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| May 2011 (before) and December 2014 (after) |
I'm joking... laugh a little... ;)
Long term weight maintenance: In year 2, I haven't found it to be full of up down and all around and heaps of drama. That's a good thing.
Highest weight: 187.4
Current weight: 115.8
Weight Range: 113-119
Height 5'1"
Age: 48
Menopause: 2 years
Years yo-yo dieting: 40
Food sober: 3.5 years
I have found long term weight maintenance to be: Day in, day out work. Cooking, washing dishes, keeping stress and sleep in check. Keeping emotions in check. Putting myself first that way. Getting and giving support. A real snoozer. Yes repetitive, possibly "boring". Food tastes great. I feel awesome. A lot of overall work. A lot of not going back to old patterns.
Real food, binge management. I do the work. Each of us has to pick our goals, make a plan, then walk away from the blog and do the work. No other way to get the job done.
Every.Day.No.Matter.What.Constant.Vigilance. Show.Up.Do.The.Work.
Yeah. Another month. Really, most people don't make it to long term without a regain, so each meal, each day, each week, month, and each year is a win for me. I re-gained every loss for 40 years. Very, very worth stepping out of that cycle, in terms of QOL- quality of life.
The not so great: I had dental work this month that triggered my vertigo. I couldn't eat for 2 days straight. I lost 4 pounds. I don't recommend that kind of weight loss! I did get some meds and got re-hydrated so I avoided urgent care for an IV. Win and less money for health care bills, too. Now when I have to go to the dentist, I can take my anti-nausea meds and not be so effected. Whew!
The kind of cool: One curious thing: I was not really hungry due to being fat adapted. I was very thirsty, but really, I can turn over to burning body fat and most likely slipped into ketosis. That was very handy.
I have 1,000 blog posts in my head and about 10 topics to cover. Maybe I can get 5-6 posts out during the rainy times here on the coast. Sleep and photography are taking up a lot of time. Fun stuff. I avoid a bunch of holiday stress. And, I sure don't shovel back holiday sweets.
Karen: the Holiday Grinch: Someone shows up with a plate of cookies, holiday fudge... who cares?... boring... My food template is set. EZ decisions. No stress. No hating myself after indulging. No need to jack up my insulin, glucose, ghrelin, and letpin. What's the point?
I'll show up Jan 3, 2015 with another same-old-same-old set of stats, clothes and jeans that fit, and another food sober holiday down. And, that is okay by me. Another win. I called it.
Now to make it so..
Here's what's working
1.Weighing daily
2. Eating only what I bring for lunch, paleo-ish food template.
3. No holiday baking or tasting. My food sobriety demands that, my mitochondria demand that.
4. Walking 5 miles daily, most days. 12,000+ steps.
5. Long walks at the beach.
6. Getting and giving support.
7. Cat photos (for Katie, very end of this post)
What didn't work in the past:
1. Avoiding the scale
2. Eating and binging on lots of food at work, not sticking to a food template.
4. Walking 4-5,000 steps a day and sitting a lot during waking hours.
5. Short trips and avoiding hills due to being morbidly obese.
6. Not being open to support that I desperately needed.
7. Not being fully into my favorite hobby- photography, because I was too busy binge eating and numbing out with food.
Katie: There's a whole lot of Tortitude going on daily at my house. I've never had tortoiseshell cats until 2012. They are great cats. Very quiet, very funny. Adopted from the local shelter. Sisters.
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| (Cat One =food obsessed & Cat two = play based)= 2X Tortitude |
Love your stability!! Helps to see what it really takes to succeed (consistency!)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jeanette. I hear and see people blogging about sustainability. Often the needed changes to get to longer term are not examined or tested. Consistently being on track, OR changing track if and when needed is key.
DeleteNot much to say other than thanks for the post and you look great!
ReplyDeleteAli, thank you.
DeleteI smiled a bit at your "no drama" note.
ReplyDeleteI have been noticing the drama blog titles popping up on sidebar lists.
The big messes and enabling or looking for attention may be conscious or unconscious for people. They seem to be in the midst of loops. And self sabotage. And it (blog posts) is so closely aligned with looking for help and support that lines are probably very blurry.
I have been noticing them, from several blogs.
Vickie, my drama was all in my head. I chose to live there day in day, out.... So glad to have stepped away. My shrink was right...when I stopped "using" grains and sugars my whole life changed.
DeleteVery much a cycle. A lot of work to break free.
Great job as always, Karen.
ReplyDeleteBoring is good. I'm SO over drama. LOL
Gwen, With my genes, my past exposure, my stinking thinking, my food addiction wants me baaaaaack. Some wise people even say their addiction wants them DEAD! Wow- that hit me as being true this week.
DeleteI can think 1000 "reasons" to justify off plan eating..... but I don't. I kick out those thoughts, focus on food sober living. A step off the merry go round is very refreshing. Lots of other things to do with my brain and body.
What a fabulous thing you have done for yourself. I agree with all of your "what's working" and what's "not working" information. Wish I could walk as much as you do. I know it's very healthy. You look great! I have learned that being very structured works for folks who have our issues with weight. Also, believing in yourself makes it happen. Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteE. Jane- I tried to fit myself into other templates so often. Off road eating always, 100% lead me to binge- not just for a day, not because I was weak... just because I have those genetics. I own it now. Thanks and happy anniversary and congrats on your success.
DeleteNo news are good news right?
