Thanks all...it WAS a happy day, and today is another HAPPY day.
I lost another half pound and was down to 159.2
That's my goal till tomorrow, just stay under the 160 mark.
I ate low calorie yesterday and will try again today to eat low calorie. Only exercise was dancing last night. It was an easy dance night as it was hot there, and I burned 500 calories in 2.5 hours.
My clothes are getting very loose now and I am hunting down new/old things to wear. It's nice and a bother all at the same time. I really don't want to buy clothes at this time, and I don't want to sew (though I'm getting in the mood.)
I did buy new cowboy boots last week, that was cool.
Yet another week down and time to post weekly results. Good week, no clue why, it just was. I do seem to show a better loss when my avg deficit starts getting up into the 40% range vs. the 30% range.
I'm also posting an image from the GWF summary of the last 7 days. I was a tad under each goal, cals burn and cals consumed, but I still reached my 1000 cal deficit. I think that is very important. I do think the weight comes off easier on lower cals though. A good reason to not over-exercise while dieting.
You can also see I'm meeting my goal of over 100g of protein. If my bodyfat calculations are correct, my LBM is about 108lbs. I measured my BF this morning (tanita and omron) and measure at 31% BF. That is in accordance to my BF two weeks ago, the BF dropped, but the lean didn't change (only by 0.2 lbs, up.)
No specific goals yet for the week. I will continue to eat the way I tend to eat, and exercise will be similar too.
Oh, since I am doing a Labor Day Challenge on 3FatChicks, I will extend my diet by 1 week. I thought I had calculated that my 12 weeks would be over on Labor Day, but I was off one week. My goal for that challenge was to get under 155 lbs, and with 3 weeks to go I can make it (most likely.) But with only 2 weeks, I'm calling it close. So I will take the extra week, complete that challenge, and go on to my maintenance phase.
It's interesting to see how your carbs are equal to the protein intake while fats are almost exactly 1 gram of fats per kg BW (159lbs = 72kg). I've also experienced that I can't really go any lower than 1g of fat/kg BW
Pro-gest is a "natural progesterone cream" since I'm having majorly whacky hormonal cycles (period every 1.5 weeks lately.) Over a year ago the doctor had put me on BCP as my hormones were low and said I should be through menopause by now. I'm only 46 and she didn't want that. But they caused high blood pressure. I'm just hoping to see if this helps my cycle a bit, I really don't want to take hormones, I just want it all over with.
As far as the fat in my diet goes, honestly, it's all from sunflower seeds. I'm on a major kick and can't get off. Since I'm losing fine, I've decided not to worry about getting off (plus it keeps me nicely "regular.")
Many years ago I did the Atkins diet and though it wasn't for me, I did determine that high fat WAS for me. Problem is when you you do high fat, something else has to go down.
But I seem to be at a good place right now. And when I eat more carbs, I just have higher calorie days.
Your explanation makes perfect sense. Also, something interesting came up today .. how researchers discovered that monkeys will eat more carb-rich foods when protein-rich foods are not abundant.. to the extent that they will still hit a certain 'protein target'.
Apparently they have a tight range for how much protein they are getting and if the protein they need is not available as a protein-rich source, they will turn to other foods & get their protein that way, even if it means eating more calories overall.
The researchers think this is also how people eat 'spontaneously' even when they aren't aware of it.. a lot of people will not eat lean meat/fish/chicken/eggs etc. but will eat plenty carby/fatty foods instead and.. still end up eating the same amount of protein as they eat when they had stuck to lean protein sources... but of course eat waaaaaaaaaaay more calories.
I've been tracking food intake rather meticulously for 5 years now and can say there isn't a whole lot of fluctuation in the protein intake, except when I weaned myself off the dairy foods which meant going down from close to 200g/day to approx. 140g on average (or 3g/kg LBM). More than what most eat but less than what some people get.
I've got a hunch that the body also has similar but maybe less profound preferences for carb & fat intake ... but again as you say when carb goes up, fat goes down & vice versa. And not always intentionally, it will happen spontaneously
One pig out day has made me not want to diet. Well, not diet isn't right, but not eat right. I'm so darn sick of protein right now that I think I will blow it off for a few days. Just eat foods that sound good and count the calories.
My neck still hurts and I have referred pain above my left eye. I took motrin and have a massage scheduled later.
