Middle-aged climbers with extra weight peer group

I'll admit that gluttony has been my mode lately and I'm paying for it. I am addicted to hot green chili burritos from Chubbys, Santiagos, Bubba Chinos. These things are fat bombs. My problem is being addicted to the capsicum in hot chilis and the fat is the delivery method. Maybe I should just carry peppers around with me like nicorete

36yo, 6'1", 175lbs.
best shape of my life, and getting better,
but my metabolism is definitely slowing down some- i see a big difference between a few days off with no activity and a few days of extra activity.

it's been said a bunch of times so far- portion control.
feel full? you just ate a little too much.

also- cut out (or at least cut back on) sugars, white rice, pasta, dairy.
try gluten free wheat pastas, red and black rices, lots of lightly cooked veggies.
86 cheese, soda, ice cream, fast food, etc. we all know this.
these are things everyone can do easily.
i've also done fasts, cleanses. they're great but not for everyone, they require more commitment; just cutting out the junk is a casual way to change things for the better.

i'm sort of lucky, I have a job that keeps me active which is a double blessing-
needing to be active at work i wind up eating less during the day because meals make me want to nap.

So i run on coffee most of the day and light meals otherwise.

as much as possible-
stairs instead of elevator,
bike instead of car,
walk the dog more,
hit the far end of the cliff for a longer approach.

plus i have a hangboard/pullup station in my shop which helps with motivation.

definitely more work to maintain a given physical state than it was 10 years ago but worth it.

Mark E Dixon wrote: Maybe I just missed your positive contributions. Seems like you have a found a way to keep your body weight down, but I'm not sure it really 'works' for you if you feel the need to post contemptuous comments about others. Certainly doesn't show a lot of insight into human nature or the genuine difficulty of losing weight AND keeping it off. Taking in fewer calories and maybe exercising more is the recipe for anyone who wants to lose weight. But how to make that work is intensely individual. Pure self-control is ineffective for most, both short and long term. I had some luck carefully observing when and what I ate and minimizing 'social' and 'stress' eating. Other folks have other issues that they are best in position to discover. Maybe you're actually a PhD nutritionist, up on the latest studies, in which case I'd love to hear more. But my impression is that you have a narrow background in cycling and haven't recognized that there's more to the story. Actually, even in the latter case, I'd still appreciate hearing your insights, as long as you can drop the gratuitous insults.

I was just joshing around no real harm meant.

Yes i knew it would probably shake the pot and ruffle a few feathers. I kinda figured at least initially though most would have clearly understood the "pun and sarcasm" in my enitial comment.

I think for many myself included eating is and or can be a emotional response to varying situations. I think the first thing that needs to be address for most over eaters is first understand this simple fact.

The second step is learning to find other ways to reward one self in place of food. Mostly i have found that retraining the brain of thinking it is deserving of reward at all for all simple mundane daily shit is most affective. Had a hard day at work, got in a fight with the wife, kid got in trouble at school, short on $$$, cant find time to climb but can afford a happy meal and ice cream cone mentality has to hit the road.

After that i think understanding food nutrition is also key. A good start i reading the labels of everything you eat for say one year. Dont just read em but Google them, understand them. Add to this counting and keeping track of calories for a year or at least till proper caloric intake becomes second nature without reading labels and counting calories.

For things like meat, nuts and veg get a food scale and weigh your portions.

Try to eat as few things as you can that are processed and or come in packages. Pasta, bread, cheese, milk, juice, soda all that shit is are the first things to go! For instance i only allow myself to drink water. Anything else is just full of calories that i can get and will get int the form of food throughout the day. Hydration is key to overall health and weight loss. Once i a week or if i am having one of those days that i might flip my freaking lid i just let myself eat what i want. But if one of those days becomes two days it is time to buckle down for 4-6 days before i give myself a get out of jail free card again. If life does suck and i am hanging on by a thread and my diet reflects it then i must buckle down on the calorie counting and water diet for a month at time with maybe one cheat night desert a week. I no longer count calories as i have just lived this way now for so many years. It becomes a habit and natural just like eating like shit does. To be honest i can only eat like shit or over eat for maybe 2-3 days in a row max before i just feel like shit inside and out and food looses it's appeal.

