fullergarrett

In my introduction post to this forum, I mentioned that I was 19 years old, 5'11" and weighing in at around 320 pounds. Since last summer I've been riding a bike more often, and have even started riding my bike this winter is colder, more uncomfortable weather. (Although I don't ride if it's too windy or icy/snowy out.) I even purchased a new bike to replace my old 1987 Free Spirit Pinnacle 12-speed.

I've been wanting to get into better shape and noticed a slight change the summer. I was drinking more water (albeit with "Crystal Light" flavoring) and riding my bike on a daily basis as opposed to drinking soda entirely. Unfortunately, that didn't stick. I'm a very picky eater and will admit, although embarrassingly, that I don't eat vegetables and fruits. I've tried them and won't eat them... even in other things like tacos and such. (I've also been eating out quite often recently, which doesn't help my health or budget.)

So, any suggestions on how I can proceed and get below 250 pounds? I'd like to loose this weight, and hopefully be able to ride farther on my bike. Perhaps even be able to ride on those windy days when the wind is strong enough that (currently) I can barely overcome it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

JLDickmon

try a keto diet?

TrojanHorse

So for you a taco is ground beef and cheese on a shell? Not even a tomato?

OK, ultimately you should cut processed food and sugar entirely out of your diet. Stop eating out, make your own food and track what you eat. Sugar substitutes aren't doing you any favors either. At some point, foods that you don't expect to will taste sweet (e.g. if I have a latte, the milk tastes sweet to me now) and sugary foods will taste cloying and inedible.

There's a great (free) app called my fitness pal that will help you track what you eat. That should really help you get an idea of what you're eating and help you understand what you're doing to yourself. And don't eat back 900 calories if the app foolishly says you burned 900 cycling, you're not trying to maintain weight, you're trying to lose weight.

Ride every day if you can stand it. Walk if you can't.

If it were easy, weight loss wouldn't be such a huge industry in this country but I'll tell you it's significantly easier to lose weight and make lifestyle changes when you're 19 than when you're 50.

Milton Keynes

I can't say what will work for you, but here's what worked for me: Firstly, I cut soda out of my diet. Didn't switch to diet soda, since I don't like the taste and it gives me headaches, I just went from drinking it every day to drinking it only very rarely. Instead, either just plain ice water or unsweetened iced tea.

Secondly, I cut out as much carbs & sugar as I could out of my diet. I didn't go full keto, but just cutting down on the carbs & sugar really helped. I'm a firm believer in high protein, low carb/low sugar diet for losing weight.

Thirdly, and this is the most important, I changed the way I approach food. I try not to snack whenever I'm bored. If I do feel like I need a snack, I eat something that's high in protein like a hard boiled egg or a cheese stick, or else I'll eat some baby carrots or a piece of fruit or something. I had to make myself eat to live, not live to eat. Which is hard because my entire life I've had a love affair with food. It wasn't a problem when I was a teenager, but now that I'm in my 40's my metabolism is WAY slower than it was back then, and just eating a few cookies seems to show up on the scales.

One thing that helps is that we don't eat out as much as we did. When it was just my wife & I living in another city with dozens of restaurants readily available, it was easy to just get in the car and go somewhere to eat. Now, living in a smaller town, our dining options are quite limited so if we don't feel like cooking we have to drive 15 or so miles to get to the nearest restaurant. So we tend to cook our own food a lot. Since restaurant food isn't that great for you, this has helped out a bit.

You really need to get over your aversion to fresh vegetables & fruits. They are an important, healthy part of the human diet. Plus they help fill you up with a lot fewer calories than other foods.

And then of course daily exercise on the bike is important. I tend to do 45 minutes every morning on the trainer during cold weather, or when it's nice out I do a 10 mile ride which takes me about 45 minutes. Yes, I do take some days off but the important thing to do is keep doing it regularly. Exercise doesn't build up in the body, it's something which has to be maintained for it to have benefit. And don't view exercise as a means to lose weight. Diet to lose weight, exercise to maintain your health. Exercise will help in that it will build up muscle tissue which will help you burn more calories, but the main thing is keeping your heart healthy.

Milton Keynes

I totally agree. Once I cut soda out of my diet, now if I drink one it tastes WAY too sweet. I have to put it in ice and water it down a bit. But mostly, I prefer just an iced tea.

I agree that MFP is a handy tool, I used it for a while and it helped me keep track of what I was eating. And the thing about that app is that it really opens your eyes to how little you have to eat in a day to reach 2,000 calories. I also agree about not eating back the amount of calories it says you burn through exercise. Partly because even though you have a calorie deficit, that much more burned will help you lose that much more weight. And secondly, I don't know that the amount of calories it says you burn is anywhere near accurate. If it says you've burned 500 calories when you've only burned 300, and you eat that 500 calories back thinking no harm done, you've just taken on 200 extra calories you have to burn off.

youcoming

AS another posted you need to rethink your view on fruit and veggies. Not meaning to sound like a parent but you just gotta eat your veggies. You can loose weight on keto but not without eating veggies, a pure protein and fat diet will not work. Also cut out sugar and processed foods, I wish when I was your age I would have had all the information and knowledge I have now but hey that's one benefit of getting older, we learn.

fullergarrett

Thanks everyone for the input.

