Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
Reload this Page >

New Clyde - Meal Plan Suggestions

Notices
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) Looking to lose that spare tire? Ideal weight 200+? Frustrated being a large cyclist in a sport geared for the ultra-light? Learn about the bikes and parts that can take the abuse of a heavier cyclist, how to keep your body going while losing the weight, and get support from others who've been successful.

New Clyde - Meal Plan Suggestions

Old 05-07-18, 08:44 AM
  #1  
Jon A.
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 10

Bikes: Cannondale Quick 4

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 15 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
New Clyde - Meal Plan Suggestions

Hi,

Everyone here was very helpful on my first post (New-Clyde - Hilly Area Suggestions) so I thought I would seek your input on my meal plan (a/k/a diet) and over-all weight loss/get in shape plan. Sorry for the long post.

First a little background... I am 45, have an office job, a wife and two 3 year old twins. I have been overweight most of my adult life (beer and nachos in college and graduate school plus more sedentary jobs were probably the biggest factors in my weight gain). I have been as much as 265 but started my current effort to get in shape at about 247. At only 5'9" that is pretty heavy. I have asthma and hate to exercise so the couch has been my friend (as evidenced by the large crater in "my spot"). I really want to be healthier so I can keep up with my kiddos and enjoy my family. About 18 months ago I started counting my calories and tried to limit myself to 2000 calories/day. I tracked it on a scorecard that I printed out (think golf score card). I tracked each meal like a hole in golf... 500 calories = 5 "strokes". I allotted myself 20 strokes/day (i.e. 2000 cal/day) with one "Mulligan" (i.e. cheat meal) per week. It worked, I got down to 239 from 265 but it was hard to sustain. I tried to keep breakfast and lunch to 5 strokes each (i.e. 500 cal) and dinner to 7. A few almonds in the morning, an afternoon snack and a post-dinner desert (usually a 100 cal bag of Cheez-Its or pretzels) accounted for the remaining 300 calories. I weighed myself each morning and tracked the loss on an Excel spreadsheet. Diet soda is one of my Kryptonites... I have 1 Diet Coke can at lunch and 2-3 Diet Sprite/Triple Berry Seltzers (mixed 50/50) at night. I can generally say no to beer and alcohol these days unless I am out being social (rare with 3 year olds). An occasional margarita in the summer or martini. I can also say no to sweets.

My goal is to get to 220-230 lbs this year and below 200 by the end of 2019. As has been said here, the weight went on slowly so it should (will) come off slowly.

My new plan is to use My Fitness Pal to track food intake, the Health app on my iPhone to track weight, Strava to track my rides/calories burned and to get a Garmin fitness watch (probably the Vivoactive 3) to assist with tracking efforts (steps, HR, etc). I bought a Cannondale Quick 4 and have a basic cycle-computer and iPhone mount for Strava.

Here is my basic meal plan:

Breakfast: (~500 cals)
1-2 Cups of Coffee with half & half and one Splenda each;
(2) Large Hard-Boiled Eggs with a bit of salt; and
(1) 16 oz. Strawberry/Banana/Soy Milk/Yogurt/Flax&Chia Seeds with a touch of maple syrup Smoothie.
If I don't make a Smoothie I have two slices of wheat toast with peanut butter (the wheat bread is 40 calories/slice)

Mid-Morning Snack: (~100 cals)
(2) Tbsps of Almonds
20 oz. water

Lunch: (~500-600 cals)
Homemade Chicken Caesar Salad with Bacon Bits, Parmesan cheese, carats and 2-3 Tbsps of dressing
(1) Diet Coke can

Mid-Afternoon Snack: (~100 cals)
(2) pickle spears (high in sodium... my other Kryptonite) OR
Some of my kids' Baked Goldfish or Saltines crackers
20 oz. water

Dinner: (Goal = 700 cals but probably exceeding that)
Dinners are tough because my wife is a REALLY good cook and we like to grill/smoke meat 3 seasons a year. I have portion control issues at dinner both because the food is so good and because by that point I am usually hungry. Dinners vary but can consist of the following:
Pizza (homeade dough, usually only mozzarella cheese, roaster garlic, tomato, brocolli, pesto)
Chicken on the grill or baked in the oven, occasionally chicken wings on the grill
Pasta with seafood (shrimp or scallops)
Steak (1x/week maximum)
Turkey Burgers on the grill;
Salmon or Swordfish
Pork loin
We try to reduce or eliminate carbs by grilling, baking or steaming veggies like broccoli, green beans, brussel sprouts, etc.but sometimes we'll have rice, couscous, pasta, etc.

Desert:
100 cal Cheez-It or Pretzel bag

Exercise:
2-3 nights/week = take a 4.8 - 5.5 mile bike ride on hilly loops (~375-400' elevation gains) (hopefully increase if/when time and fitness level allow)
Weekend = take a 14-20 mile bike ride on a relatively flat rail trail (hopefully increase if/when time and fitness level allow)
Track steps on fitness watch
Take the stairs
Chase after my kiddos/go to playgrounds
Go for walks with the family (also hilly)

I know that more dramatic changes in my lifestyle would probably result in the weight coming off more effectively but this time I am really trying to find something that I can sustain over the long-haul. That is always the hard part.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and (hopefully constructive) criticism of my plan.

-Jon A.
Jon A. is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 11:19 AM
  #2  
Milton Keynes
Senior Member
 
Milton Keynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947

Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times in 936 Posts
Kind of sounds like you're doing things right. Best advice I can give you is to try this eating plan, track your food intake very closely with MFP, and see how it works. You're basically doing what I'm doing, weighing myself every morning, eating little during the day, and having a decent meal in the evening thanks to a wife who is a very good cook. I tend to go for high protein/low carb food. I have heard people say that they don't modify what they eat, they just eat less of it and make sure their calorie intake is less than 2,000 per day. Personally, though, I've found that if I eat sweets or carbs it makes my weight go up a little, or else makes it hard to lose. It could just be my imagination, though. But I really do need to limit sweets, which is hard because I love them. I especially have a fondness for chocolate.

