Last year I lost about 40lbs in about 3 months, then struggled to lose 10lbs in the next couple months. My struggle was with my emotions, not my diet. Then I quit around the end of September because I was so sick of dieting.
I was up 3 lbs by December, not too shabby.
Then by March 17, I was up another 7lbs. That's when it hit me I'd better get back on track. Greatest motivator was not wanting to EVER get back to 165lbs and I was getting closer by the day.
So now I've been back on the diet for about 11 days and have lost 5.5lbs without trying all that hard. (I could have lost more, but there is an emotional adjustment period I had to go through.)
I wanted to come back on here because it was important to me to let people know, just because someone disappears does not mean they gained all their weight back or gave up. I remember that being extremely important to me when I first came on this forum and got discouraged when I saw people leaving and seeming to give up.
I knew I was going to gain around 10lbs back all along so when I hit that mark after 5.5 months, I got back on the horse.
I also wanted to mention, sometimes we just need an emotional break so don't feel bad if you take one. My biggest goal was 150lbs, a real landmark, even though my true goal is 125lbs. I think emotionally, I needed to hang out in my 150s for a while because it felt soooooo good to get there after having lost 50lbs.
Now I'm tiring of my 150s and am ready to begin again, one last time...
Now that I'm monitoring my weight and food intake even more closely than the last time, I've discovered a few things.
I do notice when I hit say, 157 I might stay at 157.6, 158.2 then 157.8 over a three day period, but if I hang in there, I'll dump 1.5lbs in a day after three days of tediously being stuck on 157. As an example I just lost 2.6lbs in the last 3 days after being stuck at 157 for five LONG days. If you are more stubborn than your body, in the end, it will give the weight up it was supposed to lose and then some during those days it was being obstinate.
My goal is 300 calories a day. Sounds crazy I know. But I average more like 700-1200 a day so I guess it's a good goal even though not very realistic, yet. On the days I eat 1000-1200 calories, my weight loss slows way down and it's not just because of the calories, it's because of the actual weight of the food.
In other words if I don't have a BM for one day that can show up on the scale as a GAIN, especially if I ate 1200 calories. If I don't have a BM for two days, it looks like I'm plateauing.
So keep in mind, the actual weight of the food you are eating if the scale is not moving and you are not BMing.
It feels really good to be back and in control again. I didn't go completely crazy with food over the last five months and I feel a 10lb gain is acceptable at any time in your life, however keeping that 10lbs on is not.
So this time I have a secret goal of gleaning bonus points. Crazy as it sounds, I know once I start eating regular again, I'm going to have a short term gain, so I'm thinking that once I hit 125lbs, if I'm in the mood, I may go for the bonus points and shoot for 120lbs. At least at that point I'll have 5 points in the bag and a leg up on that ultimate initial gain.
But then again, 3 months of intensive dieting can make me bat sh*t so I'll rethink the bonus points once I get there.
I honestly cannot understand how people are able to continually diet for a year at a time and only lose 30-50lbs. I think I would lose my mind and nearly did trying the slow method. I'm very grateful this works for me, otherwise there wouldn't be much hope and I do appreciate those who can endure the long haul.
In any event, I can't wait until I hit 125lb if for no other reason I'm planting vegetable gardens and am looking forward to doing some intensive FREE organic juicing! I won't juice now because bites are at a premium and I do NOT like vegetables much. The only thing I really like vegetables for is as a transporter for butter, fatty sauces, or creamy salad dressing I'd otherwise eat by the spoonful.
If I don't LOVE the food I put into my mouth, I feel it was a waste of bites and I somehow cheated myself.
So I try to make EVERY bite of food count so I feel I'm getting what I want and am satisfied. Variety is key for me, so any given day I might eat as many as 20 different things.
I also learned the hard way last year that exercise is out of the question for me. Every time I did it, I'd either gain or stall big time. However, if I'm doing something physical like rearranging furniture, gardening, etc., it does help speed things up.
I feel like the Lone Ranger at times because no one seems to be dieting the way I do, so if there's anyone out there who diets like I do please give me a shout out!
Best wishes and glad to be back!
Jude
Last edited by gracewriter; 03-29-2012 at 02:01 PM.
Hi Jude, some of what you do is some of what I do, especially not enjoying every morsel/calorie. If it doesn't taste good, I will throw it out. I'm not wasting my precious calories on food that doesn't happy dance on my tongue. At the moment I'm not exercising because I'm recovering from surgery. Unlike you, I'm an exercise junkie. Since muscle weighs more than fat, I don't mind that weight because fit and trim to me is better. And muscle burns calories. So we're definitely different there. I think everyone is a lone ranger because what works for me will be different than what works for you and what works from someone else. But I do have to ask, are you really aiming for only 300 calories per day??? I swear I read that three times thinking my eye were deceiving me. Marie
Hey there,
It's good to see another Northwesterner on here. And one who is into organic gardening to boot. I don't garden, but wish I did. ) I buy mostly organic, though, and recently got back into juicing and veg/fruit smoothies. Congrats on "mostly" maintaining while you took a break. That's a great accomplishment in itself! What area do you live in? I'm in SW WA. I haven't officially joined the 50's group yet, but have planned to. I'm still browsing all the forums at this point. See ya around here.......