ReplyDeleteKaren, I would love if you and your No Grain No Gain friends could do a series of posts addressing gaining weight and dropping it with some more specifics that work for you. I thought that no grains will make it easy for me to keep my weight in control but gained about 15lbs. Am trying to figure out what caused the gain. I suspect the nuts and the sometimes baked goods with almond/coconut flour and also probably the (full fat) cheese that I sometimes eat. I would love to hear other perspective and experience. If you do gain some weight, how to you eat to balance yourself back?
Karen, will be interested to see what you write about this (I think I know what you will say). I have seen people who go vegetarian and do the same thing. Ditto the gluten free bunch. And the everything with bacon because it is not a grain or a bean crowd. And I guess I would include the group of women in my same yoga classes who would head across the street after class. . .
DeleteRina, 'll get this to the group. I'm sure this will make our 2015 topics- can be placed early... :) In a nut shell..... for me... it's carbs hands down. I don't do nuts (binge food and migraines). But yeah, I have a narrow carb window. Tracking my food at MFP also helps me stay in my carb window.
DeleteVickie... yes. You'll know what I'll write because I think you came to my blog many times and said.... psssst... it's the carbs... Heh, Heh, Heh. You were right. Grateful that you did that. I put a lot of high value in long term maintainers who can spot patterns of the newbies (who often have the same situations) who speak out. I've got Mount Bacon to show from my vacation. I know I can't do pork- at least the protein- muscle meat, I may have variable results with lard for a fat. I can't do gluten free junk, either.
DeleteI think I am getting more and more sold on removing all grains from my diet. I typically do one piece or one and a half pieces of Ezekiel bread. In the past few days, I threw some gluten free cereal into the mix, and I ate some air popped popcorn--and my weight is up. I think my body is very much getting used to a low carb template so I will also be interested to see what you write on this topic. I also think I need to begin removing cheese from my diet.
DeleteKaren, a trainer told me long ago that she always tells people - record your ratios for a few days and just see where you typically are. By ratios, she means carbs, fat, protein within total calories.
DeleteThe people who go vegetarian for example - tend to have their carb ratio turn into a very high number and the other two are very low. It is easiest to really see what is going on with whole foods intake only. A lot of processed and absolutely can't see cause and effect. And by processed, I mean more than one ingredient.
In addition to not being able to handle grains, I also have to avoid dairy. I have to watch my salt intake (which is pretty easy with whole foods). I have a weird list of things that cause migraines. Another list that causes GI issues.
I didn't know any of that until I cleaned up my food. And then I started seeing trends. But again, to SEE, have to be a good science experiment and drop the items that have a zillion ingredients, in my opinion.
I think each of us probably has different percentages/ratios needed for weight loss and for maintenance. But they are in the same general area. (That is why I personally have a problem with the WW concept of free foods. You can't eat a lot of fruit, neither can I. It doesn't matter that it is a whole food, still throws our ratios off - too many carbs.) And I sctually do not think of myself as low carb. I think of myself as proportional carbs.
DeleteVickie, yes- MFP, ratios. Very important to me. I take tracking breaks, but I find that after 3 weeks or 3 months, I really, really need to track again for my macros (less calories in calories out- that's never ever worked for me)
DeleteYep, probably carbs. Also probably unconscious eating.... I have been gradually slacking off. I stopped logging on MFP because I got lazy and told myself I eat same foods every day anyway but then I had nuts or baked something or just allowed myself a taste of something sweet. What I am learning now from all the responses and reading your older blogs is that i should go back to what worked for me in the past. Logging my food on MFP, using my FitBit and not allowing myself near trigger foods such as nuts and baked. I know something is off with me, I gained weight and I have breakouts. Thanks a lot! Looking forward to future posts. Will aim for >50 carbs and see how my body responds.
DeleteSuper post ...and I so like the word Jeanette used - stability -
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Thanks, Jan. Yes... stability works better for me than sustainability. It makes more sense.
DeleteGreat that you stick to what you know works for you! Always love the graphs! "Boring" is certainly good when it comes to weight maintenance! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, Andrea. The other 2 times I attempted long term weight maintenance I was still "using" food as a false fix, so there was a lot of entertainment eating, believing my WW leader (you can eat anything you want, just count the points). Sigh...
DeleteI'll take a flat liner weight maintenance graph always. I can entertain myself other ways. ;)
Nothing boring or repetitive here... I love that you are looking so great nearly three years on!! Be very proud Karen, you've achieved what very few manage to achieve.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lynda! My over all graph really tells the story. Loss then flat-ish line. With my genes, past food exposure, it's pretty much a miracle.
DeleteHi, Karen - I found you through your comments on another blog. Your success, and clarity of mind, are inspiring and empowering. I wanted to thank you for mentioning Dr Barbara Berkeley's site on the comment I found you through; after reading it, I really like her site and approach too. Between yours and hers, I am thrilled to find two new reads (and will now be going through YOUR commenters and blogroll, and maybe even finding more). Thanks again! Cheers.
ReplyDelete~Wendy
Heyyyyy! Wendy. Hello. Welcome to the blog. So glad you clicked through to Dr. Berkeley, MD blog. Reading that book and building my own food template around those principles was simply life changing. So much easier to maintain when I'm not boosting up my blood sugar and binge brain with "S" foods.
DeleteI'll have to check out your page, also. Happy reading and lots of blog posts in the brain to unload here in 2015.
gorgeous cats !!
ReplyDelete