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| May 2011 to Aug 2016 , Long Term Weight Maintenance |
Goal Range 115-125 lbs
Current Weight 123.0 lbs
Keeping off 64.4 lbs
Time in long term weight maintenance
4 years, 6 months
Age 50
Menopause 3 years
Height 5'1"
Medical status
Auto-Immune Hashimotos 1997
Food Addict in Recovery: 5th year
Menopause 3 years
Glucose ave 30 days = 77 (fasting and 2 hr post)
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| May 2011 to Aug 2016, Long Term Weight Maintenance |
Current food templates:
Paleo,
Low Carb High natural fat (LCHF)
modified AIP, (no dairy, no nuts)
Ketosis- mild, sometimes
Restricted eating window = 9 hrs
IF for 15 hrs
3 meals per day
N= 1 self experiments
IRB Study for the Salk Institute, week 4 of 14
My Circadian Clock (restricted feeding window)
Mini no sugar bacon experiment, you can guess what happened
Exercise
Walking 13,000-14,000 steps per day
Weight lifting 2 days per week
Sprints on the rowing machine 1 days per week
Here's what's working so far
1. N = 1 Restricted feeding window 9-10 hours via the My Circadian Clock study seems to be working great for me. I'm down 1-2 pounds and I seem to be sustaining the loss.
2. Mindset : I've learned not to get overly happy or sad on the actual number on the scale and look at trends.
Looking at this from a graph helps me overall. There's no sense in getting overly happy or sad in long term weight maintenance.
I'm proud that I did not let me get me- aka give up or give in during the gaining part of weight maintenance.
It is what it is.
It's likely normal to have a weight range to maintain, especially in menopause.
3. N=1, food OMG. I did a "mini" no sugar bacon experiment. More later on this....
You can guess, I can't have pork, but I did determine that the sugar used in curing bacon is a very BIG binge trigger for me.
If I eat conventionally cured bacon, I can kick up fierce binge urges.
If I eat magic Paleo/ Whole 9 "approved" bacon- AKA zero sugar, I don't get binge urges, but I do get bloated and not so great feeling.
The upshot is that pork, even awesome prepared is just not for me, 99% of the time.
That's okay. I'm over it and I don't have to buy expensive pork.
It's funny that I can not get triggered on a small amount of sugar in chocolate 85% or higher, but one slice of bacon cured with sugar has me wanting to think about places I might have hidden food 5 + years ago, WHUT the WHAT??? Yikes. Going back to food seeking scares me a bit.
I'm done with Food Addiction. The disease lives with me forever, but It's up to me to live in remission. Bye bye sugar cured bacon. I'm done being bloated too, so it's bye bye pork.
N=1 self experimentation is awesome. It's free and it really unlocked a lot of good health for me. Still to this day.
4. Sleep
It's hard to know how the restricted feeding window (9-10 hrs) is effecting my sleep. The heat in So.Cal is better this week, but I do think not having air conditioning at home is a factor. I'll be able to better assess over the next month or so, if we have cooler conditions.
I love living near the coast, so I keep a positive mind frame.
What didn't work in the past
1. Eating all the TIME!!! I couldn't sort out my Food Addiction with true hunger so I ate once every 2 hours or so. I never gave myself a metabolic break. Sigh...
2.Mindset: I got happy, happy, happy over a 1-5 pound loss... oh, I'll celebrate with a Skinny Cow ice cream WITH 1 point of M&M's. You might guess how that kicked up the ghrelin and reversed any loss I might have seen.
3. I ate all the foods. Moderation was what I was told that I had to do or I would binge!!!!! WHUT!!??? Moderation induced my binges....
4. Sleep, I thought I could go to bed at 11pm, get up at 5am and "catch up" on the weekends.
There will be graphs....
Glad that restricted eating is working for you, Karen. I can one hundred percent believe you on the bacon! I was eating lower salt bacon almost daily about six weeks ago, and I stopped because it caused me big problems. I have pretty much quit eating salami, too. I realized I am not one of those people who can have a platter of salami, olives, and cheese even those are low carb foods. That food still makes me want to binge big time. Thank you for continuing to post what works and what doesn't. I am still doing some n=1 experiments on myself, and I find it so freeing to be able to observe how my body reacts to food, and I don't get so freaked out if I see a problematic trajectory; I just make changes. When I ate processed food, I was unable to really focus on what was going on. But the cleaner my diet has become, the more I realize that yes, food affects me. It took a long time to get here, but now I am able to make the connections!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ali. Those little plates of smoked meats and cheeses and olives look so cute! Nice on paper, but at least now I know I must not be fooled into thinking bacon while traveling or any time is a "better choice".
DeleteFasting or having coconut butter measured out would be a better choice than a binge trigger. I think limiting smoked and processed meats is a better thing overall. My local Whole Foods ditched smoked brisket!!! Darn it, but probably better in the long run. I don't binge eat that, as long as I weigh it out, and I feel great afterwards.
Price wise, too, I can save some $$ in the long run.... A bunch of speakers at Low Carb USA talked about being knocked out of ketogenic status when eating sugared up bacon. Either there is a ton of sugar in that stuff or it's the fat/sugar/salt combo that is at work.
Glad you are getting to the nitty gritty of weight maintenance and health. It will make a difference in how you feel and long term health benefits. Most people don't to the work, so bravo to you. :)
Fantastic weight maintenance!! And you gather your data along the way to keep you accountable. I'll be looking for your next post!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!! My next post is from the Sugar Addiction lectures at Low Carb USA. I'm drafting a post now, to publish later in the week. :)
DeleteKeep up the good work yourself. The more weight maintenance blogs out there with long term maintainers the better, IMO. :)
do you only track your weight in MFP? or do you track calories?
ReplyDeleteHi Karla!!! :) Yes, I track on MFP. I tracked forever and ever, then took a 2 week break at the end of October. I wasn't eating off plan, just exhausted at work and home and needing a break. I had a colonoscopy Nov 2 (normal, yay) and just started tracking again.
DeleteRemember, if you follow me there, ( my account is gardengirlkp) I am 5'1" desk job and I don't require the high amount of calories every one insists that I eat. I'm shorter and smaller than 75% of 6th graders, so I have to eat low in my calorie range. If I walk a lot at work and/or hike a lot or kayak and snorkle, then I eat everything in sight- that is on my food template.
I abstain from most crap food. And that works well for me. I can eat 85% chocolate, 1-2 squares, optional per day.