Cutting the fat.

[joejack951]

It's not just that simple. And that's because our bodies react differently to different foods. Sure you can lose weight on most diets as long as you don't overeat but it's gonna be a lot easier if you cut away carbs. It'll also help because you'll feel a lot less hungry if most of your calories come from protein and fat. You could eat 3000 calories of fat and meat in one sitting and not feel hungry for a day. Try that same with a carb heavy meal and you're craving for something pretty soon after the meal. Now carbs aren't all bad, they're great for fueling endurance activities. Though unless you're looking to do high effort riding they're not even necessary for that.

Fad diets don't work because they're impossible to follow long term. Following low carb isn't difficult.

I'd like to suggest that saying 'cut carbs' is a drastic oversimplification. 'Carbs' can include anything from a carrot to a bag of gummy candy. Eating a few hundred calories of the former will yield a very different hunger-response than the latter, but both are 'bad' according to the low-carb fanatics.

As far as eating a diet consisting of 'fat and meat', I can tell you how I'd feel: like sh!t.

So rather than this low-carb BS (my opinion), I suggest listening to your dentist and just cutting as much added sugar (as opposed to what's naturally occurring in a vegetable or fruit) out of your diet as possible. Aside from fueling during a strenuous activity, it serves little/no nutritional purpose. Sugar is empty calories. Enjoyable, but empty calories (much like alcohol but that's another discussion)

[Lewn777]

How does one calculate base calorie need? Sorta skipped over that as if everyone knows how to do that.

For most males it's around 2500kcal, females 2000kcal. But it does depend on your body shape and other factors. Loads of online calculators.

[Lewn777]

It's not just that simple. And that's because our bodies react differently to different foods. Sure you can lose weight on most diets as long as you don't overeat but it's gonna be a lot easier if you cut away carbs. It'll also help because you'll feel a lot less hungry if most of your calories come from protein and fat. You could eat 3000 calories of fat and meat in one sitting and not feel hungry for a day. Try that same with a carb heavy meal and you're craving for something pretty soon after the meal. Now carbs aren't all bad, they're great for fueling endurance activities. Though unless you're looking to do high effort riding they're not even necessary for that.

Fad diets don't work because they're impossible to follow long term. Following low carb isn't difficult.

I'd like to suggest that saying 'cut carbs' is a drastic oversimplification. 'Carbs' can include anything from a carrot to a bag of gummy candy. Eating a few hundred calories of the former will yield a very different hunger-response than the latter, but both are 'bad' according to the low-carb fanatics.

As far as eating a diet consisting of 'fat and meat', I can tell you how I'd feel: like sh!t.

So rather than this low-carb BS (my opinion), I suggest listening to your dentist and just cutting as much added sugar (as opposed to what's naturally occurring in a vegetable or fruit) out of your diet as possible. Aside from fueling during a strenuous activity, it serves little/no nutritional purpose. Sugar is empty calories. Enjoyable, but empty calories (much like alcohol but that's another discussion)

+1

[joejack951]

How does one calculate base calorie need? Sorta skipped over that as if everyone knows how to do that.

For most males it's around 2500kcal, females 2000kcal. But it does depend on your body shape and other factors. Loads of online calculators.

‘Most’ males being overweight, yes, 2500 kcal base. For myself, an average height male (1.74 m) at 68 kg, my base is more like 1900-2000, determined through a combination of calorie counting and weight tracking plus what wearing a HRM 24 hours/day tells me.

I had always assumed 2500 previously and was a bit surprised to see that low of a number once I finally put some effort into figuring it out. A small female is likely to be way under 2000 kcal.

[Lewn777]

How does one calculate base calorie need? Sorta skipped over that as if everyone knows how to do that.

For most males it's around 2500kcal, females 2000kcal. But it does depend on your body shape and other factors. Loads of online calculators.

‘Most’ males being overweight, yes, 2500 kcal base. For myself, an average height male (1.74 m) at 68 kg, my base is more like 1900-2000, determined through a combination of calorie counting and weight tracking plus what wearing a HRM 24 hours/day tells me.