I say start with a cleanse. It will shrink the stomach. Then get a food scale start counting calories and eating nothing out of a box or bag 5 out of 7 days a week. Either take weekends off of space them apart to get you through more easily if 5 days is too long a stretch for you. Key is if you don't get hungry and you belly does not grumble you are not loosing weight. Long term shoot for one cheat meal a week and one desert. When you get to the point that you can have one cheat meal and one desert a week you can do things like go on vacation with the family a few times a year and throw the diet to the wind for a week or two. I promise though when you do you will miss your regular diet.

Avoid eating out as much as possible. Most all food cooked outside of the house is garbage. Even a fancy steak house drenches a good piece of fish in cream and veg in butter.

Key is finding another way to your satisfaction and or bring calm and piece to your life other than food. Food should not be a reward or something you look forward to after a long hard day. Reading a book, working out, or spending time playing with your kids needs to be the kinda reward you look forward to. Planting the ass on the couch should not be sought after.

Keny Glasscock wrote: Two words-Stevie Haston. Read his blog, get inspired, get fit, make it fun. Climb with joy.

Steve has good shit. Once you get to that level of dedication it becomes as rewarding as bag of chips or pint of ice cream is when you are 20-50lbs over weight.

Ow yeah sugar is poison. look into it for real!

Very addictive also!!

I think the skinny folks are missing the point of this thread. We aren't stupid - we know that exercise and portion control are the keys to losing weight. There are a million other threads on mountainproject that talk all about not eating fast food, cutting carbs, or whatever your particular nutrition hobby horse is. That isn't what this thread is for.

This thread is for folks that have some extra weight to lose. We fucked up and got fat for different reasons, but we are dealing with it now.

Up until now, this thread has been a good positive way for us to hold each other accountable. It is really working for some of us - i've lost just about 30 pounds and kept it off, losing more now. This thread has helped me.

APBT1976 - quit being a jerk and go berate people in a different thread. There are plenty of other trainwrecks dealing with food that you can have a great time making fun of fat people in.

El Tigre, as a contrast hot chiles have really helped me - they are awesome for portion control help. Rather than eating out for gut bomb burritos(which i love but have totally given up), try this:

White guy's version of tacos al pastor:

Cut a pineapple or two into 1/2" rounds, and roast on a grill until slightly charred but not burnt on each side. remove skin and core and slice into 1/2" chunks after it cools.

Roast a pork tenderloin over charcoal until a little underdone. Basically 7 minutes per side on indirect heat. I brine it with water, kosher salt, apple cider vinegar, tequila, and fresh cilantro for an hour or so before tossing it on the grill. Let it rest for 10-20 minutes off the grill, then shred it.

Meanwhile, toast stemmed and mostly seeded mixture of dried peppers on a dry hot pan. I use a mix on guajillo, arbol, pequin, ancho, and chile colorado. Go heavy on the arbol and pequin for more heat. I use a shitload of them and it makes this just about painful to eat. After toasting, run through a food processor until powdered and set them off to the side. Run a red onion, shallot, garlic, jalapeno, and hotter peppers if you want through a food processor until minced and saute in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes over medium heat until fragrant. Add the powdered chiles, a can of crushed tomatoes(muir glen organic are the tastiest - i've tried everything), a bit of kosher salt, some freshly squeezed oranges and limes, cumin, and oregano. Cook it down for 10 minutes or so over low heat, add shredded pork(and pork juices), cook for a few minutes, add pineapple and a bunch of minced fresh cilantro, cook for a minute, and you are done.

Serve it with a tiny bit of crumbled cotija cheese, avocado slices, fresh cilantro, and corn tortillas. It is awesome, healthy if you go easy on the cotija and tortillas, and freezes well. I make a 4x batch of this and freeze portions of it to eat at work instead of going out to lunch.

Thanks Andrew. I'll put that one in the file!

andrew-

hell yes! thanks for that!

I am certainly no expert nor funny enough to try and make a joke here.
At 43 I was 5'8" 185 and unhappy. I started jogging a bit and cycling everywhere I could (store runs and such). Made SMALL changes to my diet. Cutting out bread was actually difficult for this bachelor. Kept making small changes every now and then. Over time these small changes added up to a big change. A year later and I now weigh a steady 155 and am struggling to lose that last 5 pounds. Time for another small change. I have tried the whole dumping all of my food and only buying whatever the latest craze in healthy eating is, that did not last long. Good luck to all. Mike

Holy shit! I am middle age????? Damn that is depressing.... LOL

Colorado folk---if you are up for awesome winter cross training come backcountry skiing with me this year. I try to go out at least once a week for a good day, and several evening trips. Hit me up if you are in the Vail area.

