# Lose that pesky10lbs support group thread



## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

Hi all,
I figure I'm not the only one in this boat so I thought I'd reach out for us to keep the motivation going. 

A little about me: I am/was an elite endurance racer, female, who didn't get to race at all in 2020 and basically said fuggit and went a little off the deep end with my food/alcohol consumption. I just let it slide and enjoyed life. I still rode, a LOT, but let myself indulge in all the yummy foods, and post ride beers. I also never touched my lycra "kit" and went all cool with baggies and flannels for ride gear 

So here I am, April, and I'm carrying about 8-10 lbs of extra "fluff". In the big scheme of things, it isn't much, but I am getting self conscious about it and I just don't feel right. I have been doing a lot more gym work, so some of that is definitely good strong muscle, but instead of losing the fat, the new muscle just kinda pushed the fat out farther  🤷‍♀️

So, I'm working on getting serious again about behaving (no more alcohol, darnit!) and working through cutting out the junk (no more chocolate, or work donuts, darnit!). More lean protein and veggies. 

Who else is in a similar boat? Are you making strides towards losing the Covid-weight? What strategies work the best for you? Let's support each other and lose that fluff!!


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## JackOfDiamonds (Apr 17, 2020)

I'm with you on the COVID-fuggit factor, the uncomfortableness with my current weight, and observation that riding/exercising isn't getting rid of the excess.

In the past I did calorie restriction and it worked as long as I kept it up. I just started intermittent fasting just because I think I might be able to sustain it better. Just skipping breakfast is my first step, combined with at least a little bit of light exercise in the morning without eating anything. I think I can handle that long-term and see what it does.


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## davec113 (May 31, 2006)

I'm 6 wks post shoulder surgery so I'm ramping up my activity right now, and have also been experimenting with fasting. I've been skipping dinner to make an ~18-20 hour fast every 3rd day or so. It's working, and it's also making eating too much later in the day seem a lot less appealing which is a big deal for me as I can get an appetite at night, which is the wrong time to be eating. 

I'm not real big on lots of restrictions in my diet, so this works for me. It's all so personal and there are so many solutions, I hope everyone finds their best diet!


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## dir-T (Jan 20, 2004)

I lost about 15+ pounds in 2019 simply by cutting out bread - except weekly pizza night (no sandwiches, rolls, baked goods). I was really surprised how easy that was. 

I dropped another few pounds in 2020 but think that was muscle mass since I wasn't going to the gym. The scale showed a weight loss but my mirror showed a lose of muscle tone.

Now that I've been back at the gym for a few months I'm up a few pounds with better muscle tone but still not exactly cut. After our MTB vacation next week my wife and I are going back to our pre-COVID routine of not drinking during the work week and we'll see what happens. 

I used to just quit the gym this time of year to focus on biking but, at 46 years of age, I think I need to stop the yo-yo seasonal fitness schedule because it gets harder and harder to restart "gym season". The problem with that is that I also travel for work in the summer and after-work-hotel-bar-life can be pretty unhealthy.


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## hammersorethumb (Sep 14, 2018)

Hi I'm right there with you. I mostly sit around 174, I just hit 178 and want to get down to 165-168. I'm about to turn 50 and it's getting harder to stay at the weight I want. I've had success with Noom and with intermittent fasting. My biggest weaknesses are chips, coke (coca-cola) and candy. In the past when Ive gotten below 170 I've really seen the benefit on the mountain bike. easier time with climbs, better in technical sections, able to clear more obstacles. Keep up the good work everyone and be kind to yourselves. Changing behavior is very hard.


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## Hodo (Sep 30, 2014)

I'm in the boat!
I got my weight down to 168 just before covid was a thing. First time since high school (I'm 46). Then, right back to 180. At 180, I'm not fat as I have a reasonably muscular athletic build.
But at 168 I had a six pack again. I've recently buckled down and am giving it a new effort, I'd like to see 165. 

I'm hungry...


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## dir-T (Jan 20, 2004)

hammersorethumb said:


> In the past when Ive gotten below 170 I've really seen the benefit on the mountain bike.


