Weight loss is hard
Recently I did some research about heel strikes. What the hell is a hell strike? That's what runners talk about when they talk about running form, and whether your heel should hit the ground in your strides. Apparently you don't want to do that because hell strikes will cause unnecessary pounding on your body. And landing on the front to middle of your feet is good because the arch of your feet is naturally built to absorb pressure. Think of shocks on a car. Heel strikes also reduce your speed because you slow down. See, this is the kind of research I do about running, because running SUCKS. It's absolutely the best way to lose weight, but it sucks so bad. As for losing weight, it's really come to a halt, and that's why I'm trying to get into running.
Losing weight is just not working well enough. At my peak, I was 183 pounds, and in the last few weeks, I managed to hit 174. But now I'm hovering between 175 and 176 all the time now. It's just not fun to lose weight. Even with oatmeal in my diet it's hard to keep off the calories.
Over at Serious Eats, Ed has decided to stop weighing himself every week because he thinks it'll be more effective. I'm not so sure that is what most dietitians would suggest if one wants to lose weight. I avoid the scale on a weekly basis because the plateauing effect is kind of not promising.
I keep an eye out for everything that might work with losing weight. NY Times had a blog post about vegetable purees making you feel full with less calories. They also suggested spicy foods help you burn a wee bit more calories, and cause you to consume a little bit less as well. All that is well and good except I can't stop putting food in my mouth. That's why I'm going to try and take up running...
Yesterday I got up at 6:50 AM to go out and jog. As an occasionally competitive person, it sucks to watch everyone pass me again. Seriously, I'm wack. What I lack in speed, I hope to make up in stubborn determination. I listened to a podcast about ironman competitions and heard about people who go on like 50 mile or 100 mile races where they run all the time and still make it out alive. There are also other cross country competitions where competitors go so hard in the sun that the skin on the back falls off from sunburn. So when I'm jogging in the park, I try to tell myself, "Skin is not falling off of my body yet, keep running. Still able to take in oxygen, keep running." I've ran like, three times this year yet I was still able to go for 45 minutes yesterday. Not bad.
At home though, I still wolfed down tacos. See, that part of weight loss is about incentives. Obviously if a big burly dude sat next to me at every meal and said, "If you eat that extra piece, I will fucking wreck your face." That would really make me watch my portions. Unfortunately, renting a big burly dude to be at my every meal is too costly.
Another thing I've tried... Since there's a digital scale at home, I try to weigh my breakfast. 50 grams of muesli and half a cup of milk. Then at work it's tea until lunch, which we've discussed is oatmeal 4 out of 5 days. The problem is the afternoon. Man... that is a long afternoon. I always end up eating a ton of almonds, which are REALLY high in calories and fat. I just figure it's better than cheetos, but damn yo... 1 almond = 9.333 calories. I can eat almonds like most people can eat popcorn.
It's really easy to understand what's necessary to lose weight, but it's another to put it all together all the time. I don't plan on turning this blog into a dietary log, but it already sort of is. There just won't be weekly updates. If this running thing pans out, I shall report back after the running effect plateaus.
(I invite you to follow me on Twitter so you can get more of my non-sense in another medium.)
Good luck with the weight loss, Danny!
hungry
May 6, 2011 12:33 pm
Man, where do you get your facts? Running isn't the best way to lose weight, and lots of studies have shown that people actually gain weight when they start running programs because their hunger goes into overdrive and they overeat to compensate. Weight training is supposed to be a much better way to lose fat.
A friendly speller
May 6, 2011 12:39 pm
But, good luck though, and do keep it up if it makes you FEEL BETTER, regardless of the scale readings.
No hard feelings! I've just been there myself, and know that it didn't work for me - then did the reading and saw it doesn't work for most others, either. That's all I meant.
A friendly speller
May 6, 2011 12:42 pm
Honestly, the harder I exercise, the hungrier I get so it ends up not being worth it. For me, I exercise to boost my metabolism the other 23 hours when I'm not exercising, not to specifically 'burn off' X amount of calories for the day, if that makes sense? I've never been able to keep off weight I 'exercised' off. Only food moderation works for me. (Sadly.)
Muesli and oatmeal are great foods on their own but if I ate those things for two meals a day, I would be ravenous. I need more protein heavy meals but you may be different. Maybe add a protein drink in between instead of tea? Syntax Nectar makes them in fruit/ice tea flavors that aren't too bad if you don't like the usual chocolate/vanilla ones.
