South Beach Diet - Argh. So moody. And weight fluctuation question.

Oh I am beyond all hope of a sane week. It's only Monday and I've been snapping at the kids all morning for just stupid-being-kids stuff. I think I must be out of practice with these hormone fluctuations. I feel like such a bad person!

Plus, I've been staying right at 1500 calories since Friday AND getting my exercise in and I'm still up at 128! I haven't changed my ticker in hopes that it's just this nasty beginning of the cycle business, but I'm getting really frustrated. I know, I know, I'll probably get on the scale tomorrow and it'll be washed away, but I'm crabby to begin with and I've had to try REALLY hard to stay on plan and within my calorie limit and I was hoping for great results. Grimace.

I never owned a scale until two months ago so I've never tracked my weight through a menstrual cycle before. For those of you who weigh daily or who know your weight fluctuations, what usually happens to your numbers during different times of your cycle (if you don't mind sharing)? I don't want to be nosy, just looking for a glimmer of hope.

My plan as of now is to finish off a week at 1500 calories a day, which will be through Thursday, and then bump it up to 1800 calories a day for a week. I don't want my body to get "used to" only 1500 calories a day and then be forced to go lower to lose weight because I'm afraid I wouldn't get all my nutrients in at a lower calorie count. I figure, even if I maintain at 1800, which I shouldn't because by all the calculators I've found I should need over 2000 a day to maintain, I won't be gaining, and I'll be able to go back to the 1500 the next week. What do you think about that?

Sorry for being so grumpy today. I'm going to go run this afternoon and hopefully the endorphins will kick in and knock this monster out of my head!

Kara

You know what? Don't get too worried about the scale just yet. Every day, your weight can fluctuate by 3-5 pounds from morning to night just for basic body functions, so paying too much attention to it can drive you nuts! Pick a day, weight yourself once a week in the morning, and so long as the trend is downward over time, you are doing well. I find that tracking food and exercise like at fitday.com helps keep perspective. Good luck!

Thanks, TJ. Maybe I'm just not seeing the forest for the trees, as it were. Good advice!

Kara

kara
do u mind if i ask you how much you lost during phase I?

i'm looking for someone who's almost near the same goal as me. the reason is that there's more weight loss for someone who's taller or heavier compared to someone smaller or lighter due to BMR. I don't want to have my expectations to be high. I figured my weight loss will not be as much as someone taller or heavier to me. Just wanted to be realistic to myself.

thanx so much

I think I lost five pounds over the two weeks of Phase 1. I was expecting it to be a smaller number because I had already been eating healthy and drinking a lot of water every day. But since I started Phase 2, I've lost and regained the same three pounds a couple times now and it's getting irritating. If I was a little bit lower and couldn't budge the scale, I'd understand, but the problem is that I'll get to 125 and be all, "Woohoo!" and then get a little lax with myself for a couple days and those stupid three pounds come back and I'm back where I was at the end of Phase 1 again! I think I might have some kind of psychological aversion to reaching my goal wherein I sabotage myself so I can't get there! When I'm rich and famous I'll have to hire a personal psychologist to figure it all out for me. Do stay-at-home moms become rich and famous? I could always go back to teaching. That's a lucrative profession...

Kara

Hi Kara, I wouldn't read too much into your scale right now, weigh in at the end of the week and you should be pleasantly surprised. I can gain 4 lbs right before starting so I try not to weigh in at tom and when I am working nights and only get a few hours of sleep I retain water like crazy so I have learned not to go by those numbers. I weigh in once a week and write that number down and my trend as been mostly down with a few maintains in there.

But I know what you mean about getting on the scale and not like the number and it can make you crappy for the rest of the day towards everyone...used to be that way until I incorporated what I wrote down up there. Hope that helps. Have a great Week

Thanks, Pearl! When I first started Phase 2 I was weighing every day because I was afraid of going too far off track and then having it bite me in the butt later. But now my plan is to weigh once a week. I just get so excited when I have a good exercise session and think, "It *must* have done *something*!" and then get on the scale and I'm three pounds heavier. I probably should weigh once a month so all these little ups and downs don't freak me out so much.