Same here. We didn't own a scale until recently so I never knew what my weight was once gym season ended because that was the only place I would weigh myself. I dropped from about 197 to 180 without even really knowing it - but I felt GREAT during early season MTB rides.

I eventually got down to 175 (the weight I was at in my 20s when I was racing MTBs occasionally). I'm at 180 now but expect that to drop now that winter is almost over (I get 6 months of it here in Montana).


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

The intermittent fasting thing is interesting. I've experimented with that a little, but I find if I skip breakfast, I'm waaaay overeating at dinner (and later). So I've started with the opposite approach, smaller and more frequent meals. Also trading out my usual sugary afternoon snack (a Clif Bar or some other sugar bomb) for a protein snack (apple/peanut butter, cheese, or jerky. 

In the summer, when it gets hot, I do like to do a dawn patrol mtb ride and by default those rides are fasted other than some coffee, so that might resume soon.


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

dir-T said:


> I used to just quit the gym this time of year to focus on biking but, at 46 years of age, I think I need to stop the yo-yo seasonal fitness schedule because it gets harder and harder to restart "gym season". The problem with that is that I also travel for work in the summer and after-work-hotel-bar-life can be pretty unhealthy.


I would quit the gym too for racing season. I go to a Crossfit-style gym, and it was just too much impact/high intensity to keep up with also doing hard bike workouts. They just added a strict strength class, which I love. We just stand around and pick up heavy things, and I don't have to breathe hard to get results 

I'd also like to keep up with the strength stuff through the summer as well. Part of my big goals is to do some big bikepacking rides, which will require a lot of extra strength to pedal and push a heavier bike. So the gym is a good thing, but finding the balance and not totally overriding my energy stores is a fine line.


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## DeoreDX (Jul 28, 2007)

My journey started at 203.6 on December 17th of 2020. First time I ever weighed myself at over 200lbs in my adult life. For the last 20 years I've been right around 185 but the last 2 years my weight slowly crept up. I've always eaten whatever and however much I wanted too. Having gone working from home full time with Covid didn't help any and the weight just kept sticking. My son joined a local NICA team and he awakened my dormant love for cycling which I had stopped doing with regularity in the late 90's early 2ks. Mostly a change in my eating habits and the additional 3 times a week cycling got me back into riding shape. Today I was at 175.8 a loss of almost 28lbs.

For my "diet" I tried Keto and didn't think it was sustainable though it worked well. But a slight slipup would mean an instant +2-3lbs back on. So I started using my fitness pal to count calories and instead of eating breakfast/lunch/dinner I would eat small 100-200 calorie snacks during the day trying to keep out as much sugar and carbs as possible because those are calorie dense and you don't feel as full as long. I'd usually have 2-4 snack/meals during the day and have consumed about 500-600 calories. It would leave me about 900-1000 calories for dinner and I would eat a fairly normal dinner not really paying paying attention to WHAT I ate but instead how much I ate. I've been losing a steady 1-1.5lbs a week this way. It doesn't feel like I'm starving myself as I eat when I get hungry. I fast until about 10-11 with just black coffee. then it's a steady consumption of yogurt, nuts, salads, lean proteins, lettuce wraps, wraps with high fiber low calorie tortillas, etc. Usually if I eat a 100-200 calorie snack/meal and wait 30 minutes my hunger will go away for about an hour. After a while I've gotten used to eating smaller meals so I can no longer eat those giant meals like I used too.


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

DeoreDX said:


