I am going to be really honest with you.
When I decided that I was going to lose weight for the last time in January of 2020?
I had no idea how I was going to do it.
I just knew that it had to be different from everything I had ever tried before. I knew it would most certainly involve bikes though…because I absolutely LOVED riding my bike!
I also knew that it would have to include normal food. That I wasn’t going to be dieting or restricting because that had never worked for me. I love food WAY too much.
After I had lost 50 pounds riding my bike I started to get questions! Women were wondering how I did it.
My answer? One small, doable change at a time. A lot of those changes had to do with food choices.
If you are at all curious (and I know you are!) about the specific changes I made, this episode is for you. I am pulling back the curtain and sharing 5 simple food hacks I used to lose 50 pounds biking, and keep it off. Let’s dive in!
#1: Eat Food You Actually LIKE and Enjoy
All too often when we set out to lose weight we think that we have to stop eating all of the things we love and start eating all of the healthy things.
The reality is that generally the reason we are overweight has a lot less to do with what we are eating, and has a whole lot more to do with how much we are eating and when we are eating.
And. when I say “how much and when” you are eating, I mean are you eating when you aren’t hungry or aren’t fueling for your ride/for your day? Are you eating past when you are satisfied and always eating until you are stuffed? Are you emotionally eating?
So, instead of thinking that you have to cut out all of the things you like and replace them with all of these healthy options that do not excite you? Focus on eating food you actually like and enjoy.
Eat the healthy foods that appeal to you! For example, someone once said that cottage cheese is GREAT for weight loss. That it has lots of protein, blah blah blah.
I absolutely HATE cottage cheese and everything about it. I am certainly not going to force myself to eat something I think is terrible just because it is “healthy.” Neither should you!
I also hate sugar substitutes. So as a result I have real sugar and half and half in my tea and coffee. Over time I started adding less, but I still have real sugar and half and half in my tea and coffee every day.
Losing weight is SO much easier when you are eating real food you actually like and enjoy, not food that your brain has labeled “diet food.” No one wants that!
#2: Keep your food plan SUPER simple
I am telling you, that the more you simplify your meals and your food plan, the easier it is going to be to execute.
You don’t need to go to the market and buy all of these new things, and make a bunch of complicated meals.
In fact, I encourage you to try limiting your choices for at least 1-2 meals a day. Keep it simple. Alternate between a couple of things that you like and that feel good in your body.
I actually have the same thing for breakfast and lunch pretty much every single day.
Breakfast is a wrap with chicken sausage and some green veggies. Lunch is usually some kind of chicken soup…either homemade if I have the time to make it over the weekend, or this delicious store-made soup that my local supermarket carries when I don’t.
I save all of my meal creativity for dinner where I plan hearty meals for my family. Think pasta, shepherd’s pie, chicken parmesan. Definitely NOT what a lot of people would consider “diet food!”
It makes weight loss so much easier when you don’t have your mind constantly cluttered with food choices.
#3: Focus on maximizing the healthy foods you like instead of demonizing the less healthy foods.
This is pretty much my favorite tip, and one that I use as a basis for almost all of my food choices. Instead of focusing on restriction and taking things out of my meal plan that I love, I focus on adding in more healthy options.
I like to maximize protein and veggies without demonizing fat and carbs. This way I am eating a lot of the healthy stuff that feels good in my body and fuels it, and less of the stuff that doesn’t.
I still eat carbs OF COURSE (they are fuel to ride our bikes!). Carbs are GREAT. They fuel our bodies and they taste good! I am just mindful of when I eat them and how much and am honest with myself about how much fuel I actually need.
There is also some new research out there about how the order in which we eat our food can make a difference in sugar spikes. This UCLA Health Article, for example, talks about how if you have veggies, then protein, then carbs when you eat your meals it can help prevent spikes in glucose.
At dinner for the past number of years I have been filling half my plate with a huge salad (with an oil/vinegar dressing). I eat this first, then my protein and carbs, and this seems to provide a really nice source of consistent energy for me…whether I am riding my bike after dinner or not!
The idea is to play around with different food combinations and such and see how they feel in your body. When you focus on adding in more healthy things that make you feel better there’s just less room for the things that don’t. You can still have them, and enjoy them, which is great!
#4: Stay Hydrated
I know that the focus of this episode is food hacks, so you might be wondering why I threw this in here, but drinking enough water is such a simple, easy hack to stay on track with your biking weight loss.
A lot of times when we think we are hungry we are actually thirsty, because we aren’t hydrating well enough.
Water is just so important for metabolic functioning, our body having what it needs when we are on the bike, and for being able to reliably pay attention to our hunger signals and cues.
Some sources will tell you to drink a glass of water before you eat or to determine if you are actually hungry, but I prefer to just make sure that I am getting steady hydration throughout the day.
One of the water hacks I use is to make sure that I have a 16 oz mason jar full of water on my nightstand. The first thing I do every morning to get ahead of my hydration is drink that glass of water.
This way, as the day goes on, I can much more easily tell when I am hungry and am not confusing thirst and hunger.
#5: Always eat something before you workout, even if it’s something small.
There is a lot of talk about intermittent fasting and working out fasted on the internet
And, like many things, you can probably find a study out there somewhere to support just about whatever advice is there. So how do you know what to actually do?
Dr. Stacy Sims is an exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist who often says “Women are not small men.” The problem with fasted workouts and intermittent fasting is that so much of the research that has been done has been on men, not women.
And, the research that has been done with women has not necessarily been done with active women.
All of this is to say that according to Dr. Sims, you should eat something before you workout, even if it’s something small. She talks all about this on the Mel Robbins podcast. It’s such a great episode if you have a chance to listen!
Additionally, she also has two incredible books packed with useful nutrition and workout tips for active women, Roar, and Next Level (which extends her advice to women in both peri-menopause and menopause).
The thing is, that sometimes we aren’t losing weight or seeing improvements in our bodies because we aren’t eating enough. If you are sitting here reading this and thinking, “Stacy, I am doing all of the right things! I swear I am NOT overeating, I am super active, but I am still not losing weight,” it is certainly possible that you are either not fueling your body properly for your rides, or you are not getting adequate post-workout nutrition either.
If this is YOU, don’t worry! We will most certainly be covering this in a future episode!
A Final Note
Our brains really do try to make weight loss so complicated…but we do NOT have to listen.
When we keep it simple and focus on making small, doable changes like the food hacks I have outlined in this episode, we are so much more likely to have success.
By simply eating food you actually like, keeping meal plans easy, maximizing healthy choices, drinking enough water, and fueling for your workouts you are setting yourself up for success and bringing yourself that much closer to your biking weight loss goals.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the biking wellness podcast! Be sure to rate and review the podcast wherever you listen so that more women just like you can start making progress in their biking weight loss goals today.
Ride on!
xoxo
Stacy
Check out my free Lose Weight Biking Quick Start Guide: www.sascy.com/guide
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