[Closed] Shouldn't I be losing weight?

Okay I'm still eating normally, but not silly like, so whats going on??

... and there's the problem.

Turning fat to muscle?

Overcompensating on the pie intake?

just cut the manmade carby stuff.....it will soon drop off.

Okay I'm still eating normally, but not silly like, so whats going on??

You are 52 ,it only gets harder* 😉

* [i]says an old bloke[/i]

Turning fat to muscle?

Possibly, try measuring your waist and or using a body fat metre.

Last week I didnt eat for 3+days- nothing but I still went to work as normal, shopping etc etc. I normally eat BIG portions in the evenings. I reckon I dropped a fair few pounds as people in the office noticed a marked-change. Weird.

Painful but to shift lifes detrius (fat) build up etc you need to have a bit of pain if you want it quicker. If you want it longer/safer- drop all carbs after 2pm from your diet. Where was it I read that a pro cyclist- if hes gaining weight hes sent out on a huge training ride with just...water.

It gets harder as we get older.

I'm almost 50, also 6'4", trying to get back down to 12st 11lb which was my best racing (triathlon) weight for all of last season.

Currently 13st 6lb. Not running due to injury is making weight loss harder.

I cut out having sugar in anything like tea or coffee, cut all sweets and "bad" snacks etc. That helps.

I find that the more I exercise the more I eat, so portion moderation is important too. Just one less spud or one spoonful less of pasta etc seems to work for me.

I'm also of the old school of not wasting food, so leaving stuff on my plate is hard to do, so a smaller portion, or stop when you have had enough needs to feature somewhere.

Turning fat to muscle?

[pedant mode]

Whut?

Thing is...I don't want to diet as Ive never been a dieter and think its a waste of time, if after you complete your diet you gradually return to eating like you always did.

I appreciate that I am very drawn to eating cakes and cookies, biscuits and bread and know I should be stricter with myself, but as I find it difficult, am working on the fact that I won't change that but will try and burn more off than usual.

You're thinking of crash diets.

Your diet is what you eat, and you can adjust that to get different results. It's not like there is a standard set of food and if you change it you're dieting.

I appreciate that I am very drawn to eating cakes and cookies, biscuits and bread

The question is - why? There's something in your metabolism/brain combination that's making you want those things. Contrary to what the STW 'it's easy just stop stuffing your face' brigade think, what goes on inside people's bodies varies quite a lot - either through genetics or habitiation, or both.

cakes and cookies, biscuits

When mrshora started making these she was really surprised how much sugar and butter she had to put into the process to make them taste nice. She started off skimping/thinking she would be ok- aka bland bakery.

Try making some yourself- it'll enlighten you.

Well there's that, but also consider that the white flour isn't much better than the sugar.

Loosing weight is more about what you put in your body, rather than what you do with your body. Sugars are the worst for weight problems, and "diet" crap does not help either.
Cut out sugars (check labels, "Carbs of which are sugars") try to keep that intake low.
Every meal should be balanced, so avoiding past myths, that includes eating fat. Olive oil is good as are nuts, but you need to have fat in your diet, otherwise your body will store the fat it currently has in "self preservation" mode.
Carbs can be cut, (breads, pasta, etc) but you will start to lose energy quickly. The best thing to do imho would be join my fitness pal, put in your details, and eat what it tells you. That would be the easiest way. But fast food, processed food, and sugars will never help.

But you shouldn't diet, or limit what you eat, just change what it is you actually eat. Dieting is prone to failure in the weeks/months after you stop the weight will start creeping back on when you get back in to your old eating habits.
Change your food, and boom. 🙂

Do this religiously for 4 weeks (it's free):

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

You [i]will[/i] lose weight and probably gain a lot of insight into your diet too.

[i]Try making some yourself- it'll enlighten you.[/i]

I am well aware, but that doesn't make me avoid them....I just try and burn it off afterwards! Im sure the weather hasn't helped much.(looks for more excuses!)

Your metabolism slows as you age, so to maintain your weight you have to eat less and excersize more. myfitnesspal does provide an interesting insight.

Sadly it's easier to out it in that take it off, good luck.

Thing is...I don't want to diet as Ive never been a dieter and think its a waste of time, if after you complete your diet you gradually return to eating like you always did.

That's why MFP is good. It is [i]not[/i] a crash diet - if you use it right it'll help you lose weight steadily and then maintain that weight loss by adjusting your normal eating. Worked for me (lost 10kg and have kept it off for over a year now without feeling like I was on a "diet")

Loosing weight is more about what you put in your body, rather than what you do with your body.

It's a combination. What and even when you eat, and you can match it with the type of exercise you do to get the result you want.