Ha! Ya, 300 is always the goal and even some days I make it, but it's rare. I know it sounds counter intuitive health wise. Suffice it to say, I did it every time I had a baby and dropped 75lbs in a few months when I was younger. It never caused me any health issues and I'm very healthy today.
I think there is a lot of misinformation out there on low calorie diets, from would be corporations who are going to lose money if everyone finds out it not only works but doesn't cause ill health unless you stay on it for a year. If I go that low for any length of time I load up on minerals, etc.
I'm setting this week's goal at 800 a day and I'll see how far I get. If nothing else, having a goal of low calories keeps me from going over 1200 a day.
Hey there,
It's good to see another Northwesterner on here. And one who is into organic gardening to boot. I don't garden, but wish I did. ) I buy mostly organic, though, and recently got back into juicing and veg/fruit smoothies. Congrats on "mostly" maintaining while you took a break. That's a great accomplishment in itself! What area do you live in? I'm in SW WA. I haven't officially joined the 50's group yet, but have planned to. I'm still browsing all the forums at this point. See ya around here.......
Hi!
I'm in Gresham. We moved here from South Florida 2 years ago. I so love it up here! I actually LOVE the rain so it's perfect for me. Not so much for my husband. We were so lucky to get a few snow falls, one even stuck around for a day!
This weather is crazy! I'm going through thunderstorm withdrawal, but that's the only thing I miss since moving here.
Thank you so much for giving me a congrats on my success in only gaining 10lbs the last several months. That felt really good. I hadn't thought of giving myself permission to feel good about that accomplishment.
I grew up not far from Gresham a VERY long time ago. I try not to go there anymore because there is a certain motor officer there who seems to get me every time I'm with 20 miles, even on I-84. I swear I must drive the same kind of car as his ex wife! As long as you're not in a gold Camry, you should be fine. I would LOVE to be leaving this rain and going to South Florida! But glad someone enjoys it!
Visiting Florida and living in South Florida are as night and day. Trust me. It is flat, humid, unfriendly, and bloody hot.
I would literally sweat while putting on make-up in air conditioning. Just walking from the house to the car in the morning I could be dripping. The second you get off the plane you are assaulted with a thick wave of hot humidity you could cut with a knife.
I can't believe how "dry" it is here with so much rain! Summer here is unbelievable. No humidity? Huh? Natives complain when it gets really hot for those two weeks, and we wonder, "You think this is hot? Huh?"
Welcome back Gracewriter! I can't say I remember you but it was probably during a time I wasn't very active here. Your story is interesting...always like to read about other's weightloss journeys and what worked and didn't work for them. Also had to jump in here because I'm also in the NW, I used to live in Gresham...but it's been 35 years since I moved from there. I'm now in SW WA too.
No, my sig weight is a joke...I WAS there but I've gained most of it back. This morning I was 166.4. I kept the sig as I was sure I'd lose it faster than I have. Should change it now. You've done great!
No, my sig weight is a joke...I WAS there but I've gained most of it back. This morning I was 166.4. I kept the sig as I was sure I'd lose it faster than I have. Should change it now. You've done great!
Thanks! I know what you mean. I didn't change mine until a couple days ago. I figured it would be incentive to get back down to the weight I was when I quit.
I actually got down to 148lbs before I quit so my gain is more like 12lbs, but since I never recorded 148lbs anywhere, I could pretend it didn't exist.
What diet are you doing, or are you just winging it?
Yes, I will probably change mine soon too. When I got down to that sig weight I was on Medifast, but now I'm back to doing my own thing. MF works but I got tired of the food. Now I am back to counting calories. I know it works too if I am consistent. My problem has always been consistency esp with evening snacking.
Evening snacking is the worst for me. I was just at Fred Meyers and found these "Kim's Magic Pops." They are these large disk shaped crunchy type things. They only have 15 calories. They don't taste half bad, and are nice to satiate that needing to crunch on something.
I save most my calories for after dinner as that's when I know my will power is the lowest.
I'm back!!
back, Jude!
) I buy mostly organic, though, and recently got back into juicing and veg/fruit smoothies. Congrats on "mostly" maintaining while you took a break. That's a great accomplishment in itself! What area do you live in? I'm in SW WA. I haven't officially joined the 50's group yet, but have planned to. I'm still browsing all the forums at this point. See ya around here.......
