MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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After dropping from 95 kgs about 3 years ago to about 77 kgs, I started to climb back up again until I reached 86 kgs this past January.
Yet, for the longest time after, it felt as if no matter what I did, I could not go below 85 kgs.
I had been successful in the past not by giving up anything in particular; just by cutting down and staying below 2000 kcals/day, but this no longer seemed to be working.
In any case, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to stop eating my beloved bread, and limit myself only to a bowl of muesli in the morning, followed either by chicken or fish and fruits and vegetables for lunch and dinner. (Of course, I am also riding.)
And it seems to be working.
As of this morning, I am back down to 81.5 kgs, and my goal is to get all the way back down to 77 so I can get back to out-climbing myself (and anyone else who wants to have a go against me! 😉 ) by the end of May.
Lesson learnt, then? Drawing on no science whatsoever, there may be something to the whole 'dropping the bread and other such carbohydrates' thing.
Hopefully my experience can be of use/interest to others who find themselves stuck on the scales.
Blimey, how much bread were you eating?!
I went from 23 stone down to 18 stone about 5 years ago. it made me very sad, and very susceptible to illness.
I am now a happy 20 stone.
I have pretty much stopped eating bread, just a change in habits rather than intentional, and realised after a couple of weeks that I felt better for it. Not scientific and maybe just coincidence but I'm inclined to agree with the OP
Intriguing. I went from 79kgs to 74kg also limiting to 2000 cals net per day which I still do. However I'm 75.6kg now and can't get lower.
I like toast - a lot.
OK, complete guess here with absolutely no science/stats to back it up.
I wonder if these type of diets (5:2, low carb high fat, etc) simply stress the body into using food sources in different ways. Then after a period of time the body has adjusted and the "diet no longer works".
OP: you don't say how you lost the weight to begin with. Lots more exercise or a specific diet?
Mmmmmm Bread, sure as hell can't live without it in my World.
I'd guess drinking one less beer or glass of wine would have a similar impact, no?
I think you've discovered calorie dense foods get you fatter quicker! Or the converse, not eating calories dense foods, helps you lose weight. ie. It's hard to eat the equivalent amount of vegetables to cover your bread deficit would be my guess.
Mmmmmm Bread, sure as hell can’t live without it in my World.
I’d guess drinking one less beer or glass of wine would have a similar impact, no?
surely Beer is just runny bread? water, yeast, grains of one type or another?
I dropped around 2 stone in 3 months. I had a warning about diabetes and blood sugar levels so bought a book with GI figures for food, categorising them as red, amber or green. Almost all breakfast cereals, including muesli, are red. Only porridge, Weetabix and shredded wheat aren't. Breakfast now is "overnight oats" (cold porridge with cinnamon and berries made up the night before). Low fat yogurt is a joke so I now make my own (OMFG - hand knitted yogurt making leftie). I make my own bread (well the breadmaker does) and binned white flour for wholegrain seeded stuff. Like porridge, fibre takes longer to digest, keeps your stomach full longer so less tendency to snack. Office drawer is now full of fruit and nuts, not chocolate and crisps. Granted the GI figures do include things like potatoes which cause short term spikes in blood sugar and are probably not as bad for weight as for diabetics, but following the "OMG I've got diabetes" diet wasn't too difficult and worked well (apart from beer being in the red light zone)
you don’t say how you lost the weight to begin with. Lots more exercise or a specific diet?
I originally lost by eating less and riding more. Riding a lot more.
It could be, Kryton57, that what whitestone suggests is right: that somehow the body eventually acclimatises itself to the dietary approach we're throwing at it, and stalls.
All I know is that it felt like, no matter what I gave up, I couldn't shift weight anymore. Now, however, having given up bread and related products, my body is on the move again in the direction I want.
I'll update in a year if that stops working for me.
does anyone else find that porridge doesn't keep them full at all?
museli and natural yoghurt - I'm fine til 2pm.
eat porridge until I am bored and full and late for work - starving by 10am...
does anyone else find that porridge doesn’t keep them full at all?
Me. It's weird. Interesting what BigButSlimmerBloke says about Weetabix, though. I think I might give it a try.
does anyone else find that porridge doesn’t keep them full at all?