I've been using MFP for just under a month now but found that it's a really handy tool to track food intake. Before I started using it I didn't think I ate very much (which I didn't really eat a ton of food) but after using it I was amazed to see how little you actually have to eat to get up to 2,000 calories in a day.

I've read a lot of negative articles regarding diet soda, but I really don't know how much of that is scientific and how much is scare tactics. But there are some claims that the artificial sweeteners trick the body into feeling hungry and may cause obesity. Meanwhile, the other side claims that the correlation between drinking diet soda and obesity/poor health could be due to those who are overweight switching to diet sodas in order to cut down on calories. You'd have to make your own decision as to whether or not to keep drinking it. I used to drink full sugar soda up until a few years ago when I decided I ought to cut down. I never could stand the taste of diet sodas, and any time I'd drink one I'd get a headache, so switching from regular to diet wasn't really an option. I instead switched to unsweetened iced tea and that helped. But the simple fact that drinking carbonated beverages tends to stretch out the stomach a bit from the CO2 gas.

As far as exercise is concerned, anything to get you off the couch is a good thing. When it comes to exercising for health, though, the experts say anything that gets your heart pumping for 30 minutes or so a day is beneficial. But don't exercise in order to lose weight. Diet to lose weight, exercise to maintain your health & fitness.
Milton Keynes is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 11:28 AM
  #3  
indyfabz
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,045
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18318 Post(s)
Liked 15,261 Times in 7,219 Posts
Assuming only 700 for dinner, your calorie count is considered about average.
indyfabz is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 11:33 AM
  #4  
TrojanHorse
SuperGimp
 
TrojanHorse's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Whittier, CA
Posts: 13,346

Bikes: Specialized Roubaix

Mentioned: 147 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1106 Post(s)
Liked 64 Times in 47 Posts
Weigh your food for a month and check your assumptions about how much you're eating.

Myfitnesspal is a great tool you can use and if you have a smart phone it's with you 100% of the time, which is handy.

Know that your calories burned estimates are going to be high. Don't eat to replace calories you burn.
TrojanHorse is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 11:47 AM
  #5  
Clyde1820
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,944

Bikes: 1996 Trek 970 ZX Single Track 2x11

Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 610 Post(s)
Liked 558 Times in 423 Posts
Congratulations on starting down the path, Jon.


Some thoughts. Not that each of these things will be just the right thing for you, necessarily, but they are changes that many people do and get good benefit from. Helps limit portions, helps balance intake, helps increase the range of nutrients obtained, helps curb hunger, helps eliminate spikes and dips in energy, etc.


Originally Posted by Jon A.
Here is my basic meal plan:

Breakfast: (~500 cals)
1-2 Cups of Coffee with half & half and one Splenda each;
(2) Large Hard-Boiled Eggs with a bit of salt; and
(1) 16 oz. Strawberry/Banana/Soy Milk/Yogurt/Flax&Chia Seeds with a touch of maple syrup Smoothie.
If I don't make a Smoothie I have two slices of wheat toast with peanut butter (the wheat bread is 40 calories/slice)
You could nix the maple syrup, for example, and a portion of the fruits, in order to free up some calories. Instead, could add a scoop of a good whey protein powder (ie, Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard whey, or similar), or perhaps half an avocado. Squeeze a lime into the blend, if you want to spruce up the taste.

It'll help keep your overall protein/fat intake higher. In the case of the maple syrup being swapped out, it would reduce the relatively empty carbs in replace them with longer-lasting energy from the proteins and fats.

If the overall calorie content is higher than you'd prefer at one sitting, then split into two or three drink jugs and save the others for later (or tomorrow).


Mid-Morning Snack: (~100 cals)
(2) Tbsps of Almonds
20 oz. water
Could add an egg and cut the almonds in half. Could add several tablespoons of a good whole milk yogurt. The overall calories would be higher, but the nutrients would be greater.


Lunch: (~500-600 cals)
Homemade Chicken Caesar Salad with Bacon Bits, Parmesan cheese, carats and 2-3 Tbsps of dressing
(1) Diet Coke can [/quote]

Would recommend nixing the sodas and packaged drinks. Even in the "diet" varieties, there's some evidence out there to suggest the chemistry of such drinks can fool with your body's processes, ending up signalling things far differently than water does. Some studies suggest it even contributes to the risks for Type II Diabetes.

Would recommend nixing the packaged dressings. Could add an egg or sliced avocado for more protein and fats. Could use mustard and a balsamic along with your own herb/spice blend to make a killer vinaigrette for salads, something that'd be lower in calories and better for you than typical packaged bottled dressings.

A good amount of water will help the body, end up tasting better in a few months, and it won't risk some of the downsides.


Mid-Afternoon Snack: (~100 cals)
(2) pickle spears (high in sodium... my other Kryptonite) OR
Some of my kids' Baked Goldfish or Saltines crackers
20 oz. water
Again, would recommend some protein and fat here. Perhaps a slice of cheese and a bit of baked chicken, with perhaps a small slice or two of avocado ... or something similar.

Crackers and other similar items won't provide you either nutrients or much "quality" energy, whereas the higher protein/fat type snack will give you more energy over a longer period, smoothing away the energy "dips" you might still be experiencing.


