Hate food

Proverbial10lbs

So - I hate food. I love to workout - and am a consistent 530 am'er doing HIIT classes daily (except Sunday). While I am ok tone, I'm not great tone and would really like to be great tone (aka Jen Widerstrom tone). I'm 5'3" currently weigh 130 and am 48 years old. I have lost weight in the past getting down to 118-120 and really liked the way my clothes felt at that weight but also did it by only eating eggs, chicken and avocados (veggies in there too - but those 3 were the main staples)- which got old real fast and therefore the reason I did not sustain. I hate to cook - have tried the "prepare foods on Sunday for the week" thing and again got old really quick (after one week lol). So I guess I'm a lazy weight loser... I am now considering the carb cycling method as that seems like food will be less restrictive - I will be able to have that piece of chocolate on high carb days and maybe a beer...or 2? My question is, what would be considered a high carb day - I don't leave the gym until I burn 600 cals, so I'm not sure which days would be considered harder than another.
Thanks - really wanting to do something that will stick this time.

inertiastrength

I prefer to eat similar amounts every day so I can't help with the cycling part but have you tried just a caloric deficit rather than specific foods? You'd be a lot more flexible in terms of prepared things you can buy vs have to make if you hate cooking.

middlehaitch

Just so you know, you don't have to carb cycle to have chocolate and beer.
Eat food you like, meet your nutrition goals, aim for a .5 lbs a week deficit as you have little to lose.

You could also work from a weekly, instead of daily, calorie goal so you can have higher cal and lower cal days.

Cheers, h.

Silentpadna

Didn't know who she was, but looked her up. I don't know what @Proverbial10lbs looks like, but my hunch is that if you want to look like Jen W, HIIT won't necessarily do that. To me, and I'm no expert, she looks like she's used a bunch of resistance training.

Perhaps a recomp is in order?

lemurcat12

Yes, I was going to suggest adding a progressive lifting program and eating close to maintenance. She has generally looked to me like she can move some weight (although googling around she has a variety of looks I found).

Do you hate food or just how restrictive you think you have to eat/cooking?

VintageFeline

Eat food you like, even "lazy" food. You can just have lower days and higher days to better accommodate the beer and chocolate. No need to carb cycle, more like calorie cycle.

And to reiterate, have a small deficit/close to maintenance and do some resistance training with your HIIT. I do HIIT bodyweight but I also add in weights (mod weight/mod rep supersets mostly). Strength training is where it's at for the fit and lean look. jen for sure lifts and has a good muscle base to look like she does when she gets to a low enough bodyfat %.

Psychgrrl

I love food, but hate to cook. I don't really know how. I can broil and sauté.

I'm 5'3, 120 and 46. I do Ashtanga yoga 3-4 times a week for 90 minutes (studio class), HIIT two days a week, hike on the weekends, and yoga on my own the days I don't take class. I lift full-body once a week.

I have goals associated with fitness, hr during HIIT and recovery time, yoga poses, increasing my one-rep max weight.

I've been in maintenance for a while. Almost two years.

For food for work, I toss frozen veggies, protein, and sometimes potato or beans in for a couple small meals. I have a protein shake for breakfast. I usually make a London broil on the weekend and have a 3-5 oz serving throughout the week.

I keep hard boiled eggs, pre-portioned cheese and nuts and a a couple cases (cheaper that way) of quest protein chips under my desk along with various bars. I also have bone broth (all protein, low-sodium) in my fridges (work and home). I am all about the ease and nutrition when it comes to food. Week day dinner is often yogurt (Skyr) and fruit. Weekends when I have more time it's often egg whites and veggies. Usually with beans, sometimes potatoes.

My macros are about 1/3 each. But I'm not overly strict about it as long as I get fiber, ample protein and healthy fat.

I'm working on body composition. I'm at a very healthy weight, but want to increase my lean mass. So far, it's working on the basis of how my clothes fit. Going for my first BodPod next month. They also do VO2 Max and BMR. Three tests with a six month follow up.

Anyway, the long post was to give you food ideas for the non-cooks as well as a possible focus for non/weight loss goals.

Great work so far and good luck!

Proverbial10lbs

Thanks for all of these ideas!! Makes it seem a lot simpler than the way I'm going about it. Will definitley look into more strength training to get leaner and work on portion control.

jgnatca

I think you are a variety lover like me.

I keep lots of staples around and plan my meals based on what moves me.

I mix and match my carbs with my proteins.

I cycle between Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Indian. If you don't like cooking you can get prepared sauces.