At 41 fish oils help with joints and skin and hair in general. I also take glutamine sometimes post recovery. I pretty much stabilized at 125 at 5'5" plus minus 5 pounds. Consistent training is the key I think

You might look at this site and subscribe to the free newsletter/blog. I don't know that I'd buy any of their stuff bit that's a personal decision.

shapeshifterbodyredesign.com/

BigJuggsjohnson wrote:At 41 fish oils help with joints and skin and hair in general. I also take glutamine sometimes post recovery. I pretty much stabilized at 125 at 5'5" plus minus 5 pounds. Consistent training is the key I think

+1 for fish oils! I also take a good cal/ mag since I have damage to my nerves in the L4-L5. Don't know if it was mentioned yet, but start taking some natural testosterone booster. Not just for libido!! It helps with a host of problems.

HBL wrote: Don't know if it was mentioned yet, but start taking some natural testosterone booster.

What do you recommend?

6'1, 25yo, fluctuated between 172 and 200 lbs several times over the past few years.

I tried the 4-hour-body diet with great results for one season, but found the restrictive diet unsustainable (plus the "cheat days" soon became a chore).

I had some success (was able to maintain ~186-190) simply by taking photos of everything I ate for a few months. The act of taking a photo means you are eating more consciously. I also tried to adhere to a 4HB diet as much as possible, but didn't stress out as much as before. I found this more sustainable, but not as effective after a point.

I recently managed to get under 180 again (last time was 9 months ago), and I think the major contributing factors have been more conscious eating (a legacy from taking photos), generally a lower-carb diet (a legacy from 4HB), increased cardio (I've recently gotten into running, though low mileage right now), and a shift in focus from quantity to quality of food.

I'd highly recommend Frank Bruni's memoir: Born Round, especially for those of us who come from food-centric immigrant backgrounds. He talks about his struggle with weight and overeating, amidst a profession that requires him to eat out 7-9 times a week, in NYC's top restaurants. He's especially astute in his observation that in many families, food = love. The challenge is how to moderate food without sending the wrong message, or how to change our own instincts and emotional attachment to food and eating.

It seems like all weight loss programs fall into one of three categories:

1) Eat the right things, avoid the wrong things (I'm including supplements in this category).
2) Eat less. (I'm including intermittent fasting in this category)
3) Exercise more.

I'd guess that each person has a particular combination of these that fits best with their lifestyle, psychology, and level of weight-loss ambition. I've tried each of these in isolation with either minimal, or unsustainable results. I think for me I need to do some form of all three to have sustainable improvement.

Lots of physical activity seems to do the trick for me.

Try to climb once in the gym and once outside each week. Mix that in with basketball, hockey, hiking and occasional trail running and I seem to be able to eat whatever I want whenever I want. All the different activities seem to work as great cross training. With most of the sports stuff at night still able to balance that with work and family.

43 years old and still feel young.

Chemo did it for me. I'm 58, 5'9", weighted 189 about 6 months ago, now at 159 I'd like to get to 150ish. I'm climbing again, riding my mtn bike, eating a very lean, carb and gluten free diet, lots of veggies, fruit, moderation. NO alcohol. But that's a given. Life's good when you face the grim reaper and side step the SOB.

Do I have to admit I belong here? :)  I'm a bit like Healyje body wise.  I'm 48 and have changed some lifestyle choices to get the weight down.  Dropped ~15 since January and target 5 more by end of September (puts me around 179).  Eat less, stop drinking soda (drink water) and cut way down on beer.  I started running 3-5 days a week but on "bad hip days" I'll ride my bike.  I agree with stitch that road bikes are too efficient - so get off your road bike and on your mountain bike (on the roads) because the wind resistance will give you a good workout (you don't need speed).  I also mix in some swimming just to rotate the cardio and take the pounding off my body - it also helps with "upper body cardio."   "Oldness" is also mitigated with stretching & yoga; surprisingly so.

Stich wrote: But cutting down on the beer intake is also doable.

How dare you!!!