I've been able to resist the ice cream cravings so far. What is it about hormones that makes me want to stuff my face with anything bad? There's a chicken place right across from where our Korean class is and on the way home I just wanted to go in and get something that is fried, just because I knew it would be bad for me. I NEVER eat fast food. Not even Subway. And I don't even eat meat. I just wanted to purposefully eat something bad for me. I'm such a weirdo!

Kara

Nah the hormones are just kicking in LOL

Thanks. That helps. You made me laugh for the first time today!

Kara

kara, KNOCK IT OFF.

i hovered around 241 last year for 14 WEEKS.... this is for life the scale does not matter it's a bonus... look at how great you feel....and go from there.

some days i just gotta go with I"M doing it cause I said I would. I promised them I'd eat clean, drink my water and exercise....and i don't break a promise.

other days I do it for me.

do you know I did not see a loss between May 1st and July 15th and then WOOSH 2 pounds gone overnight...

bodies are freaky my friend.

Look at how great I feel? I feel like crud! Stupid hormones.

Seriously, though, I needed that kick in the pants. I always tell my kids, "No one here wants to listen to you whine," and I really do need to take that advice.

I am a Type A planner-analyzer-organizer and it kills me that I haven't figured out my own body yet!

Kara

Hormones suck

my gyn told e that extra vitiman b and e and avoid ALL sugar including fruit juice (which we do anyway) really helps.

Kara, I think we started this "calorie counting" within SBD about the same time, right?
Since I started that I have kept very accurate records about what I'm eating. For me it is 1280 per day. I have actually kept under that number (not on purpose...and I am eating plenty of food!) I have been weighing myself every day since then and hadn't lost anything...in fact, one day I had gained almost 2 lbs! I weigh myself at the same time every day before I eat or drink anything and I was kind of discouraged even though I KNEW I had been extra good and that the scale can be just plain stupid! (I knew I shouldn't have bought the stupid thing!)...

So, this morning, I hopped on and nearly dropped my drawers...When I started this "calorie thing" It was 157, then 158.9...
this morning it said 154.8!!!! My starting weight was somewhere in the mid to high 170's.

So...I've decided to put the thing away and only weigh myself every week or so. I feel "up" right now and don't want to feel mad tomorrow if it goes up! The scale is a mean and evil thing and should only be let out of the closet occasionally!

You are doing great and the scale is just a dumb machine so don't get discouraged!!! Let your clothes say more than the scale does!!

Cat, you're the best. I was looking for someone to tell me exactly that. The reason I hadn't bought a scale until now is that I've hovered on the brink of eating disorders in the past and have often been compulsive about certain things and I was afraid that weighing would turn out to be the same. I don't want the scale to be the focus and end-all-be-all, you know?

I'm so glad your numbers went down! Pretty soon, you *will* be dropping your drawers because you'll be so slim!!!

How's your daughter doing, by the way?

Thanks again for the encouragement!

Kara

How's your daughter doing, by the way?



Kara

She's doing fine. They are pretty much settled in. Their apt is a loft and they are still trying to find shelves etc to get organized, since there is very little storage space. She begins the job hunt today..her BF thought he had a gym lined up before he left here, met with the gym owner this weekend and starts working next Monday. (He's a personal trainer. He has a degree in criminal justice, but decided after college he loved what he was doing so stuck with it) My daughter is trying to find a job that will bring in "good" money where she can work at night and go to school during the day (she bartended in college at a nice place here and is trying to find something along the same lines at an upscale place). Then she will apply to Second City or maybe The Groundlings to get her "comedy ball" rolling. We'll see...

That's so good to hear! I'm sure she'll find something perfect.

Kara

I understand the addiction to the scale all too well! If you promise to put yours away and weigh in just once per week I'll do the same. It's crazy, up and down and the same. The smaller you are the harder it is to lose as well.

Go take the kids and have a picnic at a park! I wish my 3 girls were still little! (I have forgotten all of the hard stuff that comes with little ones haven't I?!!)

It's monsoon season here. The park is all muddy, I'm afraid.

