Why am I not losing weight?

[Panter]

I found that cutting down massively on bread helped a great deal.
I'm not convinced that bread in itself is a problem, but it is high in calories.
I used to eat a huge amount of bread, but now I just have two slices of toast in the morning, and a salad for lunch (unless I'm cycle commuting, then I also have 100g of porridge oats with cold skimmed milk and a roll for lunch) which keeps my calorie intake low.

In fact, I eat so little bread now that I keep mine in the freezer (I'm the only one in our household who eats wholemeal bread) and just pop a couple of slices in the toaster straight from the freezer for breakfast.
There are obviously plenty of bread free breakfast options, but unless you stick to fruit or similar, just keep a close eye on the calories as even porridge can pack a hefty punch if you're not careful with portion sizes.

I've never come across the Red/Green diet, but I must admit I'm very skeptical of any eating plan that has a fancy name
I'm a firm believer in good calories balanced against excercise, it's all that has ever worked for me and at my weigh-in this morning, although I'm still a fat bar-steward, I'm at the lowest weight I've ever been in the whole of my adult life after Years of yo-yo dieting with a gradual upwards trend...

 

[yello]

Bread is a real temptation as it tends to be easily snackable, it tending always to be in reach. This is a good way to deal with that problem...

In fact, I eat so little bread now that I keep mine in the freezer (I'm the only one in our household who eats wholemeal bread) and just pop a couple of slices in the toaster straight from the freezer for breakfast.

Anyone that's eaten fresh bread will know how gorgeous, not to mention moor-ish, it is. Fresh baguette was a real problem for me, now resolved - we very rarely buy it these days! I could easily scoff half a fresh baguette, with butter, between breakfast and lunch.

If you are a snacker, make sure the at hand snack option isn't a waist expander.

The other thing to keep in mind (and I've not read this entire thread so apologies if it's been mentioned already) is that if really want to loose weight then don't fuel your rides. By that I mean don't go preparing special meals to have before and after riding. On bike fuelling on longer rides, sure, but don't go carbo loading or anything daft. Look to change your regular (hopefully healthy!) meals rather than add new ones.

It's a mistake I feel a lot of people make. They think the extra effort, in terms of miles on a bike, allows them leeway for extra eating. It doesn't if your aim is weight loss. I think that we believe we burn more calories than we actually do. When you consider that exercise gives you the major munchies (the body's going into restocking mode), it can be very very easy to actually PUT ON weight after upping the exercise.

There is an argument, one that I have a lot of time for btw, that if you seriously want to loose weight (and have negligible will power like most of us!) then DON'T do strenuous exercise. You want your body chemistry to remain as stable as possible and not force it into extremes. Regular and gentle exercise, such as walking, is seen as a better strategy for weight loss than gym sessions.

 

[kenuk1]

Hi all, just hoy my bit into this, I was/am in the same boat re losing weight, I like beer and kebabs too much to be thin...either way, my mate 46 years, got took into hospital ended up have a quad bypass so it was time for me to wake up, at 36 years and a family history of heart issues, basically I shat meself and got a wake up call.

So to losing weight, tried weightwatchers with the missus, felt like a tart so stopped as I couldn't get my head round points to be honest, then I stumbled on myfitnesspal (google it im scared to link coz am new) it's a calorie counting site, but almost all foods are already listed and it's a piece of slimline cake to use, also has an app, and also has exercise cals to add.

Anyone who wants to incorporate calorie intake, cycling as part of a fitness routine will benefit massively from it, I lost a fair bit and its easy, addictive to be honest, just enter your height, weight, goals, and then your away.

Good luck anyone on a weight loss journey, resist the kebab, food of the god!

 

[phil120867]

I'm 43 5'8'' and 13st 5ib this morning. I've been looking to get down to 12 st 6lb or there abouts for about 3 years. i regularly ride, train, commute up to 5 or 6 times a week, usually 2 hours max at any one time. My issue is that as i have got fitter, I have got fatter. I'm just hungry all the time. I also like to go as fast as I can all the time, I regulary average 21mph over 17 miles on the way home from work and I ride with a bunch of really fit (younger) guys so I'm always running at 75-100% max BHP. I have a resting HR of about 41. I cut out all booze 4 years ago but I've got fatter since. I eat the usual stuff, pasta, spuds, chips once a week, sandwiches & coke for lunch, the odd (!) cake from the girls in the office, fruit N fibre as a 9pm snack. I'm not sure what else to do, I've done the slimfast thing (stayed the same), I've tried protein shakes as a post ride drink. I've given up energy bars in favour of an oat based homemade flapjack thing. If I don't eat a lot I find it difficult to ride home or keep up on the 2 hour MTB ride. What else should I do? I was thinking of doing slower rides to burn fat but I'm very time limited (family, job etc), so I'd have to use the time I usually go out riding with the lads? I have tried to cut out bread this week and its working, I've lost a couple of lbs just having pasta instead of a sandwich for lunch. I've also joined the slower 'recovery' group on Sunday morning, it seemed just as fast

 

[yello]

Sounds like your exercising too hard! Refer to my earlier post. Working that hard is making the munchies such a temptation, one that any mortal being needs an iron will to ignore.

