Back in! 139.0 today. It's amazing what one day of low-carbing it can do. I was pretty strict yesterday and dropped nearly 2 lbs. Water weight, for sure but it's nice to not be bumping up against the mid 140s, which is where I plateaued last year for like 6+ months. My recent weight gain was rapid and entirely based on massive overeating so it makes sense that an initial bump down would be fairly easy.
Now the hard part begins. Again. The incremental chiseling away those "last 10 lbs". And trying to squeeze back into my clothes. grrrrrrrr
I think my current biggest challenge is being able to firmly say that some things are just "Not for me." Things my friends eat, like heaping servings of Indian food with naan, processed snacks, beer... it has been a rough last few weeks! Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself for knowing so much about a "healthy" diet/what works for me, and purposely choosing a path so far away from that.
So the changes I have to implement, keeping it simple, are:
1. get back on plan w/ eating (lowish carb, lots of veggies & protein)
2. JUST SAY NO to off-plan shenanigans
3. Get some dang exercise!! My recent problems have been caused by too much work/stress and not justifying time to exercise.
All-or-nothing mentality is a killer... I went "nothing" for a few months earlier this year and it was not pretty. I could not believe some of the jumps on the scale (I know it was water weight, but still). Hopefully your bounce is mostly water and you'll be back in the 13-s soon.
I mentioned that I'm dabbling with IF. I think there might be some hope there. It's a possible way to maintain in which I can sometimes each larger servings of food I wouldn't normally eat (think restaurants) without really going off plan or having a "cheat" meal.
And I have found some tricks that help. One that has helped recently is being very strict about getting rid of any pants that allow me to gain weight and being strict about not buying new (larger) pants. That got me back in gear before too big of a train wreck last time.
YES, I think IF has a lot of merit. (Surprisingly - I thought it was crazy when I first heard about it then I read up on it and a lot of it makes sense, especially if you are like me and don't like eating in the morning). Many days I push it to noon/1 pm for my first meal. But I found I couldn't do it consistently, so I have to figure out what makes it work and what doesn't.
Oh, and the "fat pants" thing. I have a box of my size 10-ish stuff under the bed, just the really nice stuff that I spent a lot of money on... I struggle with whether or not to get rid of it... probably I should but given the struggle I have had I am not convinced yet that I can maintain longterm back at my normal lower weight. Sad but true.
I need a kick up the back side too. I've been stuck at 135lb for about a month now. I've kept having excuses like friends coming to visit or going to Reading Festival. At least I haven't gained.
I'm going back to university this week and I have a couple of weeks to settle in before term starts. But I've signed up for a social running group that runs during term time and I've got my regular swim training as well.
I'm going back on IF too. I found it inconvenient with early morning training before but when I'm at uni I won't really be doing early morning training so it should be easier.
Er, what's IF? Although if it involves not eating first thing in the morning as per Emma's comment, i'm not interested! Breakfast is my favourite meal and i'm always starving when i get up (provided my diet is on track!)
132 on the scales for me this morning and that's the third time i've seen 132 this week, so it's official!! Will be happy if i can get out of the 130's in two more weeks as i know things will slow down from now on.
My aim for the moment is to get back into all my work clothes though, which should happen by about 127lb
Emma - i agree, everyone else seems to be able to get away with eating far more naughty stuff than works for me. It's just not fair!!
Er, what's IF? Although if it involves not eating first thing in the morning as per Emma's comment, i'm not interested! Breakfast is my favourite meal and i'm always starving when i get up (provided my diet is on track!)
IF=intermittent fasting
It goes contrary to the usual dieting dictum of eating several small meals spaced out through the day. But it's a very broad concept. It's usually, but not always, done in conjunction with some other plan (CC, low carb, exchange).
With IF, you pick any fasting window that works for you. The idea is that by eating less often, you can eat more substantial meals or higher calorie foods when you do eat.
Some people choose to skip an entire day. Other folks pick only a few hours for a window, at any time of day that works for them.
There are a few "programs" that have a particular window as part of the plan. Sorry, but I forget what they are called.
In my case, I am just dabbling. When I do it, like Emma, I don't eat in the morning. And like Emma, I am sometimes very hungry in the morning, and those days I don't do it. So part of my plan is IF if I feel like it, lol. I'm not sure if that counts.
But on days that I am planning to eat dinner out, I try harder to do IF in the morning. But I also make sure I eat before going out, high volume, low calorie. I don't want to feel starving when ordering in a restaurant!
About Intermittent Fasting (IF), I think some people do it by just finishing up earlier in the day, but that seems harder for most people.
Like yoyoma said, it seems like the most common version is to give your body a period of fasting - typically between 16 and 19 hours - between windows of eating - correspondingly, 8 to 5 hours (Fast5). But yes, some people alternate fasting days with eating days. I have fasted for single days before (~36 hours) and it is hard plus I don't really want to do much those days so I don't know how I would ever be able to do that regularly. I haven't really done the eating window version "for real", I have just read about it and kind of unofficially pushed my eating time later if/when I can. Dabbling, as yoyoma said
I don't remember if I posted in this thread or not... (meep.) Honestly, people have said I'm a 'featherweight', but I didn't feel like it and don't post much here.
But anyway, I saw 129.0 on the scale today... Just had to celebrate. It felt like I was stuck in the 130s forever, but I made it. It can be done if you persevere! Good luck to everyone. Hope it sticks for me.
Yoyo and Em -thanks for the IF info! So with the opposite of this, ie, eating a greater number smaller meals each day, the theory is that it maintains a faster metabolism because you're digesting stuff more often, and also shrinks the stomach as it never has to hold much; so what's the theory with IF? I don't get how it's beneficial? Does it claim to be any better than consuming the same number of calories in a more normal eating pattern?
Great work Astrild - i'm jealous and hoping to be where you are in a couple of weeks!
136.6 this morning. Down almost 6lbs in 11 days so movin a long. Im headed to a tailgate and Im going to do my best to make wise choices. Im even bringing fruit in case therese nothing healthy to munch on. Have a great day ladies!
Ugh... been back up to 135 for a couple of days now. Worked my a** off at the gym today, so I'm hoping to see a slight loss tomorrow. Made stuffed peppers for dinner from the Skinny Taste blog.
to off-plan shenanigans