Dinner: (Goal = 700 cals but probably exceeding that)
Dinners are tough because my wife is a REALLY good cook and we like to grill/smoke meat 3 seasons a year. I have portion control issues at dinner both because the food is so good and because by that point I am usually hungry. Dinners vary but can consist of the following:
Pizza (homeade dough, usually only mozzarella cheese, roaster garlic, tomato, brocolli, pesto)
Chicken on the grill or baked in the oven, occasionally chicken wings on the grill
Pasta with seafood (shrimp or scallops)
Steak (1x/week maximum)
Turkey Burgers on the grill;
Salmon or Swordfish
Pork loin
We try to reduce or eliminate carbs by grilling, baking or steaming veggies like broccoli, green beans, brussel sprouts, etc.but sometimes we'll have rice, couscous, pasta, etc.

Desert:
100 cal Cheez-It or Pretzel bag
Would recommend adding in a decent salad, consisting of one or two leafy greens (ie, spinach and chard, or chard and mustard greens), plus a variety of vegetables of varying colors. Top with herbs and spices only, leaving off the dressings. Can sprinkle with sunflower seeds, some avocado, a spare amount of cheese, perhaps another egg (hard-boiled, crumbled).

If you already have one daily at lunch, that's fine. A few additional grilled or steamed veggies might be a good addition to the meal, here. Keeps the variety up, nutrition-wise.

Cutting half the rest of the meal (above) but adding in a great salad would provide better nutrients overall. You'd still be getting your proteins and fats, but you'd be ensuring high intake of a wide range of vegetables and greens. It'll also help keep you full, particularly if you have the salad first.

In general, forego frying in favor of baking or grilling, when doing meats.

In general, go light on any packaged, bottled products. Light on sauces. Mustard can be a good alternative, as it's very low in calories. You can even make your own rough/Roman-style mustard and both boost the flavors and avoid the package condiment "blues."

Maintain a good spice rack, as well. I tend to keep a couple of big black pepper jugs that I've finished, filled with my own special blend of spices and dried herbs. Completely eliminates any need i feel for someone else's bottled spread or dressing. Cuts out 99% of the calories, but boosts flavors.

Another thing some folks do is to strive for smaller portions more frequently through the day. By keeping your overall balance of fats/proteins/carbs in each serving you have (BF, snack, LU, snack, DN), many people find the hunger pangs go away through the day, energy lasts longer, you eliminate the spikes and dips that often accommodate larger meals with greater portions of carbs. Might be something that helps you, here.

I'd really strive to keep the water intake fairly high, as well. Most folks can gauge the amount of water they're getting by the color of the urine. If it's relatively pale or clear and doesn't have more than a mild/passing scent, you're doing pretty well. If it goes darker brownish or yellow, it's an indication that you might need more fluids.

If making dramatic changes to your overall nutrition, it'd be worth speaking with your family doctor or spending an hour or two with a nutritionist. Particularly if you have certain limitations or constraints on your intake or body's processes that need to be considered.


Exercise:
2-3 nights/week = take a 4.8 - 5.5 mile bike ride on hilly loops (~375-400' elevation gains) (hopefully increase if/when time and fitness level allow)
Weekend = take a 14-20 mile bike ride on a relatively flat rail trail (hopefully increase if/when time and fitness level allow)
Track steps on fitness watch
Take the stairs
Chase after my kiddos/go to playgrounds
Go for walks with the family (also hilly) [/quote]

Could get the body moving during lunch hours at work, too. Say, brisk walks within a couple of miles, while you down one of your protein smoothies. An easy way to get in some exertion while not spending any "family" time to get it done. Leaving you more flexibility for the family hours.

Would also recommend doing a good amount of floor exercises and moderate weights ... whether at a gym or at home. You can pick up two or three sets of kettle bells, get a Bosu ball and/or phisio ball, and a good-quality padded mat for the home or deck. It can give you a surprisingly challenging workout, if you get creative with all the movements you could do with those pieces of equipment.

The nice thing about a simple collection of home gear like this is that it'll mean catching even a ~15-20min period for brisk exercise will be possible even on challenging days when a longer walk or ride can't be done.

One thing to consider: higher-intensity spurts or intervals, throughout a workout. Studies suggest the body responds well to this sort of exercise, burning more energy and rebuilding better as a result of the boosted intensity. Can use telephone poles along a cycling or jogging route as markers ... say, surge to the next pole, then relax until recovered, then surge against to the next pole, etc. With floor exercises, you can inject "bursts" into certain moves ... ie, standard pushups, but then do several explosively where you push up off the ground. Same with burpees, squats and other moves.

In time, perhaps even a family gym membership might be a worthwhile addition.


A pretty good book on core/floor exercises: Core Performance Essentials, by Verstegen.

A pretty simple book on stretching: Stretching for Everyday Fitness, by Anderson.


Keeping decently stretched and your core/pelvic area in good condition can go a long way toward keeping you injury free and enjoying the level of exercise you do get.


Good luck on the journey.
Clyde1820 is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 01:00 PM
  #6  
Buddha2499
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 64
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 23 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
You could also consider cutting out a meal, or just substituting a meal with a cliff bar.

Before anyone one jumps down my throat.. there is nothing unhealthy about skipping meals, and breakfast is not the most important meal of the day. But to lose serious weight, you have to cut serious calories. Dropping down to two meals a day will not screw up your metabolism, and your body will burn fat for energy if it doesn’t have a ready supply from your stomach.

Thats what hat I did and lost 50lbs in about 18 months. There’s no getting around being hungry while dieting, because it is effectively controlled starvation. It was easier for me to be hungry for a few hours each day, than it was exercising control for three meals a day.