Yep. Hungry about 3 microseconds after. Just doesn't work for me. Might give shredded wheat a try, haven't had that for ages
mate at work went full diet some year ago. went from 17 stone to 11.5 IIRC. as postulated above, he said the body adapts to hold on to reserves, which caused a stall in his weight loss, unless you mix things up a bit. as a result he wound up having 5 meals a day to keep the metabolism going, obviously careful what he was eating in there too, then would have one day off a week when he literally stuff himself silly. he was also beating the crap out of a cross trainer too, as you would expect.
sadly he's gone from a smoke free 12.5 stone ( 11.5 was too light for his 6 foot-ish ) to being back on the smokes and doing no exercise, so his weight has gone back up, to where i don't know - he won't stand on the scale.
It's what my mate called a mini Atkins, no carbs after breakfast. Last time I tried it it really worked. Porridge with banana for breakfast. Apple and/or orange for mid morning snack. Salad for lunch. Hot meal for tea with peas instead of rice or pasta (peas still have carbs, you can't get rid of them entirely).
Lost lots of weight. Low GI foods is what it's . Bread and pasta are basically bad if you're trying to lose weight, particularly if they're highly processed (white).
Don't get the "porridge doesn't fill me up thing". Works a treat for me and I'm a big sod what eats a lot..
I've just dropped 7kg in 5 weeks using a sort of Tom Kerridge Dopamine Diet inspired low carb regime. I've eaten a lot of steak. It seems to still be working. My plan is to lose another 17kg from where I am now (116.7kg) so that I am just under 100kg then reintroduce some complex carbs back in.
I have only been doing 1 to 1.5 hour rides and 45 minute powerlifting sessions so I'm not sure how I'll start fuelling the longer rides over the next few months. I'm not sure smashing a load of Haribo and Madeira cake in quickly during a ride after eating less than 80g a day of carbs for the last few weeks will work out.
Calories in Vs out is all that matters for WEIGHT gain/loss.
However if you would like your body to drop fat rather than muscle you need to:
1) eat lots of protein (approx 1g protein per lb body weight per day)
2) lift weights
3) only cut to about 80% of your daily calorific requirements (no stupid crash diets 600 calories per day or whatever)
Look into it
I had a custard slice this morn, about half hour after porridge- I blame the porridge.
And it seems to be working.
It's almost as if iDave had a point... 🙂
Calories in Vs out is all that matters for WEIGHT gain/loss.
It's really not. Lots of complicated issues. Calorie intake is clearly a factor, but it's definitely not all that matters. We all know someone who eats tons and never gets fat. Also, have a read of this.
>Calories in Vs out is all that matters for WEIGHT gain/loss.
Although your body will adapt you base metabolic rate to conserve calories when you're in a deficit, which means you can drop 500 calories a day, from a zero calorific gain state and still not be in deficit as your body just saves 500 calories doing less unnecessary stuff. Affects people differently, but you're adjusting the dial on a very complex system with loads of internal feedback loops you can't see....
I was reading a paper the other day on weight lifting and the calories burnt per squat / deadlift vary with calorific surplus / deficit, so even lifting weights is more energy conservative when in deficit. The human body is programmed to fight against weight loss and can, for some people, be very resistant!
Although your body will adapt you base metabolic rate to conserve calories when you’re in a deficit, which means you can drop 500 calories a day, from a zero calorific gain state and still not be in deficit as your body just saves 500 calories doing less unnecessary stuff.
Yep. When I tried seriously restricting calories, I got cold. I'm normally a very hot blooded person.
Porridge also leaves me ravenous after a couple of hours whereas a couple of small bits of homemade toast and butter and i'm good till lunch.
when i got strict with myself, my diet was pretty much the following,
omlette or scrambled eggs and beans for breakfast
chicken, hummus and tomatoes for lunch
fish/meat with lots of veg and pulses for tea
snacked on nuts.
i got to the stage where weight loss stopped, and i then got bored and started eating bread. bread is my downfall.
What I’ve learned is diets are shit. Diet culture is shit. Restriction is shit. Listen to your body, satisfy yourself more often and then you’ll just eat what your body tells you it needs, rather than what your habits or emotions tell you to eat.
In addition, weight is so, so, so, much more than calories in v calories out.
Eat for health, not for “weight loss”. My body and mind are thanking me for it.
I’m normally a very hot blooded person.
He tells no lies. We’re talking base-layer-only-on-a-mountain-bike-in-January kind of hot-blooded!
😉
Listen to your body, satisfy yourself more often and then you’ll just eat what your body tells you it needs
Heh. Bodies are hard wired to love sugar. So listening to them is what gets us into trouble in the first place!