I had planned on the gym today, but I might skip it now.
One pig out day has made me not want to diet. Well, not diet isn't right, but not eat right. I'm so darn sick of protein right now that I think I will blow it off for a few days. Just eat foods that sound good and count the calories.
I admit that I lightened up on my protein requirements a while back. Partly because of all the fresh fruit, but mainly because I'm not always feeling like a big chunk of meat for dinner, and lunch, and breakfast. However, it definitely does tend to keep you on the straight and narrow. In the end though I really do believe that it's all about calories.
You might be needing a diet break. I take one day a week, the day before I weigh (helps keep me a little honest) that I eat what I want within reason. Of course, I am not losing any weight so my idea may not be the best
__________________
Peaches
The journey to health and fitness
Should be taken
Because you love yourself,
Not because you hate your body
One pig out day has made me not want to diet. Well, not diet isn't right, but not eat right. I'm so darn sick of protein right now that I think I will blow it off for a few days. Just eat foods that sound good and count the calories.
My neck still hurts and I have referred pain above my left eye. I took motrin and have a massage scheduled later.
I had planned on the gym today, but I might skip it now.
I feel like a slacker.
These days happen. You're not a slacker though, just burning out. Take a few days to be relaxed about things and come back to it in a week or so. Don't go wild but loosen up your rules. Keep moving. I usually find that after a good refeed I'm ready and able to go back to a deficit with relative ease. Good luck!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost Dog
Plus, my desire to remain stunningly attractive outweighs the call of the cheesecake. mostly...
Maybe stop tracking in such a detailed way for a while & eat intuitively to see where this ends at for you? Just 2 weeks ... I've done it a few years ago for a month and that was way too long.. but 1-2 weeks can be a refreshing break from tracking.
Maybe as an alternative: write down what you ate but do NOT do the math until those 2 weeks are over. That's what I did when travelling for 2 weeks in France a year after the failed attempt to not track.. very very insightful to see what happened in those 2 weeks... intake creeping up & attitude getting more lax & yet come back with the exact same scale weight.. not a huge amount of intense activity , yet being on my feet or driving all day long & setting up a tent nearly every night did add up in the end.
Just a thought.. oh, as for getting tired of protein, it's why I stay lowish on the low kcal days & only pound the protein on the higher days. Otherwise I'd have been sick & tired of all the protein as well.
I can't believe I missed the (well deserved) party for this! Although I'm late, BIG CONGRATS!!!
I love watching your progress in here. It's the most sane approach to weight loss I've seen logged in a really long time - very refreshing
In regards to your comment about protein - if you just aren't feeling it, why not just cut back on it some? As realcdn says, at the end of the day, it really is about the calories. And your muscles won't fall off if you lower protien for a bit.
Then again, if you've been dieting for a long while, maybe your mind shift is just a sign that its time for a diet break.
Thanks so much for all the comments. I really need them right now. I feel guilty that I'm not commenting in other logs right now, I'm just not there for some reason.
Yes, I need a break, I'm sick of this.
Why did it hit so fast?
My one day pig out turned into two days. The worst part honestly is that I drank (too much) both days, and I pigged out on old candy too. So I think I'm feeling some stress or something. My stomach feels queasy this morning form my binge. Oh, and I didn't take my vitamins for the last 2 days either.
I'm not ready to take my break, I really want to get to Labor Day, as I'm doing a challenge on 3FatChicks.
Instead I'm reeling it in. It's the protein that keeps me on track, so I'm eating my 1egg/4 white omelet with spinach right now, and will do my best to eat well today and get back on track.
The weather has been sucky so I haven't been walking. My neck was hurting so I didn't go to the gym.
Can you see the slippery slope here???
Plus school has started and I want to get back to my habit of holeing up in my sewing room and sew and watch Netflix....no exercise involved there.
Tonight is dance night, so a good 500+ calories burned there. I will get my butt to the gym for some weights and cardio (1 hour tops for both) and try to regroup.
Hugs for you Annette!
Overeating (or drinking) is a big stress relief for many, imaginary or not.
Also, when you are exercising (cardio and/or lifting), you become more insulin sensitive so aren't getting the same kind of ugly carb cravings as when you are sedentary.. plus you're burning the extra calories off. (overdoing it in the gym has other drawback again)
Good luck!
