A Triathletes rant and confusion on weight loss

For my weight loss I simply set a daily caloric goal and ignored how many calories I burned working out.  The body is an amazingly complex machine and I don't believe that we completely understand it.  I don't believe that running 3 miles thus burning 350 calories actually negates eating a 350 calorie meal.  I don't eat huge meals, skip desserts, try to eat healthy, workout about the same as you and have stopped losing weight.  A combination of harder workouts with even more scrutiny on my diet is what I think I will need to lose more but simply not willing to do it right now (mainly the diet part).

Deep breath, re-examine everything and I think you will find the missing piece here.

Can you post a typical day food wise?  I went from 240ish to 160 by being anal about what I took in and changing my mindset a little.  Food = fuel.  Does that mean you can't enjoy food?  No.  It means you set guidelines for your eating and if you cheat a little here then you give up a little over there.  Most exercise calcs vastly over estimate what you're burning so I just find a jumping off point cal wise (started at 2500) and shoot for it for a few weeks.  Based on results I adjust a little up or a little down.  Once I got the hang of that I did the same thing with the macronutrients I take in.  I'm back to tracking/tinkering now as my goal is to knock off 5 pounds this offseason.

Honestly, I think you are using your training as an excuse to indulge a little.  I'm not saying you're being a pig, but that you are eating what your body needs to maintain.

It's my opinion that in order to lose weight, you just have to feel hungry sometimes.  Hunger is the body's way of regulating your weight.  So, put yourself in a calorie deficit, you'll feel hungry.  Accepting that fact might be the first step.

I know, for me, the more I train, the more I naturally eat exactly what I need to maintain my weight - even when I want to lose.  If I want to actually lose, I have to crack down on my diet, maintain my portions, and let myself be hungry sometimes.  I focus on making sure I'm fueled for my actual workouts and usually let those hungry times happen before bed.

It's likely you are either:

gaining muscle if you are eating right or eating way too many carbs and not enough protein which is turning to fat.

If you want to lose body fat (I did not say weight, mind you) you need to increase protein and decrease carbs---even good carbs.  You cannot eat what you want and expect to continue to lose weight. The body is way more complex than just carbs in/carbs out. I wish it was that simple. I speak from experience having lost over 105lbs since 2008.

I sincerely appreciate the input here.

The concept of 'staying hungry' ...   it's been a long time since I was truly 'hungry'.   Perhaps accepting this is the missing link and it starts today.

I guess I need to buckle down and actually start a hard accounting for all my calories and workouts.  Is there an app. for that on my iPhone ?  I've heard of some but which is the best, any input here ?

Funny handle by the way.

I think you've gotten some good advice from the others, but would add that if you are tending to do the same types of workouts every week it might be best to throw your body a curveball.

I use the Lose It app on my iPod touch (it's for iPhone, too), which is a nice tool for both calorie counting and exercises.  It has a decent database of existing foods and you can also add your own foods, which is nice.  It also will graph weight loss and gives you a breakdown of the nutrients for each day/week.  Best of luck to you!

You'll find that hunger has a peak and once you get past it, it's easier to stay on track.  After a big workout, I usually have a half glass of milk w/ a little whey protein - not even a full scoop.  It's not too many calories but it'll blunt the immediate hunger and then I don't find myself off to grab fast food somewhere.

I haven't fought to lose weight but I have all the respect in the world for the discipline it takes.  I do fight with eating what I should versus what I want (pizza and beer, anyone?).

I used Lose It on my iphone for a year, until someone showed my My Fitness Pal.  MFP has a bigger database, that will also go out on the web to check for nutrition.  The downside with this is that some results are incomplete; I think it uses what other users have entered manually.

It also has a camera/bar code scanner for packaged items, which is very convenient.

I liked Lose It, and there were a few things Lose It did better, but MFP wins in my opinion with the bar code scanner and online database. 

Both are free, and have web sites you can also use, that are always syncing back and forth between web and mobile device.

I would also caution that exercise estimates seem to run high on both, at least compared with my Garmin HRM data.  So I'll adjust the time of the exercise to more closely match the Garmin data.

Even if Garmin is wrong on the low side, I figure it's better to err on the low side.

I've done the food logging, calorie counting, diet thing.  Guess what...it doesn't have to be that hard or time consuming.  I stayed at an even 155 despite a heavy training schedule.  I needed to lean out and be lighter.  I discovered Paleo eating.

