Fantastic!! Thank you for sharing this, @Figz 
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I’ve currently bee fasting evening meal to evening meal. Just having a couple of coffee’s in the day and then 4- 5 litres of water each day. I don’t find I get really hungry until around 4-5pm before I leave work. I can then get home and still go out for a 1-2hr run before having dinner. At the weekend I’m able to go for a 50-60 mile endurance ride without eating having just had a coffee before going and about 1.5 litres of water while out.
I think a lot depends how used to burning carbs your body is as opposed to fat. I try to keep my food macros balanced and not to over consume carbs or processed foods. I am however not currently doing any higher intensity training above Z3.
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Hi Beth.
This is a massive topic worthy of a whole CoachPav conference one day ! My $0.02 for what it’s worth, based on MY experience which may be totally irrelevant to you but maybe some things might resonate.
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My most successful times of weight loss in the past 5 years have come by using an app - I have used Noon and now use Simple. The reason they have/are working IMO is that they keep me accountable. I am extremely good at over-eating and sabotaging myself and like most people, bad at estimating calories. I am a terrible snacker and conveniently forget how many snacks I eat in the day. Using an app reminds me to log what I eat, log fluid intake and see my macros, in particular fibre and protein. Both apps have a lot of good information and I am learning a lot along the way. Yes, it requires discipline, but this is a good example of where technology can help and make it as simple as possible.
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I have noticed over the years that with food availability at an all time high, I have rarely felt my stomach grumble - it is never near-empty and always being topped up - I’ve found this adds to my creeping gains. I remember my stomach grumbling as. acid when I had to wait for meals - that sensation is rare these days but when it happens, it feels good.
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I have triggers: I drink a lot of tea…nothing like a biscuit or 4 with some tea. Being mindful about triggers so as not to sabotage myself works well.
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Drink a lot of water/electrolytes.
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I have learned to fast and enjoy it - today for example was an 18 hour fast and it felt quite easy. I have worked up from 12 hours. I find that by trying to practice more disciplined eating I have a more structured approach to general well being. By following a simple schedule its helping me change the way I feel about being hungry. Fasting has numerous other benefits other than food/eating too. Fasting is a habit though, not a diet.
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Be kind to yourself. I travel with work a fair amount - its always difficult to maintain a routine. Direction is the key, not one day/week in time. On this note -, if you like to weigh yourself, I’d suggest once a week, not every day - daily fluctuations can be +/- 4lbs for me, depending on many factors. I find taking photos of yourself better than a scale - seeing changes over time is more difficult - the photos don’t lie but the scale can be a slave and you can look VERY different at the same weight or heavier.
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Salads: for me, I can eat a huge, colorful salad knowing that I’m getting fibre, some protein and not going OTT on calories. Salads are something anyone can make and the variety is excellent. Always options and easy/quick to make.
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Stress: I always over-eat when I have work/life stress, which seems to be a lot. Recognizing this and using an accountability tool helps me. I am an emotional snacker/eater for sure.
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Baby steps: they add up.
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Fat is good…for me…years ago I had some extensive testing done and learned I burn fat very well as a fuel source. I was encouraged to eat more healthy fats. It’s served me well. I eat too many carbs - that’s my main issue, plus processed foods.
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Things change: for years I ate with impunity and exercise maintained my weight within +/- 5lbs for 20 years. I can’t do that any more. I need to be much more mindful.
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Ultimately its simple : calories burned through your natural basal metabolic rate plus calories burned through exercise need to be greater than calories consumed to lose weight.
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Limits: we all have them, they are different and that’s ok. It’s taken me a long time to realize that maximizing my own potential inevitably involves challenges and sacrifices - some easier than others. Part of the sacrifice involves food, but it’s just a part. Others include hard work training your ass off, sacrificing family time, getting a life balance and dealing with stress. It’s hard to juggle and easy to be hyper critical of oneself. Pat has opened my mind to this incidentally and I am getting slightly better at being less hard on myself and getting off track when everything is NOT perfect. I’m not, and neither is life. That said, I DO realize that to maximize my potential, I do need to be more mindful about all the components - whether it’s structured training, kit and equipment, nutrition smarts, fueling for a race, looking after my body with meditation, strength training, Massag, etc, and so for me its worth tolerating some sacrifice on the food front to achieve these goals. I am FAR from perfect though so for me its important that I take holistic view of what I’m doing rather than beating myself up when I eat that 5th biscuit. Pat posted a brilliant quote yesterday from Calm " Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most". I am trying to keep this in mind when I think about food and how poor decisions today will mean I don’t start next years races with the maximum chance of achieving my goals. The balancing item though is that this is a journey and life gets in the way, so there is an element of me that accepts the discipline will wax and wane. I don’t get paid to do this, I’m not an Olympian - I’m a weekend warrior trying to find my limits, but it’s not my whole life.
S
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Thank you so much!!! This is incredible information and I really appreciate it.
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Nice add, Steve!! Thank you for this
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