> My journey started at 203.6 on December 17th of 2020. First time I ever weighed myself at over 200lbs in my adult life. For the last 20 years I've been right around 185 but the last 2 years my weight slowly crept up. I've always eaten whatever and however much I wanted too. Having gone working from home full time with Covid didn't help any and the weight just kept sticking. My son joined a local NICA team and he awakened my dormant love for cycling which I had stopped doing with regularity in the late 90's early 2ks. Mostly a change in my eating habits and the additional 3 times a week cycling got me back into riding shape. Today I was at 175.8 a loss of almost 28lbs.
> 
> For my "diet" I tried Keto and didn't think it was sustainable though it worked well. But a slight slipup would mean an instant +2-3lbs back on. So I started using my fitness pal to count calories and instead of eating breakfast/lunch/dinner I would eat small 100-200 calorie snacks during the day trying to keep out as much sugar and carbs as possible because those are calorie dense and you don't feel as full as long. I'd usually have 2-4 snack/meals during the day and have consumed about 500-600 calories. It would leave me about 900-1000 calories for dinner and I would eat a fairly normal dinner not really paying paying attention to WHAT I ate but instead how much I ate. I've been losing a steady 1-1.5lbs a week this way. It doesn't feel like I'm starving myself as I eat when I get hungry. I fast until about 10-11 with just black coffee. then it's a steady consumption of yogurt, nuts, salads, lean proteins, lettuce wraps, wraps with high fiber low calorie tortillas, etc. Usually if I eat a 100-200 calorie snack/meal and wait 30 minutes my hunger will go away for about an hour. After a while I've gotten used to eating smaller meals so I can no longer eat those giant meals like I used too.


Wow, congrats DeoreDx! That's a big change for sure. I like the smaller meals too, I'm definitely a snacker, as I'm in health care and we only get a very strict 30 minutes for lunch if we get a lunch at all. I'm a slow eater so I just can't stuff my face enough in that 30 minute window (and go to the bathroom, and try to sit and just not move for a bit lol) so I usually squirrel food in my pockets and eat on the go. The mask wearing is great for this as it hides my full cheeks!

I have played around with keto too but I found I didn't like it much on the bike. I always felt "heavy" and like I was at a near bonk and if my friends upped the pace I couldn't kick into 5th gear. Back to carbs, but trying to stick to the good ones, like sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, etc.


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## PTCbiker (Sep 15, 2020)

The average American gained 1.5 lb per month in quarantine. Think about that...1.5lb per month is the average.

I'll be watching this thread for ideas as I could lose about 15lb. I'm a runner and I will say that I'm less ravenous for food after a long ride than a long run. But ill continue to do both as they complement each other and im injury free.


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## skypig (May 19, 2020)

Sugar

In Australia, the “Authorities“ have just given diet soda a better “health rating” than pure fruit juice - due to the high sugar content of the juice.

I love fruit juice, but knowing the sugar content try to not drink too much. I get 100% juice, with “extra pulp”, and mix it with sparkling water and Ice. I thought this was a good compromise.

I stopped buying the juice, and lost 2kg (4.5lbs)

For me, sugar is the enemy.

Now my “weight loss joke”:

At my aviation medical, the DR said “If you want to keep flying you need to lose weight. I’d advise you to not eat anything fatty.”
”You mean like fries and burgers?”
”No fatty, don’t eat anything!”


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## wschruba (Apr 13, 2012)

Weight fluctuates over the winter (spotty opportunities to ride here, can only tolerate ~1 hour of trainer), but during the other half-to-three-quarters of the year, I've been on a slow/steady downward trend of 1 pound a week--I'm a stress eater, so it absolutely fluctuates. I'm off ~10 pounds, maybe, but I haven't weighed that since I was 15-16, and I'm not sure what I'll look like when I get there; I've been on a steady downward 60 pound loss for the last 9 years. Guess I'll evaluate then. I put that weight loss on a hiatus (or tried to) last year, to make sure that if I got sick I had some buffer.

I could probably lose 2 pounds a week, but I've noticed that when I do, I was borderline tired most of the time. It wasn't a bad thing, but since my ultimate goal is fitness, I decided that maybe it wasn't the best weight loss goal.


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## PTCbiker (Sep 15, 2020)

skypig said:


> At my aviation medical, the DR said "If you want to keep flying you need to lose weight. I'd advise you to not eat anything fatty."
> "You mean like fries and burgers?"
> "No fatty, don't eat anything!"


That's pretty funny!


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## D. Inoobinati (Aug 28, 2020)

10 pounds? I'd have to join three times.


