Not losing. Late workout, late dinner the cause?

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sinker59
sinker59 Posts: 130
in Health and Weight Loss
On non-biking days I usually stay within my allotted calories. On biking days (most days), I generally eat a little more, but nowhere near what I've 'earned' by riding.

However.... I do eat late. Last night was pretty typical. I came home from work, had a snack, then drove to the start of the group ride, which lasted about 90 minutes. By the time I got home, put my bike stuff away and showered, it was after 9pm when I ate my dinner. At 10pm I had another snack (and still had a bunch of calories left over) and went to bed.

I'd like to try not eating after 9pm, but I can't really eat dinner before I ride; no time, plus it wouldn't sit well.

Any thoughts? (My diary is open, if you'd like to take a look).

Replies

  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
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    When you say you aren't losing, is it you don't lose the next day or you aren't losing at all?

    If you aren't losing the next day, it could be because you're eating late. The food (and food waste) could be "weighing you down" so you don't see a loss. It could also be extra water retention from riding later in the day and then going to bed.

    If you aren't lose at all, even over a few weeks time, then you aren't eating in a deficit. If this is the case, weigh everything that you eat and drink, and make sure you're accurately logging it.

    Also, your sodium is really high most days (some days are over 5000). Some of the foods you're logging aren't accurate either. (Sausage with 0g of sodium?)
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
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    If you aren't losing weight over a few week period, it's because you're not in a calorie deficit. I'd make sure you're logging is accurate. Sodium, whether or not you've had a bowel movement, retention for muscle repair from exercise, etc can effect scale weight for a few days. Weeks? No.

    I eat over half of my calories, typically less than an hour before bed and I lost 53 lbs. Timing of meals is personal preference. What matters for weight loss is calorie deficit.
  • BigT555
    BigT555 Posts: 2,067 Member
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    When you say you aren't losing, is it you don't lose the next day or you aren't losing at all?

    If you aren't losing the next day, it could be because you're eating late. The food (and food waste) could be "weighing you down" so you don't see a loss. It could also be extra water retention from riding later in the day and then going to bed.

    If you aren't lose at all, even over a few weeks time, then you aren't eating in a deficit. If this is the case, weigh everything that you eat and drink, and make sure you're accurately logging it.

    Also, your sodium is really high most days (some days are over 5000). Some of the foods you're logging aren't accurate either. (Sausage with 0g of sodium?)
    i disagree with the first part, just because if eating late is a regular habit then you would still see progression, as with the biking, your body would be accustomed to that exercise so you would still see an eventual trend downwards.

    the rest is true though, check out this post on logging accurately, thats where i think youre going wrong;
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=logging+accurately

    meal timing doesnt effect weight loss so eating at night doesnt make much of a difference, unless its something that happens only once in a blue moon, then it would effect the number you see on the scale but only temporarily, since as the above poster said the waste in your body would be more apparent the next morning as opposed to a day where you stopped eating earlier
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
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    Whoa, 3300 calorie burn from bike riding? I'd start there. That is crazy high
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Meal and workout times have no affect in sustained weight loss.

    Looking at your diary, I'm seeing a lot of inaccurate entries. I eat santa Barbara salsa all the time and I know it comes in many different flavors that have different calorie values. You just have "Santa Barbara - Salsa, 2 tbsp." My Mild salsa has 10 calories (which your diary has correct), but it also has a ton of sodium and some sugar, both of which are missing from your entry. Sodium and sugar won't affect weight gain, although sodium can affect water retention. Having inaccurate entries with incorrect sodium, sugar, etc, may mean that you have other entries with incorrect calories.

    If you log as accurately as possible and still aren't losing weight, lower your calories by 100 for a few weeks and see what happens.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    Your problem may be more sleep related than food. If I eat heavy before bed I have trouble sleeping and am not as rested. You may want to bump up calories at breakfast and lunch so dinner isn't as heavy and your stomach isn't keeping you awake digesting. Also remember as your body becomes good at doing an activity it becomes more efficient and you are probably burning less calories than calculated.
  • RyanG2106
    RyanG2106 Posts: 29
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    when you eat and workout will have nothing to do with it.

    Your either under estimating the calories you eat, or over estimating the calories you burn...........
  • sinker59
    sinker59 Posts: 130
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    Thanks all. I haven't lost any weight at all in two weeks.

    I assumed (probably incorrectly) that with the huge deficit created by riding, I had some wiggle room. For example, if I'm really using 3tsp instead of 2tsp of salsa in my eggs, it really didn't matter - the difference is inconsequential relative to the total. Similarly, if the MFP estimate for my ride is high be several hundred calories, it was probably still OK as I'm 'leaving' 1000 calories on the table.

    I'll tighten up my logging, and start using my HRM for accurate calorie values for my workouts. If it's worth measuring, it's worth measuring accurately. And maybe not have any post-ride beers for a while(!)

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