I had always assumed 2500 previously and was a bit surprised to see that low of a number once I finally put some effort into figuring it out. A small female is likely to be way under 2000 kcal.

It always used to be 2000 for males and 1800 for females until about 15-20 years ago when they upped it to 2500. I said 2500 for males because I didn't want any larger sized guys to then start under-eating But yes, your 2000-2100 sounds spot on for a 68kg guy that's fit. For me at 183cm and about 80kg I'm more like 2300. However it's still nonsense as we have to take into account activity level. If I was strapped to a chair and totally sedentary I'd only need 1700kcal.

[gSporco]

Unless you are sensitive to certain foods because of a medical condition; a balanced diet is what the typical person requires to sustain daily activities..

As others have said here: caloroes in calories out.. figure out how much you burn a day and then cut your total intake by 100, 200, 300 calories a day etc.. Lower is better for tour body to adapt if you are okay losing less than a pound a week, and in my experience its more sustainable going slower..

Get a calorie and weight logging app and put in your food accurately.. track your progress and adjust from there.. being precise and repetitive with your logging and workouts will allow you to adjust your calories towards your goals.

Eating a well rounded diet such as 33% Protein, 33% Carbs and 33% Fat is a good start.. track your progress and adjust based on what your body needs.. Ask yourself some questions: 1. Did I recover from my workout 2. Is my workout getting harder or easier 3. Am I losing performance etc...

We are not robots, so one size doesn't fit all.. Our bodys are great at adapting to all sorts of things, however we've become really bad at listening to what it actually needs.

High carb or high fat or high protein diets will all yield the same weight lose results if you burn more than you consume... but it doesn't mean you will perform any better.. Heck you van just eat boiled potatoes for a month as long as you are eating less than you burn and still lose weight.. but probably wont feel great or perform all that well..

Its all balance.. no tricks or gimmicks.. Most people are just trying to sell you something... doesn't mean it the right way

Anyway thats my 2 cents

[Lewn777]

Unless you are sensitive to certain foods because of a medical condition; a balanced diet is what the typical person requires to sustain daily activities..

As others have said here: caloroes in calories out.. figure out how much you burn a day and then cut your total intake by 100, 200, 300 calories a day etc.. Lower is better for tour body to adapt if you are okay losing less than a pound a week, and in my experience its more sustainable going slower..

Get a calorie and weight logging app and put in your food accurately.. track your progress and adjust from there.. being precise and repetitive with your logging and workouts will allow you to adjust your calories towards your goals.

Eating a well rounded diet such as 33% Protein, 33% Carbs and 33% Fat is a good start.. track your progress and adjust based on what your body needs.. Ask yourself some questions: 1. Did I recover from my workout 2. Is my workout getting harder or easier 3. Am I losing performance etc...

We are not robots, so one size doesn't fit all.. Our bodys are great at adapting to all sorts of things, however we've become really bad at listening to what it actually needs.

High carb or high fat or high protein diets will all yield the same weight lose results if you burn more than you consume... but it doesn't mean you will perform any better.. Heck you van just eat boiled potatoes for a month as long as you are eating less than you burn and still lose weight.. but probably wont feel great or perform all that well..

Its all balance.. no tricks or gimmicks.. Most people are just trying to sell you something... doesn't mean it the right way

Anyway thats my 2 cents

Great advice, couldn't agree more.

[AggressiveBears]

Unless you are sensitive to certain foods because of a medical condition; a balanced diet is what the typical person requires to sustain daily activities..

As others have said here: caloroes in calories out.. figure out how much you burn a day and then cut your total intake by 100, 200, 300 calories a day etc.. Lower is better for tour body to adapt if you are okay losing less than a pound a week, and in my experience its more sustainable going slower..

Get a calorie and weight logging app and put in your food accurately.. track your progress and adjust from there.. being precise and repetitive with your logging and workouts will allow you to adjust your calories towards your goals.

