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Sorry, folks. This could be a long one. But bear with me; some of view may find it quite helpful.
A bit of background:
I was always super-fit as a young person. I played competitive ice hockey all winter, and competitive football all summer together with cycling. I swam regularly, and was even not too back on the running track. Not a star; just competent. My upbringing was characterised by lots of adventure and physical activities.
Then I became a full-time postgrad student and things began to go to pot. I never became obviously obese, but I kept eating the same as I had when I was active, only I wasn't active. After that came work.
Around 2002, I started getting active again: working out, running, mountain biking with a club, and getting down to 2 kgs heavier than I had been when I left high school (75 kgs). But when I moved to the UK, I lost it, and within a couple of years, found myself back up at around the 95 kgs mark. I tried MTBing, and doing things periodically, but never managed to sustain anything, so remained quite unfit until...
My dad died in 2015, and I knew that I had to do something. So once again, I embarked on a self-guided approach to weight loss and fitness that included myfitnesspal and daily cycling. I was able to get back down to about 77 kgs again, but just after this past Christmas, realised that I had climbed to 84 kgs. Most troubling is that since then, I have been completely unsuccessful at losing. And it has not been for want of trying.
I upped my weekly distances on the bike; I commute by bike every day (always have, actually); I hardly drink alcohol; if I watched TV, I did it while lifting weights or doing chin-ups; I counted my calories using MFP... Nothing worked. Then I tried to stop eating bread and dense carb stuff. Nope. Still nothing. In fact, my health felt like it was getting worse. I have been on a high does of Sertraline for awhile anyway, but I was always feeling sleepy, lethargic, heavy... Just generally awful. I did not feel like myself, physically, at all.
And that's where I was when Mrs SR and I left for our anniversary cruise to Norway a few weeks ago. On the ship, I spent an hour every day in the gym, and really loved it, but I figured I still wasn't really helping myself much - perhaps other than to maintain my just-sub-obese status quo.
In any case, while on the ship, I went along with Mrs SR to meet with a personal trainer, who began by doing some sort of high-tech read of our body composition, including body fat percentage and a whole bunch of other stuff. I would normally be very sceptical of such things - as they remind my of 'the machine that goes PING' - but he took one look at my read-out and suggested I was on a high-dosage of anti-depressant. He was also able to describe to me exactly what my eating and activity habits were like without asking me any questions. So I accepted that there could be something in his advice.
Anyway, the cruise ended on the 3rd of June, and since then I have undertaken a 3-day detox and a diet plan that he prepared for me, and I have lost 3 kgs. I can actually stay awake all day, and I have much, much higher energy levels. I also never feel hungry.
It takes a while to get used to drinking so much water, to having no coffee or tea, and to having no sugar at all, with anything, ever, but otherwise, even the food is not too bad! Who knew kale could actually go with anything?
Finally, though, I am feeling fitter and better than I have for many years. If someone told me a story like this about themselves, I would likely have turned off. But I can now testify myself that such dietary changes do seem to work wonders.
I’ll put the kettle on.
Just a slice of lemon in some hot water for you I guess? 😀
Nice one. Being positive & motivated is half the battle!
Kale is awesome though & goes with everything. Did some with a roast yesterday!
I like chips.
kale chips?
kale chips?
You are dead to me.
Actually, Kale tossed in olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper, then put in a hot oven for about 7 minutes, makes lovely kale crisps.
Kids still prefer hula hoops.
DrP
Are you confusing weight loss with fitness? They aren't necessarily linked...
Kale, eaten by a cow, makes great steak.
Deleted due to useless bloody formatting on this forum!
Well I tried deleting that due to the formatting but it won't have it. Anyway maybe the world isn't really ready for my magic formula
Edit again -Oh so it has now deleted it!
And it has not been for want of trying.
Is it possible you were trying too hard before? I find it quite easy to set over ambitious targets and my body goes into some sort of conservation mode and I stop losing weight 🙁
A few beers sorts that out though 🙂
Agree about the drinking lots of water. It's quite hard to do but seems effective in making you feel better.
I like kale too. What sort of things have you been eating besides?
I suppose it is possible that I have had times when I have tried too hard, but my experience definitely puts paid to the simplistic notion of calories in calories out.
In terms of other foods on the diet, it has been pretty much ‘conventional’ stuff, just in smaller portions, and minus the sugar, the caffeine, and the gluten. So, for example, last night’s dinner was a chicken breast with mixed green vegetables. The afternoon snack had been a half cup of plain yoghurt and a handful of almonds.
@BillOddie, I don’t think so. What I am getting now is both lighter and fitter. Not simply one or the other.
Weight loss and fitness isn't directly linked in terms of one equals the other, but it sure as hell helps.
Are you selling something?
Are you selling something?
No. I’m not an idiot. Nor am I into that sort of thing. I have simply had a monumentally positive experience and thought it might be relevant to a few on here.
Who is the trainer?
Can’t remember his name. He’s South African. Do you want me to pass it on to you? Or are you testing to see if I’m trying to sell something?
Detox is bobbins.
But most of the effectiveness of the diet advice any 'personal trainers' give you is simply that they don't include cakes and biscuits and chocolate.
