No, no, no... it's not karma, but there is some biology going on here.
Let's get to the stats.
Starting weight 187.7
Current weight: 119.8
Goal Range 113-119
Menopause: 3 years
Age 49
Height 5'1"
I do feel better in my weight maintenance range of 113-119, so I will be working on a concentrated effort to lose 2-3 pounds. There could be several root causes on the gain. And it could take the rest of the year to get it sorted. Especially if there are multiple roots. Problem solving. ID your root causes. Rule them in, rule them out, s
Most likely causes
1. Not eating enough!!!
2. Thyroid adjustment needed?
3. Stress related
4. Natural weight plateau, I'm just one higher up.
5. Menopause, the next phase
6. Some other reason, unknown
Root 1: Okay I never ever thought I could get to the point where I did not feel like eating enough. I have noticed a correlation on days where I'm intermittent fasting (IF) where I just don't physically feel like I can eat enough for my activity levels. So, I won't be IF-ing for a few months solid to see if I can get some more normal hunger signals back again. Maybe IF-ing at a normal weight is not a good idea for me. I was only IF-ing 1 to twice a week.
Root 2: I have a few symptoms of needing a thyroid dose adjustment, but not enough to go running into my doc for a blood draw. I'll get my insurance wellness blood draw in Sept 2015. All the other times I've gone running in, convinced it's my thyroid level, and it's not. The thyroid thing has not been the root cause.
However, I've never needed a dose adjustment since 1997!!! I have no idea what to expect when I do need an adjustment. 5-10 pounds was all I lost when I got diagnosed with Hashimoto's. I probably went from 165 to 155 or so. At a normal weight, without the binge eating, I'm not sure what symptoms I'll get when I'm in a normal weight and low inflammation status.
Root 3: While the recent month has been less stressful, I had epic stress levels in May and early June 2015.
Root 4 :I've always operated on weight plateaus one right around 116-117 and one around 120-121. My BMI is still normal around 22.6, but I do feel better with a BMI right around 22 or the high 21's.
I feel terrible right at a BMI of 24-25 and higher. I'm shorter than most middle school students, with a small bone frame. The high end of normal weight leaves me pretty miserable, so the mid range BMI is just better for me.
Root 5 Normal effect of menopause, this is the start of my 3rd year of menopause. I've upped my active time by about 15-20 minutes per day, with good outcomes.
Root 6: Something else. Unknown, Undiscovered. Maybe those fermented veggies at the end of May were not a good idea??
Things I've ruled out already:
1. I'm not binge eating or having binge urges. Yay! No Sugars, No Grains for the win.
2. I'm not having glucose spikes, my blood glucose is returning to mid 80's post meal and low 80's fasting.
3. I'm not thinking Karma : come on people, I'm a board certified, licensed scientist in real life. There's a biologic reason, so put your science hats on, please.
I do believe that obesity is a symptom of metabolic, genetic, and genetic pheneotype processes gone askew. I'm not a bad person, sloth, weak willed, cheating, not measuring, lying, or anything else ;) I'm swimming in the shallow end of the genetics pool, so it's worth it for me to identify the root causes and move along.
I also have total respect if you believe in Karma, too. I'll be meditating ever day the month of July. To reduce stress. Weight maintenance has it's ups and downs. Dealing with them is key.
I'll also let you know what worked for me, or what I've ruled out during my August 2015. Onward. Always Onward. Don't beat yourself up if you don't get the results you want. Do spend some time getting to root causes, though.
Root 3 could be the cause, as stress affects our bodies in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will get to the bottom of the cause and adjust as necessary but the good thing is you are sticking to your food template whole real fresh foods and no sugars ...
... and this is good advice " Don't beat yourself up if you don't get the results you want. Do spend some time getting to root causes, though."
Hope you have a less stressful July
All the best Jan
Yes, stress. Thankfully I can sprinkle vacation time into my work weeks and I do find summer living is easier for both my daughter and myself.
DeleteYes, no beating the self up. Life is hard enough. Thank you, as always!
Lack of sleep?
