Peso
I've been ruminating over this entry for a while, but a snow day (3" so far) and an typical early rise have given me a little time to write it down. To be honest I've been too busy since the holidays to write much. I covered that territory in this post from a Jan coffee ride. My only ride of Feb so far was a coffee ride this past Sunday w/Dave, although the snow outside is calling for some type of SSMonocog trip this morning.
What I've been pondering is weight, lots of it. I'm as heavy as I've ever been and it's got me mixed up, confused, angry, self-loathing, you get the picture. I'm pretty sure I picked it up over this last Fall and now through Jan, mostly through rampant eating. I eat and eat and eat. I eat when I'm bored, sad, stressed, angry, hungry and every other time imaginable. I work out. I ride. I play. I'm not a coach potato (most of the time) but my eating has been accelerating and I'm in a quandary about how to go forward and part of that is information paralysis. FatGuy is trying to be less fat by using the Paleo diet or some variation of it. His 90lbs loss of these past few years has showed that he can master it. I thought it was interesting that he had a pic of his young self on his site, and his young self was skinny! I haven't been skinny since I was 5! Concerning how to get the lbs off, I look at the options. Besides the heavy meat and protein thing, you have the Mediterranean diet, No-diet diet, Overeaters Anon, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach on and on and on. I'm paralyzed by what to do. Generally I've been overweight for as long as I can remember (12yrs old?). I was chubby early on. Then in adulthood I plumped up an extra 20lbs or so. In 1999 during the year of the 2nd spawn (he's much too good to be called a spawn) I worked out like never before and lost 35lbs, although I was also lifting a lot, so I trimmed down even more. It was great, to be honest. I felt fantastic and transformed, but it also took up every waking hour during those months, either working out, thinking about working out, or planning to work out. As I sit here in 2010, I'm not really sure how I pulled it off. In addition to lifting, running and cycling I also ate well, although the food journal I maintained form them still indicates snacks and such, just not as many. I don't think I'm at a point in life, though, to pull off the same kind of intensity. There's just so much more going on now with the family and with my responsibilities at work, etc. I don't easily see the time in the schedule for all the workouts or the $$ to find the right gym. At the time we belonged to a facility that opened at 5.30 and at 7.00 on Sunday. Those were perfect hours for my morning self. Our pool club now opens at 6.30- too late for school- and much later on the weekends, so it doesn't work nearly as well for the family schedule. Excuses, excuses.
I know that it comes down- in part- to will power and smart decisions, as well as some support, but I just don't think that's as easily done as skinny people think. I have a friend who is naturally tall and naturally skinny and has been both of those things his whole life. He can't understand how you don't just stop eating and get skinny, but the physiology and psychology doesn't support such a simple process. Further, I'm not making excuses, but I don't think the homelife is well set-up for these things. I would love to eat at home more and do healthy meals, but with evening activities Mon, Tues, Wed and Sat, it's not that simple. In writing this, it all sounds like excuses I'm making to myself, but then the nitty-gritty of daily life gets in the way and clouds things. Maybe I need to go to a fat farm for a year? Maybe a ride across the country? Maybe a Buddhist monastery for a LONG retreat?
What I do know is that at my present weight, I'm miserable and can only imagine the attractive health issues on the plate in the years to come. Frustration. Thoughts?
Comments
Sorry to hear the winter crap has gotten to you as well. I'm in the same boat, year after year, and think I finally might have an idea.
Try to remove all choice for food. That's been the only thing that ever works for me. At work I have a specific breakfast and lunch, if I eat too much I'll end up starving at the end of the week.. it's a pretty good motivator.
Home, though, you hit spot on the head - that's the hard part. Being surrounded by everything that the kids have, it's a test of willpower.. that generally I fail miserably at. However! Figure out some really easy things that you won't mind eating, and have them ready to go. Like I dig these wraps with some grilled chicken, black beans and veggies in them - easy to make or pre-prep and require no thought.
