 |
| Oh heck NO! Stabilizing after a gain |
I've hit my "scream weight" several times this last month. See Dr. Berkeley's article on reversing gains immediately when you reach scream weight. The last straw came when I hit an all time high in weight maintenance at 121. Since I'm short and don't feel good at weights above 119, I've chosen to go back to a better weight maintenance range for me.
I'll always be thankful that I reverse trends and gains. Always. No need to do all the work of a major transformation just to regain back the weight. I've got the mindset, skills, measurement tools, knowledge, and food template to stay a maintainer for the rest of my life.
It takes a lot of work and effort. Feeling well is worth it.
Phase 1 = stopping the gain, maintaining my weight, eating more calories (my calorie intake went too low for a while), and sleeping better. The extra calories are coming from protein (eggs, grass fed beef), guacamole, chicken liver, and chicken hearts. Nutrient dense. I don't think any of my readers expected to find me sitting on the beach eating Paleo treats to up my calories.... LOL ;)
Phase 2 next. Plan is:
1. Looking at my macros protein, fat, carbohydrates. I'll likely have to drop down only a small amount into the mid 30 grams of carbs a day (all from veggies) for loss. The good news is that once I get back into solid weight maintenance in the middle of my range, I can likely up my carbs to the lower 40's and maintain very easily. Time will tell
Here are my current macros. Weight maintenance = 26% protein, 65% fat, 9% carbs. Each day may very a little. If I start to get into the 14-15% carb range, I'll have insomnia and weight gain. No fun. The good news is, I can usually hit a 33-35 gram carb range for weight loss. Not a huge adjustment. Pretty painless, but the window is narrow.
2. Continuing to sleep well,
3. Continuing to move well,
4. Continuing to manage stress.
5. Continuing to measure and track food, movement, sleep.
Things that didn't work in the past
1. Eating mostly whole grains since WW told me they were low in points. Do you know how much Kashi cereal I ate in the summer, with berries! due to the high fiber content and low point values? My colon hurts just thinking about it!!! I thought everyone had massive GI problems- because "High Fiber" But hey, I could make my points range just fine. Ouch for not thinking for myself. Too bad I didn't change my plan fast when eating grains cause weight gain. Oh well, better late than never.
2. TV watching instead of sleeping.
3. Thinking I was walking a lot at 4,000-5,000 steps a day and "earning" WW exercise points to be spent on Skinny Cow Ice cream.
4. Ack! Stress, must hide. Be everyone's doormat. No boundaries. Poor me syndrome.
5. Ditching the scale for weigh ins and for food weighing. I could tell myself little lies about binge eating this way. Perfect for gaining weight! So many ostrich maneuvers- head in the sand , magical thinking. Hurts to think about how much I kept myself stuck. But good not to cycle back through it again. Exhausting.
Okay. Hope you are all well and having a good summer.
 |
| Ocean St, Carlsbad, CA 7-10-15 |
I love this post on so many levels, and I thank you for sharing with us what you are doing because this is so incredibly helpful. You are honest, and you are addressing a problem that you need to take care of--a gain in your weight. The things you are doing are so good to know because I have gained about three pounds of late, but mine is due to poor eating and lack of exercise. I have already changed my eating and will address the exercise shortly.
ReplyDeleteAnd you never, ever act like a victim or a martyr despite the fact that you have a narrow window for maintenance. Recently a friend who lost weight--and is still plump but has the WW mentality--bemoaned the fact that she gained a few pounds because she had chicken Parmesan one night or a few times (which is what everyone else can eat). Well, she doesn't exercise and that kind of food is not what people who are previously overweight need to eat despite what WW says! I thought that in my head, but said nothing because if I sent her to a blog like this or Dr. Berkeley's she would maintain they are too strict in their measures. So she doesn't be it!
Ali- it's good to know the root cause, because if you don't pick the right root cause, then I find I'll spin in a circle and repeat the unwanted outcome- for years.... Sigh.
DeleteYeah, playing victim or martyr feels good temporarily, I know for a fact that in the long term, those are failure outcome models. Saying "poor me" or "Look at all those cupcake eaters" will only sink me deeper into some sort of dysfucntional cycle. I'd rather say "Well I don't know, but let me try out XYZ and see what works, because others maintain their weight and health post food addiction, Hashimotos, etc). Plus, it just feels good to own my own stuff. I like my results. The payback of being functional out weighs the dysfunction in the junction.