Buddha2499 is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 03:42 PM
  #7  
HerrKaLeun
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 1,923

Bikes: Giant Toughroad SLR1 and Motobecane Sturgis NX

Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 900 Post(s)
Liked 231 Times in 168 Posts
My recommendations:
1. track food including nutrients. Part of your hunger (and health) is your body raving vitamins, potassium etc. I use Samsung Health which tracks calcium, vitamin A/B, fiber, sodium etc.
a) you will see you need quite some fruit, vegetables and milk to get all your nutrients without exceeding calories
2. avoid artificial food as much as possible. not nutritious, not healthy and designed to make you stay hungry. Eat food as unprocessed as possible. For example, I eat beans and noticed canned beans have tons of sodium, not i buy bagged dry beans.
3. Read labels, if it has sugar, salt etc. added avoid. you will be surprised where they add sugar (almost everything). go shopping and learn what to buy, it takes a while to find the few unprocessed things that taste good (they exist)
4. Cut the soda. carbonic acid leaches calcium from your bones. Yes it has no calories, but the artificial sweetness makes you be hungry (it lowers your blood sugar)
5. Reduce sodium. Not healthy and retains water (= weight)
6. There are many advices from keto, to all vegan, over all meat, to bla bla bla.... learn what works for you by obeying above. For me increasing fat helps (use avocado, nuts, olive oil
7. Exercise: more is better and over time you get more flexible and stronger. But you can't exercise your way to thin. One Mcdonals bucket requires you to ride 100 miles or so, not gonna happen. Do stuff you can do at home ar without much planning. If you sign up for a gym, you need to drive there etc.... and if you only have 30 minutes, it is not worthwhile. I have 2 apps (one yoga, one crunches), so there are 2 free exercises anyone can do at home. i have a bike, and i have a set of dumbbell. All i need to do at home at low cost.

Obviously someone can disagree, I'm not mad if people do things differently. I'm still evolving, but the above helped me to go from 215 to 175 (6' tall). If I had stuck to this I could be lower and fitter (i binge eat when there is junk food around). You probably know by now the internet has advice for every taste :-)
HerrKaLeun is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 04:05 PM
  #8  
Clyde1820
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,944

Bikes: 1996 Trek 970 ZX Single Track 2x11

Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 610 Post(s)
Liked 558 Times in 423 Posts
Originally Posted by HerrKaLeun
2. avoid artificial food as much as possible. not nutritious, not healthy and designed to make you stay hungry. Eat food as unprocessed as possible. For example, I eat beans and noticed canned beans have tons of sodium, not i buy bagged dry beans.

3. Read labels, if it has sugar, salt etc. added avoid. you will be surprised where they add sugar (almost everything). go shopping and learn what to buy, it takes a while to find the few unprocessed things that taste good (they exist)
These are two steps I definitely do.

Can easily cook batches of things ahead of time. Say, with beans. Get a big 16+ ounce bag and cook it all up at once, freezing the extras in smaller Zip-Loc freezer bags or containers. Works for chicken, for vegetables, some other items. Can then bring out a small amount for reheating, when pressed for time.

If labeled and packaged, most things have preservative chemicals of some sort ... whether salt or worse. Not surprisingly, a good amount of flavor can come from a spice/herb blend, and the above cooking/freezing tip can be combined to end up with very tasty dishes that are healthier, fresher and far better for you. Does take pre-cooking and freezing the items, but that's one longer cooking cycle followed by lots of little uses throughout the next couple of weeks. Saves time, actually, if life's really busy.

Can easily make your own soup, too. Fresh, organic vegetables, beans, a good buffalo/venison/beef shank stock, with lots of herbs and mild spices. Makes a wonderfully healthy and hearty dish. Add a fish filet or chicken breast, and it's a whole meal. Can cook a big batch and freeze the excess, bringing it out as needed over the next couple of months. Avoids the preservatives, avoids most of the factory-farm type chemicals and herbicides that a smaller organic farm won't have. (Or, better still, your own garden in the yard, if you've got time to garden/harvest.)

After a month or two, it's amazing how those little cravings for packaged/processed foods disappear, and how the taste buds begin to wake up with how tasty and flavorful unprocessed foods actually are.



As others have suggested, a decent "breakfast" or "energy" type bar can replace a meal for those times when you don't have a lot of cooking or sit-down time. Such as, a walking lunch during the workday, or half a bar for a snack. Keep the water intake high, and this might well eliminate what hunger pangs you'd otherwise have, if it's a relatively higher fat+protein type bar. (Such as the seed/nut bars from Kind, for example.)
Clyde1820 is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 04:10 PM
  #9  
Hit or Miss
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Central Kansas
Posts: 14

Bikes: 2016 Trek DS 8.4; Vilano Road Bike

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Good for you! I've lost over 60 pounds using flexible dieting and started with MFP. One thing I've found is a lot of bad entries on MFP so double check the ones you use for accuracy. Another hint I picked up is the 3-3-3 method of meal planning. Pick 3 proteins, 3 carbs and 3 healthy fats and mix and match for your meals. I eat tons of veggies and track all of them by grams along with all my other foods.

As for diet soda etc., there isn't any verified scientific evidence that sweeteners have an adverse effect on your health when consumed in less than ridiculous amounts. (allergies to them notwithstanding)

As for activity tracking, you don't really have to mess with it if you don't want to. The "calories burned" of those gadgets are hugely over estimated.

Best of luck! If you do the work, flexible dieting is not too bad and very sustainable.
Hit or Miss is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 06:40 PM
  #10  
brawlo
Senior Member
 
brawlo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,210
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 288 Post(s)
Liked 76 Times in 57 Posts
I would say that your first step would be to switch your lunch and dinner around. I would take in more calories at lunch and reduce the dinner intake. I would also have a serious thought about ditching the soda altogether. I've gone low carb before and am starting another round again, and it is alarming to actually feel the difference that cutting back sugar/carbs makes to your body. BUT not all carbs are bad, just a lot of them to most of the people that would frequent this area of the forums. A short term venture that may prove highly beneficial in the longer term (I personally haven't done it but have seen others do it) is to do a full carb detox and then slowly reintroduce certain carbs and track your blood sugar levels. That would give you an indication of some of the foods that you should really just cross off your list altogether, and others that are fine for you to take in.

