Well, tomorrow is my weigh-in day, and I'm really really nervous. I've stuck to my plan this week, but I really don't feel like I've lost anything this week. I'm not expecting a lot, just maybe 1-1.5lbs? Aunt Flo called and she's coming for a visit pretty soon... maybe that has something to do with me feeling so unsuccessful/bloated/fat/gross/blegh?
Anyone else having a week like this?
I'll update tomorrow evening to let you know the verdict.
Hey! 1 to 1.5 lb a week is great! I've stalled for over a month!
I'd lose almost 5 lbs when Auntie Flo left. Of course, that meant that I probably put that much on.
Relax. Even if you don't lose, it's not the end of the world. I don't know how long your Auntie Flo is, mine was 8 - 10 days. The Kimberly-Clarke people lost a lot of revenue when I got my hysterectomy.
I am also having one of those weeks. I think Aunt Flo is coming to town for me as well. I tend to get emotional and bloated. The scale goes up and since I'm emotional, I get much more upset than usual. Oh sigh. Sometimes I wish I were a man, only so I wouldn't have this monthly emotional rollercoaster.
I hear you. That's why I started weighing myself once every morning. I couldn't stand the suspense.
Good luck with your weigh-in tomorrow. Don't get discouraged with fluctuations. You're sticking to your plan, and that's great!
You know, after having slept on it a bit.... I think I'm afraid that I haven't lost any weight this week because I haven't been hungry this week. I've been doing pretty well with constantly having healthy snacks on hand (can I just say---the sweet peppers that I've just recently found at the supermarket---the BEST raw veggie imaginable), and I've been trying to space out my meals/snacks so that I'm eating something every few hours. So, I always feel satisfied.
I guess, in my brain, I feel like I have to be starving half the time to lose any weight. Does anyone else have this perception?
Aerotiger, that is a very common perception about weight loss. This is why people think it's a good idea to diet by eating nothing but cabbage soup and carrot sticks. But of course, it is a misperception. It is entirely possible (and preferable) to lose weight in a healthy way, with regular food. Being a little hungry in the beginning is probably inevitable, but starvation is NOT the way to lose weight. Of course you know that, but it is important to compel yourself to fully recognize that starvation-style weight loss is unhealthy AND ineffective, particularly in the long run. Just keep reminding yourself.
I wish I had a nickel for every time I've said "I'm just going to starve myself to lose weight." But then I get one of those awful headaches from not eating and just end up binging, then I feel better and my headache goes away, but I feel sooooo guilty for doing it (starving then binging) in the first place.
I've found over the last couple weeks that the days I go without hunger precede losses in the morning (I'm a daily weigher). If I wake up hungry, I know I did something wrong the day before...and the scale is always up a little.
Oh, I certainly agree with you. I lost about 40lbs a couple of years ago, and I did that mainly by ... well... starving. I was eating very few calories per day, and I lost 40lbs in just a couple of months. What can I say? I was crash dieting for my little brother's wedding... desperate times were calling for desperate measures, etc..... We all do foolish things, right? I ended up being in the care of a dietitian and a therapist and a regular MD for that little stunt...
Maybe that's why my thinking is so skewed on this. Because I was losing so quickly before, and I was hungry all the time, I feel like I have to be hungry to be successful at losing weight. And because I haven't been hungry this week, I feel afraid of the scale tonight at WW.
Are there any folks out there who've been successful at losing (in the long term) who aren't hungry on a daily basis? How do you re-order your thinking and begin to understand that even if your stomach isn't growling, you're still making healthy decisions that will eventually lead you to a loss?
Well, I haven't felt hungry all the time! But I do feel hungry now and then. Not "munchie," hungry. There is a difference. But the thing to do is have a plan in place and trust the process. If you are eating within your WW points, or your calorie range, or whatever it is, then trust that you are doing OK. Then let the changes on the scale or measurement with a tape guide you in making adjustments.
It's hard for people who have had a skewed relationship with food to even KNOW what hunger really feels like. That's something you have to learn over time, as you get used to eating on plan.
I think a lot of people who struggle with weight have a disordered relationship with food. I know there are people who can eat intuitively, and listen to their bodies and manage a healthy lifestyle that way, but I suspect that years of disordered eating has damaged that intuition for many of us.
The solution, as JayEll so wisely said, is planning. Know how many calories you need each day for your goal and plan how those calories will be allotted to consume appropriate nutrition. If you start having those head games going on, you know that your plan is rock-solid. You know you don't have to be hungry because you have planned good meals with healthy food and snacks and you can bring rationality and objectivity to the party.
You don't have to starve to get to a healthy weight. That is such a wonderful and brilliant truth. Your body is amazing and will respond to healthy food and movement. There is no need for suffering or punishment.
Plan it out. Stick to your plan. Refer back to your plan with your mind starts messing with you. You are in control of your body.
That "starve myself" mentality might actually work when your younger but when you get older and you, of course, have gained it all back and then some it comes back to haunt you. Before finding 3FC I gave starving one more shot and actually gained weight. I was down to like 3 bites of a pork chop for dinner with nothing at all during the day. Of course I was feeling like I could barely drag myself from the couch to the bed but still gaining. Finally went to the doc and lo and behold I was bordering on malnutrition but still way overweight. Now, after only a really short time on a sensible plan (with a little exercise thrown in of course) I'm already starting to loose but I've had to really stuggle to make myself eat during the day. I just have to keep telling myself that as long as what I'm putting in my mouth is good, healthy food it's not going to make me fat.
I could have sworn I saw a maintenance string in here somewhere but can't seem to find it today. I would be those would be the peeps who can really tell you for sure. And I'm sure you've already been clued in to the "drink a glass of water first" thing. Sometimes you think your hungry but your really not.
One of the best things about 3FC is the information on maintaining. There is not a lot out there in the world about keeping it off, and the reality is that a healthy lifestyle comes from lifelong changes. I am still losing, but I am also a maintainer. I have drawn a line in the sand with my weightloss and there is a number I will never weigh again. It is easier to catch small gains than relose large amounts of weight (as many of us have learned the hard way!)
Last edited by midwife; 01-17-2008 at 04:56 PM.
Reason: adding the link
Thanks for all of your kind words, everyone. I guess it's going to take me a while to figure out that I can eat a sensible diet and still have weight loss success.... It helps so much to have other people to talk to about these kinds of things.
Yikes! Anyone else having a scary week?
I ended up being in the care of a dietitian and a therapist and a regular MD for that little stunt...
