Axiom

For the past year my weight has yo-yo'ed up and down trying to find what works best. Eating less junk, cutting portion sizes, less calories, intermittent fasting, etc have worked, but something in me treats food like some sort of nicotine addiction. There are months where I can stick to things on point and feel amazing, and there are months where one cheat day makes for one slippery slope and then I balloon up. When the whole weight loss journey first began I was around 320lbs, dropped to 270, up to 290, down to 250, and up to 290 again.

Granted a small portion of that might be muscle from the fairly strict gym routine, but getting my eating habits on track hasn't worked lately. It would kill me to reach the same weight I started at, having all the progress go straight down the drain. It seems like sometime I kid myself that working out is a good excuse to eat like sh*t, but it isn't. I can't be the only one who has experience this..

How do you overcome this..?

TrojanHorse

Dude, if everybody else had the secret to losing weight and keeping it off you'd be the only person in this daggum forum!

Log your food and be honest with yourself. Splurging on a meal from time to time isn't gong to be the end of you but I think for me, the lying starts when I tell myself that it's infrequent.

OiS

It is tough, no doubt. I know you have to get into the habit of good eating, but it is easier said than done. One comment I have seen in relation to weight loss, that always sticks in my mind: "there are rare individuals who do manage to keep it off - They never don't think about their weight." Basically seems to mean that you always have to keep at it, if you get lazy, or just plain dont keep it in focus, it will come back.

It seems like I am forever working on it.

stephtu

Who knows? What works for one person won't always work for another as we have different psychologies.

What kind of time periods are we talking about for the losses/gains? It sounds like your problem was running cheat days together that turned into cheat months. Maybe you were trying to lose too quickly, running a larger deficit than you could really sustain permanently, which led to periodically throwing in the towel? I think the main idea is to gradually ease into new eating habits, targeting a rate of loss of say < 2 pounds per week. The mentality has to be one of attempting permanent change of diet (so try to find a mix of foods and eating pattern you can see yourself sticking to indefinitely, and just gradually ratchet down the amounts as you get smaller), rather than one of "going on a diet" which means you at some point you plan or are tempted to go off of it.

There are meals and days where I go a bit nuts, but so far I've been able to keep on an even keel by just being aware of it, and trying to compensate by eating smaller meals the next meal or next day. Have a huge dinner, try to eat a lighter lunch the next day, etc. Also I weigh daily which keeps me focused on reaching my target.

Black wallnut 

I've lost 14 pounds since Feb. 2. It is hard, at times very hard. two things that work for me most of the time are being honest with myself when logging food intake and exercise on MFP and resisting temptation by reminding myself that this is what I want more. I want to lose weight more than I want a 10 minute pleasure from some comfort food, another serving, or whatever the temptation is at the time. it does not always work but it works enough that I am slowly losing weight. Keeping it off will also be a challenge but so far over the last 3 years I've lost each year.

Dunbar

How much are you riding per week? My experience is that <100 miles per week led to *zero* weight loss. Nada/zip/zero weight loss over the course of a very consistent year of riding. I should mention I wasn't attempting to restrict my calories. At 150 miles per week it got pretty easy to lose weight as long as I wasn't going crazy with the junk food. Now at 190-200 miles a week with structured training I have to consciously make sure I'm getting enough calories to fuel my efforts.

Axiom

About 50 a week right now. But I play 1-2 hours of racquetball, and lift weights for an hour 3-5 times a week. I'm going to switch to part time during summer to take a few online classes and focus on school and fitness. It should leave me more time to ride and get some stuff done this summer. As it stands I work 9-6 five days a week, so by the time I get back from the gym it's far too late to go on any sort of ride. But it might not hurt to swap racquetball for more time in the saddle.

TrojanHorse

Mix in some jogging, if you can stand that miserable exercise. IT's very efficient.

Null66

Please ensure to give yourself a LOT of credit. You are far healthier because of the activity you have been doing.

Intensity is key to results.
If riding for physical results: try adding intervals, even informal ones.

What's your lifting protocol? I'm a recreational but serious lifter, and see so many people in the gym who are putting in the time, but won't get results. This is mostly due to what people (even trainers) "know" is not supported by science, or worse directly conflicts with what's known. OBTW, an hour lifting is near perfect duration for most goals... So you're golden there...

Axiom

I split up my routine to target specific areas each day on the week. For instance I'll do legs/calves one day, back another, arms/shoulders the next, chest, etc. Most of my training came from a friend, and a Youtuber Elliott Hulse/Strengthcamp. Machines to warm up, free weights (dumb bells > barbells) for the rest of my lifts. About half a year ago I've swapped leg presses for actual deadlifts, and started including squats in to my routine. And I'm guilty for not always stretching after a workout. I try not to do static stretching before a workout.

So the strength gains are there, which I don't really have an issue with, it's just losing the bodyfat. If I could stick to healthy eating habits like I can stick to working out, it would be so easy.

DoubleTap

I've been suffering from this yo-yoing lately myself. I lost a bunch of weight the last couple years and then got complacent and regained about 20 pounds. I then got a little discouraged and tried some more radical diets that resulted in my being hungry and frequently cheating. It was a spiral downward. I recently reviewed the materials given to me in 2013 by my nutritionist and I am back on the healthy, structured eating program recommended by her. I feel good and am motivated. Riding a lot of miles also motivates me, because I want to ride stronger.