The hardest part of any of the dieting I have done is trying to maintain some sort of regimen that is separate to the family. As much as I want it to happen, I can't get them to follow anything along with me and they are all afflicted with the luckiest damn genes where they eat what is crap to me but maintain weight easily. So dieting takes an extra bit of personal effort each and every day and is part of what I see as the reason I yo-yo. I don't yo-yo terribly badly, I just rebound 10kg or so at a time.

For the longer term, I would actually encourage you to try a number of different diet plans. Low carb fits in with my lfestyle and allows me to partake in the foods that I like such as meats and cheeses. It self regulates my intake. I lost 17kg in 10 weeks on that diet without any calorie tracking, but over the past 1.5 years I have regained about 12kg now. I've been hitting the gym again for the last 6months and I know a chunk of that is muscle gain, but I still have a lot of fat to lose, and I have allowed some carbs that aren't good for me to creep back in. I guess what I am trying to say is look for something that suits your food style and your lifestyle. I also did the 5/2 diet about 4 years ago. I dropped a lot of weight on that too (10kg in 10 weeks), but when you consume 550 calories for 2 days a week then you probably should! But that diet just didn't fit in with my lifestyle well, but what I did get out of it was a massive education about maximising the effectiveness of the calories that you do take in.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing, you've taken one giant step in the right direction
brawlo is offline  
Old 05-07-18, 08:03 PM
  #11  
HerrKaLeun
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 1,923

Bikes: Giant Toughroad SLR1 and Motobecane Sturgis NX

Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 900 Post(s)
Liked 231 Times in 168 Posts
If you work in an office, I have two more "cheats".
1. I used to eat breakfast at home and after arriving in the office another little one. it was something healthy like oatmeal or plain yogurt with fruit, but nevertheless 2 breakfasts. i end up not being hungry (most eating is just habit and snacking around when you sit at a desk) and i skip the home breakfast. So one little meal saved
2. I eat little things all day at my desk. Especially when I don't go to meetings etc. More a habit, not hunger. So I end up taking tons of raw broccoli, carrots, string green beans etc. and snack those. gives me nutrients, fills my stomach and keeps me busy eating (meaning not craving junk food snacks). Obviously if you can discipline yourself to not snack even better, but this helps to snack healthy.
HerrKaLeun is offline  
Old 05-08-18, 12:00 PM
  #12  
Milton Keynes
Senior Member
 
Milton Keynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947

Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times in 936 Posts
Originally Posted by TrojanHorse
Know that your calories burned estimates are going to be high. Don't eat to replace calories you burn.
Excellent advice. Best to just pretend those calories burned don't exist. I think a lot of people tend to overestimate the amount of calories they burn and underestimate the amount of calories they consume. It's all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you can have an extra piece of cake for dessert because you rode two miles that morning. But that kind of thinking just gets you into trouble. The best way to lose weight is to overestimate the number of calories you consume (and shoot to stay under a limited amount) and underestimate the number of calories you burn, or just forget about them altogether. If you just forget about calories burned during exercise, it becomes a bonus to your weight loss.

Unless, of course, you're riding a half century or something, then you might want a few snacks to keep your energy up. I rode a half century a couple weekends ago and MyFitnessPal warned me at the end of the day that I wasn't eating enough. I had eaten when I got back home and didn't want any more food, but according to MFP I still had a 1600 calorie deficit at the end of the day and needed to eat. I'm thinking of turning the "You've earned _____ calories through exercise" option off, if it's possible.
Milton Keynes is offline  
Old 05-08-18, 12:24 PM
  #13  
Milton Keynes
Senior Member
 
Milton Keynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947

Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times in 936 Posts
Originally Posted by HerrKaLeun
If you work in an office, I have two more "cheats".
1. I used to eat breakfast at home and after arriving in the office another little one. it was something healthy like oatmeal or plain yogurt with fruit, but nevertheless 2 breakfasts. i end up not being hungry (most eating is just habit and snacking around when you sit at a desk) and i skip the home breakfast. So one little meal saved
2. I eat little things all day at my desk. Especially when I don't go to meetings etc. More a habit, not hunger. So I end up taking tons of raw broccoli, carrots, string green beans etc. and snack those. gives me nutrients, fills my stomach and keeps me busy eating (meaning not craving junk food snacks). Obviously if you can discipline yourself to not snack even better, but this helps to snack healthy.
One thing I've been making myself do is not snack all the time and only eat when I'm actually hungry. It takes a lot of self-discipline to do this, though, since so many times we think that we're hungry when we're really not. I call this "psychological hunger" which is not actual hunger. It's more the feeling of, "Oh, potato chips, that sounds good right now." I think mindless snacking is part of the reason I put on so much weight over the past years. Eating when I'm bored instead of eating when I'm actually hungry and need food. Yes, I do still snack but now my snacks consist of a handful of baby carrots, a hard boiled egg, or something else fairly low calorie and healthy. But my main thought process when I think I'm hungry is, "Am I really hungry, or do I just think I want food?" More often than not I just want to eat something but don't really need it. I hate when I feel like that an hour or two after a meal. But before I do snack, I make sure I'm feeling actual hunger signals from my stomach.

I watched a documentary recently on a morbidly obese person who lost a bunch of weight, can't remember if they had weight loss surgery or did it through diet, but they said they started feeling a new, strange sensation in their stomach, which the doctor told them that it's hunger. Before, they just ate and ate all day long and never allowed their stomach to give their brain proper hunger signals, but after their life change they realized that it had been years since they allowed themselves to feel hungry.

