Training and Weight Loss

I'll start with the weight loss first.

I think it is a mistake to think that more exercise alone will result in enduring weight loss.  Fat burns best at an aerobic level of effort.  The number of calories burned during aerobic effort is usually put at 300 per hour.  If I train for 6 hours I've burned 1,800 calories.  If I ingest nutrient in the way of food and fluid in order to sustain myself in training ... it is a wash.  I ate what I spent.  Which is smart training. 

Weight loss means that we have weight to lose.  If we are skin and bones to begin with we run the risk of losing muscle mass if we try to lose weight.  Most of us are not skin and bones.  I certainly am not. 

Typically, if we are overweight (everybody decides for themselves what that means), the first several pounds can come off quite easily and quickly by eliminating the obvious culprits in our diet: alcohol, bread, pasta, etc.  Thereafter, i.e., after the initial success, it gets `harder.' 

In my case (190-195) the first 20 pounds came off with little problem.  Two pounds per week was my goal. 

When I hit the 175 pound mark I found myself feeling without energy (physical, intellectual, emotional) for a few days at a time.  That is what I called a `plateau.'  Meaning, my regular habit had been to `graze' during the day; but I ended that when I started the weight loss program. 

I found that I had been too restrictive and unbalanced in my eating behavior for the first 20 pounds.   I didn't have a) the available fat stores that had earlier sustained me during the day; b) I was not eating enough carbohydrates to support my energy needs.  So I had to reflect and reconsider what and how often I ate.

My current healthy body weight goal is quite challenging: 160 pounds, i.e., an actual weight loss of 15 pounds (+/- 3 lbs). 

So I have three concrete tasks ahead. 

The first task is to not regain the weight I lost.  In the excitement and sense of accomplishment I feel at reaching my 175 pound weight goal I experience the impulse to `let up' and have that forbidden food (the glass of wine, the bread, the pasta with cheese). 

The second task is to not be too `severe' with myself.  That is, if I am so preoccupied with eating less that I can't STOP thinking about it I'll get resentful and angry.  We all reach that point where we say something like "Screw this.  I've had a hard day / going through a tough time / I'm a grown adult, not a lab rat." 

So, in order to not be severe with ourselves:

• We need to accept that we are establishing a new `norm' for our eating;
• We should not weigh ourselves every day;
• We should select foods and set of eating habits that we can live with;
• We should not feel pressured to eat or drink differently when in social situations;
• When we predictably slip up we shouldn't disparage or be self-demeaning;
• When I eat the last piece of pizza (or whatever) on the table I don't rush to put on the hairshirt. 

The third task is to allow ourselves to experiment to find what works for us.  I am not a zealot of a particular `diet.'  I'm not a vegan, a vegetarian, a paleo, etc.  I don't have a set of hard and fast rules.  The `third' task is to be me ... just less so :)

Currently my food and eating regimen is as follows:

I typically don't eat breakfast.  Never have.  I like a cup of black coffee in the morning.  But if I expect to be up and active (not training) in the morning I'll have a can of Ensure with a scoop of whey protein even if I'm not hungry.  Because I know that a) I'll need energy later, b) I may feel hungry later. 

I like sardines.  Me and that other guy on the planet are the only ones who like sardines.  So when early afternoon arrives I'll have one or two tins of sardines.  Maybe some ketchup to moisten it up. 

For dinner I eat a salad.  The term `salad' is elastic in our culture.  I used to pile all sorts of stuff in the salad making it into a 1200 calorie absurdity: raisins, Feta cheese, lots of different kinds of nuts, etc.  I've slowly fessed-up to this game.  Now I eat more leafy stuff, carrots, vegetables.  No raisins.  A few nuts.  No-cal salad dressing. 

I may, even, have a glass of wine.  The jury is still out on that.  If what I'm doing is not working I'll experiment. 

If and when I wake up at night I don't graze.  I'll get a `taste' of lemonade or something. 

Finally, many people know more about weight and training than I do.  I am solicitous of their thoughts and experience without being `defensive.' 

Training:

I don't do `ultra' training anymore.  I have learned that putting in all of that time (many hours almost every day of the week) on the bike only left me flat and without motivation to do other important things in my life: be a husband, a neighbor, have the energy to read without falling asleep, etc.  I also found that doing ultra training had me alone for long hours: I was getting lonely, if not actually squirrely.  I didn't cultivate my friendships.  I became distant from intellectual interests and activities.  I had two speeds: Full On and Full Off. 

These days I train for shorter distances, faster.  I live in the mountains and there is a `penalty' for being heavy, chubby, etc.  You climb more slowly and it impacts your overall speed. 

So, spending less time on the bike but putting out more intense effort works for me.  I can participate and even enjoy those other things.  I have more time for people.  I am getting more (and more satisfyingly) active in my work, my profession. 

When I train I make sure that I have had something in the way of `fuel' before I take off.  For me that means liquid nutrition.  One scoop of maltodextrin mixed with one scoop of whey protein.  Drink it down.  And I carry one 12 oz bottle of water and/or a bottle of the liquid nutrition I had as a pre-ride drink.  Depending on the weather (hot) I may bring more water.  I take electrolyte pills. 

After my workout I have another `hit' of maltodextrin and whey protein. 

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The goal is to comfortably get to a lower weight in a reasonable time.  The parallel goal is to do so in a manner that is congruent with a healthy and non-severe lifestyle.

The other important goals are:

• to be fast on the bike (competitive, set records, exceed my expectations);
• to do my work and my job really well;
• to cultivate a better relationship with my family members;
• to have a social life.