BTW, seeing sunshinekisses come in for the congratulations made me realize that I hadn't congratulated you on it yet..so BIG CONGRATS on your achievements sofar!
Annette, good job on recognizing behaviors that won't get you to your goal and working to curtail them. I certainly understand about losing motivation but wanting to stick to a goal--I'm starting to have similar feelings with OPT, particularly because of my slowdown the past couple of weeks. But I want to finish the 12 weeks.
Good luck on meeting your goal and with the challenge!
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
Hi Annette! I'm rooting for you to get it together and complete your 3FatChicks challenge! Here's a mental exercise that may help you feel better. (This is based on my own stress level for the past 2 days). Imagine that you have a teenager or two in your home that keep driving you nuts. Now, imagine that the teenagers are gone! Voila - reduced stress and a feeling of relief! No need for vodka.
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Moondust The older I get, the older old gets.
I did better today, ate about 1500+ and have not uploaded the GWF since last night. I might just track food and then enter it all in a few days (into my GWF excel file.)
I sewed a skirt, that was fun.
Now I'm off to go dancing (500+ calories will be spent.)
My one day pig out turned into two days. The worst part honestly is that I drank (too much) both days, and I pigged out on old candy too. So I think I'm feeling some stress or something. My stomach feels queasy this morning form my binge. Oh, and I didn't take my vitamins for the last 2 days either..
This is a really good thing, really. The more breakdowns we have that "we think will only be one day," but wind up being past our commitment or control, but if we can catch them in 2 days and come back to the food plan and the good protein that loves and protects us, the more we build the habit of rebounding quickly.
For me, a binge will always be a threat. If I can learn to ride over or through the binge, enjoy it, see how dumb it is eating old candy, laugh a bit at oneself.... if I can build the habit of moving through the binge quickly, then I think I can learn to live on maintenance rather than yo-yo gaining that dreaded 20-40 lbs.
And writing the binge is part of that; congrats on your quick recovery binge!
Well, I've decided this is a maintenance week now. So when I'm done, be it 1 week or 2, I'll go back on the diet.
I think much of it had to do with the fact that school started this week, and now I'm up at 6 am vs. 8:30, and the whole schedule has changed.
And I've had too many opportunities to eat out, lunch part with some friends, then I took my daughter in for surgery this morning and we did breakfast afterwards. I plugged in the calories and had to laugh at 777 cals for breakfast, and chances are it was more.
So I'm going to do my best to stick to maintenance and see what happens.
It's been really nice to eat and not worry about it. I haven't been pigging out, but I am eating at maintenance, maybe a smidge more.
It's really too hard to count calories at this point since I did have bunch of meals eaten out.
I finally stopped counting yesterday, and I won't count today.
I've kind of slid back into 2 big meals and a snack (maybe two.) I have never liked eating lots of meals, I like feeling full after a meal. I also tend to eat my meals closer to the middle of the day (late breakfast and early dinner.)
So I've decided that tomorrow, Monday, I'm going to be back on track and I hope I can reel it in. Every day I've been thinking I need a high protein breakfast, and it just hasn't happened. I go to the sourdough bread.
I'm sure if I can just get total control for the first couple days I'll be fine. I know I need to get back on the high protein bandwagon as that's definitely what keeps hunger at bay and in check.
Exercise has been zilch this week. I've gone dancing 2x and walked a couple times.
Oh, and I've had a little bit of indigestion in the evenings, guess from too much food/fat in my belly. I sure didn't have problems with that while on the diet.
Also, this past Monday my weight was at its low of 158.8, it got up to 161, then down again, then down again. This morning it was at 159.9. I didn't show any big weight gain, but I've never been one to see wild swings in weight either. I don't usually see a 3 lb loss overnight, but I also don't see the 3 lb gain.
What have I learned though this week...namely that it's really nice NOT to count calories. And food is oh so much yummier when you don't have to think about it, and you just eat it.
Oh, another little funny. Last night we went to the Roller Derby (big fans here) and one of the gals from Houston was named "Death By Chocolate" and all I could think of last night was chocolate ice cream (which I rarely eat.) Didn't get any though as all the stores are closed around here at that time.
My massage therapist is in the Roller Derby, that's how we got interested.
It's been really nice to eat and not worry about it. I haven't been pigging out, but I am eating at maintenance, maybe a smidge more.