Last edited by Milton Keynes; 05-08-18 at 12:28 PM.
Milton Keynes is offline  
Old 05-08-18, 04:15 PM
  #14  
HerrKaLeun
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 1,923

Bikes: Giant Toughroad SLR1 and Motobecane Sturgis NX

Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 900 Post(s)
Liked 231 Times in 168 Posts
Originally Posted by Milton Keynes
One thing I've been making myself do is not snack all the time and only eat when I'm actually hungry. It takes a lot of self-discipline to do this, though, since so many times we think that we're hungry when we're really not. I call this "psychological hunger" which is not actual hunger. It's more the feeling of, "Oh, potato chips, that sounds good right now." I think mindless snacking is part of the reason I put on so much weight over the past years. Eating when I'm bored instead of eating when I'm actually hungry and need food. Yes, I do still snack but now my snacks consist of a handful of baby carrots, a hard boiled egg, or something else fairly low calorie and healthy. But my main thought process when I think I'm hungry is, "Am I really hungry, or do I just think I want food?" More often than not I just want to eat something but don't really need it. I hate when I feel like that an hour or two after a meal. But before I do snack, I make sure I'm feeling actual hunger signals from my stomach.

I watched a documentary recently on a morbidly obese person who lost a bunch of weight, can't remember if they had weight loss surgery or did it through diet, but they said they started feeling a new, strange sensation in their stomach, which the doctor told them that it's hunger. Before, they just ate and ate all day long and never allowed their stomach to give their brain proper hunger signals, but after their life change they realized that it had been years since they allowed themselves to feel hungry.
True, we are so used to have food available every minute. In the old days People maybe had 3 meals without snacks. And that was after the normal human (and animal) being of not having food every day (i.e. not successful in hunting, not the food storage we have today).
I notice when i have many meetings or stay otherwise busy I can skip meal till after noon without feeling hungry.
HerrKaLeun is offline  
Old 05-09-18, 08:39 AM
  #15  
Jon A.
Junior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Western Mass
Posts: 10

Bikes: Cannondale Quick 4

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 15 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
WOW! A ton of really great advice here, it is greatly appreciated!! Thank you. Some of it seems a little too "hardcore" to me right now... I worry that if I try to make really drastic changes that my "lifestyle change" will start to feel like a "diet" and I am trying to avoid that word (and the yo-yo ups and downs that it has meant for me in the past). That said, its sounds like my original plan (as set out above) may not be enough. I am going to try to find a happy median. To me, that means REALLY counting my calories and REALLY limiting myself to 2000/day or as close to it as possible but also paying more attention to what I am eating to avoid empty calories/carbs (sadly, that means ditching my beloved 100 cal Cheez-Its). I will try to replace unhealthy options with more healthy ones. Ditching the diet soda is going to be really hard for me. I keep a 20 oz. insulated water bottle with me pretty much 24/7 (I don't like to drink water that much but I like it more when it is really cold so the insulated bottle helps me consume more each day). If I don't drink a Diet Coke at lunch, I get a caffeine headache. I know that will go away with time but I am weak and love that stuff. Unsweetened iced tea (which I might be able to tolerate) might help. I started adding seltzer to my Diet Sprite in the evening in an effort to reduce the amount of diet soda I drink. I think I will try to wean myself off of the Diet Sprite altogether and switch to just flavored seltzer.... seltzer can't be that bad can it?

I do agree that I should not pay attention to the "calories burned" at all. We were just talking about this in my office the other day when one of our secretaries said that she was going to get a Starbucks Frapaccino but that it was ok because, according to her Fitbit, she had already "walked-off" 700 calories (it was around 9:30 AM and she had not walked much at all). If it were only that easy none of us would be overweight. When I take my 27 minute hilly 4.8 mile ride, Strava says I burned 319 calories... and I'm sweating and breathing hard. I had already figured out that it would be counter-productive to pay attention to calories burned in my daily calorie counts.

I am sort of eating two breakfasts... I eat two hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee around 7:00 AM when my kids eat their breakfast and then I make a smoothie around 8:15 and eat it between 8:30 and 10:00 AM on my way to the office and after I get there.

I should measure my almond consumption so I don't over do it.

My lunch salads may be too many calories... I should try to get a better approximation of the total so that my counts are accurate.

I'll try to avoid empty carbs (i.e. Goldfish, Saltines, etc) as my afternoon snack and I should probably ditch the pickle spears because of the sodium. May need to think about another easy late afternoon/evening snack.

Dinners will remain tough but my wife wants to lose weight too so hopefully we can tackle that meal together and start making some better decisions.

"Desert" is something I never used to do but my wife loves to have a little something around 9:30 PM so I usually follow-suit. I will try to eliminate it or replace it with something healthy.

Thanks again for all of the great advice!!

-Jon A..
Jon A. is offline  
Old 05-09-18, 09:25 AM
  #16  
Clyde1820
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,944

Bikes: 1996 Trek 970 ZX Single Track 2x11

Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 610 Post(s)
Liked 558 Times in 423 Posts
Originally Posted by Jon A.
I worry that if I try to make really drastic changes that my "lifestyle change" will start to feel like a "diet" and I am trying to avoid that word (and the yo-yo ups and downs that it has meant for me in the past).
Try this: what you're doing, but once each week or every other week take stock of one food choice or ingredient you're having. Say, the Cheeze-It stuff. That's easy to nix, just by substituting it with something that has nutrition, has more of what you're looking for (healthy fats, proteins, complex carbs) and less of what's not helping you.

