I dont post here often, but I read everyday. I think this group of women are about the most knowledgable when it comes to weightloss and keeping it off. So......here is my question.
What is my body telling me...........when I can go for 3-4 weeks, loose at a steady pace, and keep up my exercise. Then wake up one morning (like yesterday) and feel as hungry as a bear waking up in the spring!! I managed to feed myself good foods until my brain clicked at about 3pm. It wasnt enough, I then just figured, I'll take a free evening, and gave in to all the needs. Fibre, crunchy, sweet, and fat. By about 7 I was fine and very full. This morning I woke feeling much more at peace, and Im very capable of getting right back to where I was the day before yesterday.
Ive run thru my check list of things that might trigger this, such as tom, and stress, etc, and it wasnt any of these things. So this seemed to be for no apparent reason. That I could see anyway.
So......what am I missing that I should be doing or eating? I know I shouldnt feel like Ive failed after an afternoon like yesterday, but it does put a ding in the ole self esteem. Ive had my good breakfast, and as soon as Im done here, Im off for my 3 mile walk.
Any insight you ladies might have would be greatly appreciated!!!!
I think you should be a little kinder to yourself and acknowledge the 3-4 great weeks. As long as you can get right back on track and are not compulsively bulldozing your way through every morsel of food in your path, but enjoying what you've been missing in moderate amounts, I don't see a big problem here. The only problem I see is if you beat yourself up about it and feel bad!
As for "what is your body telling you?" How long have you been dieting? Do you just plain have diet burnout? Are you getting enough healthy fats in your diet? The few times I've tried very low fat diets have been a disaster for me, usually ending in all out binge eating. Are you eating healthy carbs? I don't want to start Atkins wars, but most people's bodies need some healthy carbs to function.
Again, be kind to yourself. You're getting back on track, and it doesn't sound like you are sabotaging yourself in the long run. Maybe you need to just take a closer look at what you are eating and make sure it's a healthy balance that doesn't restrict any major nutrient groups. (note to self: Is chocolate a major nutrient group?)
Someone mentioned watching 'fat chance' on cnn the other day. It was a feature program showing people who have lost weight and kept it off. As someone (sorry I dont remember) said, they interviewed Dr Hill, a founder of the National weight loss registry. From their successful losers they compiled 7 keys to successfully losing weight and keeping it off. One of the keys was 'expect failure but keep trying', meaning hardly anyone loses weight without a good number of problems along the way. I am not sure if the following thought is from that program or elsewhere, but someone someplace said people who are absolutely stringent and never stray from their programs while losing are those most likely to not maintain their loss. All or nothing. Perfectionism.
Not being perfect is not failure, its being human. What is key is to learn from what goes wrong. If you never fail, you wont learn as you lose. YOu ask "what am I missing that I should be doing or eating?" Have you ever considered its not about just the food? Were you stressed or tired or are there any emotions you are trying to avoid, etc? Were you asking food to solve a non-food problem?
Of course you just might have been extra hungry. Every once in a while I will have what I call a 'hungry' day when my normal food amounts just isnt enough to satisfy my physical hunger. So I eat more of what is ok for me to eat. After I reach true satisfaction this extra hunger will go away. If its emotional or head hunger, all the food in the world wont stop the 'hunger'.
Whatever the cause of your extra hunger, as Mel says, be kind and gentle with yourself. You are good and worthwhile no matter what you eat or weigh. So is everyone.
I understand what you are describing. I find it relatively common, once a month or so and not necessarily TOM related, that I just get HUNGRY. This is both during weight loss and maintenance. And I mean, gnawing-my-own-arm-off kind of hungry, all caps HUNGRY, not the low-grade, not-too-obnoxious hunger I sort of have to live with when I have a sustained calorie deficit. If I am really HUNGRY like that, and it isn't just stress or boredom masquerading as hunger, I figure, just eat something--obviously the body needs something here. Eat slowly, eat well, but just eat something. And as long as it was really physical hunger, whatever the reason, and I ate slowly and ate well, it NEVER made any real difference in the weight loss. No major implications on the scale, or getting back on track after. Binges, emotional eating type behavior, are another matter entirely.
The trick for me was making sure it was really hunger, and not a binge in disguise. The second trick was eating slowly and eating well, and not just snarfing down a bunch of junk food.
I have never figured out what causes it for me. I don't get too concerned unless it becomes a pattern that has some impact on my overall goals.
Now everybody is different, and it may be more of an issue for you to have a day like that, but if you can really get back on plan where you left off the day before, sounds to me like you just physically need it, for whatever reason your body has cooked up.
It can be disheartening to abandon the plan for a day. But sometimes I spin it to myself this way--it is so rare that I actually correctly interpret my body's need for food just by how I actually feel (as opposed to examining the journal for the day and thinking about what I should feel), that getting a signal right, even if it wasn't on plan, is something to be happy about. Well, I never buy that spin completely either, but it does help me to feel a little less crummy!
Anne...you hit it right on the head. I did my double checking to make sure it wasnt stress or emotional eating. But I did do a stumble on the binge eating. Because I was eating so fast, I was in such a rush to get the food in because I was so hungry, I questioned if I was binging. Right there in the middle of it. So that itself is a big step in the right direction. I decided it wasnt. It was true hunger.
Jan...being kind to myself something I still have to work on. Its been 2 days since I did this, and Im feeling better now. Ive managed to stay on track, and get my exercise in. So no harm done, mind you I didnt get on the scale!! I feel better and a bit more energized. Thanks
Mel...I had a look at what I was eating, and in doing that I decided I needed to keep a journal. I used to use fitday, but I get too hung up on the numbers (kinda like with the scale) Im not ultra low fat, but more, lower carb and low fat at the same time. I used to do atkins, but I cant take all the fat after about 3 weeks. So this is sort of a bfl eating plan, but not.
I did however take a pce of paper, and write out a few quick recipe ideas for emergency hunger pangs. Taped it to the inside of the cupboard door, so next time, I wont be in a panic, and I'll have ideas to calm and get everything I seem to be craving at the same time. Hopefully that wont be for another month or so!!
My 'hungry' days come about once/month too. I dont totally understand them, but have surmised its my body wants to know that there really isnt a real-life famine happening at the moment. If it sends out the ol' "I want food now --and alot of it" signal, and I feed myself enough to satisfy myself, my body gets the message that the smaller amounts of food is by choice rather than something major going on in the outside world, and it relaxes again and does not slow its metabolic rate in survival response. Its almost as if its gone into panic mode and wants re-assurance. Then its over till the next time.
What is my body telling me??
You're getting back on track, and it doesn't sound like you are sabotaging yourself in the long run. Maybe you need to just take a closer look at what you are eating and make sure it's a healthy balance that doesn't restrict any major nutrient groups. (note to self: Is chocolate a major nutrient group?)