I lost 2.5 stone using myfitnesspal and I think its ace. It's an eye opener as to what is actually in food and actually how little you burn during exercise compared to how easy it is to eat the food in the first place!

Knowing if I eat a choccy bar it would take 30mins of running to burn if off puts me off eating it in the first place.

Rockape, do you feel healthier, fitter, happier since upping the exercise? Put away the scales, carry on doing more exercise, eat a little less, heather stuff and you'll be reet 🙂

I never weigh myself, just listen to my body- I know if I've been not doing enough / eating too much, I get lethargic and grumpy. I just started riding into work again today after the flooding has died down a bit, felt much better when I got up this morning knowing I'd be back on the bike!

Cheers,
Jamie

It's a combination. What and even when you eat, and you can match it with the type of exercise you do to get the result you want.

90% of weight loss / gain is done in the kitchen. But yeah, I will agree you can match the type of exercise to get results how you like.

Turning fat to muscle?

Other than being impossible, I can't see what the problem is.

Ok, ok, burning fat then/whilst building muscle.

Other than being impossible, I can't see what the problem is.

Impossible, but possible to burn off one and build up the other. If you're doing more exercise then you'll burn off more fat, and stimulate muscle growth (which requires dietary protein and energy, of which your fat stores provide ample, so it is kinda true).

Over the last 3 months I've gone from 95kg to 92kg at the end of the summer, and back upto 95kg (so actualy fairly stable) after breaking my arm again in November and being in casts for 16 weeks. My FTP's dropped from 260W to 160W, my neck went from 16", to 16.5" to 17", there's visible fat on my shoulders and back, my belly sticks out, and my chest has gone wobbly. Basicly I've stayed the same weight but lost a lot of muscle just eating a 'normal' diet.

Similarly I suspect I'll get fit again, but I'll stay heavy, I just think some peoples metabolism's prefer to switch from one to the other, rather than actualy burn off the weight. Not saying I'm not overweight and should lose some, but even commuting every day (c.a. 12miles) and riding 2-3 times extra a week I'd not expect to lose much weight, just get faster and leaner.

Similarly I suspect I'll get fit again, but I'll stay heavy, I just think some peoples metabolism's prefer to switch from one to the other, rather than actualy burn off the weight.

I agree, there are a few (but not too many) people on these diet threads who report the same thing - they can get fitter, faster and leaner but they always end up heavy and not particularly lean, and doing things like strict iDiet leave them lacking energy.

Coffeeking was one such fellow I believe.. what happened to him?

Basicly I've stayed the same weight but lost a lot of muscle just eating a 'normal' diet.

In which case combining weight training with swapping some calories from carbs to protein should help fix this.

In which case combining weight training with swapping some calories from carbs to protein should help fix this.

But my point was that even just cycling I don't tend to lose much weight quickly. If anything I'd rather lose the muscle and the fat to help me ride up hills!

Putting it in perspective, my Brother-Out-Law services forklifts for a living, so spends his days lifting heavy bits and bobs arround a workshop. I sit at a desk and commute by bike. I ended up with bigger arms than him! My body just seems to like to bulk up.

Next month I'll start commuting again, I'd bet you a pound to a penny that in 3 months time I'll still be 90-95kg regardless of what I eat, but down 4" in trouser sizes.

It wasn't a concious decision, having an arm in plaster does tend to limit your ability to do anything other than squats with bodyweight. And my shoulder's still imobile.

Have you tried one legged pistol squats? Evil creation.

Squats with a rucksack?

You're still missing the point, I wasn't trying to lose weight or build muscle, that's just how my body reacted to 3 and a bit months of no exercise and a normal* diet. After three more months I bet the results will have reversed, but I'll still weigh 90-95kg, just a lot leaner/stronger. Without any resistance training! Weight training and more protein would just compound the problem.

*everything cooked from scratch, meat, two veg and a dollop of carbs per meal. Basicaly what the Dr would tell you was a ballanced diet, not some low this, high that, paleo, idave, atkins or other fad.

I am losing weight at the moment, which is odd as I struggle normally. Im not porky but just want to lose a bit for racing.

Anyway, all I have really done is make sure I do go to mad after exercise and I avoid getting to the point where I stuff my face like a loon. I am actually burning about 3000kcal a week less than I was before and I have still lost 6kg since xmas (81.5-75.5kg; 6ft)

My current strategy is:
Porridge with prunes for breakfast. Only 40g of oats.
Banana for early lunch
Massive salad (tomatoes, red cabbage, mushrooms, cucumber, peppers,) 650g in total with a bit of chutney and some cold gammon. for late lunch.
Maybe a yogurt and a small bar of dark chocolate.
Curry for tea, dont bother with rice or bread, but quite a big portion.
5 or 6 pints of tea throughout the day.

