I think Matt Fitzgerald’s book, The Endurance Diet, has sound advice.

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018

The absolute last thing you should do if you want to be healthy is ask a bunch of triathletes about what to eat. Many in the sport today are undernourished and overweight while another group is undernourished and underweight. Don't believe me, just look at the finish line of any race. Don't over-analyze it, just use your eyes and tell me what you see. While I hate the term "functional strength" or "functional fitness", I'll use it because it fits. Most triathletes are overtrained, injury ridden and last adequate muscle tone to a degree they cannot function normally. We can run as the day is long, but that does not mean we are healthy. Don't confuse fit with healthy, they are very different ideas that get confused by our community. I know lots of guys that will run 20 and be fine the next day. If I were to hand them two 20 lbs kettle bells and asked them complete 40 perfect, slow lunges, I bet they would be too sore the next day to be able to run.

If you only want to lose weight, you could go with the calorie is a calorie idea. You will lose weight . . . and muscle . . . Nobody, by definition, can maintain a prolong state of starvation, which is what you are doing when you "diet", eating with a calorie reduction. What will happen eventually is you will go back to eating what you normally did, which means increasing your calories again. You will have less muscle tone, requiring less calories per day to sustain you. You might find you put on weight faster and more of it.

Your goal should be to lose excess body fat, not weight, while eating a sustainable diet (not in quotes because diet does not mean eating special, just eating what you should be). Please stay away from all the trendy stuff, keto, paleo, vegan, blah, blah, blah. You want to decrease excess body fat while maintaining healthy muscle and weight, just do what our grandparents did . . . eat real food. If it is made in a factory, stay away from it. If it goes from ground to plate, eat it. That means meat, fish, pork, chicken, nuts, seeds, veggies and fruit. All of it maintains a nice even blood sugar level (assuming you don't eat a 40oz steak in one sitting). What's old is new. Limit sugar, highly processed foods and anything containing chemically altered "stuff". You will stay sustained, not be hungry and notice excess levels of fat start to go away.

Do some research. That does not mean getting the best selling diet book on Amazon. Those guys are trying to sell you the niche they found to make money. Talk to nutritionists, again, not the guys at the local gym. Seek out doctors. Talk to their NPs or PAs. Talk to 15 or 20 and you will begin to see a theme emerge. Follow that trend, I bet it will be close to what I wrote above.

Great post.

To add in my personal low carb success, I was tracking in a food log what everyone else also mentioned here. Now I can easily eye out my needs when going out without relying on an app

Do some research.//

Isn't that what he is doing here? And just about everything you pointed out, was also pointed out in other posts replying to him. And as a group, I would not put triathletes anywhere near the unhealthy, in fact, they would be much nearer the top in a race to health. Dont confuse a few individuals with an entire population, speaking of which, have you seen the entire other population??? (-;

If you are looking for some guided assistance and someone to provide some direction, I would suggest looking at the core diet. They can provide nutrition plans for you.

I used them 3 years ago and while I didn’t follow it for very long (I got injured), I recently started reading over my plan again and making some small tweaks to my diet.

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blog

I do and love it. Less fatigue and no calorie counting needed.

It sure makes the morning easier also.

It sure makes the morning easier also. //

No kidding, Hugh? Not having to think about what you are going to eat for breakfast is a total load off your mind. That whole breakfast is the most important meal, must have been written for 4% body fat folks. I feel so much better, empty stomach(that has certainly been shrinking) and working out without any kind of food burps. And you "KNOW" you are burning fat in those sessions, and that is quite motivational. I have talking to one of my best friends about this and he finally started about 10 days ago. Like me, he was good on the 2nd day and it is a no brainer now...

And I think when I have hit my goal weight, I can then have a breakfast or two a week with buddies, or when it is social. But for now dont miss it hardly at all...

That's what I did. Once I hit 160 I changed to alternating days. I toss in a 24 fast every few weeks also.

Myftinesspal for 6 months taught me everything I need to know about eating right. Use it. It works.

