Badger_South said:Quoted message said:Jiminy. My post-workout snack has 22 carbs. =:-O Which I seem to
really need. I don't notice right away if I skip the snack, but after
several days of skipping it, my legs start feeling rundown.
If you need it, do it. I will also do some protein powder and some
complex carbs after workouts. My legs are doing fine. If you're at
your own target weight and nothing bulges, then why are you worried
about diet. OTOH, if you're biking and eating carbs and are still
'fat', then you're not dieting correctly, and you are taking in more
calories than you need, or at the wrong times. Do you have fat and
weight you want to lose? Why?
Oh, I'm not at my target weight, hehe. I had about 20 pounds to lose
when I started cycling again two months ago -- my target weight is what
charts peg me at a BMI of 20, but if cycling gives me some extra muscle
mass, I'll have to figure that in as I approach it, but my doctor
doesn't have any problem at all with my goal (she took a careful look at
my diet and exercise program and told me to keep at it). I've got my
caloric intake a touch below the "if all I did was watch TV" maintenance
level, and exercise 6 days a week (varying intensities, and according to
a schedule). It's the heart-healthy, low-fat, low sodium diet promoted
by the American Heart Association. I lost 3 pounds right away, then
stalled for 7 weeks while putting on lean muscle mass (I do weight
training 3 days a week on top of cycling); I was definitely losing fat,
it just wasn't showing on the scale. Now the muscle growth seems to
have slowed and the scale's going down again, a pound or so a week. I
spent 13 years largely inactive, and they say if you do that you can
lose 6-7 pounds of muscle mass per decade. *sigh*
A lot of my bias against Atkins is probably due to this woman I knew
until recently -- I suppose I need to do my own research on that diet,
but I'm not motivated because I don't intend to follow it. It might be
a matter of pride, I guess, but it made me determined to get into shape
with a nice healthy low-fat, low sodium diet.
She claimed to be an Atkins devotee. She wouldn't eat anything I
consider healthy except the odd green leafy salad here or there,
slathered with HUGE amounts of sour cream and guacamole -- as long as it
didn't have carrots. She wouldn't eat carrots, or broccoli, or
cauliflower, or any colorful vitamin-rich vegetables because "they have
too many carbs." She wouldn't touch a piece of fruit, period, but would
splurge on dark chocolate. All she'd eat was food that was heavy in fat
and cholesterol and salt, claiming she didn't need to limit calories if
she limited carbs, but then she'd lose control and pig out on Sour Cream
'n' Onion Pringles, cheese puffs, Ritz crackers, dark chocolate, or all
four at once. *shudder* I watched all this in horror for over a year,
as she only grew fatter, and I vowed I'd never subscribe to such
quackery. Personally, I think she's killing herself, and I know her
refusal to eat any fruits and most vegetables is probably a mockery of
what Atkins really recommends, but it's left me with the cold shudders.
Well anyway. The recommendations from the American Heart Association
work for me and my husband, whose father has high blood pressure, so we
need to be aware of that risk (on my side of the family, there's just
lots of alcoholism and cancer, oh joy). I just limit my portions. The
nice thing about AHA cookbooks is that they give approximate caloric
values per serving, so I get a good idea of how much I can safely eat
and stay under my self-imposed limit.
Probably more than you wanted to know. ;-)
-km
--
the black rose
proud to be owned by a yorkie
http://community.webshots.com/user/blackrosequilts
