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



4 comments:

  1. Awww. I thought it was going to be pictures of YOU on the surf board. :}

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    1. Deb, LOL. I can boogie board, swim, kayak - with modifications because of my positional vertigo. Surfing is out, since there's less control on my head positioning. I will probably try paddle boarding, if I can stay upright most of the time. Thanks for stopping by the blog.

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  2. Do you think it might also have been harder to maintain before because you had a larger window of eating each day?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Suzanne, thanks for our question. I think meal timing played a part, however in 2012 to early 2014, I ate from about 6am and didn't really finish eating or drinking decaf until 8pm or so. And I found when my weight was 113-117 or so, I found maintenance "easier".

      I had just started into menopause then, so I'm not sure what hormonal effects may have been at play, over time. Thanks for stopping by the blog.

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