Sometimes, you just have to get back to basics and re-commit yourself. It's tough but can be done.

Null66

That is a well respected split, traditional for higher frequency lifting. Usually used to put on muscle, and typically a way to ensure you recover from high intensities... Strategies such as reduced time between sets, pyramids, negatives and etc. Swapping deads in was a very good move!

What is your set/rep pattern(s)?
I'm doing a simple upper lower / split, alternating push / pull. I do 5x5 upper and 5,3,1 variant for squats/deads. Tried 3x10 and just didn't do it for me. Tried 10x10 and had marvelous results until injury, and got injured every time I tried it. Just can't do it do to shoulder injuries, too rough on stabilizers. I'll look up strength camp.

I would bet you'd be amazed at the change in body comp due to adopting the split, if you have before/after numbers... Lean body mass vs. fat expressed as a percentage.

Axiom

I will do 3 sets, or four if you consider the warm up. No set reps because I try to go to failure each time. Every now and then I will throw in negatives or pyramids. Summer is right around the corner so it would be a good time to switch it up. Strength is a bit more important to me than mass though.

Null66

Wow...

To failure?
That's serious. Ordinarily, only suggested to break through plateaus for short periods. Particularly on those who are still natural and masters age.

Do your reps usually exceed 8?

Axiom

Rarely. Rep range lasts 6-8 usually, sometimes more or less. The weights are heavy enough that failure is reached by that amount.

Null66

excellent!!!!

bigfred 

First, you can't out ride a bad diet. As Arnie said, "Abs are made in the kitchen" :-)So, all the exercise in the world is great and will help keep your metabolism going. But, you still have to eat properly. Notice, I have not used the word "diet". "Diet" can too frequently refer to some eating regime that is not sustainable long term.

Sustainability is key to long term weight management. "Dieting" may work for loosing weight quickly. But, you have to ask yourself, "Will I be happy eating this way indefinately?" If not. You need to find a recipe that allows you to answer "yes" to that question. Such an eating style, if applied immediately, may not result in as quick a weight loss. But, the pounds are more likely to stay off, as you're less likely to "cheat" or "slip" from a plan that you're happy with.

When Mrs. Fred and I decided we needed to loose some weight a few years ago, we started by religiously counting "everything" we ate for several weeks. It quickly became obvious where we were getting excess calories that didn't positively contribute to our nutrition or active lifestyle.

After that, THEN, we implemented a daily calorie budget. 1800 for her, 2400 for me, that should have resulted in the loss of 1 kilo per week. But, in order to ensure that the plan was sustainable we agreed to not counting on weekends, when at a friends house for a home cooked dinner, or when dining out on special occassions. This resulted in our loss being approximately .5 kilo or 1 pound per week. Which we were reasonably happy with.

The things that almost completely disappeared from our menu were:
Take Out of almost all types. No more Curries, Fish and Chips, pizzas (even homemade), etc.

The things that were greatly reduced from our menu included: The use of fats and oils in cooking. You can get by with a lot less butter or oil than most people use and with really minimal effect on flavour. The consumption of processed, sugary snacks. We still have room for "mini" ice cream bars as desert or a 2pack of oreos. But, they're included in our calorie total and subsequently consumed much less frequently than they were otherwise. Both protein and carbohydrates are much more closely monitored and measured. We don't require nearly as large a meat servings as we used to eat. 100-125 grams at a time. And our plate of rice or pasta has been cut back from "a plate full" to a cup for her and 1.5 cups for me. That's it.

The things that were greatly increased in our sustainable menu included: Much more fresh produce! Also, much more fresh fruit, as snacks and used in meals. Our barometer of how well we're eating is now largely one of "how much choppin'" vs "how much opening" we're doing. More of the former, less of the later.

There was a short period during which we had to become accustomed to what we then thought was, "the feeling of being slightly 'hungry'". However, we now recognize that feeling was actually one of "not being bloated and feeling overly full". And we have since become completely accustomed to and even happy with feeling much better for greater periods of the day, before, during and after eating.

So, we saw a reduction in big meals that included big meat servings and which sometimes made heavy use of jarred, canned or packaged ingredients. We now have a menu that relies more heavily on fruit, veg, a reaonable amount of complex carbs and protein.

We've found this to be very sustainable. We could each still loose more. But, we reached target weights that we are happy with. And, for us "slipping" is the gain of 2 kilos. At which point we simply pay attention to where we're deviating from our otherwise known to be sustainable menu and make the neccessary corrections.

Just last night Mrs. Fred commented on how she, "can't believe dinner can be that big and good for so few calories" when we had a stir fry, rich in veg of all colours with a small amount of beef on top of a reasonable rice serving.

If you can find an eating style and menu that provides your required nourishment without leaving you "wanting", you'll be a big step of the way to long term success.

Oh, and one more thing. When I talked about the increase in use of fruit and veg for snacks, we eat significantly more small snacks now than before. Every two hours we're having an apple, or carrot and celery sticks or some fresh fruit salad, or some other veg. It helps keep you from getting "hungry" and then eating too much when you do sit down to a meal.

This has certainly worked for us. Perhaps you can find a few tidbits within that will help you.