I check in & read once in a while here just to see how you all are doing, but I realize that you all have 'known' each other for quite a while, so I don't butt in much
Liana
Liana
Please butt in all you like! (And that goes for anyone else reading but not posting, too!) We like meeting new people. It's fun and we learn different things to keep us on the right road.
Some people post once or twice and then drift away. It could be because we are so dreary ... We need livening up a bit.
Yeah, maintenance is really just a small range (depending on your height, lol). A bit up or down within that range is just normal. But it's definitely important to pick what I call a 'scream weight.' The weight you get to and know that NOW is the time to seriously buckle down and work to lose it. For me it's at 136. Range of 131 -135 is ok... 132 is my preferred happy weight. After all, it's so much easier to lose 4 or 5 lbs than 15 or 30 or 60!
I check in & read once in a while here just to see how you all are doing, but I realize that you all have 'known' each other for quite a while, so I don't butt in much That is too bad saef was in an accident! I hope recovery is quick!
Liana
You would never be butting in. I think we all dropped in one day and just stayed. You are welcome to come any time, come on down.
canadjineh sounds like we have about the same "scream weight" (I like that phrase) although I actually wouldn't mind being as high as 140 provided to was due to muscle mass and not fat.
michele I definitely get that, the problem is that I am continuing to lose. I was supposed to be maintaining at around 130-132. Last Sunday, I weighed in before my yoga class at 131.0, and two days ago I weighed in before class at 129.8 - so I lost over a pound in that week, which is a bigger loss than I'd typically have in a week when I was trying to lose. I'll definitely eyeball it for another week or two before i do anything drastic, but right now it looks like i may not be eating enough to maintain.
I don't call it scream weight, I call it dead weight--drop everything and diet.
And I agree with everyone--don't feel like you're stepping on toes by posting here. This is a public forum and everyone is allowed and we value your opinions.
So, my weight is still holding steady from last week despite three days of birthday celebrations which meant way too much food. Perhaps it is because I was mindful of my feelings of fullness and didn't overstuff myself at every meal. Who knows, but I'm happy with the result. BTW, for those who may go there, Macaroni Grill has a to-die-for tiramisu. No, I didn't order one, but I had a bite of my sister's.
Yikes..the scale read 138 for 2 days now and I like 135 better.I still have not been snacking but have been eating pickled salted herrings for suppers.I am blaming the salt but am going to keep the calories lower for a few days and watch the salt and get back to 135.This game is a constant seesaw...up and down.
Liana-- I hope you continue to post!! I have a weight range similar to yours. 125 is my redline (though I was over it for months). I'm "okay" around 122-123 but my happy weight is 118-120 (which I haven't seen in months). If I go lower, I'm too thin, over 125 I'm bulgy (in my eyes at least).
UnderAnalysis-- I understand what you're saying. At your height, you don't need to lose any more. I would watch it like you said and then likely adjust. How many calories are you eating roughly? Did you add some in when you reached maintenance?
UnderAnalysis-- I understand what you're saying. At your height, you don't need to lose any more. I would watch it like you said and then likely adjust. How many calories are you eating roughly? Did you add some in when you reached maintenance?
I'm up to 1400-1600 from roughly 1200 when I was losing. I'm working out 5x/week still so I added calories mostly by drinking a protein shake after my workouts to try to build muscle mass, which is an additional 150-300 calories all by its lonesome.
I have officially hit my scream/dead/yikes weight this week. This is the highest I've been in 3 years. Ugh. I've GOT to get out of this nonstop work rut. But how? Book chapter deadlines, manuscript revisions, weekend experiments, giant mountains of slides to read... all in addition to my regular work. I told myself that if I can just survive until my grants run out, then I'm allowed to leave. But that is 2 more years of this, and I may not make it. I miss my life. And my family and friends. And health. My blood pressure is through the roof lately.
JayZeeJay-- it doesn't sound healthy to wait it out for two years. That is way too long. Who knows what the future will bring? I thought you were considering a big change??
UnderAnalysis--I'm no expert but it does sound like you could increase your calories a bit. 1200 is super low, so 1400-1600 isn't all that much higher. If you're working out a lot, you are probably still burning more than you're eating-- hence still losing. Of course, it doesn't hurt to wait another week and see where you are. Maintenance can be tricky to figure out and our bodies don't always react the way we think they should.
