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Saturday, February 25, 2017

Transition complete! From weight loss to weight weight maintenance Feb 2017 one month, steady state

Remember my post, the one about transitioning from weight loss to weight maintenance being short and well defined? Well, I've reached full time weight maintenance at a weight that is better for me.

The time period: It took about 1 month or so to really lock things down. Now 35 more years of weight maintenance. to go. LOL. Really, I just can concern myself with today and things will be okay.

In real life: Likely, I'll have to cycle between weight loss and weight maintenance many times, although, I'm aiming for a long time in between unintentional gain. Like a few years. or months. I'll take what I get and I won't throw a fit.


one month of weight loss, one month of weight maintenance Jan-Feb 2017


Now the real work begins!

Seriously, I see so much bad advice out there for weight maintainers. Advice that will absolutely result in weight regain. Intentional or unintentional, I'm on 100% constant vigilance during the next 6  months,  entire time of my remaining life span. 

Here's some fool proof advice: Choose your monitoring tools wisely. Monitor your weight, food intake, movement glucose, ketones if it helps, strength, blood pressure, inflammation markers, sleep, and stress relief. Choose  enough tools to identify and reverse a gain trend so that weight maintenance is simply weight maintenance.

Choose tools carefully. Choose weight maintainer seniors carefully, too. This is important if additional roots of obesity have not been addressed.

HINT: Develop habits around measurements and frequencies for long term weight maintenance. The focus will have to shift, so that new habits become sustainable habits. Then, when the next habit set (main habit with subsets) can be learned, practiced, sustained. 

That habit cycle will need to happen for each root cause of obesity. Toss some self growth in there. It's like fertilizer.

Unless you want to yo-yo!? After 40 years, I needed to stop yo-yo dieting. 

Good News: It seems for me to get easier (metabolically, emotionally) since I stopped cycling back into the food addiction or the bio-chemical mess or the stinking thinking that was killing me (or making life miserable) in the first place. 

Habit changes, one by one, only in the direction that will give me weight maintenance


Here's what is working now: 
  • I keep my monitoring tools handy, 
  • I check often (but not too much), and 
  • I'm way, way, way honest with myself and what I tell myself
  • I check in with other weight maintainers in real life.
What didn't work during other attempts:
  • I did not monitor the correct metrics for my obesity root causes
  • I did not monitor enough
  • I was not honest with myself and my weight gain, getting food high was more fun!
  • I didn't go out to find other abstainers like myself, stayed with moderators too long.
How long does it take you to transition between steady states? Have you ever strung together 2 months or two years of steady state weight maintenance? For me it's been 5 years +/- 10 pounds, and only 2 years +/- 3 pounds.

Very interesting....  I have to say I love steady state weight maintenance.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Quick- Open Comments to the FDA on “Use of the Term `Healthy' in the Labeling of Human Food Products.” Feb 2017- Speak UP!!

A big thank you to Michael Moss for tweeting the link to the open comments at the FDA for the use of the term "healthy" in US food product labels.

Here's the tweet
READER Assignment:  Please leave your feedback for the FDA.

QUIZ:  2 question competency assessment quiz. Y'all are a smart bunch. I know you'll pass my 2 question "healthy" competency quiz.

A photo speaks 1,000 words. So here is my experience only.

Question A: 

 Which photo looks "healthy" from a metabolic disease stand point? In 2017 or 2011?

2017
Eating while consuming Zero Food Products labeled "healthy- Feb 2017




2011
Eating while following the "healthy" labels on cereal and grains Feb 2011







































B. Question #2

Which food template photo allows me to maintain a 74 lb weight loss over 5+ years? These are actual food diaries for me. 

Eggs and Kale photo #1 and nutrition info:


4 eggs, kale, raspberries, olive oil, coconut oil, pink salt black coffee, 2/17/2017


























2017 Nutrition info for photo #1

Nutrition Info for LCHF 2/17/2017 breakfast, Normal BMI and weight, BMI 21



















2011 breakfast photo images-#2  Photos (with credit) and Nutrition info
Healthy labeling claims, highly processed



















Photo credit
https://images.kglobalservices.com/www.morningstarfarms.com/en_us/product/product_4509827/kicproductimage-125340__0011_sausagelinks_3d.jpg


Whole grain breakfast example, SAD diet













photo credit
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/910BDcVaPoL._SX355_.jpg


2011 Breakfast 

Nutrition Info for "healthy" US Food Product Claim Low Fat Breakfast , Feb 2011, morbidly obese, BMI 34

Please let me know in comments if you want the Quiz answers and/or if you left a comment for the FDA.  Onward. When we know better we do better. Hey, they had me at cinnamon roll... LOL ;)

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Why is it easier for me to maintain my weight under a certain number or BMI? Cool surfing photo comparison

It's not my imagination.  I've had 5 years of solid weight maintenance.

Why is it easier for me to maintain my weight under a certain number?