I was reluctant.  I LOVED dairy.  I LOVED grains (esp oatmeal).  I WASNT sick or unhealthy.  I didn't think I needed to do anything that DRASTIC or CRAZY.  Guess what...it's not drastic or crazy.  It does require a change in mindset about food.  REAL food = fuel.

I lost 20 lbs in the first two months and I've been at 135 for over six months now.  I eat A LOT.  A LOT of REAL FOOD.  Plenty of lean protein and some not so lean (i.e. BACON!!), plenty of veggies, a wide assortment of fruits, nuts and seeds.  Lots of coconut, olive oil and avocado.  Water, coffee (black) and green tea.  Oh, and wine.

I feel like I am where I should be be composition-wise.  I feel GREAT.  I have tons of energy.  I eat 4-5 times a day.  I'm rarely hungry, and if I am it's usually because I've missed a meal or snack, but I'm not so crazy that I binge on crap.

Counting calories is virtually irrelevant.  You still need to be mindful of portion sizes (a typical meal for me is 4-5oz protein, a good variety of veggies, a small amount of fruit or sweet potato/yam.  No dairy.  No grains. 

You CAN support endurance training on this program.  It's not a diet.  It's a lifestyle.  I still cook great gourmet meals that taste wonderful.  I can eat at REAL restaurants with minor modifications.

Read Paleo Diet for Athletes, The Paleo Solution, or check out The Whole 9 website.  There is a Paleo plan for everyone (100% and many variations).  You decide what works for you, but I guarantee if you commit 100% for a month you'll be amazed at the results.

Thanks!  got set up with MFP! on my Iphone!  

I second this idea.  DH and I are at healthy weights right now, but we still need to log our food every few months or so just to keep from creeping back up.  Logging calories and Garmin input (the calories on the food site we used were ridiculously high) is very humbling. 

It is also helpful to use smaller dishes if you have portion control problems and don't want to measure your food.  And, what a great excuse to buy some cool new dishes!  It is interesting, though, how few sets have normal sizes.

And, this is just my opinion, but it might also help to look at/call yourself something other than "fata$$".  Just because you might be overweight right now, does not mean that you are not still fabulous or that you will always be overweight.

I get that you might be motivated by the negative (I sure am), but how about make your screen name "notafatass" or "formerfatass" instead - to remove the idea of yourself as someone who lacks the power to avoid the things you listed?  Because you have that power.   You have done it!

There is a weight-loss program through our benefits at work called "Mind-Body" and the first tenet of the program is "Know yourself better - Judge yourself less".  So, take stock.  If you know that certain things tempt you, rather than beating yourself up for having the temptations, find ways to avoid them.  If you need to drive a different route to work to avoid Krispy-Kreme and Little Caesars, do it.  If you need to avoid the breakroom after lunch or bring some nice fizzy water to work every day to avoid the 3pm munchies (I totally do this), do it.  If you need to put all of your workout clothes/gear out the night before to eliminate all pre-workout decision-making (I do), do it. 

Edited to remove bad words that BT censored.

I can't tell you how or why you aren't losing the weight you want.

I can, however, tell you how I have gone through a similar pattern.

I'm way fatter than you. I've been even fatter. Over the last year, I can point to some objective realities.

1. I've lost a small amount of weight.

2. I've gone through periods of weight loss before that were significantly more intense, in less time.

3. This year, I've trained/exercised more than I ever have in my life.

When I put those facts together, it seems puzzling. Why am I not losing more?

When I am honest, I add in one more fact:

4. When I began training, I logged my food. Then I stopped. Then the weight loss stopped.

I am now back on the logging train. (I think that's a folk song.) I know for a fact, that once I decided I had the diet figured out and stopped paying vigilant attention, it slowly devolved into hell. It doesn't take much to overeat, especially with high density processed foods, and as you mentioned, cheese and beer.

I won't tell you to follow any particular plan. I WILL tell you that an honest food log, is one of the best tools that I have had, and many others have reported having as well. That also requires accurate reporting on portions and ingredients.

All year I've been struggling to not lose my mind over the lack of weight loss. It's more vital to me than a race. But in my case, after years of inactivity, I have become so motivated by moving, that I decided to allow the first year to be focused on training and finishing, so I wouldn't self-sabotage by undermining my achievements in one area because of my failings in another. But now, I know it's time to get serious about the food issues I know I have.

Like we always say here, N=1. YMMV.

sorry - your mileage may vary.

n=1 is a not entirely accurate, but commonly used, shorthand for "statistically this is one person's experience only."

