Friday, October 4, 2013

20 months of Weight Maintenance - hanging in there when life gets tough


Highest Weight 187.4
Current Weight: 115.4
Maintenance Range 113-117
Height 5'1"
Age 47
Months in weight maintenance 20
Months post menopause: 3 months
Years it took to reach long term maintenance: 40 years


What's working this month
1. Sticking to a pretty clean Paleo template, low inflammatory foods.
2. Eating large plates of food, no measuring or food tracking and feeling full. LOVE this!
3. Managing stress by sleeping well, walking a lot and feeling grief as needed
4.  Weighing in daily and lessons learned from the data.

1-2 Absolutely loving the big plates of food, feeling full, and my weight and thoughts staying steady. Eating clean in my food template has HUGE advantages.


 3. The last 6 weeks have been super stressful. There's no way around this stuff. Due to the personal nature of the details, I can't divulge much except that I did loose a family friend in early September 2013. Huge case of "The Sads"  this month. Future blog post around navigating a binge urge that I got stopped quick. That's the good part. The better navigation of feelings.  

4. I developed a few new theories around the high stress AND other things like the sleeping temperature at night and my weight. I can see some trends around my weight going up slightly when it's cold at night. When it's warm sleeping at night, my weight goes down slightly. I'll discuss more in future blog posts.


What didn't work in the past
1. Eating junk food in moderation. Didn't work. EVER.
2. Eating large plates of low fat food (salads) without a good balance of natural fat (avocados, olive oil, coconut, and animal fat), and being afraid of FAT without realizing that eating low fat was making my body.... wait for it..... FAT.
3. Stuffing my feelings with junk food and numbing out.
4. Not taking weight data and taking effective corrective action until 10-20 pounds or more were gained.

Onward!
Photo shoot outtake





15 comments:

  1. great job, Karen! And sorry about your loss and the resulting stress.

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  2. You look 17, not 47. There's some wow factor going on. You wear maintenance well:)

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  3. You look fab! I've upped my (non-starchy) vegetables over the last few week and am really enjoying the increased satiety and deliciousness.

    Sorry to hear about your loss - will be very interested to read about your stress management.

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  4. I'm sorry you lost your friend! :-( i just lost one too, and the pressures that increase make "cheating" tempting but counterproductive. Good job, Karen! Hang in there!

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  5. You are so tiny!! I'm so glad you controlled your urge to binge - but then after so long, I'm not surprised. I doubt I would binge now... well not on rubbish. The worst I'd do is lots of cheese or something! I noticed you are 3 months post menopause at 47 - I'm 57 and only post one year. I must have had a fairly late menopause. You're looking great Karen :)

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  6. Loss of a friend, or family member is tough. My thoughts are with you .....

    But positive thoughts now ..... You are looking fantastic and are an inspiration. I love the way you set everything out what works, what doesn't. So clear and concise. You are a STAR, and you deserve a great weekend - hope it is

    All the best Jan

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  7. Yes, that quick corrective action is really important. If a few pounds sneak on--attack it immediately! You look great! :D

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  8. Thank you all for the well wishes on 20 months of maintenance. The new habits in the first 20 months have now made weight maintenance easier than I thought it would be. Not easy, but easier!!! :)

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  9. You are a rock star, Karen. No doubt. I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kelly. So fun to follow you on your first year.

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  10. "4. I developed a few new theories around the high stress AND other things like the sleeping temperature at night and my weight. I can see some trends around my weight going up slightly when it's cold at night. When it's warm sleeping at night, my weight goes down slightly. I'll discuss more in future blog posts."

    So interesting you mentioned the night time sleeping/temperature thing.

    I have been going through a very bad spell and we figured out the night time temperature thing was adding to it, greatly. I am the opposite of what you wrote. I have to be in a cold room to sleep. I need pile of blankets (the weight is security to me). I need to breathe cold air.

    Our area had very high humidity (really bothers me) last week. And the temperature was low enough so our air conditioner was not running.

    I thought I was going through menopause.

    We turned the setting down to a lower temperature, so the air conditioner was turning on regularly, I started sleeping again, symptoms disappeared.

    I have had many times where I thought it was menopause and it was another cause. (I am 52 1/2 if you are trying to remember). For years I had severe hot flashes and difficulty sleeping that was being caused by the wrong food.

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  11. "4. I developed a few new theories around the high stress AND other things like the sleeping temperature at night and my weight. I can see some trends around my weight going up slightly when it's cold at night. When it's warm sleeping at night, my weight goes down slightly. I'll discuss more in future blog posts."

    So interesting you mentioned the night time sleeping/temperature thing.

    I have been going through a very bad spell and we figured out the night time temperature thing was adding to it, greatly. I am the opposite of what you wrote. I have to be in a cold room to sleep. I need pile of blankets (the weight is security to me). I need to breathe cold air.

    Our area had very high humidity (really bothers me) last week. And the temperature was low enough so our air conditioner was not running.

    I thought I was going through menopause.

    We turned the setting down to a lower temperature, so the air conditioner was turning on regularly, I started sleeping again, symptoms disappeared.

    I have had many times where I thought it was menopause and it was another cause. (I am 52 1/2 if you are trying to remember). For years I had severe hot flashes and difficulty sleeping that was being caused by the wrong food.

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    Replies
    1. The humidity in the mid-West- oh , I remember. And the coolness of the window air conditioners we had at our house. It's good to know how temperature, sleep and other things effect us.

      I'm glad not beating myself over the 1-1.5 pound gain OR trying to trouble shoot a weight gain trend that has nothing to do with food. Good to connect the dots, Vickie. :)

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  12. I linked to this post and add additional thoughts on my own blog today.

    I also wanted to compliment you on how much information you add to your stats each time. Age and height are so important. Menopause date is a very good idea too. I truly believe each one of us should be adding all that information each time, rather than simply stating the number from the scale. Very important for people to understand the whole picture.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the links, Vickie. You taught me that- to add the additional info. It does show a bigger picture. More 3-D!!! Thanks again.

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