Biggest loser
- Thread starter Patrick
- Start date
iman29
Well-Known Member
I’ll chime in if it helps. I will also be honest and hopefully not offend anyone. For context and to not have you scroll back tons of posts, once upon a time I used to weigh close to 300lbs so I have real life experience.
I agree with the others. A specific restrictive “diet plan” will work until you stop doing it. I have seen many people around me try this including close family members and it always ends up rebounding back to weight gain and typically more than before.
You need to think about it more like lifestyle changes and think about what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat it and why you eat it.
You have to start making small changes until they become a habit. Then you can build on that but it doesn’t come overnight. Some tips I learned along the way in no specific order.
- when you think you’re hungry you’re probably thirsty. Drink water. I carry my insulated Contigo cup everywhere I go. Stays cold all day. Or I grab a bottle of water to bring with me wherever we are going.
- eat several small meals during the day instead if 2-3 huge meals. Skip the sugar cereal or bagel with a slab of butter a few times a week for something more healthy.
- reduce portions. Most people eat too much in one sitting. Don’t go back for seconds. Drink the water during the day you will feel more full. Then you will eat less per meal.
- don’t deprive yourself of everything you enjoy. Set up a “reward” day or one meal per week. But make yourself work for it.
- get moving. Can you get out to walk a few times a day for 10-15 minutes? Some basic Bodyweight exercises? It doesn’t all have to be about getting out for a 6 hour bike ride. Just remember you can’t exercise away a bad diet.
I won’t start listing specific foods I would say take a week or so and write down everything you eat (be honest!) and you will quickly see what you might consider changing.
This reply turned into a mini blog but I tell everyone if I can do it anyone can and hopefully that’s not coming across cliche or corny.
Hope that helps.
qclabrat
Well-Known Member
What are your typical meals like?
Here's mine:
Breakfast- bowl of plain oatmeal, piece of toast or bagel with nothing on it, and maybe a small cookie at 6AM
Lunch- about 3oz pasta, 6oz meat, large salad w/ fat free dressing and a piece of fruit at 12PM
Dinner- no carbs, 3 servings of vegetables, 6oz meat, 2 pieces of fruit at 6PM
I'll need to count my calories, as I haven't done it for some time.
JDurk
Well-Known Member
@iman29 and @Over the Bars both nailed it. Don't look only at the diet part. Lifestyle changes consisting of small changes to bad habits will see better results.
@Patrick mentioned the fitness plan that @Robin and I talk about. My wife also follows and @ekuhn has as well. It's a process to follow that will enable rapid weight loss. There have been some changes recently since I joined in Jan '22, mostly on the membership side, but also with nutrition and exercise guidance. All the previous info is still there and I still use a lot of it. Is it easy? Absolutely not! But results are a huge motivator. Check back through our posts.
You asked what I eat? Basically 3 meals always consisting of a protein, vegetable, and healthy fat. All whole foods, no snacking. No oils, added sugar, dressings or supplements. This is during weight loss or maintaining. I also try and stick to 16/8 intermittent fasting. 1st meal at 10:30am and done by 6:30pm. Occasionally stray from the eating window. Will add items in the form of healthy carbs to some meals depending on losing or maintaining.
@qclabrat looking at what you listed. That's a lot of carbs, not enough protein and portion control. How much water are you drinking per day and what other beverages are you consuming?
Ask more questions as what works for me, may not work for you. The others here have had success doing it other ways. Good luck.
@Patrick mentioned the fitness plan that @Robin and I talk about. My wife also follows and @ekuhn has as well. It's a process to follow that will enable rapid weight loss. There have been some changes recently since I joined in Jan '22, mostly on the membership side, but also with nutrition and exercise guidance. All the previous info is still there and I still use a lot of it. Is it easy? Absolutely not! But results are a huge motivator. Check back through our posts.