UnderAnalysis--I'm no expert but it does sound like you could increase your calories a bit. 1200 is super low, so 1400-1600 isn't all that much higher. If you're working out a lot, you are probably still burning more than you're eating-- hence still losing. Of course, it doesn't hurt to wait another week and see where you are. Maintenance can be tricky to figure out and our bodies don't always react the way we think they should.
It's very difficult to get back into the habit of eating more because I'm pretty good at making filling meals and snacks that keep me happy in that 1200-1300 calorie range. I have never been hungry and out of calories at the end of the day through my weight loss journey, so trying to get more calories in to maintain means making myself eat when I'm not hungry some days.
But I'm not going to worry too hard right now. I'll see how things look next week and if I'm still losing... I don't know. I'll try to make heavier breakfasts maybe? I'll put cheese on my eggs? lol My workouts shouldn't be having that big of an impact really because I'm mostly lifting rather than doing cardio, so I'm not burning crazy amounts of calories when I exercise.
Wish me luck today to "stay on target". It is my annual Thanksgiving Feast at school where 100 staff members come together making all sorts of traditional and nontraditional amazing foods! I've decided (and hopefully will actually do it this time) to stick to a plan-- zero desserts (because I can't stop at one) and just to take small amounts of what I want-- hopefully mostly veggies. I may skip the meats because the turkey is usually dry and I don't care for ham much. It's a higher carb day for me today so if I stick to my plan, I should be okay. I'm also planning on skipping one of my meals today-- so I will have 4 instead of 5 meals to compensate.
Dh comes home today. He wasn't here when I started carb cycling so I'll have to explain it to him and hope he is supportive (he does most if not all of the cooking when he is home).
I'm probably going to see a "real" doctor about my back. I made an appointment for next week but I'm going to see if I can get in sooner. I have a dentist friend who read me the riot act about not getting an MRI. She likened it to treating a sore tooth without taking an X-ray. She said that chiropractic care could be fine, or I could be making it worse. Her mother just had successful back surgery for something that they wouldn't have seen without an MRI. I know she is probably right....
Good luck at the THANKSGIVING FEAST! The holiday season really makes me appreciate my work situation (tiny nonprofit with no budget for parties and two bald dudes who aren't food pushers).
neurodoc, I changed my tag line because it is untrue that one eats big to stay small/compact - if you eat big you will just get big.
I'll check out the maintenance threads. I'm still relatively new at maintenance and am 10+ years pre-menopausal so I suspect my youthful metabolism is the real reason I am having an easy time of it.
traveling michele, your friend's mother won't know if the surgery was successful or not for awhile yet. I have never known anyone who has had back surgery who has been better afterwards, once the first couple of months were past.
It's good to see your doc, though. And sometimes chiropractic really is not the answer.
I like the thought of a "scream weight" or "drop dead weight". Ever since having a baby my weight fluctuates hugely over the course of a month/menstrual cycle (the difference between my highest and lowest weights in a cycle is 6-8 lbs), I think mostly due to water retention, so it's tough to tell where I really am at any given time. I think for now my "oh s**t" weight at the highest point in the month is 135, but my "scream weight" is definitely 140. If I see that number again, I'd know that I really HAVE gained actual real weight back.
Terrible to read about saef!!! I don't really "know" anyone here, but always pay attention to her posts. I hope she's recovering ok!
Fun to see some other fellow science folks here, JayZeeJay and nuerodoc! I'm not an MD, but a research scientist in a field of human genetics. JayZeeJay, I feel the stress in your post, and so empathize. I feel like I've been burning the candle at both ends in all areas for a while... but my grant ends in December, and it's been funding my position since my lab moved a few years ago (and I began working remotely), and I don't have a new job yet... so stress in a different way.
Finished PT for my ITB syndrome today, and need to stay on top of my exercises to get back to where I was fitness-wise. I really want to be back to running races again, I miss the goal-setting and personal challenge of it.
The weight you get to and know that NOW is the time to seriously buckle down and work to lose it. For me it's at 136. Range of 131 -135 is ok... 132 is my preferred happy weight. After all, it's so much easier to lose 4 or 5 lbs than 15 or 30 or 60!