I have no clue. Metabolism, Age, Menopause, Formerly obese for 40 years, FTO fat genes that came out to play when I was age 6 , Type 2 diabetes genes that almost came out to play at age 46, but I got my food template switched over to LCHF fast enough.

I can guess: I can see why many obesity experts say that adipose tissue is being recognized as an "endocrine organ"   Yep! Living that life right now. Every day.

Can we get more tools?: algorithms, correlation with genotype and phenotype, better tests. I hope so. Sooner rather than later. That would be good.

I've come to my own conclusion that I have a certain weight cut-off that allows me to maintain my weight easier than at higher weights.

Why: I may NEVER KNOW.

My own "magic, EZ" cut-off is 119 lbs, this translates to 22.5 BMI. I'm super short, tiny bone frame. So let's translate it to BMI.

To summarize: I  find it easier to maintain my my weight in a BMI that ranges from about 21.5 to 22.5. 

Your milage will vary. Say that you find weight maintenance easy and there will be a hater pile on. Don't hate, please. Everyone's experience will be different. Some easy, some hard. It's okay to have opinions, feel differently, and talk about it. There's no one right way. If you carb it up with grains and sugars and find weight maintenance easy, that's okay.

Notes: Not really sure what being below a BMI of 21 is like for me. Besides clothes not fitting very well due to my extra skin from a large weight loss.

Photos: To illustrate just have a look at the photos and captions below. The surfers tell my ease of weight maintenance much better than I can put it into words. Blah, Blah, Blah.

What's working now?

1. Daily weighing, my graphs do not lie, so I can take action with trends higher.
2. Food intake amount to keep my weight less than or = to 119 lbs
3. Food choices, Paleo, LCHF, sometimes Keto to keep my glucose optimal
4. Moderately active 60+ minutes daily
5. 7+ hours of sleep most days
6. Time restricted eating window, 6am to 1pm daily, three meals.


What didn't work in the past:

1. Not weighing often enough, even 1X per week is not enough for me.Slippery slope, food addict voice could come out every day to play, so I weigh.

2.-3. I didn't track my food. I tried to eat intuitively which was a huge fail in food addiction recovery. My body "wanted" to eat M&M's, cookie dough, and Skinny Cow Ice Creams and count WW points.

4. I thought 3,000 to 4,000 steps per day, with no strength training or sprints.

5. Getting 5-6 hours seemed good enough, made excuses about being a single parent.

6. I ate every 2-3 hours from 6am until about 10 or 11pm.

What is your own experience? Is a certain BMI or weight range easier for you to maintain? Is is a real burden to try to drop out of that range once you've passed the mark? Why? Onward to us all.

Weight Maintenance at 114 to 119 (BMI 22.5)


Weight maintenance between 119 and 123 pounds (23.2 BMI)



Weight Maintenance over 125  pounds (BMI 23.6)





















Weight Maintenance haters when they watch you gain weight after loss. Truth, ask any maintainer



Saturday, February 4, 2017

5 years of Weight Maintenance- a day to celebrate!!!!

Feb 2012 and Feb 2017



















Feb 2012 to Feb 2017




May 2011 to Feb 2017




May 2011 to Feb 2017
























Starting weight 187.4 lbs
Goal Range 115-125  lbs
Current Weight 114.0 lbs
Keeping off       73.4   lbs

Time in weight maintenance 5 years

Age 50
Menopause 3+years
Height 5'1"
BMI 21.5
BMI ave this month 21.7
BMI ave last month 22.1
Ave glucose- new glucose meter, need to run controls, but Ave = mid to high 80's
Ave glucose (fasting & 2 hr post last month = 73 mg/dL)

Food Template:  Ketosis and/or LCHF, NSNG, Daily carbs 27-42 grams total 20-30 grams net carbs
Abstain from all grains, sugars*, dairy. Nut free, artificial sweetner free **
* 85% chocolate 1X per day
** Tiny bit of stevia in my Natural Calm

Food Timing or Time Restricted Eating Window or Intermittent Fasting 17:7 or 15:9

17 hours fasting (water only)
7 hours eating, 3 meals per day works best, early in the day.
6am to 1 pm daily for my eating window


Auto-Immune Hashimotos 1997, 100 ug Synthroid daily
Food Addict in Recovery: 5+ years
High Risk, but never diagnosed Type 2 diabetes


Walking 12,000 to 13,000 per day steps per day
Weight lifting 1-2 days per week, some weeks 1 day a week due to schedule change

Sprints on the rowing machine 1 days per week , took a break this week due to procedure

Stair Ave/day for the month 17 stairs (Apple Health Kit)

Pushups at home, modified 10+ per day, most days

Headspace Meditation 10 mins per day, most days


What can I say???  5 years is awesome. Seems like a few weeks ago I was taking my goal weight photos. 

Why? Why me? Why not me? I was a yo-yo dieter for 40 years. Next 40 years are mine!!!  

What's working now?

1. ABSTAINING for the WIN. Gretchen Rubin, abstaining in one short Youtube video.   I needed to be an abstainer in 1971, so 2011 was not too late for me. Thank you Higher Power for storing my extra glucose in my body and not wrecking my liver, kidneys, eye sight, and I have my toes and fingers. I'm lucky, so fortunate.