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## Bikeworks (Sep 10, 2020)

JackOfDiamonds said:


> In the past I did *calorie restriction and* it worked as long as I kept it up. I just *started intermittent fasting* just because I think I might be able to sustain it better. Just skipping breakfast is my first step, combined with at least a little bit of light exercise in the morning without eating anything. I think I can handle that long-term and see what it does.


In the past I did carb restriction (for years) and it truly transformed my body. However the last couple of years I haven't seen the maintenance I've liked, so I am trying this. So far, so ok. I need to stick with it a bit longer while ramping up my riding (weather is finally helping with that), but I think it will help.


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## So Cal RX (Oct 1, 2005)

I’m in on this support thread!

Historically, I’ve binged every holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Year, gained 5+ pounds, then disciplined myself in January. I was on track last March, then COVID. And this year, I never was able to apply the discipline post-holidays.

I‘ve been waiting for a motivating factor, either entering an endurance race, or having to go back into the office (and fit into my work clothes). I believe both will happen Sep/Oct. This thread will help too.


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## Mike Aswell (Sep 1, 2009)

I always put some winter weight on. COVID exacerbated that, but I got motivated around the beginning of the year and I am already back down to within 3 lbs of where I am happy, though if I lost 8 I would be very lean and happy with that as that's the weight where I think I truly should be. 

Keto works to lose weight and fat but it definitely without a doubt scientifically is not sustainable and is also not good at all if you're doing anything approaching endurance rides.

This time around, shaking the winter/COVID weight my points of focus are: I completely gave up IPAs (a weakness) and have either no alcohol, or 1-2 glasses of red wine per night. When I cook at home I stick with lean proteins (chicken, tuna or shrimp) and a healthy side, when I go out about once a week I allow myself something less healthy like pizza or a burger. I've also started lifting weights more seriously. I always lifted but am lifting a lot more and with a lot more variety.

As spring and summer riding season ramp up, I go with the "I earned it theory." I know some people frown on that....but if I go on a 1,000 calorie-burn ride, I don't feel guilty at all having an IPA at my truck when the ride is over. This allows me to continue to partake in things like delicious beers yet still lose weight. I find that's important for me, because I do think life is to be enjoyed. If you start down a miserable/depravation path, it's never going to be sustainable.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Chocolate with over 70% cacao is good for you. The caffeine/l-thionine ratio, much like green tea, is a fat burner and would help any intense work out. Plus it's chock full of polyphenols and other antioxidants that are really good for well-being etc. 

I rarely if ever use a scale, I think as a metric it's borderline useless. I always go by how I look in the mirror and how I feel. 

Your body is prepped hormonally through winter and shorter daylight hours to slow down and gain fat. I think it's important to pay attention to that and slow down a bit. It's a healthy cycle. 

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## supersarni (Apr 9, 2021)

I totally agree with Whalenard, I don't use the scale as a health marker either. Especially as I'm about to "roll" my 5th decade, I think its just too misleading and a "lagging indicator". Typically the poor choices I made 2 weeks ago are showing up today on the scale. I'd rather focus on - Am I eating right? <You know when you aren't, don't lie to yourself> Are my pants loser/tighter? Do I like the way I feel in my body? Am I improving? Am I making better choices than yesterday? Is my FTP holding or improved? Thanks to TrainerRoad & my StagesBike for that last one. The Pain Cave is FUN!!!


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## b rock (Jan 5, 2017)

Once I realized that my body fat weighed 10x as much as my 3 water bottles, and I am carrying it all up my steep hill climbs, I was pretty motivated to get back on the "get leaner (but without killing myself) train". So, that is one more piece of intrinsic motivation, along the lines of motivation/support, that this thread was made for.

