If this bothers you, please, there are other great blogs to read. I turn 49 this month. Too many of people I know in real life are falling ill or are dying. Food Addiction sucks. Life is short, so am I. Find a way that works for you and love it. Leave the rest.
PS- edited to add: I celebrate Pi Day 3/14/15 by not putting crap food in my Pie Hole. Gotta laugh, cause I sure have cried about my weight in the past. No more.
Starting weight : 187.4
Todays' weight : 117.0
Highest weight this month -yesterday 119.2
Goal weight range: 113-119
Age: 48
Height 5'1"
Menopause: 2+ years
Abstaining from sugar and flour 3 years 10 months
This month was a lesson in patience. My weight was up, down, and all around. I didn't binge eat, so that is good. I still have foods that don't agree with me.
Dental inflammation is finally resolving
Face swelling from fennel bulb is finally resolving , I learned I cannot just pick fennel out of a prepared dish,( people in real life are already joking with me about - "Hey I'll bet you don't want this recipe for fennel bulb salad. LOL!) Those fennel bubs at Trader Joe's looked so cute....
Drinking caffeine after 3 pm is finally resolved.
Whatever, I'm still standing and abstaining from most sugar, all grains. The rest is negotiable. It's not all rainbows. It is constant vigilance. My obesity and food addiction would love to come back to live in all kinds of excuses.
My jeans still fit and I'm food sober. My heart goes out to people I know in real life who are dealing with cancer, chemo. At almost 49, I know way too many people in real life who are getting treatment. Sadness!
Life is short. Spend time doing things that matter, that are positive. Keep those things you love around you. Leave the rest.
What's working for me:
1. Eating from a Paleo-ish style food template, NSNG (no sugars, no grains), LCHF (tastes great!)
2. Daily weighing, even when you have weight gain.
3. Taking action when a food just doesn't agree with you
4. Drinking coffee before 1-2 pm.
5. Staying away from fennel. There is no food Switzerland for me.
What didn't work for me in the past.
1. Eating everything in moderation. Everyone else did. Buying the moderation myth hook line and sinker. My binge brain loved it. My health suffered from it.
2. Weighing monthly, or quarterly. Do you know how much sanctioned binge eating you can do in 1 week or one month or 3 months. I do. 5-10 pound gains over 3 month. Yep! I lived it.
3. Taking action and getting out certain foods (dairy) But getting off them long enough to know that daily exposure was a problem. That's what I didn't do.
4. Drinking coffee late in the afternoon and thinking I could get good sleep. Even though I'm an intermediate metabolizer of caffeine.
5. I ate everything and anything.
"Life is short and so am I." I like this! Made me smile!
ReplyDeleteDupster, thank you. I gotta laugh. I'm so sort that my carpool had to tie a little ribbon around the vanpool hatch back handle because I had to jump to reach the hold to close the hatch back... LOL. It was hilarious. Park on a bit of a hill and there's no way I could reach the handle.
DeleteAnyway, it does effect me in weight maintenance. I do have to maintain at a low scale number, but appropriate for my height. Everyone talks about the number on the scale, but hey, I need a lower calorie intake to maintain than my taller friends. That means I'm extra careful about food I choose to eat.
Have a great day. :)
Good post, Karen, and a good lesson in patience. It does take constant vigilance: most days I am fine with being strict, but yesterday I was very tired from lack of sleep (being tired affects my will and desire to eat well more than being stressed does), and I made some poor choices. Today is a new day, and I am eating better and still fit in my clothes so it is all fine. And one of my takeaways from this post is that yes, weight maintenance is hard, but when I find myself obsessing too much about it, I realize that things could be way worse--and I am fortunate to be healthy. So a few days at a higher weight is not going to kill me (it is a minor problem compared to what others go through) as long as I take action.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ali. Glad you are getting back on track. I'm a big believer that our gut bacteria change over time. I know too much off road eating (when traveling or eating much off food template) can really change things up where it may take a month or more of eating regular foods for me to really kick back in a a stable weight.
DeleteYou are right, it won't kill you. As long as you get back to your regular eating and thinking plan. My slippery slope thinking still lives in my brain, but I keep a tight lid on that can of thinking!! My binge brain would love to take over again. That's where the constant vigilance comes in.
Onward!
PS I am living your instagram food account! I am getting so many good ideas for food. What I like about you is that you don't make complicated recipes because I don't like to cook and I would rather spend my time doing other things. But it is easy to brown some meat in coconut oil, add veggies, and then sea salt! I ordered some ground bison online from a company that has grass fed beef and can't wait to try that. And I have also added low sodium, organic pasta sauce to my meats like you do! So thanks for posting your pics because I am getting great ideas!
DeleteAli, thanks!!! So many times, a low carb or a paleo approach is called "unsustainable". Nope. Throw protein in a pan. Cook the basic protein and use it's natural fat and/or add some natural fat. Supplement with lots of non-starchy veggies. Add spices and some sea salt. Not only does it taste great, it's filling and helps build muscles, maintain bone structure, and lets me sleep at night and finally have a switch for that funky ghrelin gene (signals full or hungry- mine doesn't work well). One stop shopping. I'm a single parent so I've got to have cooking methods that feed the family, but speedily and well. I repeat many of the meals on the IG account. I cook a lot in the crock pot so look for more slow cooked meals soon! Lamb stew!
DeleteLooking great as usual Karen! Sorry about the reaction to fennel. Keep telling everyone how possible it is to change and eat well long term - people need to believe that they really can change. Heck, I'm living proof of that too. Going from being a carboholic to low carb primal - even I'm shocked looking back on how I used to eat.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lynda. Yeah, fennel. Who knew I would blow up like a balloon? I have access to some of my old food logs, I'll be posting a comparison sometime soon. No wonder I stayed overweight. Sigh. Better late than never.
DeleteI loved your photo on your blog. So young!!! :)
"Life is short. Spend time doing things that matter, that are positive. Keep those things you love around you. Leave the rest."
ReplyDeleteThose words are so true!
Great post again Karen - sorry to hear about your reaction to fennel, but so many other good foods to eat, enjoy and be healthy.
All the best Jan
people who say that "everybody" should be able to eat "anything ... In moderation" just reveal how CLUELESS they are! I admire how you DO what NEEDS TO BE DONE to make you healthy -- THAT is success!
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog.... you are laser focused!!!
ReplyDelete