Losing weight is hard, yes. But so is riding up hills. I do it cos I like a challenge.
On the ‘carbs’ thing... wife and I changed our diet from being predominantly bread, pasta and rice-based to containing a lot more veg and salad. Always used to have a good mix but now, for example, have bolognese on lettuce leave cups rather than spaghetti. Have gone from baseline weight of 76kg to 72kg with no real effort or other change. Feel generally better too, sleeping better and weirdly have stopped snoring! Downside is running any distance over 10km has become harder, presumably due to lower energy reserves.
Works for me!
As I get older ,it gets harder.....to lose weight, that is.
+1 on the porridge not filling me up. So i have an egg butty with mine. 🙂
How are all you folks who find porridge doesn't fill you up making your porridge?
Milk and oats?
Water and oats?
50:50 water:milk and oats?
Or those silly preprepared sachets / pots of oatsosimple just add water?
I'm a milk /oats & honey type of guy. The only porridge in our house is the organic free trade ,ploughed by unicorn type.
I've lost a bit of timber recently, porridge for breakfast, Thai noodle soup for lunch, and lots of chillis in food.
Molgrips; re
It’s really not. Lots of complicated issues. Calorie intake is clearly a factor, but it’s definitely not all that matters. We all know someone who eats tons and never gets fat.
It's likely that they are simply an ectomorph - they are 'inneficient' so burn lots of calories in day to day activities. Their calorie balance is still likely to be neutral, despite what they eat, BECAUSE they beurn ecess calories.
I'm a classic ectomorph - i'm 70kg all day laong, no matter what I eat really. I'm a fidgiter; constantly twitching!!
Interestingly; if I simply cut out chocolate/snacks then I can drop about 4-5 kg in about 2 weeks... i don't eat tonnes of the stuff, but i guess that's just enough to tip the balance into a -ve calorie situation..
Back on track - I also avoid eating bread - not for weight reasons, i jsut get bloated and 'meugh' when I eat it - i'm not coeliac, i just don't like the feeling after basic carbs...
DrP
I don't disagree that your bmr can change when dieting. When cutting too many calories I have also experienced feeling cold and lethargic (body adapting and BMR going down).
But at the end of the day it's still calories in vs out for weight change.
I've found the * 'easy' part was losing the initial weight, and the 'hard' part is keeping it off!
Got down to 65kg from 76kg (165cm short) and now down to 63kg and wondering about 60kg, but there are times I could (and do) murder a kebab. I do ride a substantial amount more than I did before I started dieting and mainly ride on the road now.
* easy being a relative term that was still a two year battle of ups and downs!
I've just realised I don't really eat much bread anymore..........Hmmm.
>We all know someone who eats tons and never gets fat.
That was me till I hit 40, now I have to watch what I eat much more carefully.....
I would urge everyone to do some reading/research call it what you want on your hormones and the relationship they play in fat burning / muscle building (and also to your general health / menatl health). Testosterone is obviously important when it comes to building muscle but it's also essential in burning fat. Cortisol is the opposite - it helps your body store fat and it depletes muscle. As we get older our testosterone gradually declines and our cortisol levels increase due to stress, lack of sleep, bad diet, booze etc. Our diet and exercise regimes should be optimised to increase testosterone and decrease cortisol and as it happens that's pretty much what you get with a low carb diet. Easier said than done though.
I mentioned on the creatine thread that there's a potential relationship between endurance sports and decreased testosterone, I can't cite that as a fact but consider some weight/resistance training, some kind of anaerobic or semi anaerobic competition as part of your routine guys.
@jimjam - Joe Friel notes that we should keep doing intense exercise as we get older (rather than just drift in to long slow steady runs/rides) to maintain our muscle mass, well slow the rate of loss might be a better description.
Eat for health not for weight.
When picking foods think is more nutrient dense, a piece of fruit or a breakfast biscuit. Nourish yourself and everything will take care of it self to some extent.
A great place for research is a guy called Ben Coomber who has a podcast on itunes/spotify etc with some incredible information.
I would reiterate the above though about ensuring you get enough protein, excess doesnt get stored in your body and its quite tough to get protein in your diet without nutrients but it very easy to get empty calories in the form of carbs and fat.
Id 100% recommend weight lifting for weight loss whereas on the bike you'll recover quickly, I find in the gym the muscles stay in a recovery state consuming more calories for a lot longer. The bonus also os building a little muscle means that when you do lose a bit of fat it'll unveil some good muscle tone.