Now for the obligatory, not asked for, how to fix it, in a thread about moral support... Here is what is working so far, but everyone is different, especially when it comes to this stuff:

I measure my body fat every week or two, so that I can see some progress in numbers, since weight might not change much if I am gaining muscle and losing fat (or the other way around!). I do this, because it is cheap and easy: How And Why To Measure Your Body Fat Percentage | Bodybuilding.com
Stopped eating and drinking junk most of the time. I used to have an IPA every night. Now it is mostly when my neighbor wants me to taste test a homebrew, or I forget how crappy I feel when I drink beer and I have one by myself (~1-2 weeks)
Easiest way for me to eat less crap was to have daily quotas for vegetables (3.5 cups), fruit (1.5 c.), and protein, and ideally water. I got the fruit and veggie numbers from some calculator that uses your bodyweight, but I can't find it
Strength training at home (resistance bands)
A few hours of biking a week, which is about all I can manage until my foot injury is totally healed. Maybe then I will start some structured training with intervals... it's been a few years since I could go all out without doing damage to myself


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

Love the feedback guys, let's stick with it!

Some things I've identified: since I wasn't racing at all, I was just kind of plodding around on my bike rides. Still lots of fun, but I took out the not-fun part, which is push myself to ride fast/hard and get some intensity. I'm getting serious about training for some big rides later this summer, so the intensity is working it's way back into my schedule. Good news is it kinda feels good to push myself (except maybe the 40-minute threshold test, oof!) and I feel like I've made some small progress.

I've also made a conscious effort to skip the 3 pm cookie/chocolate treat for some kind of protein snack- because I want to keep on muscle, I'll need it later for my big ride.  And one beer only on the weekends, none during the week.

The after dinner treat is still really hard to beat. Trying to switch out that chocolate treat with some fresh fruit. Luckily mangoes are coming back in season and they are both delicious and very filling.


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## prj71 (Dec 29, 2014)

Healthy breakfast. Healthy lunch. Don't graze in the afternoon unless it's something healthy like nuts. Skip dinner. Watch the weight disappear

Those of you skipping breakfast...its why you are so hungry late in the day. Late in the day eating = weight gain. 

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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

prj71 said:


> Healthy breakfast. Healthy lunch. Don't graze in the afternoon unless it's something healthy like nuts. Skip dinner. Watch the weight disappear
> 
> Those of you skipping breakfast...its why you are so hungry late in the day. Late in the day eating = weight gain.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


Yeah, I don't think skipping meals is healthy in the long run.

Now, skipping doughnuts and sugar.... Yes

I can't function without a good breakfast.

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## hammersorethumb (Sep 14, 2018)

Keep the replies coming. Hearing from others is supportive to me. Thanks.


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

GUYS. There are donuts in the break room. It is currently 12:21 pm and I have so far resisted. 

One point for me today. 💪


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## JackOfDiamonds (Apr 17, 2020)

Ok so it's been 8 days now on my new "intermittent fasting" "system" that I invented.

There is very little science here, except that since my last diet attempts, intermittent fasting has become sort of an accepted thing at least, and I have some friends who skip days eating, so it emboldened me to try this new system. In the past I found that calorie restriction works for me to lose weight--which in fact it physically true for everyone...but problems I had with other diets:

--In the long term I can't be bothered to do special grocery shopping for myself. I can't be preparing myself special meals separate from the rest of the family. I'm not a foody person that gets enjoyment from cooking. Experience shows that I will slack on the diet to save on the grocery shopping or special meal prepping. I also don't like spending extra money to buy special food eat less calories, and extra time to prep meals, all to try to eat less. This is a problem regardless of diet i.e. atkins, low-carb, paleo, vegan, weight-watchers, etc...no matter what I would run into this problem. So I need a diet that works on the standard family groceries and meals and even out-to-eat destinations.

--Simple willpower, especially to eat small portions. I have a hard time eating 1/2 cup of cereal with 1/4 cup of skim milk for breakfast. It's barely worth it, but I really have to eat that little to lose weight. I have a hard time eating 1 small piece of pizza and nothing else, or otherwise not filling myself up but still sitting there while everyone else is eating. Portion control is hard and it requires me to count calories to actually calculate what is a good portion.

Resulting slack-optimized system:

Eat absolutely nothing (no snacks, certainly no flavored drinks, no milk in the coffee, don't even lick the butter knife when making the kids' PBJ's) until dinner (after 4PM). Just water, ice tea, or black coffee. Then eat a normal dinner; of whatever the family is eating; try not to gorge. Allow some small snacking for a couple hours thereafter, but no eating after 8PM.

