's working quite well for fat loss. |
Portion control, accountability (tracking) and eating more high fiber foods.
About how much do you want ot lose, and what are your eating habits now? |
Counting calories.
Weighing every day. Exercising, on the average, one hour a day. Limiting access to foods that I tend to binge on, like sweets and bread. Watching what circumstances would lead me to eat and then avoiding or changing those circumstances. Not using food as a reward by finding other rewarding activities. Need to work on "dietary disinhibition" as I still have a tendency to have days where I binge eat. |
Track your calories. Track your carbs. To me, "a calorie is not a calorie." I want my body to be a fat burning machine. I don't feed my body a lot of carbs. Why?... because carbs are the first source of energy that your body prefers to burn. Any unburned carbs are stored as fat. When I'm exercising, I want my efforts to go toward burning fat... not carbs. I try to keep my calories at 2200 or less each day. I try to keep my carbs at 100 grams or less each day. I have a goal of burning 1000+ calories each time I go to the gym (and I prefer those to be fat burning calories.) I've been at this for 2.5 months. I'm down 26 lbs. It works for me. The basic concepts that I follow for diet and exercise are in a program called "Primal Blueprint." I'm not here to sell it or to endorse it, and I do not follow it to the letter of the law (however, the author himself indicates that 80 percent compliance will produce great results.)
Good luck to you with whatever plan you decide to follow. The low carb route has worked for me and millions of others... but, I am still a huge proponent of creating a daily calorie deficit in order to lose weight... so you have to track calorie intake as well as your calories burned. |
Give up soda. Drink unsweetened tea if you need something besides water. Just started juicing as well.
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It is not as simple as calories in and calories out, what you eat plays a role in managing a healthy weight and although I am no Clyde can attest that a diet that is almost free of processed food, added sugars, and wheat has helped me shed the extra weight that was doing me no favours.
Flip that food pyramid upside down, enjoy a little more steak and bacon and see what happens. It takes a while to adjust and go through the dt's when you reduce things lime bread and soda but I have never felt better. My carbs come with fruit and vegetables and I do eat small portions of rice and could never give up my oatmeal. |
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