Plateau'd for Life No More??
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Plateau'd for Life No More??
Preliminaries
Just got home from work and checked the scale (usual time)...drumroll...265 lbs. Not much, I know, but it appears to be moving. This is the lowest I've seen in 2+ months. So I'll hope it continues.
What I Learned
#1 - Be more accurate recording what I put in my mouth. Fitday.com seems to be helping at this point.
#2 - Stop drinking iced teas, gatorades, and lemonades so much. Unnecessary calories. I'll try water w/lemons or limes in it.
#3 - Eat bigger meals earlier in the day. Dinner should be small (smallest?).
#4 - No more eating after 7pm. (Hard because of my work schedule: home between 5-6pm. In bed at 8pm. Up at 4am. Repeat.)
#5 - Increase intake of protein (not to Atkins Diet proportions though!). Protein has a better influence on insulin, helping with hunger feelings. Try small handfuls of peanuts throughout the day.
Just got home from work and checked the scale (usual time)...drumroll...265 lbs. Not much, I know, but it appears to be moving. This is the lowest I've seen in 2+ months. So I'll hope it continues.
What I Learned
#1 - Be more accurate recording what I put in my mouth. Fitday.com seems to be helping at this point.
#2 - Stop drinking iced teas, gatorades, and lemonades so much. Unnecessary calories. I'll try water w/lemons or limes in it.
#3 - Eat bigger meals earlier in the day. Dinner should be small (smallest?).
#4 - No more eating after 7pm. (Hard because of my work schedule: home between 5-6pm. In bed at 8pm. Up at 4am. Repeat.)
#5 - Increase intake of protein (not to Atkins Diet proportions though!). Protein has a better influence on insulin, helping with hunger feelings. Try small handfuls of peanuts throughout the day.
#2
Unemplawyer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: The Natural State
Posts: 459
Bikes: 2006 21" Rockhopper
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I think most of those are good ideas. On #2, though -- why stop drinking iced tea? if you mean the bottled crap, if you read the label, you'll see it's probably not even really tea. I love (unsweetened) iced tea. It's refreshing and tasty, and beats the hell out of plain water. Water with plenty of lemons/lemon juice = good stuff too, but it can get old if that's your only alternative to water.
I recommend yerba mate, if you can find it. It's sold in tea bags or as a loose leaf tea (use a french press). Sweetened with Stevia (a natural, non-caloric sweetener), you have a delicious, nutritious, calorie-free drink. It's great hot or cold, too. Throw some citrus, salt and sugar in and you have a decent drink for a ride. It's pretty well caffeinated too, about 1/2 as much as coffee (or about 2x as much as regular tea). I can't get enough of it.
I know it sounds like BS, but a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. So too does you reaching your fitness goal start with a single pound. There are no insignificant milestones.
I recommend yerba mate, if you can find it. It's sold in tea bags or as a loose leaf tea (use a french press). Sweetened with Stevia (a natural, non-caloric sweetener), you have a delicious, nutritious, calorie-free drink. It's great hot or cold, too. Throw some citrus, salt and sugar in and you have a decent drink for a ride. It's pretty well caffeinated too, about 1/2 as much as coffee (or about 2x as much as regular tea). I can't get enough of it.
I know it sounds like BS, but a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. So too does you reaching your fitness goal start with a single pound. There are no insignificant milestones.
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 6,830
Bikes: Trek Domane SLR 7 AXS, Trek CheckPoint SL7, Trek Emonda ALR, Trek FX 5 Sport
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 751 Post(s)
Liked 1,666 Times
in
980 Posts
Sound like a plan, especially the dumping the gatoraide\lemonades, just too much sugar and like you said, too many useless calories. If you have not tried them, the crytal light individual drink mix is not bad and only have 5 calories when you just get tired of the water and lemon. I drink about 64 oz of water a day at work and every so often need a break from the boredom of it.