So I've decided that tomorrow, Monday, I'm going to be back on track and I hope I can reel it in.
I'm sure if I can just get total control for the first couple days I'll be fine. I know I need to get back on the high protein bandwagon as that's definitely what keeps hunger at bay and in check..
What have I learned though this week...namely that it's really nice NOT to count calories. And food is oh so much yummier when you don't have to think about it, and you just eat it..
Good to see you posting, Annette!
It's great that the scale has been stable during your maintenance week; you are so lucky! Why aren't you going to do a second week?
It would be great if you'll be able to maintain without counting after you reach your goal weight.
I've been really enjoying Carb-cycling and high calorie days. I think it is something I can live with long term. Today we hosted a brunch with friends, and I made today my high calorie day. It was so unusual for me to eat 1/2 bagel, a piece of quiche.. I haven't allowed myself quiche in 10 years. Instead of being stressed and unhappy with the company, and eating my salad with tastes of the food they brought, I was able to relax and enjoy the food that I don't normally eat.
I did count it though, in fitday. What suprised me was that it was 54% FAT: quiche, cream cheese, half n' half in coffee, it added up quite fast on the 1000 calorie brunch. For me, I found that the days I didn't count, I really ate more calories than I thought i ate when I sat down to figure it out.
Annette, if 2 big meals and maybe a snack is what you like to do, why not do that for the deficit (and maybe time the snack as your post WO meal)? I think Leigh basically says that the best way to eat is "what's right for you." It seems that there's not much metabolic benefit to eating several smaller meals after all. Major thing is meal timing in relation to workouts.
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
I have been eating 3 meals and 1 snack when dieting, and that works. Otherwise it's really hard to get the protein in when only eating two meals.
Since I realized tomorrow is the start of a new diet I kind of pigged out today and feel really yucky. Typical.
I've realized how easy it is to fall back on bad habits, which in my case is alcohol and very few fruits and veggies. Oh, and I would not take my vitamins.
Kind of a form of rebellion I guess.
I calculated out my burn calories which averages around 2400 a day, and all I got for exercise this past week is 2x walking and 2x dancing. That's it, that's all.
So I do not have a slowed metabolism, though it slows when I'm less fed. I guess that's exactly as we've learned.
I'm going to continue to aim for the 1500 calorie range for eating and aim for a daily burn of 2500+. That means I have to go on a long daily walk, that's the only way I can reach that. A 1 hour morning walk and the rest of my day is fairly easily reached at 2500 if I don't sit on my ass.
Now the biggie, do I try to eat somewhat less fat?
If I aim for the 100 g of protein a day, and less fat than I normally would eat that means my carbs go up. I think I need to try it though, or just attempt it without spazzing out. I obviously don't freak out too much about the food.
I really have to change my eating habits though. These last 11 weeks didn't change how I want to eat.
My stomach really hurts, it always hurts after a spaghetti dinner.
I'm going to continue to aim for the 1500 calorie range for eating and aim for a daily burn of 2500+. That means I have to go on a long daily walk, that's the only way I can reach that. A 1 hour morning walk and the rest of my day is fairly easily reached at 2500 if I don't sit on my ass.
Now the biggie, do I try to eat somewhat less fat?
If I aim for the 100 g of protein a day, and less fat than I normally would eat that means my carbs go up. I think I need to try it though, or just attempt it without spazzing out. I obviously don't freak out too much about the food.
I really have to change my eating habits though. These last 11 weeks didn't change how I want to eat.
My stomach really hurts, it always hurts after a spaghetti dinner.
It took me alot of "yo-yo" dieting before I stopped returning to old eating habits. For a long time, I'd diet with an average deficit, lose the weight, come off my diet, return to old eating habits, gain it all back and then jump back on a diet again. Then I got into the vicious "starve/binge" cycle of dieting where I'd cut calories DRASTICALLY, then seriously over eat coming off the diet, which would, of course, cause regain and lead to my return to dieting,
I finally broke that cycle this summer. It was really a mental shift for me. I finally realized that if I TRUELY wanted to lose the weight and keep it off, I HAD to maintain the healthy eating habits I adopted when I dieted (more veggies, more fruits, treating "treats" as such and not endulging in them daily, etc.)