Goals achieved: No need to calculate any calories or portions. No need to do any special grocery shopping. No extra cost whatsoever, in fact I just saved money by eating less food. No extra time whatsoever, in fact I gain time by skipping breakfast. Rules are so simple they can become habit. Instead of deciding whether I have enough calories left to eat the donuts at work or not, I already know the answer because I simply don't eat anything during the day. Instead of intermittent fasting on certain days, I don't care because I do the same thing every day. The only question is if I could survive not eating anything but dinner.

What I've learned is that while I could technically eat celery or foods with pseudo-sugar during the day, all it does is trigger hunger so it's not worth trying to have any zero-calorie snacks. Instead, when you get hungry, just get over it or go do something. Also, it's not as hard to avoid gorging at dinner as I thought it would be, because after fasting, eating a large amount is actually difficult and doesn't feel good, so it's pretty easy to have a normal portion at dinner. Physical effects of fasting are predictable: A little slow thinking, a few headaches, irritability, but I'm optimistic I will adapt over time. It's only been 1 week. So sort of like quitting smoking or something like that, it takes a while to get used to. I took some pretty decent morning bike rides and I didn't bonk or anything yet.

I'm not really weighing myself either because that takes effort too.


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

Man, I’m up to 188 lbs and i really wanted to lose 30 lbs become the pandemic when i was 182 lbs 

Definitely going the wrong direction, so I’m here. 

Gonna try the whole taking out bread thing except the once a week. I had to cut dairy out (IBS), and a few other things but I have to get the crap out of my diet. Gonna start with bread and sweets. Gonna hurt but gonna try. 

Thanks for starting this thread!


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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

One more thing to mention, sometimes if you are thirsty, the brain will trick you into thinking you are hungry.

Drink more water throughout the day and I bet you won't feel like snacking nearly as often

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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

Shark said:


> One more thing to mention, sometimes if you are thirsty, the brain will trick you into thinking you are hungry.
> 
> Drink more water throughout the day and I bet you won't feel like snacking nearly as often
> 
> Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk


Thanks. Snacking is my devil 

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## prj71 (Dec 29, 2014)

When I'm thirsty my brain tricks me into wanting a beer. 

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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

Beer is mostly water!

Oh wait....

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## tick_magnet (Dec 15, 2016)

I know this is counter-intuitive to what is fashionable right now, but I load up on carbs pre-ride and sugar post ride. This makes intensity really easy to sustain (I have to purposefully dial back the intensity so I don't fatigue myself over the long run) and glycogen replenishment easy with the post ride sugar. And the next day, I can ride just as hard if I wanted to.

The other thing is to eat lots of real foods rather than processed foods. Eat lots of veggies, fruits, and oatmeal. That means you are getting lots of fiber and water in your food so that you feel full and satisfied for a long time. That reduces the snacking. Also eat some fish or chicken for the protein to keep you satiated even longer. I have found white rice to be the best source of energy an hour or so before my rides. Since eating like this, I don't count calories, I have plenty of energy to hammer, and my body fat % is <10%, and I am in my 40s.


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

Got off the meds this week. Also writing down my food in a journal. We’ll see how it goes.


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

Great work guys, keep it up. I think just trying to be aware of the food choices we make throughout the day is a great way to become aware of the junk we end up eating. A food diary is great for this. 

I don't use it any more, but I found a great app called Chronometer to track my food intake. It's free and foolproof, you can scan barcodes on packages or enter in the ingredients yourself. It has graphs to break down individual nutrients and the breakdown of the macronutrients (Fat-Protein-Carbs) you get in a day. I learned I was pretty low on protein and worked on upping that number to about 20-25% of my daily intake. I was also really low on Vitamin D so I added in a supplement, that one is important!