2.  Paleo/Low Carb/ Keto Taking what worked for other people, trying it on for size for myself.  Keeping whatever worked. Paleo, Low Carb High Natural Fat, Keto.   Intermittent fasting 17 hours, with a 7 hour eating window, 3 meals a day.

Truck loads of support groups compared to 2011. No excuses to not getting help with a transition if grain free living or cutting the sugar is needed for your health or your life. So many more connected, supportive communities these days.

And it if Paleo/Primal/Low Carb/Keto doesn't work, keep going to find what does. Or try again, with modifications.

3. Customizing  my food choices and my environment to keep obesity in remission

FTO obesity and Type 2 Diabetes genes, I have a very high genetic risk, but I'm in remission

I was at super high risk of both obesity and type 2 diabetes. I locked those two diseases up and put them away. Just because I have the geneotype for two very predominant, high rate diseases in the US, doesn't mean for me that I can't put them into remission for  long, long time.  Will it be life long? Time will tell.

But hey, genetic testing really helped me speed up my long term success.

Genetic testing, along with the Promethease SNPedia for the WIN.

In expensive now, relatively, knowing my full risk factors really help me pick and choose expensive screening, or when to screen less often.

4. Home glucose testing

Yeah, home testing is key to me knowing what foods are going to to get me diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. I was a few months away at getting a diagnosis before I got wise and used my glucose meter to keep glucose spikes away. I still get higher glucose readings from time-to-time, but overall, I've removed the foods that keep my glucose high for hours on end.  Intermittent fasting helps with that, too.

5. Daily scale weigh-ins and recording at My Fitness Pal

My calorie intake along with my Low Carb/Paleo/Keto food choices are key. YES, for me both amount of food and the type of foods I choose - grain free, almost sugar free, dairy , free nut free,  and fruit free except for berries.

If I overeat on Paleo food, I get my fat pants back. My truth. Your milage may vary.

Also, my hungry and full signals do not work all the time the way they should. Rather than being a BAD PERSON with BAD HABITS, I have a crap "extra ghrelin gene" that still puts out extra hunger hormone. Tough, but not a barrier that keeps me overweight, obese, or morbidly obese.

Daily weighing and tracking at My Fitness Pal  help me to know what foods work for me, like a poor man's allergy test. Certain foods really spike up the scale. If I can repeat the spike 3-4 times, I usually know that food may be a food that I only have once and a while, like bacon. Maybe once a year or so now. Pork just isn't in my frequent foods.

Some people dislike the idea of daily weighing.  Hey now!  I'm the only person paying my health insurance and my medical bills. Glad I got the heck over people pleasing. It's the best adult thing I've done in a long while.

My health bills are staggering, and I'm well. If I can opt out of diseases and high medical bills using a simple tool, well, I owe it to my family finances to rock my weight data.

Here are 2 examples that are non-weight related.
 I wouldn't tape over a new teen  drivers gas gauge on her car and say, well just drive intuitively, you'll be able get gas when you FEEL like it. LOL!!!  Same thing with a teen and finances, don't look at your money inflow and out flow, you'll feel intuitively it when you need to earn money babysitting, like before you run out of gas.... LOL  All the nopes here. Tracking income and outflow for money is going to be a good habit for adulting.

 Weighing in and food tracking are inexpensive and personal finance tools. I understand that intuitive eating works for some. That's awesome, but it's not the right tool for me.

6. Modeling after other people who were and are successful and who use the same tools.

My bloggy friends and my MFP friends who rock weight maintenance. Thank you!!! I'll do a big shout out to you in a separate post. If I leave a comment on your blog, it's because I somehow found enough time and I can see the old me or the new me in you. Thank you.

Onward and staying away from what didn't work in the past.

1. Moderately eating all WW and low fat junk foods had me diabetic and sick and morbidly obese with high blood pressure and high hs-CRP. Oh, and the non-stop binge eating. Frozen diet dinners were the worst carby mess, along with most processed foods.

2-3  Eating low fat, grains, dairy, and canola oil really caused me a lot of joint pain and migraines. Sugar dependent and eating every 2-3 hours from 6am until 10 pm. That wasn't real hunger that was hormonal signals on WW 2 point bars.

4. Watching my glucose go higher and higher, and my HA1c go higher, too. Thinking that a low fat diet would fix it all and only testing glucose 1X per year.

5. Only weighing in 1X per 3 months or so, watching the scale go higher and higher. And not watching my total food intake, even while Paleo. I just didn't want to admit that I was going to have to find new habits and foods and amounts to make a permanent change.

6. I liked to model after the moderators and I kept myself stuck for decades. Me, I was in my own way for 40 freaking years. E-gads. Glad I got out of my own way.


Onward and here's to getting out of your own way. Never easy, always worth it. Thank you for all of your great comments over the 5 years.

GRAPHS, I've got them.