I've heard from several different people (friends, family, parents, etc.) that I should start eating more vegetables and cut back on fats/sugars. It's common sense. The only issue is how can I start intaking more vegetables and fruits when I don't like any of them, even if I pair them with something I do like or add things to enhance the flavor. Part of the reason I'm not a huge lover of veggies and fruits isn't just the taste, but the texture.

As I mentioned, I cut back on my soda last fall (went from six or more a day to maybe one or two a day.) That, along with riding my bike daily, made a significant impact and I started losing some weight. Unfortunately, it didn't stick and I am back to square 1.

I'll take a look at the MFP. I have a somewhat slow Android phone that's almost out of memory, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to run it. I don't have a smart watch like a Fitbit or anything fancy like that. I don't even have a computer for my bike or a pedometer.

Milton Keynes

Have you tried vegetable soup? Normally in soup all the veggies get cooked enough to where they're all soft and you don't have to worry about texture.

We occasionally make hamburger soup, which is very good, filling, and healthy. Plus it's easy to make:

Ingredients: 1 lb. ground beef
1 can sweet corn
1 can peas
1 can sliced carrots
1 can green beans
1 can tomato sauce
Beef broth

Brown & drain the ground beef. Open and drain all cans of vegetables. Add all ingredients to a medium sized crock pot. Add enough beef broth for desired consistency. Add salt & pepper to taste. Let simmer for 4-6 hours.

If you want to make it vegetarian, leave out the ground beef and substitute tomato juice and a little bit of water for the beef broth.

I understand texture, I really do. I never could stand to eat anything with coconut in it because I hate having the gritty, ground up coconut in my mouth. But there are many different vegetables with many different textures, and it's highly important that we incorporate them into our diet.

fullergarrett

My dad's favorite soup is vegetable soup. Me, of course, not so much.

Knowing myself, I don't think I can just go from being a vegetable hater to a vegetable-loving, vegetable soup eater overnight. I think it's going to take a little bit of time to go from not eating vegetables and hating them to being able to eat a variety of them.

I read this website and thought it was a good read: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/veg...ng-vegetables/

Kedosto

Mmassey338

Milton Keynes

Well, I just offered soup as a suggestion, seeing as how you said it's more of a texture thing than taste. But you need to do something, and you still have a lot of time seeing as how you're young. Best to make a change now and have it pay off in the long run than to put it off until later. But I agree with the others, and not to pile on but it's time to put on your big boy pants and eat your veggies.

And it also helps, instead of eating a piece of pie or cake for dessert, grab a piece of fruit instead. I love slicing up an apple and eating it for dessert, or for a snack when I'm craving something sweet. Bananas are good healthy snacks too, but I admit I like eating them with peanut butter too much.

Oh and by the way, don't consider French fries as a vegetable.

Gerry221

Like the OP, I too never used to eat much in the way of fruit or veg. What I do now, is I make a shake every morning. Put fruit and the odd bit of veg in a blender with Almond milk and a handful of oats. Sometimes it tastes fine - others, not so nice - but really never that bad that you cant drink it. Its a great way of getting lots of fruit and veg into you.

Also, as someone mentioned, do a 10 mile cycle every day. As long as you stay of the high fat, sugaar and processed foods - the weight should drop off.

.....oh, and lots of water!

Lemond1985

I find that nearly any food tastes good, provided that I'm hungry enough. Veggies and fruit don't taste good? You must not be hungry enough. Wait a few hours until they seem palatable. Once you get used to healthy foods, they're all you'll want. A cookie or soda will make you sick, which is as it should be.

What works for me is two large meals a day, I eat all I can hold, morning and evening. No snacking, and ESPECIALLY no food after 6:00 pm. No sodas, no alcohol. Not needed by the body. Don't eat 15 small meals a day or whatever, seems like every overweight person I know is on that stupid diet, grazing on countless small meals. Your food won't digest properly if you're constantly piling more food on top of old food that hasn't finished digesting yet. Fasting between meals is critical.

Food should be purchased only from the outside aisles of the supermarket. Produce, meat, dairy, and whole grain bread are all you need. Hell, brown rice alone you could probably live off, many people in the world do. Avoid processed foods from the middle of the supermarket entirely. Breakfast cereals, TV dinners, ice cream, cakes, sodas, cookies, you don't need any of that stuff, and it'll take decades off your life if you live off nothing but that crap. Just look at people whose shopping carts are full of that kind of food, and see what they will do to a person.

Not that there's anything WRONG with chronic illness, poor health, and early death, I simply choose to avoid them by eating only unprocessed foods. Save money too. YMMV.

msujmccorm

Check out a book called "Wheat Belly". It's an eye opener.