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

3blackbikes said:


> Great work guys, keep it up. I think just trying to be aware of the food choices we make throughout the day is a great way to become aware of the junk we end up eating. A food diary is great for this.
> 
> I don't use it any more, but I found a great app called Chronometer to track my food intake. It's free and foolproof, you can scan barcodes on packages or enter in the ingredients yourself. It has graphs to break down individual nutrients and the breakdown of the macronutrients (Fat-Protein-Carbs) you get in a day. I learned I was pretty low on protein and worked on upping that number to about 20-25% of my daily intake. I was also really low on Vitamin D so I added in a supplement, that one is important!


I hate food apps. Mainly because I eat a lot of homemade food, and a lot of it is Japanese and not always something you can find in the app.

So i go old school notepad, which makes more aware than putting it in the app too.

"Did i just write down a powerbar on a day I don't ride?! UGHHHHHH.."

Yeah things like that


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## 3blackbikes (May 4, 2011)

I hate food apps too, but I hate doing math even more. I just want to eat and not think about, "Did I get my 1.5g per kg amount of protein today?"

I used the app for a few weeks just to get a general idea of what my current diet looked like, made some tweaks, and then stopped using it once the new habits were in place. Every now and then when I feel like I'm off the rails I'll use it again. It was just a good place to start.


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## JackOfDiamonds (Apr 17, 2020)

JackOfDiamonds said:


> Ok so it's been 8 days now on my new "intermittent fasting" "system" that I invented.
> 
> There is very little science here, except that since my last diet attempts, intermittent fasting has become sort of an accepted thing at least, and I have some friends who skip days eating, so it emboldened me to try this new system. In the past I found that calorie restriction works for me to lose weight--which in fact it physically true for everyone...but problems I had with other diets:
> 
> ...


Ok that was long but I wanted to update on my progress...

I've been able to stick with only eating between 4 and 8 with only a few exceptions...I'm having a beer once a week on Friday nights, and once or twice I had a social lunch where I bought a salad (it's awkward having "lunch" with somebody and just sitting there while the other person eats). I haven't been paying one hoot about what I eat during my 1 meal, and not really how much I eat either, except I try not to just stuff myself which makes me sick if I do it anyway. I cut back from 2 cups coffee in the morning to 1 cup to cancel out cutting out beer. I drink iced tea sometimes but I don't specifically try to "drink a lot of water" because it just makes me have to pee more and I don't see the point.

I went from 227lb when I started a little over a month ago to 202lbs last night. So 25lb lost. Also waist went from 120cm to 98cm. On one hand that's really great and I'm close to being below 200, which has been many years. On the other hand, my energy is pretty bad, and I still feel surprisingly fat even at 202lb, and 98cm is still quite a spare tire. I should probably lose another 15 or 20 if I want to see abs. A little while longer and I might start adding very low-calorie, low-carb breakfast (like boiled eggs or something) or adding beer back.


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

If you can do intermittent fasting awesome. I cannot because I have hypoglycemia (controlled), and it screws up with my hormones. It does work, but the doctor completely advised against it for me.

What I'm trying to do is take out as much refined sugar as I can. It's a slow process, but it's going somewhere. Very limited rice and bread too (potatoes ok), but increased my fibre and my vegetable intake significantly.

Also, I'm really really trying to get in my water for the day, but it can be sooo hard sometimes.


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## JackOfDiamonds (Apr 17, 2020)

Another update on my progress...still nominally eating only between 4 and 8, but not super mega strict. Sometimes I have a snack at 2 or drink beer after 8. Not really exercising except for casual activity. No calorie counting or health food. I went from 227lb to 194lb. Really enjoying being less fat, and think 180lb is probably still a good goal. I think I could maintain these eating habits forever if I need to but I'm looking forward to adding back in more beer or maybe small lunch if I feel I am getting too skinny.

There's definitely been some hunger but once in the habit I usually don't get hungry at all until the afternoon at least, and then it's not a big deal to wait until supper. This is a lot different than before where i felt it was an emergency to skip a meal because I got faint and hangry. Now I guess it's like The Hulk... I'm just always hungry, but you do adapt, I even go on bike rides of 10-15 miles without eating breakfast and don't have trouble with being faint at all.


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

I took sweet drinks out last week, because it was messing with my blood sugar. My weights down about 3 lbs.


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