Don't forget that Broccoli and Califlower is a better solution for your carbs than a lot of the grain products as they are both high in fiber and low in fat and sugars and are easy to cut up to have as snack foods that don't require refrigeration if they are raw and eaten that day. I take to work and have it at my desk and just snack through the day.
Don't forget that Broccoli and Califlower is a better solution for your carbs than a lot of the grain products as they are both high in fiber and low in fat and sugars and are easy to cut up to have as snack foods that don't require refrigeration if they are raw and eaten that day. I take to work and have it at my desk and just snack through the day.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Topanga, but I'm not a hippy
Posts: 2,820
Bikes: IF Club Racer, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by jaxgtr
Sound like a plan, especially the dumping the gatoraide\lemonades, just too much sugar and like you said, too many useless calories. If you have not tried them, the crytal light individual drink mix is not bad and only have 5 calories when you just get tired of the water and lemon. I drink about 64 oz of water a day at work and every so often need a break from the boredom of it.
The other trick of mine, spinach, lots of spinach. If I'm near my calorie limit for the day, I just eat a big bowl of spinach with very low cal dressing and a couple oranges for dinner. That's about 300 calories and I'm full.
__________________
just being
just being
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Thanks for the ideas. I work outdoors during the hottest part of the year here in So. California. Temps routinely get at or above 100 degs. So I drink alot during the day--many times a gallon or more of fluid. Plain water does get old fast. Hadn't thought of Crystal Light. Maybe I'll try it.
Love Broccoli & Cauliflower too. Dinner last night was largely broccoli.
Love Broccoli & Cauliflower too. Dinner last night was largely broccoli.
#7
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by kandnhome
...why stop drinking iced tea? if you mean the bottled crap..
#8
Out fishing with Annie on his lap, a cigar in one hand and a ginger ale in the other, watching the sunset.
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: South Florida
Posts: 16,057
Bikes: Techna Wheelchair and a Sun EZ 3 Recumbent Trike
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 22 Times
in
17 Posts
Originally Posted by mkadam68
Thanks for the ideas. I work outdoors during the hottest part of the year here in So. California. Temps routinely get at or above 100 degs. So I drink alot during the day--many times a gallon or more of fluid. Plain water does get old fast. Hadn't thought of Crystal Light. Maybe I'll try it.
Love Broccoli & Cauliflower too. Dinner last night was largely broccoli.
Love Broccoli & Cauliflower too. Dinner last night was largely broccoli.
__________________
. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Toronto (again) Ontario, Canada
Posts: 6,937
Bikes: Old Bike: 1975 Raleigh Delta, New Bike: 2004 Norco Bushpilot
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times
in
5 Posts
Originally Posted by kandnhome
I think most of those are good ideas. On #2, though -- why stop drinking iced tea? if you mean the bottled crap, if you read the label, you'll see it's probably not even really tea. I love (unsweetened) iced tea. It's refreshing and tasty, and beats the hell out of plain water. Water with plenty of lemons/lemon juice = good stuff too, but it can get old if that's your only alternative to water.
I recommend yerba mate, if you can find it. It's sold in tea bags or as a loose leaf tea (use a french press). Sweetened with Stevia (a natural, non-caloric sweetener), you have a delicious, nutritious, calorie-free drink. It's great hot or cold, too. Throw some citrus, salt and sugar in and you have a decent drink for a ride. It's pretty well caffeinated too, about 1/2 as much as coffee (or about 2x as much as regular tea). I can't get enough of it.
I know it sounds like BS, but a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. So too does you reaching your fitness goal start with a single pound. There are no insignificant milestones.
I recommend yerba mate, if you can find it. It's sold in tea bags or as a loose leaf tea (use a french press). Sweetened with Stevia (a natural, non-caloric sweetener), you have a delicious, nutritious, calorie-free drink. It's great hot or cold, too. Throw some citrus, salt and sugar in and you have a decent drink for a ride. It's pretty well caffeinated too, about 1/2 as much as coffee (or about 2x as much as regular tea). I can't get enough of it.
I know it sounds like BS, but a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. So too does you reaching your fitness goal start with a single pound. There are no insignificant milestones.