Consider, for example, rice. If doing white rice, you can do brown rice. If doing brown rice, you can do lentils. And many of the same dishes can be made with any of these, with slight adjustments. I think you'll find that a lot of ingredients and individual foods can be swapped in similar ways.

In my own case, I've ditched nearly 100% of all bottled sauces. Instead, I do sriracha sauce, mustard, homemade mustard, homemade sauces with olive oil / herbs / spices. And I just cook the foods a bit differently and leverage herbs and spices more heavily than before.


That said, its sounds like my original plan (as set out above) may not be enough. To me, that means REALLY counting my calories and REALLY limiting myself to 2000/day or as close to it as possible but also paying more attention to what I am eating ...
One easy guide: your overall weight and shape (measurements in 'key' areas) ... if one or both of those things are going in the right direction, great; if not, then you can easily nix a third or half of some meals and snacks in order to cut calories. Make your choices on food choices and ingredients, fine. So long as those choices keep improving, great. If it's still not quite enough, irrespective of the "standard" 2000cal thingy, an easy technique is simply get more stringent on portion controls and your exercising intensity/duration.

The quality and range of your food choices is going to take time. As will the swapping in of better choices with ingredients. But the above techniques might help you get there more quickly, with changes that are fairly easy to manage.


Ditching the diet soda is going to be really hard for me. I keep a 20 oz. insulated water bottle with me pretty much 24/7 (I don't like to drink water that much but I like it more when it is really cold so the insulated bottle helps me consume more each day). If I don't drink a Diet Coke at lunch, I get a caffeine headache.
I think you'll find that caffeine addiction goes away after a month or two of flushing your system. Try halving the intake weekly, supplanting with water, until it's behind you. You'll have a few "bad" days, to be sure, but in a couple months it'll be a thing of the past. Nicely, it's a relatively mild addiction. (BTDT, myself. It isn't as bad as it seems right now.) Plus, the increased straight-water intake is going to make things cleaner and get treated better by the body's processes. You'll feel better, after several months.


I know that will go away with time but I am weak and love that stuff. Unsweetened iced tea (which I might be able to tolerate) might help.
I heat up a pot or two of a decent tea, every several days. Then I water it down quite a bit, and put it into a big 1gal+ jug kept in the refrigerator. It's one of my go-two drinks when I'm not doing straight water. (Can either do the tea bag way, or go with decent leaf teas [in those little perforated steeping balls].)


I started adding seltzer to my Diet Sprite in the evening in an effort to reduce the amount of diet soda I drink ...
Another tip for an easy change: keep a dozen limes on hand at all times. Squeeze a half or whole lime into a container of water, and you'll find it's much more flavorful. Shave off the lime zest and add that to your tea brewing, and you'll get even more flavors. Other than the bubbles which you'll be missing, it's a good way to add flavor without hardly any calories.


I am sort of eating two breakfasts... I eat two hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee around 7:00 AM when my kids eat their breakfast and then I make a smoothie around 8:15 and eat it between 8:30 and 10:00 AM on my way to the office and after I get there.
Fats are rough, since they tally up at 9cals/gram. Whereas protein, for example, tallies at 4cals/gram. If you can swap half the high-fat almond or walnut intake for a high-protein alternative that has much lower overall fat (ie, a good whole-milk or lowfat-milk cultured yogurt), you can trim quite a few calories.

One thing I do: grind up a few cups of almonds+walnuts every couple of weeks, then use that as a sprinkle on top of whatever yogurt or salad or other thing I'm fixing. With the yogurt, the sprinkled almond bits plus a bunch of wedges from an orange or grapefruit makes a nice snack. If wanting a bit more protein and fat, adding in a lower-fat cheese [ie a lowfat Swiss] to the mix works well.

Another high-taste ingredient that can be used sparingly would be: bacon, that you've fried up earlier in the week, then crumbled and refrigerated. Makes a good topping to sprinkle on things ... ie, salads, soups and whatnot. Used sparingly, it won't add a ton of calories, but it'll really boost the taste and make it satisfying.


My lunch salads may be too many calories... I should try to get a better approximation of the total so that my counts are accurate.
Tougher way: count all the little calories, and get it "right."

Easier way: if the ingredients are great, but you suspect it's just too much, then simply eat a third or half less and save the rest for later. (Much like you'd do at a restaurant. Such as an Applebee's chicken-broccoli alfredo, which is something north of 2000cals, and where a person could easily consume only a third of it and take the rest home in a doggie bag.)


I'll try to avoid empty carbs (i.e. Goldfish, Saltines, etc) as my afternoon snack and I should probably ditch the pickle spears because of the sodium. May need to think about another easy late afternoon/evening snack.
A half dozen or dozen of the little Goldfish and a pickle spear sounds fine. But you could just add a few slices of a decent cheese, a slice of chicken, an egg or some other better choice. You'll get some fats, proteins, less of the "empty" carbs. Resulting energy will be better and last longer, that route.


Dinners will remain tough but my wife wants to lose weight too so hopefully we can tackle that meal together and start making some better decisions.
Another easy tactic: make veggies the centerpiece of a meal, instead of the meat. Meat's fine, as are other dairy products. But if treated more as a "side" dish in a meal it can result in lower overall calorie consumption with much the same overall taste to your meal. Just less of the "heavy" stuff.

Again, watch the sauces, spreads and other less-important but calorie-rich stuff. Instead, rely on fresh herbs, liberal use of mild/moderate spices. It's amazing how much better tasting things can be, going this route.


Good luck on the changes, Jon. Both of you.

