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What is your strategy for losing weight before climbing "season"?

Eat real food. (1)
Not too much. (2)
Mostly plants. (3)

1. Things you can recognize. Not just the name but the shape of the ingredient.

2. It's less than you think. Eat small meals more often to combat hunger. Chew some gum.

3. Bread and pasta aren't plants.

If you do those things, and only those things, I promise you'll lose weight. Exercise is like 20 percent, diet is 80 percent of how you look and perform until you get to a high level.

pvnisher wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:43 am Eat real food. (1)
Not too much. (2)
Mostly plants. (3)

I prefer a similar but different approach:
1. Eat real food
2. As much as you need to fuel your workouts and be satiated
3. Mostly protein-dense animal products

Sure you'll be unable to fit much more in your stomach if you're eating five pounds of lettuce per day, but avoiding muscle loss should be the top priority when cutting weight. Cut out the processed garbage and alcohol, lift a couple times a week, and do some moderate-intensity cardio to fill in the gaps and the weight will just fall off for most people.

I fully agree with everything pvnisher wrote above, but I gotta confess after trying many times I'm just not much of a diet guy. I don't like cooking/preparing food, and a lot of super healthy food seems not that appealing to me. It's not that I eat junk, I really try to limit that, and I make healthier choices when possible (e.g. I cut out most sodas years ago in favor of mineral water, chunky 7 grain bread for sandwiches, whole grain oat cereal in the morning, etc.) But for sure I'm an exercise guy, mostly cycling these days. I just like it, I love long weekend rides. Just me, cycling keeps the weight off, I'm in the 150's this year but I know some of the runner types here are much lighter (and much younger ).

Do what works best for you and try to be consistent.

-Tom

Bean wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 6:49 am

pvnisher wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:43 am Eat real food. (1)
Not too much. (2)
Mostly plants. (3)

I prefer a similar but different approach:
1. Eat real food
2. As much as you need to fuel your workouts and be satiated
3. Mostly protein-dense animal products

Sure you'll be unable to fit much more in your stomach if you're eating five pounds of lettuce per day, but avoiding muscle loss should be the top priority when cutting weight. Cut out the processed garbage and alcohol, lift a couple times a week, and do some moderate-intensity cardio to fill in the gaps and the weight will just fall off for most people.

Manage your protein numbers and plant based protein is just fine.

My weight fluctuates with the seasons. In the late fall and winter I'm less active since it's cold and there's less daylight. So I put on a few pounds. I try to add some muscle mass but mostly I end up adding some fat. As the days get longer I find myself more motivated to get out and do stuff. By the late summer and early fall I've usually dropped all the extra winter weight and then some cuz I've been out running around so much.

Weight (like so many things) is a continuum for me. It ebbs and flows. I've made an effort to embrace the cycle and savor the heavier parts and the lighter ones as they both have discernable benefits.

At the end of the day weight loss isn't tremendously complicated. If you regularly burn more calories than you consume then you lose weight. If not then you gain. The methodology gets a bit more complex but the underlying fact remains.

About a year ago I had a goal to get back to over 20 pullups max effort.
I worked out, but what got me from 17 to 21 was dropping 3 pounds.
Adding muscle only gets you so far and it's so much harder than dropping fat.
I did it by cutting out about 200 calories a day. No other change.

Should we start the count down for someone to mention keto? Keto people will put mayonnaise on bacon and top it with cheese then say, "I'm finally taking charge of my health." Lol.

If you're looking to drop weight and improve performance in an uphill (gravity) sport, there's nothing better you can do than cut out some calories. Do it however you want, either through not eating something, eating less of something, or changing what you eat. But that's your ticket. The rest is just polish.

LetsGoMets wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 7:30 am Manage your protein numbers and plant based protein is just fine.

A cow is plant-based, the word you're looking for is "vegan." Vegan diets are inherently nutritionally deficient, especially if you're going with the "eat real food" thing. You'll be majorly short on protein, essential fatty acids, and countless micronutrients. You can eat buckets of heavily processed soy or peas to catch up on protein but that's sub-optimal.

Vegan for 11 years. No issues with endurance running, climbing and strength training. It’s more work to hit your macros on a vegan diet but you can get the same results. Do you also still think you need to drink dairy milk to be big and strong?

TomPierce wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 7:06 am mostly cycling these days. I just like it, I love long weekend rides. Just me, cycling keeps the weight off, I'm in the 150's this year but I know some of the runner types here are much lighter (and much younger ).

This is it for me, love to cycle in the warm months, I love a long ride almost as much as I love hiking. I drop into the 140s in the summer and really can't put any weight on again until Thanksgiving. Then I gain 15lbs over the winter and the cycle repeats.

LetsGoMets wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 9:27 am Do you also still think you need to drink dairy milk to be big and strong?

Non-sequiteur suggestive of cognitive impairment caused by long-term vegan diet.

Recommendation: steak and eggs with a side of wild salmon for breakfast.

Bean wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:51 am

LetsGoMets wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 7:30 am Manage your protein numbers and plant based protein is just fine.

A cow is plant-based, the word you're looking for is "vegan." Vegan diets are inherently nutritionally deficient, especially if you're going with the "eat real food" thing. You'll be majorly short on protein, essential fatty acids, and countless micronutrients. You can eat buckets of heavily processed soy or peas to catch up on protein but that's sub-optimal.

While I always state vegan is latin for "pain in the butt," I do think it is possible to get "everything you need" out of a vegan diet. You just have to work harder. It reminds me of the gorillas I saw in the wild - all they did was lounge around and chew on plants all day. I can't imagine in my situation (kids, wife and job) being on a vegan diet, trying to stay in shape etc. I know others have and do, so I tip my hat to them. Now, where is my Dr Pepper....