Gluten is a bit of a hot topic. It's not 'toxic' as many people seem to insist, and unless you have coeliac disease it's fine. The real issue with it in terms of general fitness is that it comes in wheat flour, and wheat flour is used to make things that are both delicious and packed with carbs, such as bread and cakes.
I would suggest that your diet is successful because you've eaten fewer carbs rather than because you've cut out gluten. But by all means continue doing what you are doing 🙂
I really need to do something like this.
But I like cake. And bread. And beer. And I have zero willpower.
I can always find an excuse as well. Like on saturday, one of my wife's friends bought a homemade chocolate orange cheesecake round to say thankyou for fixing some technology of theirs that took me 10 mins max. My wife doesn't like chocolate orange, the children have a had a bit but not really interested. So, it's down to me to gorge myself on it. Our of politeness of course. And also because it's bloody lovely! 🙂
Well done OP - glad that you have found something that works for you.
My experience differs in that calories in/calories out seems to be key and it does not matter too much what the calories are made up of. If I am in deficit I lose.
My problem is keeping it off. Out of interest are you still counting calories MFP style and, if yes, how many are you having?
Actually, Kale tossed in olive oil
Would sooner have Kylie smothered in oil....
I’m not diligently monitoring calories, because have a prescribed diet means that all the work has been done for me. I did do a tally using MFP the other day, though, and it appears as if I’m getting about 1500 per day.
A typical day looks like this:
Breakfast
Porridge with a tablespoon of peanut butter stirred in
Snack
Handful of almonds & a slice of pineapple
Lunch
Spinach salad with tuna and a teaspoon of mayonnaise
Afternoon Snack
Carrot and celery sticks with hummous
Dinner
1 broiled or grilled chicken breast with spinach and broad beans
12 glasses of water (including herbal teas with no sugar)
Holy cow, I watch my calories but that is something else.
I don't think I'd last a day on that diet, that's what spurs me on to not get overweight in the first place. 😂
As someone who has been pretty careful about calorie watching for years, I have to say that I find the food filling enough that I honestly don’t notice the lack.
I can’t stress that enough. I assume the nutrients I’m getting and all the water I’m drinking is making me feel more full than I used to feel. I could finish a normal dinner in the past, and still be able to gorge myself. Not now.
It does help massively when someone tells you exactly what to eat.
Report back in 2 weeks' time. Has he prescribed re-feed days?
Re your point about not feeling hungry:
Eating carbs makes you produce insulin. Lots of carbs produces lots of insulin, and the system can't respond quickly enough so you end up over-producing insulin. This promotes excess carbs to be stored as fat and makes your blood sugar go down so you feel hungrier despite having eaten much more.
By eating very few carbs you're producing much less insulin which means you're not feeling as hungry. For me this works fine until I try to ride at moderate intensity or above, which drives my appetite.
IMO to eat as little as that you need to take plenty of carbs on a ride of more than low intensity or more than 90 mins or so. You might think 'oh yay I can lose even MORE weight if I don't have carbs!' but you'll end up over-doing it and crash. Or at least I do.
Thanks - looks pretty wholesome but a little light on calories if you are doing lots of exercise.
I lost a 50+ pounds last year on 1500/day plus daily kettlebell based workouts. Was losing about four pounds a week. Life got in the way and I have put 25 pounds back on. I like beer too much!
How much are you losing per week and what is your plan to move to maintenance?
IMO to eat as little as that you need to take plenty of carbs on a ride of more than low intensity or more than 90 mins or so. You might think ‘oh yay I can lose even MORE weight if I don’t have carbs!’ but you’ll end up over-doing it and crash
This seems like sound advice. I will certainly go out carrying more than my normal gels.
The guideline for maximum amount you can absorb is 1g/kg/hour, which you'd do if you were say racing. I usually use 2-3 scoops of powder an hour or 2-3 gels' worth. But gels are way too expensive for that - I just use plain maltodextrin powder with squash as it's cheap as chips.
TJ will be along to rubbish this but you can ignore him. The more riding you do at higher intensity the more carbs you need - and it's a LOT easier to control the amount you consume if you do it around your riding, rather than just relying on normal meals. You'll need to replace the carbs if you are riding intensely but if you rely on normal carby foods to do that you'll end up provoking appetite and eating too much carbs and at the wrong times.
Sometimes wish I had more will power when it comes to over indulging in food. Frequently over eat, yesterday and today it was big helpings of trifle, big helpings of apple+blackberry pie (home made with just a thin pastry lid) & custard, biscuits, etc. Main meals are usually pretty healthy. I do enough exercise to keep relatively slim, not quite as slim as I was in the past, but also trying to do upper body strength exercising, pull ups, dips, push ups, horizontal rows (inverted rows), support holds on rings, hanging upside down, l-sits, chest-to-wall handstands (not done that for a while due to wrists). Just finished exercising a few minutes ago (22:45). Generally exercise in evening after little one gone to bed. I'll go to bed as soon as I've wound down from exercising then to get up 7:30 and cycle to work.
I did do a tally using MFP the other day, though, and it appears as if I’m getting about 1500 per day.
That's low!
I eat about 2500 a day and weight is stable.
I know. I thought it was low too. But stable for me is about 1800, so 1500 allows me to lose.
Are you selling up your place in Belgium then? We have tasty tasty beer waiting here for you
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm