I wish I had the restraint to only do 5-6 knife dips.

There is a monster living inside me that really doesn't want me anywhere under 128 lbs.

Yeah but my knife dips are not kat's "whispers." It is me trying to use a knife as a spoon.

Originally Posted by indiblue:
Yeah but my knife dips are not kat's "whispers." It is me trying to use a knife as a spoon.

This made me LOL. That's me and jelly sometimes if I'm in one of those fits where it's like AAA I HAVE TO HAVE SUGAR RIGHT NOW OR I WILL CUT SOMEONE! ;)

Just wolfed down a bowl of cereal and two rice krispies. I think I'm with you girls on cravings triggers from not having enough carbs... low-carb is NOT working for me.

And I have definitely eaten cake frosting by the spoonful, and Nutella by the jar... nothing wrong with that ;)

Originally Posted by indiblue:
Oh Nutella. It's my weakness. I think most of my recent posts have had something to do with Nutella.

You actually inspired me to try some Nutella again -- I purchased a couple of jars this week of the discount stuff (tastes exactly the same, for €1.50 cheaper! Love it!) So I've been macking down on Nutella on toast for snack instead of my ham and cheese snack sandwiches. Body doesn't seem to mind... still exercising and losing inches. Hopefully the number will be down again soon.

So, thanks for the inspiration! Sometimes I think I get stuck in these ruts and kind of don't venture out. Nutella (OK, bootleg Nutella, but still) has sweetened up my life this week. :)

So guess what? I discovered today that I like grapefruit. A lot! And then I ate 2 whole grapefruits- minus what my toddler demanded. I feel like I'm going to puke. You know you're messed up when you binge on grapefruit.

Originally Posted by Changed:
So guess what? I discovered today that I like grapefruit. A lot! And then I ate 2 whole grapefruits- minus what my toddler demanded. I feel like I'm going to puke. You know you're messed up when you binge on grapefruit.

Hehe, it's all good! It's healthy, right? I've binged on cucumber and tomatoes. When they're just right and juicy, maaaan. So good. :D

TGIF. I'm up almost 2 lbs on the scale and my stomach feels gross but there's no point in moaning about it, what's done is done. I'm still in the 120s (127.9) and I definitely won't be peanut butter binging again any time soon. Sugar cravings are, interestingly, gone, which is nice.

The hard thing for me is dealing with the "deprivation" feeling. I eat pretty balanced meals with protein, fat and carbs, at regular intervals and mealtimes. Yet after only 4 days of eating at loss level (not even, Tuesday was maintenance-ish) I felt like I was starving to death. I have some mental block that desperately wants to keep me at or above 128 and I don't know how to move past it. Have any of you experienced anything similar?

lackadaisy I'm with you- I could NEVER do low-carbs. I try to keep my carbs in check and usually go with only whole-grain ones, but I would totally fail on a low-carb diet.

fivestone Glad you were able to introduce Nutella into your diet in a very healthy/moderate way! Hopefully I'll be able to someday have your maturity and restraint haha. It's like the "go-to" sweet for me to buy when I'm living abroad, since most chocolates in other countries don't taste nearly as good as they do in Europe/the US. For this reason I have to learn to develop a healthy relationship with it....

Changed I LOVE grapefruit! I remember the day when I was able to start eating it without sugar. It's so good for you, and lots of fiber if you can handle eating a little bit of the rind. And yes I agree with fivestone, much better than binging on chips or Hershey's!

krampus: definitely. As an adult I have never weighed or tried to weigh less than 125. I just don't think I "can"- I would have to cut out too much and the emotional/physical costs would be more than the weight loss benefits. I also don't want to- at 125-127 I can generally eat reasonably what I want without calorie counting- including splurging on pizza, Mexican food, etc from time to time.

Right now I'm trying to drop down to 120 just to see if I can, but if I really can't get beyond 125-127, I'm not going to push it. I'd rather be a little curvier than I'd like and be happy and healthy than try to squeeze that last 5 lbs out of me when my body obviously really doesn't want to.

I had headache yesterday, which not only caused me to skip my afternoon pilates session (even though, honestly, it probably would have HELPED my headache), but I also scarfed down a sugar-free pudding cup and seven Hershey's Kisses, arguing that the sugar/caffeine combo would help my head. Which it did, actually, but I feel really bloated this morning, even though I still did a tough workout yesterday morning and had healthy meals otherwise all day long yesterday.

I jogged a mile this morning and did a quick strength training workout, ate a reasonable breakfast, and plan to work out again tonight. I'm not weighing today until I feel like I've fully made up for that little candy nosedive.

And, honestly? I know I'm beating myself up too much about that. We can have treats. I kept that snack to under 200 calories, but I guess I just feel like if I'm going to snack, I should have fruit or something else that packs a little more nutrients in it. It's not the snack's existence that was the problem for me, it was that it was solely junk food, which is my Achilles's Heel. Half the reason I gained weight when I quit smoking was that I replaced cigarettes with things like M&M's--not a good plan.

krampus, so with you there -- definitely battling set point now.

Went to bed early last night and didn't wake up for 12 hours, which was nice / unproductive, but that means I ate about 1100 for the day... tried not to eat when I woke at 8:30am, and that set off the first morning binge of my life. Two cookies, one protein bar, rice cake, half a serving of chips, half a serving of miniwafers, a handful of cashews. Don't know how I got it all (700 calories) down, but now 3 hrs later, I feel like crap.

Will probably be skipping lunch except for a veggie salad just because I feel so unwell. I really need to start working out 1 hr+ a day so I have room in my budget for more calories.

I just posted this on the 130s thread but I really am at a loss and seeking advice.

Yesterday I allegedly at 1500 calories, according to my online calorie counter. This is higher than where I've previously been (around 1250-1400 for the past couple weeks). I did a pretty intensive 45 minute yoga class in the morning and was hungry all day. I made good choices about food- eating tuna and spinach when I was hungry, homemade iced coffee with skim milk and 1 tsp sugar when I got a sweet craving, etc. The only place I faltered was for dinner. We went to a party and all they had was fried Indian food. I had probably 6 pieces of spinach pakora (fried spinach) and 1.5 glasses of red wine. That wasn't a snack, that was my dinner.

And today I'm up to 131.2, from 130.6 yesterday! This is absolutely ridiculous. I'm not going to starve myself- if I'm hungry I'm going to eat protein and other nutritious foods. Hunger is a signal I'm not eating enough right? If I respond sensibily to my body's request to feed it, I shouldn't gain weight.

I am really distrustful of calorie counting for my situation. I live abroad and foods made in restaurants or by hosts who have their own "family" way of cooking the item and how the heck does an online calorie counter have any idea how much oil, etc this person put in this food? I am very skeptical I'm counting my calories correctly for this reason, but what is the alternative?

But even if the calorie count was off, I still tried to listen to my body and eat resonably. As I said, if I'm hungry I am going to eat, and yesterday (except for the pakora) I ate very, very reasonably. Protein, limited carbs, three 750 ML glasses of water. Exercise. And still a weight GAIN of almost a POUND.

What the heck, guys?

indiblue -- i don't think you can assume that you gained because you ate more. It's often just water-based fluctuation, whether you've pooped yet that day, etc. Maybe the additional sugar/salt caused retention?

In any case, it's not fat. Don't worry about it so much. I know that's SO much easier to say than to hear, but that's why we're here -- to say it often enough that you eventually have to hear it! :)

I'm learning to fall in love with the elliptical. It still feels a little stupid / mindless, but now I'm on the eliptical and typing at the same time. AND listening to reggaeton. Oh man... I can really feel the burn as I'm typing this... :p

Thanks for the reassurance, lackadaisy. I know I'm being impatient, I just haven't seen any net loss at all for over a week. I'll try to calm down and give it time. Also still really skeptical about counting calories on food whose ingredients I'm totally unsure about. I usually use the scale to generally indicate if my calorie counting is on track, and so no movement in the scale (or movement in the wrong direction) makes me wonder if I need to do something different besides count calories.

I totally agree. I've been counting calories diligently, but manufacturers round egregiously on their labels -- it's really absurd -- and I fear that I'm actually 300 over what I think I am all the time. All the studies show that people tend to underestimate portions and overestimate workout calories, so I'm super paranoid... and I basically haven't seen a net loss in two weeks so, yes, unhappy. :(

I tell myself that at least I'm definitely not regaining. I have been such a yo-yo anytime I'm not consciously counting calories that that itself is a blessing -- it doesn't take me long to balloon up 10 lbs.

This is why I've always been so resistant to calorie counting. Even if you weigh your food often you don't (or at least I don't) know what goes into it.

I always try to overestimate portion size and underestimate how much I worked out. For example, I know I burn more than 111 calories doing 1 hour of intensive yoga, but I only log what the online calorie counter generates for yoga, which is 111.

Even with all these uncertainties I'm trying to control what I can: which is my grazing. Starting today I've committed to only 3 "bites/licks/tastes" a day, an amount which if left out of my daily calorie counts shouldn't make too much of a difference. Hopefully by making this step I can get closer to having a more accurate calorie count.

Hi everyone!
I feel crummy today. I feel dizzy and even when sitting down the room feels like it's spinning. So I bumped up my daily calorie intake from 1200 to 1400 just to get some more nutrients in...but that doesn't seem to be changing anything. I've been chugging water like a fiend today too. I did exercise just for an hour which is what I usually do, and it kicked in after :(

I've been hovering around 133 for 2 weeks. Last weekend I went home. My boyfriend and I did a belated valentines day dinner and we went to town. So I've been good this week, except yesterday when I had a frappuccino. Today I was up to 136, so I know it's all water weight and the fact that I haven't officially....gone to the potty...in 3 days, and that TOM is coming this week. BLAH.

As for all of you calorie counting, I feel like sometimes I need to break free from the counting or it really controls a lot. I always underestimate my workouts and overestimate my eating. If I burn 350 calories running and my counter says I only burned 270, I enter in the 270. If I eat something and I don't know what the calories are, I'll search other foods like that, and choose the higher calorie one. I just think it's better to be safe than sorry.

I'm a grazer too, but I can't limit myself to 3 bites per day. That takes a lot of strength, so good for you, indiblue!

Samantha how is your iron and protein intake? Could be one or both of those need upping.

Well, no congrats on the discipline is in order yet ;) I made it yesterday doing pretty well with sticking to no grazing, but we'll see if it continues.

I think I do need to find another way to lose besides calorie counting. I think it's too inaccurate for me.

After steadily overdoing it all weekend and feeling gross and guilty for most of that time, I'm really not sure what to do or think. I'm stuck in a crappy loop where I keep trying to lose, feel awesome when I get into a losing pattern, keep it up for a few days, feel extremely deprived, binge, feel guilty and horrible about binging, and go back to trying to lose again.

I can sense dangerously real depressive feelings knocking around the corner. I am bummed out that I've somehow injured my foot a month before a race I'm supposed to run. Not being able to run makes me feel flabby and like my legs are getting all squishy again. I also have some minor relationship stress - I have no sex drive (probably because I keep sabotaging my dieting) and my moods are all wacky (probably for the same reason) and while bf deals with it well I can sense he's disappointed that our (limited) time together isn't as fun as it could be.

I don't know what to do. I really feel like dieting is ruining my life. I can't "give up" because if I just let myself have what I want, I will eat somewhere between 2500-4000 calories a day because I have a huge appetite. I can't forget or force myself not to think about calories because I already know how many calories are in everything. I can't stomach the idea of throwing out my scale either, and that's probably not a good idea anyway.