Also x10000 on the article user ChrisM provided - it needs to be taught in schools.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Lots of reasonable advice here.
Realistically-weight is a result of the interplay between diet (80%) and exercise (20%).
Exercise will only take you so far unfortunately and it is very easy to wipe out any gains from exercise with a bad diet.
Your focus should be mainly on bringing your diet into line. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat small meals and often (ie don't get hungry, eat the write foods). Sounds like you have some low hanging fruit in terms of changing your post dinner routine to cut out deserts etc.
Some things that worked for me (non evidence based!!):
1. Having most of my carbs at lunchtime, minimal at dinner time
2. Overnight fast....ie not eating after dinner and if I woke up over night!
3. Fuelling before training....ie not training fasted first thing in the morning (I know, seems counter intuitive)
4. Adding some strength training into things. At your age with just cycling and your weight your bone density is likely to be pretty average. You need weight bearing physical activity to maintain decent bone strength, so add some gym based work twice a week, more muscle also burns fat better.
Take the long term approach to things. This is something you have to live with so you need to make sustainable life changes to bring your weight down gradually (ie about 0.5 kg a week) and not aim for a quick fix otherwise it will all just pile back on again.
The first few weeks will suck, like any new training program, then the results will start to appear and your motivation will rise.
Accountability is important, get your family involved. Get us involved.
Keep us updated.

That's exactly right. At least you get it. Most people don't.

Calories in < calories out is a given. But keep in mind that some foods are easier to overdo than others. It is easy to wipe out that 500 calorie deficit with desserts, and hard with spinach.

Honestly the best way is to track your calories. As already stated kcal in < kcal out. Then you’ll lose weight. Fitness trackers couples with calorie trackers are great for this. Plus it gives you an excuse to go buy one of the high end Garmins that do fitness tracking and GPS.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

Hey!
I'm 5'10 and currently hovering around 182-185lbs. I'm disgusting? :(

^^This. My story. January 1st this year I weighed 200. On March 14th my wife created a myfitnesspal account for me, on that day I weighed 195. I always thought "hey I am a training triathlete I need carbs". After realizing I was taking in WAY to many carbs and not nearly enough protein I set my Marco Nutrients at 50% Carbs, 30% Protein, 20% fat. This morning I weighed 170 and for the first time in my life I can see my abs. I weigh two pounds more than at all three of my Ironman's yet for the first time in my adult life (55) I can see my abs.

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

It's all about something you think you can handle doing the rest of your life. If you can't maintain an app or logbook everyday the rest of your life, it won't work.

Balance.

Perhaps make a few deals. Say, if you're a person into both sweet tea and beer, give one of them up but not the other. If beer is every day, make it only a two night a week thing.

It sounds like you have a solid fitness outlet with a good routine. Now, just a minor diet adjustment.

I haven't drank soda or sweet tea for probably 15 years, and I'm only 34. I don't miss it. Also, I take my coffee black and drink water all day. Nothing sweetened.

One gap in my diet that helped me drop about 10lb in 6 months was targeting poor choices at lunch. I swapped the burger bar and hot plate lunch in the cafe' at the factory for the salad bar, and whoa. Big difference.

Once you get used to it, you'll watch people grabbing the 2000 calorie burger deal and it won't even look appetizing.

Also, the group rides you do are fine. But, swap in a 30 to 40 minute HIGH intensity session once a week.

I have had 1 hour workouts alone where I log 800 KJ on the power meter, good for about 1000 calories. But for a group ride, it might take me two hours to get to 800KJ.

This is absolutely false. Losing weight and maintaining weight are two fundamentally different things. Maintaining a significant deficit for months on end is NOT a trivial task. This get more difficult as one gets older and our metabolism starts to slow down, and our ability to out-swim/bike/run our appetite declines. It takes serious discipline to hold a deficit of 500/1000 cal/day for 6-10 months at 50. The OP is 60 (I think that's what he said).

Frankly at 35, you haven't begun to see what I mean by that. For better or worse, I've done the in-season out-of-season weight gain/loss thing since I was 24. I turn 50 in 3 months. In my 20s and 30s, frankly, I never looked at a log book. I got on the bike or went for a run, and lost weight. So, I've seen what it takes at every age between 24 and now 50, year over year. It ain't the same.

It was a chore to eat enough to maintain weight back then. I have notes from a coaching session with my coach when I was 33, where he tells me to, "...just fucking eat....eat ice cream if you have to, but just fucking EAT!"

At 50, if I do not log, I do not lose <period>. I've tried many times. I think, "ok, smaller portions, no <this, that, the other thing>..." I make what I think are the right adjustments. But, a month later nothing has changed. I get out the "app", I set a calorie target, I start logging...voila, 3-4 weeks later I'm 3-5 lbs lighter and on a downward slope---at which point I can adjust my target up or down based on the slope I'm looking to maintain.