ReplyDelete"Most of the weight seems to be subcutaneous- hips and yes, my rear and not in my abdominal area."
Did you take up dancing? ;)
Lori, It could be lack of sleep. My sleep habits have been pretty crappy, even at the lower weight. Sleeping better can't be wrong over all, so by just the small improvements I've made, it will be a good thing.
DeleteLOL- I'm just super glad certain celebrities have made having "junk in the trunk" a cool thing. I've always been curvy. I'm also thankful for Not Your Daughter's Jeans found at second hand stores. They fit the subcutaneous me even better. ;)
:-) I may believe in karma, but I don't think you're a candidate. There are lots of things that can make our weight go up a little -- things you mentioned plus even more. Allergies for one, and food intolerances. Sleep, as Lori said.
ReplyDeleteI join Jan in wishing you a less-stressful July!
Thanks, Tess!! ;) on the karma. Truth on the Allergies, food intolerance, sleep, etc. I shudder to have to do much more elimination, but I will so that my hs-CRP stays low.
DeleteI think I found a ordering portal that I can access a doctor her in CA who will order tests easily and legally. It may be worth a small amount of $$ since I get free lab testing as a medical benefit. I'm mainly focused on thyroid markers, hs-CRP, and HA1C. Pretty common stuff. I may venture into food allergy testing but could be limited on the lab performing the test as far as free testing goes. It will be a fun tumble into this rabbit hole.
I did alternate day IF for weight loss, 5:2IF during the transition period from active weight loss to maintenance, and I now do 16:8IF as part of my maintenance plan :) I love IF and will always do it in some form but yeah, sometimes it can be a bit tricky making sure you're getting in enough calories with it!
ReplyDeleteI'm two years into maintenance and I also have to make periodic adjustments to my maintenance plan, to keep things on track. Good for you for catching the bounce and taking steps to address the issue now, instead of letting more weight creep on!
Sara, thanks for stopping by. I can so see how IF works really, really well. I kind of wish I had found it back in 2011 and tried it when I was 70 pounds overweight. I can see how I could have naturally turned off my extra hunger signals, ghrelin hormone, etc- just will meal timing. Oh, well. Good to know now.
DeleteI think at a normal-ish weight, I'll probably still IF when I need to- say traveling and the options to not get glutened are zero or maybe once a month when I'm headed out on a long hike or day trip. I'll bet I can still IF, just not routinely and be okay with my hunger signals.
Congrats on your 2 years. That's a huge, huge accomplishment. I was so excited to get 2-5 years into maintenance. I know that if I can hit the 5 year mark, I'll be pretty set as a far as knowing and facing most things I'll need to face. Keep up the great work. Better than sticking my head in the sand.
I appreciate and like how you address your gain instead of avoiding it. Many people who are short like you catch a gain once their clothes don't fit or once they are more than five pounds up. That's not good. I am interested to see what you adjust and how everything plays out because I can learn from you. Good luck in this process though I know it is more about analysis than luck.
ReplyDeleteAli, yeah! Being short has advantages and disadvantages. 5 pounds on me is like 10 or 15 on a very tall person. I once watched a major weight transformation that a little person had. The coach had her working out more while still eating a certain amount of calories because going lower in her calorie range would have messed up with her metabolism.
DeleteI also remember Amy from the Little People Big World TV show. She said how much seemingly small amount of weight 3-5 pounds was a huge, huge deal for her and impacted her life quite a bit. I've got phase 1 done of my plan. Blogging about it today. I expect it could take all summer if I have more than one root cause.
Ditto what Ali said. That's fantastic that you are keeping yourself accountable to your gains and tracking the ups/downs and everything in between. Keep on going my friend!
ReplyDeleteLap Band Gal- thank you. During the 40 years of yo-yoing, this step of reversal at different ages (because reversing a gain in my 20's and 30's is so much different than post menopause in my late 40's) well, it didn't happen.
DeleteKeep up the great work. I enjoy your updates. Many times I feel like I can relate more to the successful banders and the the sleevers than I can the other weight loss methods. I think it's the drastic change and not reverting back to old habits. Thanks for stopping by.