And in all honesty, pasta, spuds and chips are not what I'd call a weight loss diet. Neither are sandwiches and coke for lunch. I think you need to revise your eating habits (sorry, and cut out the late night snacks too!) and look for your normal eating habits to fuel your riding... and work on your powers of resistance!

 

[amaferanga]

I'm 43 5'8'' and 13st 5ib this morning. I've been looking to get down to 12 st 6lb or there abouts for about 3 years. i regularly ride, train, commute up to 5 or 6 times a week, usually 2 hours max at any one time. My issue is that as i have got fitter, I have got fatter. I'm just hungry all the time. I also like to go as fast as I can all the time, I regulary average 21mph over 17 miles on the way home from work and I ride with a bunch of really fit (younger) guys so I'm always running at 75-100% max BHP. I have a resting HR of about 41. I cut out all booze 4 years ago but I've got fatter since. I eat the usual stuff, pasta, spuds, chips once a week, sandwiches & coke for lunch, the odd (!) cake from the girls in the office, fruit N fibre as a 9pm snack. I'm not sure what else to do, I've done the slimfast thing (stayed the same), I've tried protein shakes as a post ride drink. I've given up energy bars in favour of an oat based homemade flapjack thing. If I don't eat a lot I find it difficult to ride home or keep up on the 2 hour MTB ride. What else should I do? I was thinking of doing slower rides to burn fat but I'm very time limited (family, job etc), so I'd have to use the time I usually go out riding with the lads? I have tried to cut out bread this week and its working, I've lost a couple of lbs just having pasta instead of a sandwich for lunch. I've also joined the slower 'recovery' group on Sunday morning, it seemed just as fast

Well you need to eat less obviously. I understand that its difficult to maintain a calorie deficit when you're training or riding hard a lot, but it should be possible by being smart not just about what you eat, but when you eat. So for example have your evening meal immediately after your ride instead of having a snack and/or recovery shake and then dinner later.

Unfortunately riding hard = massive appetite so you need to be disciplined and resist the urge to stuff your face after a hard ride.

You might find logging your calories using something like Livestrong's MyPlate an eye-opener and it might just be that a bit of portion control is all you need (but make sure you're honest with your calorie log and you need to weigh most things).

 

[Cubist]

I'm 43 5'8'' and 13st 5ib this morning. I've been looking to get down to 12 st 6lb or there abouts for about 3 years. i regularly ride, train, commute up to 5 or 6 times a week, usually 2 hours max at any one time. My issue is that as i have got fitter, I have got fatter. I'm just hungry all the time. I also like to go as fast as I can all the time, I regulary average 21mph over 17 miles on the way home from work and I ride with a bunch of really fit (younger) guys so I'm always running at 75-100% max BHP. I have a resting HR of about 41. I cut out all booze 4 years ago but I've got fatter since. I eat the usual stuff, pasta, spuds, chips once a week, sandwiches & coke for lunch, the odd (!) cake from the girls in the office, fruit N fibre as a 9pm snack. I'm not sure what else to do, I've done the slimfast thing (stayed the same), I've tried protein shakes as a post ride drink. I've given up energy bars in favour of an oat based homemade flapjack thing. If I don't eat a lot I find it difficult to ride home or keep up on the 2 hour MTB ride. What else should I do? I was thinking of doing slower rides to burn fat but I'm very time limited (family, job etc), so I'd have to use the time I usually go out riding with the lads? I have tried to cut out bread this week and its working, I've lost a couple of lbs just having pasta instead of a sandwich for lunch. I've also joined the slower 'recovery' group on Sunday morning, it seemed just as fast

Your diet is high carbohydrate. We love to eat it as it's filling, but refined carbs cause an instant energy hit, the blood sugar levels shoot up and your body throws in an insulin spike to get the levels back down to normal. This lowers the blood sugar again and you feel hungry. It's a vicious circle. The excess carbs you consume are simply stored as fat for next time you face a serious famine or failed harvest (this is a bit primordial!). If you cut out the instant sugary, refined starchy foods, and substitute them for the wholemeal, low sugar varieties, your blodd sugar level doweesn't see-saw, and you feel less hunger.

If you take this a step further and eat fewer carbs, upping the protein levels you can burn proteins and fats for energy, but these quickly run out. The body then remembers where it stored a couple of pounds of energy, on your gut and arse, so it goes to the famine store and uses them up. So if you cut down on carbs and continue to exercise, then the fat burn is all the quicker. If you cut down the refined carbs and sugars your insulin levels (and therefore your blood sugar levels) flatline, and so you don't feel as hungry after exercise.