Good luck! :)
Melanie
May 6, 2011 1:27 pm
@hungry,
Thanks! Your encouragement is much appreciated :)
@Friendly speller,
You bring up some points where we agree and disagree. We disagree on what causes weight gain in runners. If it's eating too much, that's not caused by running. That's caused by eating too much. They're entirely separate things. You can totally run and lose weight. Last I checked, not a heavy-set marathon runner who's legit.
We do agree that it's really about putting it all together. Like you said, runners tend to eat more once they start running. So what it is about is keeping your satisfaction in check. For example, that NYTimes story I linked talked about vegetable purees. Maybe runners in the beginning of their running should add that to their diet.
At the end, it's always about how you FEEL versus what is actually working. I think running is a good tool in that it requires no equipment or special setting like swimming would require. Most people have sneakers already.
I've also done weight training before, in fact up until last year I've done it for 12 years. So to say that weight training doesn't increase appetite is also kind of a case-by-case basis.
Mostly this is all about keeping hunger in check. And it's hard as fuck.
Danny
May 6, 2011 1:31 pm
@Melanie,
Thanks for the comment and suggestion! We're both in the same camp of feeling more hungry after exercising. I feel like it's natural to feel that way. Your muscles get tired and they need proteins to recover. For me, warm foods make me 'feel' fuller longer than same amount of calories in salad. So that part of my battle is solved. That's why I started the oatmeal. Battling the hunger after exercise is something I've got to really figure out. Your idea of a protein shake is a great one, I might try that as an afternoon snack.
Danny
May 6, 2011 1:37 pm
yeah man, where do you get your facts?
Running never helps people lose weight. In fact I get fatter just by lacing up my running shoes. I only do it for the endorphins.
No, but seriously... I'll run with you bro. And if you're ever so inclined to give cycling or rowing a try...
Nicholas
May 6, 2011 2:04 pm
@Nicholas,
Endorphins?! I ain't running for nothing like that! I get my facts from my head, the same place as Condoleezza Rice. My intelligence reports are fucking sparkling. Spotless. Faultless. WINNING.
Danny
May 6, 2011 2:13 pm
I knew all those donut posts were a bad sign.... lol. Ok, seriously, let me throw in my two cents. Stop eating dinner. Just stop. Your stomach will shrink and you will feel full and eat less. Simple. It only is tough for the first week. After that it's a cinch.
FN
May 6, 2011 8:07 pm
I think we just have to stop going to BWW and getting 24 wings, a pound of ribs, two sides, and then beer at Applebees. That set me back like a week haha.
Patrick
May 8, 2011 12:28 pm
two more cents...if you restrict yourself to only oatmeal during the day, then of course you'll crave more (junk) food in the evening. But since your metabolism slows down in the evening, you're gaining the weight back. So I think you should switch up the routine and eat carbs and protein for lunch to feel satiated, then eat oatmeal (or something else low calorie) at night. Or, only eat oatmeal for lunch if you know you're going out for dinner.
Ang
May 9, 2011 12:27 am
@Patrick,
It was healthy. Lots of proteins. haha
@Ang,
Yea there's some thoughts to when your metabolism is faster during the day... however I think a lot of that is mired in myth. The old adage was that you need smaller meals and space them out, so they told people who work out to eat 6 meals a day, but smaller meals. End of the day, it's calories burned vs. calories consumed. 6 meals only helps to feel satiated throughout the day and to prevent overeating. The keeping your metabolism part up has minimal effects I think. Even if you can get your body to burn an extra 10 to 30 calories by doing that... I mean, I can eat 30 calories with 3 almonds. haha
Danny
May 10, 2011 11:59 am
Going through it now, I think the hardest part for me is portion control/size and that fact that I'm a carb craver. Being Asian, I don't feel statisfied if I hadn't had rice at some point during the day. Doing little things like switching out white rice for brown rice, whole grain breads instead of white. Eating my heaviest meal (somethign with rice and protein) during the day vs at night and allowing myself one cheat day a week to get out my cravings. After all, 1 bad day of eating isn't going to undo all my progress. I completely agree though, at the end of it, it's calories burned vs calories consumed.
When I work out, I usually burn between 1000-1100 calories a session, and that's including cardio and weight training. I realized that some people EAT that amount in a day, I also am inconsistent in how many times a day I eat and the amount each time. There's certain things I won't give up because of how much I love them. I just make it up at the gym later.
The boy eye-candy helps when I'm huffing and puffing my way through 1.5 hours of cardio.
Ms Fatty
May 28, 2011 9:52 pm