To say our bodies are not logical must be the understatement of the century. I guess your "average" person might not realize this. But when you are someone who is paying close attention to your body, you notice these things.
I hate basketball, but I saw the footage this week of the basketball player who broke his leg SO badly. He wasn't even hit hard. You then see players who are NAILED and their bodies bend in impossible ways and they jump right up unhurt.
Then there are people who seem COMPLETELY healthy, go in and see the doctor over something minor, get a cancer diagnosis and are dead in 2 days. Then there's Lance Armstrong (yes, I know, he's a cheating piece of shit) but there is NO WAY he should be alive with the advanced stage of his cancer and he beat it!
What does this have to do with weight loss? Well, on my way down the scale, I had 2 times when I hit a nasty plateau. I wasn't doing anything differently - I was eating right and exercising and my weight was just STUCK. It wasn't going up, but it wasn't going down, either. Both times, it was suggested to me that I eat more calories per day.
Now, when you are actively losing weight, and feeling good about losing, and someone suggests you eat MORE? That prospect - at least for me - was utterly terrifying. But both times I did and suddenly my weight dropped like 3-4 pounds!
Well, guess what? I am maintaining pretty well. Last Sunday, BEFORE Easter dinner, I weighed myself and weighed 118.7. So then I went to Easter and pigged out. Then, when Marc and I went down to see Dr. DeRoberts, we had lunch at Uno Chicago Grill - and their ALL YOU CAN EAT soup bar. And I ATE. And then some other unplanned eating as I described a couple of days ago. Then Thursday, an unexpected invite to lunch at Red Lobster where I had fish and steamed broccoli (yay me!) but 2 cheddar bay biscuits (bad me!!).
And guess what - I got on the scale this morning and weighed 117.4. That's over a pound LESS then last week! Now a pound ain't much, and there is no way I plan to repeat this experience this week. But it goes to show that our bodies are not logical, and sometimes we have to roll with that.
And one last thing that I'm the most proud of - keeping with my revelation of a few weeks ago, I didn't mentally BERATE myself during the bad moments last week. I wasn't happy with myself, but I also didn't get totally down on me. By Friday I was back on plan. And I'm proud of that - no drama, no self hatred.
I totally agree! Sometimes having a high calorie day/few days (within reason) shakes up my metabolism and makes the scale actually move down. Just have to keep to just a few high calorie days instead of a full on pig out!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading a post awhile back where you met with a nutritionist and she said you were eating way too little food for the amount you exercise. Did you ever make an adjustment based on her advice? I would love to hear how you come up with the calorie range you stick to in maintenance. I'm still about 30 pounds away from my goal weight.
Thanks!
Amanda
Hi Amanda!
DeleteI am still figuring things out - this maintenance thing is not easy! I eat around 1700 per day no matter what exercise I do, and I do tend to eat closer to 2000 on the weekends. She recommended closer to 2200. The "problem" is that I keep having a couple of good weeks followed by a week of indulgance it seems, which spikes me up!
But I guess I'm doing okay, because I am within my range. I think you'll have to play around to find that "sweet spot". That's what most maintainers do, from what I understand!
Jen
Thanks for the response, Jen. I have been a yo-yo dieter for years, but I am close to my goal now and keeping my eye on the prize. I keep forgetting that once I reach my goal weight, I will be able to eat a little more while maintaining. I use MyFitnessPal.com, and just for fun, I changed my goal to "maintenance" instead of "losing 1.5 pounds a week." It upped my calories to 2100 a day, without factoring in exercise! Seems crazy, but I'll see when I get there. I'm also sure I'll add in calories slowly to see what works.
DeleteThanks,
Amanda
I think when you have been restricting, then the number you can go up to to maintain do seem insane. But it's a good insane :)))) You will have to experiment to see what works for you!
DeleteJen
You say you didn't berate yourself, yet you say "bad me" for eating 2 biscuits. Hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteOh boy, Julie! Before, this would have meant me saying things like this in my head "You stupid ugly fat cow - you are such a fucking pig - you are going to gain all the weight back. You have no self-control, what a piece of shit you are!"
DeleteSo saying "bad me" is major progress!!!
Jen