To cure the "I want to eat everything all the time", I don't know yet - but I do know that chewing gum helps me. Gives me something to do, and tastes good - I go through a lot of Trident in a week but heck, it helps!
Stick with 'er, it's a pain - but I know you aren't alone.
Dinner's the hard part, we were adding up calories and such a few years ago. I hope to avoid that now but still have something of a plan and stick to it. A few snacks are OK if they're within certain parameters. Sarah did more of the planning than I did but it definitely worked, especially in combination with all the riding. Now, beer is probably the thing that trips me up the most.
I've never been one for specific diets. We just made a point of burning more calories than we consumed, and we're going to do it again. There's no reason we couldn't have sustained it, except willpower, and that's a factor in any case.
Good luck to you. I wish I could be more helpful.
I am working on the eating thing. I have a neighborhood acquaintance who got a nutritionist to plan their meals, which seems to be working for them. One thing I have done as of late, which has helped, is not to eat after dinner. Anything. Doesn't matter if it was healthy or not -- after dinner is finished, I'm finished. And I've found I don't miss it for actual hunger, just for the behavior stuff like wanting to eat while watching TV or reading the paper. But yeah, we all eat for lots of reasons, and unlike some addictions, you can't stop eating entirely.
A nutritionist might help you find the right balance of exercise and food, because you exercise enough that you do probably need more food than most diet plans would suggest, but it needs to be "the right" food. Good luck!
It doesn't to me like you're making excuses -- it just sounds like you haven't found the right tool for your particular job yet.
Information paralysis is a real problem -- the best solution might just be to ignore all the 'current' information and reduce everything to the most basic common denominator --
calories out > calories in.
You can ignore all the other details for now. Even if you lose weight on a diet of pizza, Cheetos, and Coke Zero, you'll be better off than you will if you never lose the weight because of nutrition-related information overload.
I've lost 40+ pounds in the past 11 months, without being on what anyone might call a 'diet' I eat pretty much randomly, but I make a point of counting calories. My health has improved, I look better, and I'm nearing my final goal weight of 150 lbs.
Basically, I just want to say that you can eat like an idiot and still lose weight, so don't worry so much about nutrition and stuff :) Kind of like my buddy's rusty old fixie, you don't have to be perfect to roll.
For you, it sounds like the answer lies in finding an approach that fits in to your family's busy lifestyle and addresses your tendency to graze. A lot of us eat when we're bored; I second the sugar-free gum suggestion. It works really well for me. Apples help, too.
The 'hard' part -- coming up with a reasonable daily caloric target and budgeting accordingly-- can be accomplished pretty easily using any number of free online tools. I use caloriecount.about.com (warning: may have pop-ups; I have an awesome pop-up blocker, so I'm not sure) and can't speak highly enough of it.
Once you've got a caloric target, learn which options at the fast-food joints on the way to your kids' evening activities won't destroy your daily calorie budget (and drink water, diet soda, or unsweetened tea). Likewise, put together a list of foods you like that you can cook at home, and build your shopping list accordingly.
The one giant key is to set realistic goals. For me -- 5'9", male, built like a whippet -- that meant eating between 1500 and 1600 calories a day at first. 1500 - 1600 calories actually goes a long way if you budget. Likewise, expect it to take time -- doctors recommend that you lose no more than 1 - 2 lbs a week.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the devil is in the details, so avoid the details for now. Boil it down to the basics; add the rest later if you want to.
Use a good tool like CalorieCount to help set some goals -- and take your time. I missed my original goals, time-wise, but I'm well on my way regardless. Remember, even if you only lose 1/4 lb per week, you'll still be 1/4 lb closer to your goal every 7 days. Even if you only ever lose 20 or 30 lbs, that's a big bite out of the metabolic doom cookie.
Also, don't worry about the gym, and all that other stuff. You're already more active than the average bear by far -- I suspect that what you need is a strategy that lets you trim some calories without going crazy.
I wish you success. I don't normally do this for fear of the ever-evolving spambots (okay, and weirdos), but feel free to email me at: asher.taylor (at) gmail.com, if you think I might be of any help.