Sorry for the blahface post. I'm just frustrated that I can't not obsess.

Ugh, I totally know what you mean. I have the inner battle of "Do I really care if i'm fat if I can have what I want?" ALL THE TIME. In the end, I care but I still want a donut.

sooo...I ended up binging BIG TIME yesterday and today. I don't even want to say what I've eaten.

But now I'm sitting here with a huge headache from all of the sugar. My attention has gone to crap too, and I have three tests to study for!! I'm giving myself until 4 to digest and then I am going to the gym for 2 hours. I'm not working out for 2 hours to work off my mistakes...what's done is done. I'm doing it to burn off all of this sugar so I can drink tons of water and ease my headache and literal crummy feeling.

I'll just say that some girl scout cookies were involved. I recently got my boyfriend's mom to buy me 4 boxes. I'm bagging each of them as soon as I get them so if I eat some, it's only the appropriate serving and it's all in that one bag or nothing. Moderation is a pain, but clearly it's needed.

Krampus- that's me down to a T. I'll go a week feeling great and eating healthy and all of that, and then BOOM. one binge and I'm off the wagon. I don't know what causes me to binge, but it's gotta stop!!
It's great eating what I want, but I definitely do not physically feel well when I do it. Shouldn't that be motivation enough to be healthy??

This thread is getting more and more disheartening. Hold on, girls -- we can do this. We can. Back in the saddle, everyone... these are probably just end-of-winter blues, and spring with its light salads and tons of outdoorsy activities is just around the corner. We can do this.

Thanks lackadaisy. I posted my rant in the "Get me out of the 130's" thread, but yeah, I feel a little down about this whole weight loss thing too.

I haven't seen the scale move in 2 weeks, unless you count going UP from 138.6 to 139.4. And I've been pretty good about things...maybe I'll see a whoosh soon, but I am not getting my hopes up. I look back at my track record and don't even feel like I am losing weight. I mean, it took me from basically Halloween until now to lose the last 5 lbs. And I've been hungry and dizzy lately which isn't helping me want to cut back my calories more.

I guess I just need to track better. Try to get some running in now that I am finally breathing okay from cold #2 of the winter. try to keep positive.

lackadaisy that's a really good point- winter causes weight gain and depression, and everything- binges, weight gain, etc- seems worse when it's dark and cold outside. Thanks for the reminder!

I FINALLY saw the scale move to 130.2 yesterday. I kicked a few things into high gear: NO GRAZING and VERY small portion sizes. I was extremely careful about where my calories came.

I'm also shifting my "big" meal of the day from dinner to lunch. Between 2 and 6 PM is when hunger from my morning workout kicks in and makes me most likely to graze, so I think a higher-fat/higher-calorie lunch will help this. Ended up not full by the end of the day but not hungry. This is what made me accidentally drop 2 pounds last year over the course of a month, so we'll see if I can make it work again.

Seeing a smaller number is even more motivation for today. Hopefully this loss will continue. I'll also keep fingers crossed for all of you that all the hard work pays off!

Awesome job, indiblue!

I'm so stressed out about my thesis right now that it's like I can't even be bothered to stress about weight loss. Which ironically seems to be going better as a result...

My self-control over spending calories has gotten better and my control over dollars... has not. Just spent hundreds this last three weeks on a combination of workout clothes and shoes, books, scales, protein bars... all these "getting fit" and "finally writing my thesis" stuff + not having time to work = financial horror. Ah well, only two weeks until this is all over, three weeks until I'm back from spring break and employable once again :)

Just wanted to mention two new loves: a mini 1 lb food scale I finally splurged on ($18) by Polder (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002EXVH8) and the best rice crackers ever by Suzie's ($3?). They're 3 pretty large whole grain, fat&sugar-free crackers (abt length/width of a bagel, 1/4 inch thick) for 59 calories if rice, wheat, or spelt/flax, even fewer if quinoa/sesame. Perfect for staying low-carb because they're crunchy, flavorful, & sturdy enough for a "base" for any sort of topping -- I had two with protein toppings today (eggs/beans, and salmon) for breakfast and can imagine eating the rest with anything. And they def kill the bread cravings.