I want to chime in here. I am in the midst of trying to lose my off season weight gain. In speaking with a nutritionist, she felt I wasn't eating enough calories. Without tracking everything that goes in and all the calories I burn it is impossible to know if my body is going into starvation mode. In starvation mode, your body will hang on to all its fat.

In any hard training week, I might be burning up to 1200 calories a day. That means I need to eat close to 2700 calories that day. I have noticed that during the height of the training season, I rarely lose a pound. I think it is because I am not replenishing my calories adequately.

I recently did a 4 week experiment. For 2 weeks, I ate more on my big training days and tried to keep a 300 calorie deficit. Guess what. I lost 4 pounds. The two weeks prior, I ate as I normally did and didn't lose a pound.

I use my fitness pal. It has an app for my iphone and ipad. Yesterday, I had what I consider to be a bad eating day. When I tracked it today, I was still under by 350 calories.

Just my thoughts. I really wish there was a magic bullet to losing weight quickly and efficiently.

Ok, I'll 'bite' and post a reply...  I started training just before the holidays for my first tri (a sprint) this coming June.  I am 6'0" tall and was 222 lbs as of Jan 2nd.  My training time and intensity have been steadily increasing over the past 8 weeks and I now weigh 208 (losing 1-2 lbs/week with a goal of 195 or less by June).

Here's what I'm doing - nothing special...  I pretty much eat/drink whatever I want (on the "bad" side this includes beer, wine, wings, fish fry, pasta, etc, etc).  The major difference is that now I simply eat/drink less of them (1-2 beers instead of 3-4, 6 wings instead of 12, a side order of pasta instead of a full plate, etc)...  I weigh myself daily just to be sure I see that I'm not straying too far from my goal.  As you might guess, if I go out on a Friday night for a couple beers and some wings, I'll see it on the scale the next day and often the day after that.  However, I'll cut down on the amount I'm eating on those following days (including eating mostly "good" foods) and, amazingly, my body responds and I keep losing - slowly but surely...

Edit - in re-reading the last paragraph, I sound like a junk-food junky which is not the case.  I wrote those things so you might see that you and I are appear to be similar to one another.  I refuse to eat only nuts, berries, and other rabbit foods to survive.  Life is about living and good food (even the bad stuff) makes it more enjoyable.  The key is moderation and not stuffing myself as if I'll never see another bowl of chips and dip for the rest of my life!

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not on a diet - I don't do Atkins, Paleo, South Beach or any other 'fad' diet...  Rather, I have a pretty good sense of what's good for me and what's bad for me (I think we all do) and try to balance them out - both in frequency and volume.  Do that and you'll be successful - try to go on a prescribed diet (constantly depriving yourself of the foods you love), and you'll cheat, get frustrated, binge, and fail...

I'd suggest you check out the book "Sports Nutrition Guidebook" by Nancy Clark (she's also featured on this website).  It's probably available at your local library and I think it's also on Amazon for ~$12.99.  She basically says much of the same things - with the key to weight loss being the creation of a caloric deficit (it's simple physics (I'm a physicist)...  it's energy in (food) vs. energy out (BMR + activity) - the difference coming from fat or going to fat)...

Best of luck!

I don't have the all the answers, but I can tell you a few things I learned along the way to  losing 50 pounds and getting close to my goal weight. 

1.  A calorie is NOT a calorie is NOT a calorie.  3 eggs on brown toast is NOT the same as a snickers bar regardless of the calorie count.  It is a whole lot more complex than that.  A balanced approach high in fresh foods, complex carbs and lean proteins is the only way to lose weight in the long run.  And, no matter how gloriously delicious, no-one ever lost weight drinking beer post-workout.  Sorry.  Just not gonna happen.  Save the beer for a Saturday night treat.

2.  It is really easy to overeat after a workout.  I plan snacks that are roughly 1/2 the calories that I have burned during the workout.  A high cardio workout calls for a medium high carb snack, weight training calls for a high protein snack.  Bot DO eat - starving yourself is a sure fire way to put the brakes on weight loss as your body goes into protection mode.

3.  Listen to your body.  Everyone's body reacts differently and no-one else has the perfect advice for you.  My body functions well with lots of protein and very little carb, but not everyone works that way.  Pay close attention to your body and it will tell you what it genuinely wants.

4.  The apple trick - if you think you're hungry, think about about eating an apple.  If that sounds appealing, you are actually hungry - eat an apple.  If it doesn't, you aren't hungry - either thirsty or having a bad craving.  Drink water.