#10
Mmmmm Donuts!
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Crownsville, MD
Posts: 2,069
Bikes: 1998 IF Crown Jewel
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Congrats. Plateuing sucks big time. I thought i was going one a couple weeks ago. Turns out i wasnt riding enough. The Fitday sounds like a good idea. I've just started using My-Calorie-Counter to do the same thing. I like the journal style entry and the fact that it will track activity calories too. The summary reports are already showing me a trend of way too much sodium in my diet. I've cut out anything white already in favor of whole grains. As a consequence my fiber intake is more than it needs to be. Bottom line is I'm happy as long as my calories out is equal or greater to 7000+ more than i take in. Keeping track of it all seems to help with motivation. I've also noticed a personal trend of 10lbs per 500 miles ridden given the same constant calorie intake. Its seems to happen reguardless of time span needed to go the 500 miles. Right now im averageing 125-150 per week. As the weather warms up and the mornings along with it, i'm going to be ramping it up to 200 a week as best i can.
I havnt had bad luck with eating after 7. I just try not to eat within 2-3 hrs of bedtime. Im a late to bed kind of guy anyway. 11:30-12:30 most nights.
My only drink vices are Caffiene Free Diet Coke and Sprite Zero. 1-2 cans a day. The rest of the time water and a large coffee in the AM.
If i have to give up coffee, i'll probably kill myself.
I havnt had bad luck with eating after 7. I just try not to eat within 2-3 hrs of bedtime. Im a late to bed kind of guy anyway. 11:30-12:30 most nights.
My only drink vices are Caffiene Free Diet Coke and Sprite Zero. 1-2 cans a day. The rest of the time water and a large coffee in the AM.
If i have to give up coffee, i'll probably kill myself.
__________________
John
'09 Cannondale CAAD9 - Team Latitude/ABRT Special.
'04 Lemond Victorie Ti
'98 IF Crown Jewel (dead)
'92 Trek2100 (TT)
'50 something Gino Bartali (fixer)
'02 Ducati ST4s (Moto-Ref mount)
My Blog
John
'09 Cannondale CAAD9 - Team Latitude/ABRT Special.
'04 Lemond Victorie Ti
'98 IF Crown Jewel (dead)
'92 Trek2100 (TT)
'50 something Gino Bartali (fixer)
'02 Ducati ST4s (Moto-Ref mount)
My Blog
Last edited by FatguyRacer; 05-08-07 at 08:15 AM.
#11
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Unfortunately, my bedtime is 8-9pm as I get up at either 4 or 5am to commute to work. So, I'm definitely eating too close to bedtime, but not much I can do about it now. Like tonight, I won't get home until about 8pm-ish. Eat, then straight to bed. Oh well...
#12
Destroyer of Wheels
Don't worry too much about eating right before bedtime - there's quite a bit of research out there that debunks that. More likely if you wait till dinner you overdo it - so if you have a sensible balanced dinner you're not going to gain weight all because you ate it before you sleep. Remember you are burning calories while you sleep (especially if you have a lot of muscle) - your dinner shouldn't be 2000 calories anyway.
__________________
The Almighty Clyde FAQ || Northeast Index
eTrex Vista References || Road Reference
It's the year of the enema!
The Almighty Clyde FAQ || Northeast Index
eTrex Vista References || Road Reference
It's the year of the enema!
#13
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Update
Last night's weigh-in: 260.4 pounds! Hoping this trend continues.
I'm tracking everything I eat on the fitday website. It's almost hard to eat enough food. Still doing between 2200--2600cals/day. I'll have to bring more food to work. RIght now, munching on peanuts, apples, oranges, and occasional granola bar.
Last night's weigh-in: 260.4 pounds! Hoping this trend continues.
I'm tracking everything I eat on the fitday website. It's almost hard to eat enough food. Still doing between 2200--2600cals/day. I'll have to bring more food to work. RIght now, munching on peanuts, apples, oranges, and occasional granola bar.