You asked what I eat? Basically 3 meals always consisting of a protein, vegetable, and healthy fat. All whole foods, no snacking. No oils, added sugar, dressings or supplements. This is during weight loss or maintaining. I also try and stick to 16/8 intermittent fasting. 1st meal at 10:30am and done by 6:30pm. Occasionally stray from the eating window. Will add items in the form of healthy carbs to some meals depending on losing or maintaining.
@qclabrat looking at what you listed. That's a lot of carbs, not enough protein and portion control. How much water are you drinking per day and what other beverages are you consuming?
Ask more questions as what works for me, may not work for you. The others here have had success doing it other ways. Good luck.
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Robin
Well-Known Member
I thought @qclabrat was carb heavy in the morning...but who am I to judge. I'm not a nutritionist and everyone has what works (or doesn't work) for them.
Yes, I followed E2M like @JDurk and as I mentioned earlier, cutting the carbs made me feel like crap. Unfortunately I reintroduced them...and more than necessary. So I have been working with a nutritionist for a little over 2 weeks. Since I am a woman in perimenopause (yes, I typed that...), I needed to increase my protein significantly and reduce carbs - but they are still there. My nutritionist is a CrossFit coach and a little older than me, so she gets what I do/what I need.
Is the scale moving? slightly but I am also focusing on fueling properly as well as recovery.
Yes, I followed E2M like @JDurk and as I mentioned earlier, cutting the carbs made me feel like crap. Unfortunately I reintroduced them...and more than necessary. So I have been working with a nutritionist for a little over 2 weeks. Since I am a woman in perimenopause (yes, I typed that...), I needed to increase my protein significantly and reduce carbs - but they are still there. My nutritionist is a CrossFit coach and a little older than me, so she gets what I do/what I need.
Is the scale moving? slightly but I am also focusing on fueling properly as well as recovery.
Over the Bars
Well-Known Member
It
Looks a little light on protein to me but you said you gained 20 lbs in 10 years that's not really hard to do by just eating slightly more calories than needed. Even eating 50 calories a day over your maintaince calories could lead to about 5 lbs of weight gain in a single year. You just need to dial the calories back a bit. Your diet habits look better than most just a few small tweaks and your golden.
qclabrat
Well-Known Member
Thanks, oh yeah I'm also 55 this year. So I'll be golden at 65?... I looked at the E2M diet, and it seems like a lot of protein. Won't that jack up my calories? How much meat are you eating and what types? I can't do boiled chix breasts for every meal like my bodybuilder neighbor. Also what's the 16/8 fasting?
Robin
Well-Known Member
I count macros...not calories. For me, my protein goal is 105 g/day. They make up about 35% of my daily intake. Carbs 47% and fat 17%. If you do the math for calories, it's still less than what I was consuming before but I am not hungry like before/fueling better. I also don't worry about how many calories I "burn". I used to overeat because "I earned it".
My protein consists of greek yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, chicken or turkey, salmon or tuna....and once in a while red meat. I don't like to cook so I really only cook lean ground beef.
JDurk
Well-Known Member
You will need protein to maintain muscle and help satiate your appetite. Not sure what you're looking at about the E2M meals, because it's not published for non-members, unless someone shared it. I will say that 6oz of chicken breast is approximately 53g of protein. I haven't counted calories in the 3+yrs of following E2M. However I have recently started logging some information into MyFitnessPal app for food tracking and macros. Not all protein sources are equal. Another thing I left out in my previous post is I've gone dairy free. Does that mean I don't ever eat cheese or enjoy ice cream? No, still have during celebration (AKA cheat) meals. No milk and no creamer in my coffee.
16/8 fasting is 16hrs fasting/8hr window to do all your eating.
Used this with my information to get the screenshot below.
Protein Calculator
This free protein calculator estimates the amount of protein a person needs each day to remain healthy based on certain averages and recommendations.
www.calculator.net
I have an endurance athlete mindset and my only thought was not nearly enough carbs interestingly enough. My nutritionist has my macros set at 170g protein/300g carbs/90g fat. But as you said, everyone is different and needs will vary. I'm riding 8-11 hours a week at this point.