Happy sleep-deprived Monday to everyone! I'm going to try to be online a bit less and churn out some thesis, and maybe, maybe go for a quick jog later. Hope everyone has a great, on-plan day.

Oo lackadaisy those crackers sound delicious! I love spelt/flax/sesame, all those yummy grains.

I am about to order a food scale too- do you like yours?

Don't you have a job lined up after school? I feel like I read that somewhere in another thread. If I were you I wouldn't stress about $300 spent on workout clothes during a stressful time- I'd kick back and enjoy it ;)

--

Guys guess what. I BROKE MY PLATEAU! AND AM NOW IN THE 120s!!! wheeeee! My 3 reports I'm writing as a consultant for my old employer are due today too, so tomorrow I may or may not spend a lot of money on clothes and nails hahah. wheeee!

indiblue, first off, CONGRATS on breaking through the plateau! It's great to see you bust through after struggling for so long, not because of a "refeed" or other suspect activity, but just honestly counting your calories better. I think that's what works for me, too.

If you knew the ratio of how quickly I can spend money to how much savings I have, you wouldn't be encouraging me to spend. ;) I do have a job lined up, but that won't kick in until August, so I'm definitely exhausting my savings a bit faster than I'd like. Ah well, it's definitely a low-level stressor (about 1/100th of, say, the thesis). I haven't used the food scale long enough to know if I love it yet, but I will definitely let you know.

Originally Posted by indiblue:
Oo lackadaisy
Guys guess what. I BROKE MY PLATEAU! AND AM NOW IN THE 120s!!! wheeeee! My 3 reports I'm writing as a consultant for my old employer are due today too, so tomorrow I may or may not spend a lot of money on clothes and nails hahah. wheeee!

:carrot: CONGRATS!!! :carrot:

Yep, lackadaisy it was just a matter of getting super accountable and super strict about counting calories. Also super careful about where I was spending calories. I needed to take ownership and really kick things up a notch. And it worked.

Hopefully I'll be able to continue the losing streak today. Next stop: really focus on vitamins and minerals. It's *so* hard getting them here in India- no health food stores or anything. That's ok though- nose to the grindstone and I'll figure out a way! I think I'm going to start making homemade black bean veggie burgers at home...

Oh gosh, vitamins... I should really start taking a pill, as I haven't eaten real citrus in a lot longer than I want to admit. I used to be a glass-of-orange-juice-a-day kind of girl, and while that's definitely coming back in maintenance, I can't quite "afford" it now. Have you tried ordering multivitamins online? I don't know what the best place to do that would be, but I'm sure SOMEONE has to sell/ship them in the country.

I drink Slim Fast most mornings, and though it's fortified I don't really know how much my body is benefitting since it's processed food. You're right that I coud probably get multivitamins here, but I have the same skepticism about their efficacy. Do you guys take any and have you had any success? I think I just may have to really fill my diet with superfoods- pomegranates, eggs, other nutrient-rich foods.

Congrats on breaking the plateau indiblue!!!

I have these one-a-day vitamins that are gummy! You take two a day (kind of goes against the name, huh?) and they taste like candy! I love them :) I don't know if they have them where you are though... :(

So I'm officially done my worst week of grad school! 3 tests done, lesson plans and weekly therapy notes done! Now I'm home for a week for spring break! The weather is so beautiful today so I went outside for a 30 minute run..it felt amazing! I hope this weather keeps up because it's putting me in a great mood! And TOM is going to be gone tomorrow so I'm feeling splendid right now haha!