Google " High Protein Diet". The weight loss is rapid at first, but this method means that you change your metabolism to burn body fat, rather than protein (muscle)

 

[yello]

the blood sugar levels shoot up and your body throws in an insulin spike to get the levels back down to normal.

Maintaining blood sugar levels is a key to controlling weight, imho. From my reading, and as Cubist also says, carb generally but fast carb specifically alters those levels. Fast sugars are the main dangers as they cause the dramatic changes. I know I go on about this but is my belief that intense exercise also dramatically alters body chemistry - this is why you get the munchies post ride. Your body not only wants to restock but also take on more in case of future repeats!

If you want to continue with the intense exercise (and loose weight) then you'll need to develop an iron will too.

There's also the nature of calories consumed to consider. Fat has a bad reputation, because it is calorific, but fat doesn't make you fat. Sugar is required to store fat. Ergo, reducing the sugars helps prevent that. (I'm NOT advocating high fat, no carb diets btw!) Equally, protein and fat tend to be more appetite sating than carb. They might be more calorific but you tend to eat less of them.

There are many many good 'low carb' resources on the web. I personally like to read the perspectives offered by the advocates of the so-called caveman or palaeolithic or primordial diets. They have a great deal to offer in terms of food for thought. The evolutionary perspective is one worthy of consideration, as our diets today are radically different to those of a few hundred years ago and evolution is a slow process. Our bodies are having to deal with food products today that are very very recent in terms of evolution. It certainly wouldn't surprise me if our new diet is responsible for a great many illnesses. Now, I'd never suggest someone goes the whole hog and goes on a caveman diet (to ignore the benefits of modern eating would be a bit daft imo, baby and bathwater springs to mind) but I do think some of the principals are worth incorporating.

 

[JohnHenry]

I've heard cutting out bread helps a lot. A friend of mine went on the Red/Green day diet and lost quite a bit of weight just by cutting out bread as a carb.

Ideally I would like to exercise every day, little and often, but it's just not that practical. I'm out on the bike every other day at the moment doing 12-18 miles and a longer ride on weekends. I hear what you say about commuting but I tend to work from home more often that go into the office these days, plus I don't fancy the logistical nightmare of cycling into work. It would be nice though; to have a local job and cycle to work. At the moment I live in a great area for cycling but too far out of London to commute JUST using a bike. I could do the old train/cycle thing but again it doesn't seem right. To be honest I think I would rather run than cycle in that way.

What other suggestions are there for breakfast that don't involve bread? Obviously I know porridge and cereal....

I've been with Slimming World for over a year - lost three stone (and put one back on) - good breakfasts for me are scrambled eggs (with smoked salmon or LEAN bacon as a treat) but no bread/toast or butter. A good fry-up (with Frylite) mushrooms tomatoes bacon eggs and baked beans (NO hash browns or fried bread) is great - the basic thing is to eliminate fat as much as you can (fat free yoghourt, fruit and muesli is my "normal" breakfast). Cut out dairy - God I miss my cheese! Eat loads of fruit and veg - weirdly fruit JUICE is banned - something to do with complex sugars - way over my head. I treat myself to a Bloody Mary for brunch every Sunday - beer is out, sadly. The mantra is that you won't stick to it if you don't enjoy it...

 

[screenman]

I enjoy bread and feel it helped in my diet, slice it thick and spread it thin is my mantra. Lost 4 stone last year and felt great all the time so must have done something right.

 

[ColinJ]

I treat myself to a Bloody Mary for brunch every Sunday - beer is out, sadly. The mantra is that you won't stick to it if you don't enjoy it...

An inherent contradiction there, methinks!

 

[jeltz]

Just skimmed through so haven't read all the posts but has anyone using a smaller plate? I tend to eat what I have on the plate and I will fill my plate, however in truth I've had more than enough to eat therefore if I use a smaller plate I control my portion size better. It doesn't matter that what you are eating is healthily if its too much then its too much.

 

[JohnHenry]

An inherent contradiction there, methinks!

What can I say - my life is full of them!

 

[ColinJ]

Just skimmed through so haven't read all the posts but has anyone using a smaller plate? I tend to eat what I have on the plate and I will fill my plate, however in truth I've had more than enough to eat therefore if I use a smaller plate I control my portion size better. It doesn't matter that what you are eating is healthily if its too much then its too much.

Yes, that's a good tip.

I'd also suggest eating slowly. It can take a few minutes before you realise that you are actually full. It's easy to overdo it when you eat quickly.

Pay attention to what you are eating. I've had an intense conversation during a meal and at the end of it, I had no recollection of eating the food! It's hard to feel satisfied when you can't even remember what you've eaten ...

 

[snorri]

Just skimmed through so haven't read all the posts but has anyone using a smaller plate?

The smaller plate theory has been mentioned, I think it's a good'un.