Over the Bars
Well-Known Member
Dang what's your maintaince calories if your losing weight on nearly 2700 calories a day. I do like your macros though I aim for similar numbers but my fats are about half of that amount I don't eat much dairy and only eat lean meats so even hitting around 40 requires a bunch of eggs to get it up there.I have an endurance athlete mindset and my only thought was not nearly enough carbs interestingly enough. My nutritionist has my macros set at 170g protein/300g carbs/90g fat. But as you said, everyone is different and needs will vary. I'm riding 8-11 hours a week at this point.
Roughly 3000 would be maintenance at this point. 10 hours riding (~700 calories/hour) + 3 lift sessions a week = ~7,500 calories on top of my weekly BMR of 13,000 calories.
I'm not super light around 183 lbs nor am I aggressively cutting at the moment. I'd like to be 170, but I'm more concerned with adding more to my FTP. The weight will sort itself out over the summer in my experience. Still more meat on the bone in strength gains for me.
JDurk
Well-Known Member
Am I reading that you take in 700 calories/hour while riding?
Sorry, no no that's the burn/hour. Though some of the pros are pushing 150g/carbs/hour on the bike and that's not super far off from 700 calories.
I can't even fathom the logistics of that...it's so much drinking/eating.
JDurk
Well-Known Member
Got it. You had me scratching my head how to carry that much while riding, let alone, how the body processes that much. Quick calculations for what I took in Saturday at Mayhem over 4hrs was around 1,280cal or 320cal/hr between calories in bottles and snack. 278g carbs, so approx. 70g carbs/hr.
Over the Bars
Well-Known Member
Makes sense my weekly average maintenance would be around 2700 daily at 149 lbs training between 10 to 15 hours a weeks. I don't track anything anymore but after doing it for over two and half years I have a really good sense of what is in everything and I just adjust based on how I feel and where my weight is trending.
JDurk
Well-Known Member
R20W4
Post race hungry's are real. I was good for a day or two, then fell off the wagon and started snacking and stress eating. Went to Cape May for a 24hr overnight trip Sat/Sun and enjoyed seafood, beer and desserts. Back to clean eating this week.
Kept active all week. The banged up knee from a dumb front tire washout during Mayhem is healing. Race season has started, with MASS races on 3 of the next 4 weekends.
Weigh-in was Saturday morning before a spin bike session.
Weight
01/02/22 Starting weight = 235.4
03/22/25 previous weight = 194.6
03/22/25 current weight = 196.8
Diff: up 2.2 for the week, total lost = 38.6
Haha went looking for my loser post and remembered it was in @Patrick training thread 😁
February 19th
"I went through a pretty strong eating binge since the holidays to peak at 255# 😱
Lots of TEC, kettle chips and icecreamcakecookiespiecandy.
Working my way back down the number line. Hope to be back to the normal 220-230 zone for start of the season.
Currently 245#"
Is it me or is it easier to throw on pounds then it is to take it off, haha.
Anyway been sticking to clean diet, 98% carnivore that is. It's easy once you eliminate the garbage. I was on a huge TEC, potato chip and cookie binge over the winter. Starting to feel that pep in the step and not walking around like a zombie. Completely off processed foods and hoping to keep it that way, again 😔
Came in at 235# this morning. No set goal this time, I found that to be non helpful, so ignore the 220-230 mention above.
February 19th
"I went through a pretty strong eating binge since the holidays to peak at 255# 😱
Lots of TEC, kettle chips and icecreamcakecookiespiecandy.
Working my way back down the number line. Hope to be back to the normal 220-230 zone for start of the season.
Currently 245#"
Is it me or is it easier to throw on pounds then it is to take it off, haha.
Anyway been sticking to clean diet, 98% carnivore that is. It's easy once you eliminate the garbage. I was on a huge TEC, potato chip and cookie binge over the winter. Starting to feel that pep in the step and not walking around like a zombie. Completely off processed foods and hoping to keep it that way, again 😔
Came in at 235# this morning. No set goal this time, I found that to be non helpful, so ignore the 220-230 mention above.