It's not all that tough, if you take one ingredient or food choice at a time, and think about some better, more healthful alternative in that dish for that ingredient. The change comes gradually, and it won't hit your body hard at all.
Clyde1820 is offline  
Old 05-09-18, 09:52 AM
  #17  
Milton Keynes
Senior Member
 
Milton Keynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947

Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times in 936 Posts
Originally Posted by Jon A.
I do agree that I should not pay attention to the "calories burned" at all. We were just talking about this in my office the other day when one of our secretaries said that she was going to get a Starbucks Frapaccino but that it was ok because, according to her Fitbit, she had already "walked-off" 700 calories (it was around 9:30 AM and she had not walked much at all).
Either her fitbit is lying or she is. I seriously doubt she had walked off 700 calories by 9:30 AM unless she got up at 4 AM and walked several miles. I put my figures into an online calorie calculator, and at my weight of 230, I'd have to walk normal speed for around 3-4 hours to burn off 700 calories. And I think that calculator is being generous. For a 120 lb. woman (I'm guessing), she'd have to walk 10 miles to burn off nearly 700 calories. A general rule of thumb is 100 calories burned per mile for a 180 lb. person. I think she has overestimated how easy it is to burn off 700 calories.

I don't even trust my cycling app to give me accurate number of calories burned during rides. I'm certainly not going to "treat" myself and eat back 500 extra calories just because I rode 10 miles in the morning.

I am sort of eating two breakfasts... I eat two hard boiled eggs and a cup of coffee around 7:00 AM when my kids eat their breakfast and then I make a smoothie around 8:15 and eat it between 8:30 and 10:00 AM on my way to the office and after I get there.
As long as you're tracking the smoothie and eggs in MFP (or maybe some other app or even a notebook) and stay under your allotted amount for the day, that likely shouldn't be a problem. I personally just drink a protein shake for breakfast and it usually keeps me full up until lunch time. If I need a snack I'll have a hard boiled egg.

I should measure my almond consumption so I don't over do it.
I would track everything. Sneaking a little something in here or there is what can get you into trouble. Almonds shouldn't be bad, they are full of good fats which also relate to calories.

My lunch salads may be too many calories... I should try to get a better approximation of the total so that my counts are accurate.
As long as you're not using a ton of dressing on your salads or dumping a bunch of croutons or crackers into them, they should be fine. But keep close track of it like everything else.

I'll try to avoid empty carbs (i.e. Goldfish, Saltines, etc) as my afternoon snack and I should probably ditch the pickle spears because of the sodium. May need to think about another easy late afternoon/evening snack.
I personally look for protein or fresh vegetables when snacking.

Dinners will remain tough but my wife wants to lose weight too so hopefully we can tackle that meal together and start making some better decisions.
Doing it together helps a lot. Unfortunately my wife isn't concerned with losing weight at the moment, so she tends to make some high carb meals like spaghetti. I ether eat a very small portion or make myself something that's low carb.

"Desert" is something I never used to do but my wife loves to have a little something around 9:30 PM so I usually follow-suit. I will try to eliminate it or replace it with something healthy.
My biggest bane is dessert. I love sweets, and growing up we normally had something sweet for dessert. To this day after a meal I always feel like I need something sweet afterwards. I'm trying to fight this. I've been popping some Altoids (10 calories for 3 pieces) after meals to get my sweet on, or else maybe eat an apple.
Milton Keynes is offline  
Old 05-09-18, 07:38 PM
  #18  
HerrKaLeun
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 1,923

Bikes: Giant Toughroad SLR1 and Motobecane Sturgis NX

Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 900 Post(s)
Liked 231 Times in 168 Posts
Since someone mentioned low-fat yogurt etc. My experience is the low-fat leaves me unsatiated and I then eat more other things. Tried that with yogurt and cheese, just wasn't tasty and filling. For milk i use the 1% (milk is not for satiating anyway). For many products low-fat also means they add sugar. s be careful, even if it may not make sense at first, it is not the fat making you fat.

As for shakes and juice, that also is "processed" even if only juiced. what that does it makes it easier to "eat" more and the body's natural instincts don't stop you. Try this: eat 10 oranges. The first 2 will be tasty, then the 3rd one will taste weird. This is your body telling you it had enough. Even if you ate 10 oranges, it would take forever. Now juice 10 oranges and you can drink them all at once in a minute. your body is now not inhibiting over-eating (or overdrinking). this is the power of processing food. and we didn't even go into actually chemically altering food or adding artificial ingedients that are designed for you to create more saliva than you need just to leave you more hungry (+ all the other food industry inventions designed to make you eat more)
HerrKaLeun is offline  
Old 05-10-18, 07:27 AM
  #19  
Milton Keynes
Senior Member
 
Milton Keynes's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2016
Posts: 3,947

Bikes: Trek 1100 road bike, Roadmaster gravel/commuter/beater mountain bike

Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2281 Post(s)
Liked 1,710 Times in 936 Posts
Oh yeah, just wanted to add one more thing I'm doing: after I eat a meal, sometimes I think I'm still hungry. But I force myself to wait at least half an hour before I eat something else, if I do still happen to be hungry. More often than not, after half an hour I'm not hungry any more. The experts say that it takes about 30 minutes for your stomach to send the "I'm full" signal to the brain, so before I started losing weight I often still felt hungry after eating, so I would have seconds. But now since I want to limit my food intake and have been paying close attention to the signals my body is sending to my brain, I've learned to wait before eating again to make sure I'm not really hungry. Happened this morning, I was very hungry by the time I got to work, drank my protein shake and still felt hungry. Was thinking about eating something else but made myself wait, then half an hour later I felt full.
Milton Keynes is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
fullergarrett
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
14
02-28-19 10:11 AM
KBentley57
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
3
08-13-11 02:55 PM
mtalinm
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
31
07-08-10 08:26 PM
Seattle Forrest
Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg)
8
04-29-10 06:43 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.