Oh, I've had so many prior WW "well, I lost weight so I deserve this food that got me obese moments" Ouch, such a destructive thought process. No wonder long term weight maintenance has a low success rate. And all at my own hand. Ownership, it feels good!!! :)
Karen, I was rereading this post and was hoping down the road you could talk a little bit about how you determined your maintenance macros. It is especially interesting to me that you maintain with a lot of fat in your diet compared to other macros (and completely opposed to diet guidelines you might get from nutritionists or trainers). This is why I am a huge believer that we are individuals and have to do what works for us. I know you have had testing done, but did you also do a lot of experimenting. I would be curious to know.
DeleteI worked with an exercise physiologist years ago at a very established hospital, and she was great at getting me to eat better, but she would balk when I told her I wanted to eat fewer carbs than she suggested. The good thing about seeing her in person--and also about the relationship we had--was that she was okay with the disagreements we would have. I also worked with an online trainer a few summers ago, and that turned out to be a terrible experience for me. I should have known better! The exercises she gave me did not work me hard enough, and her diet plan did not take into consideration any of my individual needs. So that's the problem I have with many so called nutrition and diet experts. (Of course it is just like anything in the medical field: there are good and bad doctors, as well as other health experts, and we always have to be our own best advocates.) I am fortunate that my primary care physician takes care of herself, exercises diligently, and follows a low carb diet (except for eating rice at dinner).
Anyway, this comment is getting longer than I intended. I was just hoping that sometime in the future you could address how you came to determine your current needs.
Hey!!! I drank enough coffee and hit reply and not delete. YES, Ali i will make a blog post on this, very soon. Like this week.
DeleteThanks! By the way, I love your idea about the cats and lists and buckets of water that you posted on Vickie's blog. I forgot that you dealt with that fire a while back. Now that was high stress! And I would have been so worried about my kitty in such conditions (I just got a cat about a month ago) so your ideas were most helpful!
DeleteI'll do a gardening post, too. Both fires and earthquakes can keep us from going into our homes. Fires are much more common, though. I've seen too many people so stressed out when they can't get home for animals or meds. I carry extra thyroid meds with me and at work, too.
DeleteOh, PS- yes, those dietitians will hammer the healthy whole grains b/c their training. But they won't look outside of it if there are no results. I'm super glad I did not go to a traditional dietician- the WW advice of moderation is bad enough. If I had to go now, I would go to The Low Carb Dietician, http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/ I know low carb works for me, and I have the geneotype for type 2, but never developed the disease. I could very likely develop type 2 and be thin, just by eating higher carb.
DeleteJack Kornfields Cd Guided Meditations for Self Healing ...I have an ipod shuffle just for guided meditations ...an important part of my self-care, stress relief. Jack's voice is very calm and soothing. Listen to him on you-tube. I purchased the CD set on Amazon or Ebay used for about $9.00. So beautiful :) so peaceful...xoxoox
ReplyDeleteThanks Katie, I'll check that out. I love guided meditations. I'll let you know what I download.
DeleteI'm two years into maintenance and I weigh myself every.single.day. I also use my food scale on a regular basis. It's so easy to get sloppy if you're not using these tools! Great job catching yourself and making the needed corrections :)
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, Sara. Daily body weighing has hands down been the best thing ever. Also tracking and weighing food. II have coconut cream (darn Trader Joes and their back order of coconut milk!!). That stuff is high octane and I do like some in my curries. I get the food scale out and weigh down to the gram on that stuff.
DeleteIt's almost like I'm weighing out reagents in the lab. LOL.
Great job on stopping the gain. You know yourself and know what you need to do to get yourself back to your feel good weight. Sending you a virtual high 5 ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you Rebecca! I've tried all my bag of tricks and what I do typically is not working quickly. I suspect there might be multiple roots, so now that I have the gain stopped, it will be a summer and possibly fall of trying very small adjustments and tests.
DeleteOne thing is for sure, I feel like I'll stumble upon the lower weight, given enough experimentation, over time.