I do an hour to an hour and a half on the bike between late lunch and dinner so there is no time to get really hungry, plus it adds up to around 2000-2500kcal so its not really dieting, but I dont pick at crap during the day.

I've found all the exercise in the world doesn't make me lose a significant amount of weight, with cutting out all the little snacks and cakes at work and watching my sugar intake, I managed to drop from just under 13st to 11st8 within 8 weeks before my wedding, it's suprising how easy it was once I got to the point when it was noticable, also found the less cr8p I ate the less I wanted it.

If you really want to shift it your gonna have to drop the sugar intake.

What travo said
Its very hard to lose weight through exercise. I lowered my carb intake by ditching cakes, processed food, chocolate, white bread, white rice etc and went from 76.5 Kg to 69 Kg, 16.1% body fat in 6 weeks
Its not really as a diet as there is nothing to come off of

+1 for sugar and crap. Dropped a stone in 3 weeks.

I'm one of those people that is just heavy. Even at a low % body fat I still weigh in at 15 stone. Try keeping a record of your measurements for a week or two and see if there is any change.

I find low carb etc can cause me to be lethargic for the first few weeks but after that it works well for slow long training sessions but isn't great for sports that need explosive power.

A more balanced diet seems to do me well and myfitnesspal is excellent for tracking that.

I'll have a look at myfitnesspal later ta.

Clearly (and of course I knew this!) I need to cut back on the crap, eat smaller portions.....oh and did I mention I'm partial to wine and beer! 😳

So, lots on consensus on diet, carbs, etc.
Any good recipes in addition to The Hairy Dieters?

You are going to have to make choices Rockape63
At 51 I have realised that you can't just eat what you want and expect to stay in shape. It doesn't need to be hard but you have to have a plan that is based on some basic nutritional awareness

Thanks Dad 😉

Of course you're all right....I was just hoping someone had some more acceptable advice though! 🙁

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03t8r4h/Horizon_20132014_Sugar_v_Fat/

Its all about what you put in your mouth. Don't cut out any food in particular (assuming you're having a normal healthy balanced diet), but just eat less of it. Calories are calories whether they're sugars or fats, if you reduce your calorific intake enough you'll lose weight for sure. Food contains a lot of energy.

I started doing the fasting thing about 5 weeks ago.
Two days a week down to 600 calories, with myfitnesspal tracking each day.
I'd often drop breakfast & lunch anyway, so don't find it a struggle.
7.5kg off so far. I set myself a goal of being less than 80kg for SSUK in Sept, so another 21kg to go. Yes. a fat knacker.

Have done all the usual diets, & put every ounce back on.

Cakes and biscuits are very high in sugar. Sugar messes up the systems your body uses to regulate it's wieght, and you cant ever out train that. If you really want to lose weight you need to drop that childish behaviour ;0)

Dont eat many hi quality carbs unless you have just done, or are about to do, some training.
Take in most of your energy early in the day
Get plenty of sleep.
Drink plenty of water.
Eat natural foods that make you full.
Do interval training 20 x 20 seconds all out sprints
Ride a 100 miler once a month
Lift wieghts. Heavy, reps of 6 to 8. 4 sets
Do some fasted training. First thing in the morning.
Train 6 to 10 hours per week minimum.

Edit. Salter do a good set of scales that are worth buying. Reads weight, % fat, % muscle, % water, BMI and BMR. Repeatable results but dont take the numbers as gospel. Use them to spot trends and weigh your self everyday, note the numbers. Spot the trends and adjust the plan.

My brother did the fasting diet thing and he has struggled to lose any weight for years. He lost 1 stone in about 3 months but i can't say he looked healthy for it. I'm not a fan of faddy diets. I think it's better to just get a bit of education on how to eat a healthy balance diet and get a bit of regular excercise. Weight isn't always the key factor, more what your body looks like and if your happy with it.

www.experiencedaysdiscounts.com

53 last year and 'ate normally' rode 19 road races, rode a few Xc races, rode a whole season of cross, rode Roubaix, mainland France, the Pyrenees. trained and trained, club runs, sportives the lot.
Didn't lose a single ounce.

Calories are calories whether they're sugars or fats,

That's completely wrong.

[i]53 last year and 'ate normally' rode 19 road races, rode a few Xc races, rode a whole season of cross, rode Roubaix, mainland France, the Pyrenees. trained and trained, club runs, sportives the lot.
Didn't lose a single ounce.[/i]

Yeah but you only weigh 6 stone Old Git!

I like allmountainventures's post but he's a bit serious isn't he! I probably need to enter a couple of events to get my competitive juices flowing...that would be a good start.