Eating a well rounded diet such as 33% Protein, 33% Carbs and 33% Fat is a good start.. track your progress and adjust based on what your body needs.. Ask yourself some questions: 1. Did I recover from my workout 2. Is my workout getting harder or easier 3. Am I losing performance etc...

We are not robots, so one size doesn't fit all.. Our bodys are great at adapting to all sorts of things, however we've become really bad at listening to what it actually needs.

High carb or high fat or high protein diets will all yield the same weight lose results if you burn more than you consume... but it doesn't mean you will perform any better.. Heck you van just eat boiled potatoes for a month as long as you are eating less than you burn and still lose weight.. but probably wont feel great or perform all that well..

Its all balance.. no tricks or gimmicks.. Most people are just trying to sell you something... doesn't mean it the right way

Anyway thats my 2 cents

33% protein isn't a balanced diet, per se, it's either either a high protein diet or a low calorie diet. It's about the ratio that hunter gatherers eat.

That said, I have been working to increase my protein ratio for the sake of appetite management, while also cutting down on alcohol (my biggest problem).
I'm not going hog-wild on carbs, but I'm also cutting fat to assure that I have a decent deficit while being able to train properly.

I will see how this goes for a while...

[bobones]

While doing this you should count calories, and you'll see results. I just started a new program 3 weeks ago to lose some weight for the Fred Whitton hilly sportive in May, and have gone from 73 to 70 kg without starving myself or drastically changing what I eat. I just keep tabs on my intake versus expenditure, so I snack less and go for a ride if I need to burn some calories to stay on track.

[AggressiveBears]

While doing this you should count calories, and you'll see results. I just started a new program 3 weeks ago to lose some weight for the Fred Whitton hilly sportive in May, and have gone from 73 to 70 kg without starving myself or drastically changing what I eat. I just keep tabs on my intake versus expenditure, so I snack less and go for a ride if I need to burn some calories to stay on track.

I had already been counting calories, but I think upping my protein with low-fat foods (yogurt, chicken breasts, protein shakes) is what is making the difference on the diet front. That, and drinking less... And working out / training more. I already look a little slimmer.

[TribesMan]

Well, 33:33:33 is an interesting approach as a baseline before you add excesise to the equation.

Lets say you are 80kg, and you want to aim for 2g/kg of protein daily.
Thats 160g, or ~640kcal from protein.
Then add 160g of fat to this, which is 1440kcal.
And 160g of carbs, for additional 640kcal.

All together that is 2720kcal.

Which is just a bit over the daily consumption for a male of that weight (usually ~2500kcal from personal experience).

Then just add as many carbs as you need/want pre, post and during workouts to keep the energy balance you want.
So with 60-100g of carbs per hour of workout you would increase intake by 240-400kcal per hour.
And if you consume between 600-1000kcal per hour of workout, the math quickly makes sense.
You can easily sustain ~500kcal energy deficit per day that way.
And if you don't want energy deficit, just add some more carbs pre or post workout.

So have a 33:33:33 baseline everyday, and then add carbs to fuel your workouts.

[AggressiveBears]

That sounds like a good way to get fat.

You should base the numbers on percentages of total calories, not grams.

[cheapvega]

Yep

Simple way to do it.... eat the same # of calories every day, watch the scale. If the weight goes up, dial the calories back and vice versa

My weakness is snacks. If I could stay out of the kitchen past 7PM or so I'd be shredded. But I also haven't ridden since November or so.

[waltthizzney]

this guy really said

"I think part of the equation is eating foods that make you feel full. Carbs dont really fit the bill there."

Go eat two baked potatoes and tell me if you dont feel full.

Fat makes you fat, point blank. Carbs are fuel, every cell in your body runs on carbs. Go tell an african to stop eating carbs lol.

No one has ever gotten fat just eating to many carbs

[Maddie]

No one has ever gotten fat just eating to many carbs

So you're saying eat as much chocolate as you like, you won't get fat?

Carbs is fuel but so is fat. Too much without burning it will make you gain weight, that's for sure