Losing The Regain - At a standstill

This morning was my day to record my weight and have a video call to my nutritionist. And...I was up 1/2 lb from last week.

And of course, 1/2 lb is 8 ounces. It could be water holding on. It could be that I ate some processed turkey yesterday, and that had a little extra sodium. It could be that I had my piece of fruit later in the evening than usual.

Of course that's disappointing but I KNOW that I am doing what I need to do to move in the right direction. I'm eating clean, healthy foods. My daily calorie count is between 800 - 1000 (1050 is what I call a "big eating day.")

So I don't feel discouraged. I know it's a slow journey back. I know I'm on target with my food choices.

But yeah, I'd love to say I was down a pound or so. In fact, I weighed myself on Sunday and I WAS down about a pound at that point in the week.

For the rest of you battling the regain....how are you doing?

it's a struggle. But I'm now six pounds overweight (according to the BMI chart), so I guess I expected that it would be. Remember when we were morbidly obese and rolled our eyes at those normal weight (or slightly overweight) women who'd ***** and moan about how hard it was to lose weight when they had like 10 lbs tops to lose? I get it now..

btw - processed turkey is LOADED with sodium - I can pretty much guarantee I'll wake up waterlogged the next morning after eating it - so it very well could have been what happened to you. When we're at a point that we really can only lose a pound or so a week (i.e. no longer seriously obese - just "overweight" (if that...)), something like that can make a difference!

Yes it's slow, but you have to look at your general trend. My trainer called BS on me yesterday when I said my staying the same the last 3 weigh-ins was due to ........, water......, bathroom...... ate salty..... She said you keep talking, but the scale hasn't moved in over 2 weeks. She said, I believe that you believe all this BS, but do something different or nothing is going to change. Are you weighing everything? I found I was eating 6 oz of food eyeballing. I know weigh and target 3 to 3.4 oz of protein. If I eat fruit it's no longer a handful, but 1/2 cup... I'm trying to challenge every step of my day. Good luck, but if you don't like the results trying something different - her words ;)

Well, I appreciate the calling BS every now and again. I do need to change things up a bit, even in terms of food selection and variety. I always say I'm a "simple eater" and my fruit choices are fresh so easy to measure. My protein at its best is fish or eggs, occasionally turkey, and rarely beef (less than once a month).

But where I can fall into a bad spot is with carbs. I am allowed 2 starches a day and prefer that to be a sweet potato or whole grain bread (seldom because I don't buy bread at the store very often). It is easy for me to indulge in an extra bite or two because I've done so well with everything else....

It is much slower for me this time around, too.

I am working on "patience". I know I am following my plan and the weight will come off!!

Good morning!

Have you considered intermittent fasting? I've been doing this for about 7 months, and I am down 30lbs, back to my goal weight. I am also almost 11 years out from my RNY. It's been a world of difference for me.

I have read a bit about IF but have been afraid of it. Does your blood sugar plummet? Do you get too hungry? What kind of schedule do you keep with your eating/fasting?

I have reactive hypoglycemia, and IF has actually helped me with this. At first I was feeling a bit of hunger, but I read this amazing book called "Delay, Don't Deny". I learned that hunger is okay, and not an emergency.

I learned about autophagy, and how the body can start to heal itself. I was dealing with a lot of inflammation in my joints.

I drink hot teas and black coffee during my fasting time, no sugars, no creamers. I also drink lots of water.

Currently I do an 18:6 fasting schedule. I eat lunch at noon, and then a snack, then an early dinner and I stop eating at 6PM. After that, I drink hot teas, water, etc. I sleep through a major portion of my fasting time, which is nice. And then in the morning, I am busy, have some hot tea, coffee and before I know it, it's time for lunch!

I am completely plant based, and doing intermittent fasting. My labs are great, and I do see my doctor every six months.

I will tell you I honestly wish I would have learned about IF 20 years ago. It would have saved me decades of dieting, and honestly, it may have been a saving grace and I would have been able to avoid having RNY. That being said, it works well for me.



If you are interested, I highly recommend reading the following:

Delay, Don't Deny by Gin Stephens

The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung

In response to the bites and little nibbles. I once was spending the day with an aunt (sunrise to sunset), helping her with a catering order for her side business many years ago. It was during one of those times I had cycled my weight down low by calorie counting. So she said related to my weigh success at the time, "I eat everyday only 1200 calories, sticking strictly to it, and I never lose any weight." I didn't tell her, but I decided to keep a detailed food log while we were together to see how close she came to her calorie goals. At the end of the day I told her what I had done. She proudly exclaimed - see you then are my witness. I told her she did in fact come very close, as I estimated her meals were about 1400 calories - good job. But then, I said what about all the snacking - how did you account for that. To that she exclaimed she never snacks - I told her I estimated she had 1100 calories in bites and little nibbles. I handed her the list and she said - these don't count. Things like - cutting up cheese on a tray and eating 6 cubes - really? Grabbing 3 prunes, that was medicine. I estimate she ate 1/2 a cup of nuts during the day out of her candy dish (she was just a little hungry and needed something....) What about that graham cracker - she ate almost half a pack across the day...... In the end that sh.t is more than you realize. For me recently, I realized I was adding nuts to every meal and eating nut butter too. I figure I eating an extra 300 to 400 calories, so I'm cutting that in half. Look everywhere for those habits you don't think that count. Good luck

I am below my goal.

But - my weight can fluctuate 2-3 lbs withing any 24 hours, or 5-6 lbs during any 7 day week. I know that because I try to weigh in daily. But that also mean I am only concern about my average weight over a week. And the trend of it.

Fluctuation within 1 -2 lbs are normal for me week to week. More than that, I need to star****ching, depends what I try to accomplish.

Breathe, smile... continue doing what you are doing.

Note: my body is messed up, it always was, and it always would be.

When I follow really low carb diet, or really low calorie diet, i need a day every 7-10 days to recharge and to start losing (or gaining ) again.

Specially with a very low car diet, once my body gets depleted of stored glycogen I need to recharge them. If I don't I may start having serious issues with low energy, hypoglycemia and more severe RH, and electrolytes imbalances. When "I recharge" my body would store not only glycogen but also water in my liver and my muscles. Sure, my weight would go up technically, but without that my body can't hold enough water, and I may start having muscles twitches and spasms.