You know, several people have said things to us about missing when the kids were little and Tom and I have looked at each other like, "Really?" I guess there's a new challenge with every year they get older! I'm sure we'll miss the time out corner working when they're in high school!!!

Kara

Kara, I promise you that when they are older, you will miss your babies so much. I can't even count how many times I cleaned up juice off the floor, tripped on toys and couldn't wait till they got to "the next stage".

I wish I could wake up one Saturday morning to cartoons on the tv with 2 of them spilling cereal and rocking the 3rd one. All I wanted to do was sleep when they were little! Now I get up at 4 every morning and I could sleep as late as I want..what's up with that?? Breakfast used to be a nightmare later on when they were in school. Graham would yell at Beau because Beau's teeth hit the spoon and it drove Graham nuts. Beau would knock over whatever he was drinking every single morning. Marie would yell at Graham for yelling at Beau. Beau would be in tears. Graham took forever to get dressed even though we put out clothes the night before. They fought in the car all the way to school. (HE's BREATHING ON ME!!! SHE IS ON MY SIDE! DO I HAVE TO PULL THIS CAR OVER?????)

Now they are all best buddies, love to see each other when they can, all hug and kiss when they see each other, go out partying when they are all in town and talk to each other nearly every day on their phones. And it is FAR too quiet in this house. The only thing I can hear right now is the crickets outside and the click of the keyboard. I promise you will miss it...you will blink your eyes and your babies will be gone like they are supposed to...but it's not easy...cleaning up juice is a lot easier! So go give them a kiss and enjoy it while you can.

It's monsoon season here. The park is all muddy, I'm afraid.

You know, several people have said things to us about missing when the kids were little and Tom and I have looked at each other like, "Really?" I guess there's a new challenge with every year they get older! I'm sure we'll miss the time out corner working when they're in high school!!!

Kara


you don't think they need time out in high school ba-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Oh, that was an evil laugh Nessa! It is so true Kara, mine aren't out of the house yet, 9, 10, and 20, but in my mind things just stopped the year they were 2, 3, and 13. I guess that was my favorite year. Even though my husband is away 4 mos/home 4 mos, and some of the times he was away, I wasn't sure I'd be able to cope. I think the difference is that there were lots of challenges back then, but they were all "fixable". How do you fix a broken heart? How do you learn to let go and let them make terrible mistakes? The in-between stage is hard because half the time they want you to leave them alone to grow up and the other half they want their mommy to fix it.

My girls are 2 1/2,5 and 8. I already miss some of the baby stuff but, not enough to have another. lol. A month ago I packed up all of their baby clothes to give to my sister and actually cried. I could remember how each one looked in the little dresses and such and cried. Can you imagine how bad I'll be when they actually leave the house?

Femme you hit the nail in the head. Mine are 18 and 16 and both home, but I spent last night looking at the baby photo albums remembering when... time does go by quickly... remember the saying about being careful about what you wish for.

I also go through scale phases. If I want to weigh weekly I have to put it away in my closet and ignore it. If it is on the floor in the bathroom I will weigh myself all day long... except when tom starts, I will avoid the scale for 5 days or so. - Suzyq

I sure do relate to the kid talk! I remember when I was so sleep deprived and run down that I never thought I would see the 'light of day' so to speak. Now, my twins are almost 9 and my lil one is 4 and I get sentimental that the 'little ness' is almost gone.

I hear you too on feeling awful when they drive you to snappiness. At times like those I always remind myself that I'm only human but I do have the power to redirect. I still can be a great parent even if it's not been a great moment.

MEGAN, curses on you!!! We were done after Connor (apparently, God had other plans for us since we now have two more!) but with Avery STILL not sleeping through the night I am SO not ready to have another baby right now. Actually I just started my period. I've had two crazy long cycles since Avery was born and that's it so I think I got a rush of hormones that totally overwhelmed me yesterday. Today I'm feeling much better and evened out.

Thanks for the advice on enjoying their young years, all! I am all for taking advice!!!

Kara

P.S. The scale was down another pound today, so I'm feeling better. I'm going to weigh again on Friday when this nonsense will hopefully be all over!