Once I reach my "race weight", I stop logging food. I still get on the scale every day: 1) to stay up on my hydration, 2) to keep an eye on my race weight. I set an upper threshold, based on normal weekly fluctuations. If my weight goes above that threshold, I'll take some action...but, frankly that doesn't happen. As long as I'm training I naturally eat to maintain. The real risk is when the training volume changes significantly (eg, off-season) where the habitual appetite comes into play during that transitional phase. Again, logging during that phase helps to minimize the "gain".

The difference between 20s-30s and 50s-60s is that us older folks start from a lower BMR, and also have a lower top-end and ability to "just burn off the extra".

What you say above IS true for nutritional choices such as deleting sweet soda, and fatty burgers, adding higher fiber foods, and more vegetables, etc, etc. THOSE are lifestyle changes, and should be treated as permanent changes. But, portion control for losing weight, vs. maintaining weight...logging is an EXCELLENT tool for that job---and it is NOT required once desired weight is achieved.

Another vote for tracking everything you eat (at least for awhile). Weight loss is all about managing calories - simple as that. You can eat ice cream 3 times a day and lose weight if you manage the total daily calories. A big benefit of looking at calories is you will quickly discover that making the choice to eat less calorie dense foods to meet your calorie goal and still be able to eat more than two meals a day will naturally lead you to eat healthier.

But the tracking apps offer an even bigger benefit in terms of "eating healthy." And while eating healthy and losing weight are related, they are not the same thing. All the leading food tracking apps provide full nutritional data too in addition to calorie counts. Track your food intake and in addition to calories (against a calorie target) you can see how much protein you are getting, what your carb/fat/protein ratio is, how much of any particular vitamin or mineral you are getting etc. You'll learn a lot and in pretty short order you'll be able to pick your food based on knowledge instead of just blindly following the fad diet of the day.

Awww.

DESERT DUDE DIET

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

paleo and keto are mostly nonsense,


https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2673150


much better advice in this thread - track what you eat, and there is good evidence for intermittent fasting and calorie restriction giving large health benefits as well as weight loss.


After a certain baseline, exercise isn't much help in losing weight.

Amby Burfoot wrote an excellent overview for RW,
https://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-weight-loss/a20788863/a-weight-loss-manifesto/


"I'll tell you the one thing I've learned about diets and weight loss," he says. "Diets are like politics and religion. People believe what they want to believe, and nothing is going to change their minds. The best diet is the one a person happens to believe in, because that's the only one they might stick to."
...
As Joseph S. Alpert, M.D., editor in chief of the American Journal of Medicine, says: "You only have to exercise on the days that you eat."

Study you cite had .7kg more weight loss average on low carb diet.... not a significant difference? Don't forget the disorders it helps reverse.. type 2 diabetes, epilepsy...

Studies referenced in this good article:
https://www.healthline.com/...n/ketogenic-diet-101

Speaking of which



Originally posted Feb 20, 2006, but quoted often

In fact, I think it's now a ST Rule that whenever "race weight" or "weight loss" is mentioned, this post must be applied

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

You don't need an Atkins, paleo, low carb, high fat, or any kind of colon flushing diet. Control your calorie intake. Count what you eat. Call your own bullshit about what you eat. ...I'm not saying it's easy, but it doen't have to be complicated.

Are you devastated that your doc called you out? Devastated that you let yourself go? Or devastated about needing to change your ways?

Think of it as a lifestyle change and diet upgrade more than a weight loss diet.
From what you have described, you should easily be able to identify the problem areas.

Stop eating crap- Give up on desserts and processed foods. If it comes pre-made or packaged, don't eat it.
Stay away from restaurants for a while.
Stop drinking alcohol.

Study you cite had .7kg more weight loss average on low carb diet.... not a significant difference? //

Well it did say it was within the margin of error, and a single pound or so over a year, ya I would say not that significant. I just wish when they do these studies they would measure a lot more things. It looks like they did insulin and it seems it was the same in both groups, but how about the other 100 factory you could get in blood tests? I like that they used a pretty large group and did it for a year, but if you are going to all that trouble, why not dig really deep to see where there might be differences?


My logical brain tells me that there should be differences, some good, some bad. A calcium CT scan before and after would have been good, that always seems to be left out when discussing the Keto diet. No doubt it has its positive results in certain populations of folks, but at what cost later on? Maybe none, but would be nice to know...

calories in < calories out

But not all calories are equal. If you eat 1,000 calories of salmon and steamed vegetables and someone else ate 1,000 calories of potato chips and coke, the bodies reactions and long-term impact on body fat and weight would be very different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F5o0a4p_3U&t=18s