# Wow, anyone surprised by dieting



## bank5 (May 7, 2008)

I've never dieted until 2 weeks ago. I started tracking my food on myfitnessapp, already lost 7 lbs and hit my target weight (my high school weight). I simply reduced high calorie food and alcohol and stopped overeating - instead measuring serving sizes. I thought I'd feel more hungry but it hasn't been bad at all. Now I wonder if I can get under 180 although I want to start lifting more. The true test will be if I can keep it up.

Anyone else surprised by their success dieting? What did you do and were you able to keep off the weight long term?


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## Lone Rager (Dec 13, 2013)

If I was ever surprised, it was so long ago that I don't remember. I have dieted "successfully" many times over the years. I put successfully in quotes because I lost the weight I wanted to lose and kept it off for extended periods of time. Keeping it off was easy as long as I wanted to. I simply watched what I ate. It was the years I didn't care about it that weight crept up.


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## bikeranzin (Oct 2, 2018)

bank5 said:


> I've never dieted until 2 weeks ago. I started tracking my food on myfitnessapp, already lost 7 lbs and hit my target weight (my high school weight). I simply reduced high calorie food and alcohol and stopped overeating - instead measuring serving sizes. I thought I'd feel more hungry but it hasn't been bad at all. Now I wonder if I can get under 180 although I want to start lifting more. The true test will be if I can keep it up.
> 
> Anyone else surprised by their success dieting? What did you do and were you able to keep off the weight long term?


7 lbs over 2 weeks is probably an unsustainable trajectory, which means that you're probably at risk for "yo-yo" dieting. For short term, yes, it's fairly easy to lose a lot of weight fast. But, your body will fight you over it, starting with your BMR dropping, which means that if maintaining your weight was 2k calories before, maybe it's 1400 now. Worse, that BMR takes longer to reset than your weight.

So yes, the true test will be whether you can keep it up. But, you'd be much better off shooting for no more than a pound a week (which is a ~500 cal/day deficit). 3.5 lbs / wk means that you're running a 1750 cal/day deficit. That's pretty large.

Also, don't be fooled by water weight. It's not uncommon for my weight to fluctuate +/- 2.5 pounds in a given day.

Anyways, it's awesome that you're seeing gains. But, be careful and avoid crash diets like the plague.


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## bank5 (May 7, 2008)

^^ Thanks for the info. I stopped tracking calories but may eat a bit more during the day, especially days where I'm working out. I'd be happy if I stay around 185 lb especially if I start lifting more, or dropping 5 lbs more if I want to great bike shape. My pants are looser already but my lower stomach seems the same, so maybe that'll take a combination of lifting and eating healthy, lowering my body fat %.


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## cyclelicious (Oct 7, 2008)

Men lose weight faster than women

Sauce: https://www.livescience.com/63324-men-women-weight-loss-difference.html

The study confirms what any woman who has gone on a diet at the same time as her husband has already observed - men typically lose weight faster than women.

Men, thanks to their body composition, have more muscle and a higher metabolic rate than women, Lowden said. Since all of the participants were following a roughly 800-calorie-a-day diet, and men typically consume more daily calories than women when following their usual diets, they would have experienced a larger caloric deficit on the study diet and thus would be expected to lose weight faster than women, she said.

Some more interesting findings:
For women, 70%+ of their fat is stored between the skin and the abdominal well.
For men, it's inside the muscular wall, surrounding the liver and intestine.

This info is reported by a CT technician: That is why lipo is so much more dramatic and effective for women than men. Because it is "accessable" without hurting inner organs.

And why weight loss is "easier" for men than women. Because the fat is so close to highly vascular structures, the body can "use it" easier. But it can't be lipo'd cause scar tissue near intestines is really bad.


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## edubfromktown (Sep 7, 2010)

I did the Whole 30 thing roughly a year ago with my wife (30 days no bread, dairy, booze and other stuff).

I lost over 10 lbs. and she lost about half as much. We didn't do it to lose weight so much as cut extraneous preservatives and sugar out of our regular diet for good. They are big on saying do not weigh yourself during the 30 days which we stuck to. Started noticing clothes fit differently after a couple of weeks into it as I recall.

I've kept some of the weight off but like bad things (beer, pasta, etc.) and will continue moderating intake to stay where I'm at or lose a bit more. I am on the high end of BMI numbers but never have taken them to be the proper "cookie-cutter" for everyone...


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

The only surprise I've experienced regarding diet is how much more important than exercise it becomes after the age of about 50. I used to be able to eat anything and everything when I was younger and just burn it off. After about age 50, that became progressively less effective. At the age of 66, even with a lot of exercise, it just boils down to diet.


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## bank5 (May 7, 2008)

MSU Alum said:


> The only surprise I've experienced regarding diet is how much more important than exercise it becomes after the age of about 50. I used to be able to eat anything and everything when I was younger and just burn it off. After about age 50, that became progressively less effective. At the age of 66, even with a lot of exercise, it just boils down to diet.


I'm starting to notice that closer to 40. But I grew up playing football including college so coaches always wanted me to put on mass. So I think I've gotten used to overeating along with eating/ drinking when I'm stressed. If I cut that and eat mostly healthy, I think I'll be in pretty good shape long term.


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## Lone Rager (Dec 13, 2013)

It's easier to not eat it in the first place than it is to burn it off afterward. However, if you're doing hard rides/racing or are training with the goal of improving performance you do need to eat enough beforehand/during to adequately fuel for it. If you're losing weight dieting, your glycogen stores will be low so you need to eat enough to help restore them prior to your planned activity. For activities up to 1.5 hrs, It's not huge amounts, perhaps a bowl of oatmeal and a banana an hour or two before, and a few hundred cal during the working in the form of hydration, a couple of fig newtons, gels, or whatever. For longer efforts (1.5+hrs) consuming 100 cal every half hour is usually OK. For more epic efforts, more epic fueling is called for.

When you first start on a diet with significant calorie restriction, the first weight you lose is 2-3lb of water which is released as a consequence of consuming your glycogen stores. This happens pretty quickly, so after a week, you might lose 3lb of water and 2lb of fat registering as a 5lb loss. Week two will be another 2lb of fat so you're down 7lb. If you go back to eating the way you did before, you'll gain back that 3lb of water weight in a couple of days. If you do keep up that level of calorie restriction, the continued weight loss will be ~2lb/wk. Sometimes you'll plateau for a week or two but if you keep at it it will keep going down. The rate a of decrease will decrease as you lose weight because when you weigh less, you burn fewer calories over the course of a day. When you lose a lot of weight, you need to further decrease calorie consumption and/or increase calorie burn to keep up the rate of weight loss.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

I thought it said dating. Yeah it's crazy out there.


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