In regards to your fat intake, my gut wants to tell you, the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it". You were getting such great weight loss results doing what you were doing before. Is there a specific reason you want to lower your fat intake and up your carbs?
I will say that dieting, I've found higher fat with lowered carbs worked best for me because it did an incredible job at blunting hunger for me. I've also dieted with low fat high carb (my Weight Watchers days) but hunger was more of an issue.
At the end of the day, there isn't really any weight loss advantage to one approach or the other (lowfat/highcarb vs highfat/lowercarb), as in the end its about calories.(which I know you already know )
What ever you decide, I hope you see the same successes in weight loss that you've been seeing.
What have I learned though this week...namely that it's really nice NOT to count calories. And food is oh so much yummier when you don't have to think about it, and you just eat it.
I have tracked my food for so many years that I can't not think about it. It is kind of sad. Even when I give myself a week off or blowing it, I am aware of what I am doing. Sometimes I wish that I could eat something without thinking about it.
__________________
Peaches
The journey to health and fitness
Should be taken
Because you love yourself,
Not because you hate your body
I finally broke that cycle this summer. It was really a mental shift for me. I finally realized that if I TRUELY wanted to lose the weight and keep it off, I HAD to maintain the healthy eating habits I adopted when I dieted (more veggies, more fruits, treating "treats" as such and not endulging in them daily, etc.)
In regards to your fat intake, my gut wants to tell you, the old "if it ain't broke don't fix it". You were getting such great weight loss results doing what you were doing before. Is there a specific reason you want to lower your fat intake and up your carbs?
I will say that dieting, I've found higher fat with lowered carbs worked best for me because it did an incredible job at blunting hunger for me. I've also dieted with low fat high carb (my Weight Watchers days) but hunger was more of an issue.
At the end of the day, there isn't really any weight loss advantage to one approach or the other (lowfat/highcarb vs highfat/lowercarb), as in the end its about calories.(which I know you already know )
What ever you decide, I hope you see the same successes in weight loss that you've been seeing.
There's the little voice in the back of my head (or in everything I read) that keeps posting "recommended macros" and I see that and think I should give it a try. Logically I know it won't satisfy me.
What I will do is to concentrate on a few rules, and I think this is important for me as I saw a drastic decrease in fresh fruits and veggies when I chose not to eat them. I will concentrate on the protein at each meal, and do my absolute darndest to eat veggies too. I can blow off fruit, but I won't, as fruit might be the form of carbs that will keep me away from extra grains (not that I eat a lot of them.) So I will try to get at least 1 piece of fruit a day. Trust me, that can be a struggle.
Guess I just had that with my tomatoes on my omelet this morning. I had a 1egg/4white omelet with onion, nappa cabbage and tomato. Quite yummy actually.
What surprises me so much is how easy it was to fall back into old habits. Here I was, happily (pretty much so) dieting down, in control, and the moment I decided I wasn't dieting, all hell broke loose. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad, but the control was gone.
That scares me because I've lost weight in the past, but I've never maintained. I'm a WW lifetime member, I've "supposedly" done the maintenance through that...but I obviously didn't learn squat. But truthfully, I didn't do maintenance. I reached my WW goal of 138 lbs, and continued to lose down to 130 lbs (in that 6 week maintenance phase) to look HOT at my 20th class reunion. Once that was past, I started to eat, and the weight came back over time.
It's no fault of WW, but it sure needs to be focused on differently I believe.
So where did I see success this past week? I did have successes, and I do think it's important to focus on the positive and not only the negative.
I didn't eat Fast Food. I didn't even think to as it doesn't sound too yummy.
That's my only success...I'll have to take what I can get.
So I have a new plan swirling around in my head. Twelve weeks is too long for me to focus on, but I don't think 8 weeks is too long. So my next diet phase will be only 8 weeks and then I will have a 1 week maintenance week.
I'm setting my goals to be a minimum of 10 lbs lost, or under 150 lbs. That's more than doable I believe and I will aim higher but I don't want to stress out over the weight anymore.
Since I only want to lose another 20-30 lbs (will decide when I get there) there's no need to kill myself over it.
Plus, and this is a wee bit scary too, I feel so much better now at my weight that I could almost care less if I lose more. I'm still over 30% bodyfat, but I don't feel freakishly fat anymore.
I had a 1egg/4white omelet with onion, nappa cabbage and tomato. Quite yummy actually.
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