Tuesday Check in

I'm first in today. Carbon I hope all is well. 

I'm shockingly down another pound to 111. Had a solid day yesterday and added 100 calories back. My choice was not the peach pie but instead a small glass of wine. Playing with fire!

All is well here. Scale down 2 lbs, so I'm roughly back at Pre Weekend weight. 

Calories were good yesterday, plus and excellent cardio and ab workout. 

I am toying with lowering my carbs a bit this week to see if that makes a difference in rate of loss. I have discovered that to make a food plan sustainable for me I like having around 80-100 carbs per day. I've been doing that and still keeping calories and protein where they need to be, but am wondering if I keep the carbs between 50 and 70, if I'll see a difference. Worth experimenting. If I don't like that level I can always go back. I should say that all my carbs come from dairy and fruit - except two small (2-3 TBS) servings of a starch at lunch and dinner. (I have never gotten over wanting a small bit of starch with a main meal.)

I looked back at my weight chart and saw today that I have been happily maintaining (note the sarcasm in my voice, please!) in this 2-3 pound range since November 8. Time to get back into serious WL mode. I want to be firmly under 200 before the first of the year. Only way to do that is be deliberate (yes, Linda, I love that word because it is absolutely spot on!) in my actions and choices. 

Also, I am curious what everyone is using now as a WL calorie range being this far out. I think of the 4 of us actively trying to get back in goal range I'm the farthest out (I'll be 4 years out next week on the 7th). I am aiming for 1250 calories per day. I find that reasonable for me, though I am sometimes tempted to cut back to 1000, but that seems almost punitive to me with a mature sleeve. 

Good scale result Kairk and I'm glad you've been able to latch onto that phrase. For me personally, I find it helpful in addressing that child like impulse for instant gratification - you know, the one that ends up looking like a tantrum on the floor if it isn't given into?  Lol. "Not today, but maybe another day"

Regarding calorie and carb reduction for weight loss, I reduce my maintenance calories by 500 per day, which for me means I eat 1000 calories a day. To look at it another way, that's 33.3% calorie reduction. I still keep my carbs around 80-100 though. 

This far out, I think it would be really hard to reduce my calories by more than 500 a day for any length of time. I considered it when it looked like my body was going to hold onto my most recent gain, but wasn't feeling confident about it. Who knows?  

Serious WL mode is 800-1,000 calories :)

I'm down half a pound...and had did not stray from my plan.  No bites, licks or tastes that were unaccounted for.  I realized I need to not eat nuts right now.  It seems I go by the pantry way too often for a bite or three or four of nuts.  And, I'm giving up my Quest bar before bed.  Also, not needed.  I need 5# to be gone...first goal.  Stop farting (nice word) around and get this done. Since I've been sick my exercise as been non-existent.  Back at it on Wednesday with my trainer; crud or no crud...

Linda, I do that too...do I wanna eat or drink my calories...lol  Usually it's a glass of wine! Sometimes both...gasp!  And, I wonder why my scale is not cooperating...

Do you think that adding calories slowly helps maintain and stabilize when you are out of WL mode?

Oh I get it about the nuts Steph!  I was doing the same thing for awhile.  The Quest Bars are a curse that I have trouble kicking to the curb too.  And as far as the wine, it makes me eat more than intended, which is what my real problem is.  It's not the calories in the wine, but the bad behaviour that is all too often set off by that relaxing drink!

Regarding slowing increasing my calories after weight loss, I decided to do that when I initially lost the weight so that I could be really clear about where my caloric  'set point' was. No one advised me to do this, but I couldn't figure out any other way to really know when I had my maintenance number.  So what I did was gradually increase and then hold there until I saw another loss on the scale.  Then I increased my calories again until I saw an other loss.  Rinse and repeat.  The losses became further and further apart and eventually stopped.

It took me several months to reach the point where I didn't lose any more weight, which meant I had established my maintenance number of calories.  That's where I held.  Bonus - I actually lost more than 10 additional pounds during that period of time, which is how I ended up at 115 or less instead of my intended 125.  I'm still within a good weight range for my height, so I've always considered that additional loss to be an unintended positive consequence.  

Whenever I've had to dial back during maintenance, I've always gone straight back to my maintenance number of calories after I reached the right number on the scale.  The problem has been that I've gone right back to the same old behaviours that have led me to my red line number!  Also, after 2.5 years in maintenance, with a good part of time over the past year not actually tracking calories anymore (except times I've been in weight loss mode ) I think it would be good to reconfirm what my maintenance calorie number actually is.  

So for those two reasons, I'm using my old method again.  Yesterday, I dropped a pound so I added 100 calories.  Today, I dropped another pound so I'll add another 100 calories.  So yes, I may continue to drop a little while I'm sorting things out, but it shouldn't take me too long to get my calories up.  As of today, I'm only 300 calories off my 'old' maintenance amount.  And I have more time to readjust to eating properly again.

I'm not aware of anyone else who has done this . . . 

hi all, down a half so feeling good about that. can't answer the question about calorie range for weight loss because i have not been counting for some time. probably should be. I tracked religiously for four years and then stopped since if i kept certain habits things just fell into place. Dr. C says i should track a couple of days a month and of course he is right but i don't.  I am still convinced i just gotta move more. not sure why i can't make myself do it.  but i have stuff to do today that will get me moving.  diane

Hi All!  It feels so good to be back in my normal routine.  I enjoyed having a few days off, but everything was off - my eating, my sleeping, my GI system - you name it, it was off.  I have not weighed myself.  I truly planned to do so this morning, but my little one was hard to get up, so I was behind schedule.  Before I knew it, I was all dressed and ready to leave, and hadn't weighed myself.

I'm not sure about daily calories.  I believe if I stay under about 1200 calories, I lose.  However, I need to start tracking better, as this is an estimate, which we all know can go either way.  Like you Kairk, when I'm not letting the carb monster out of its cage, most of my carbs come from dairy, fruits and veggies.  I do eat some grain, but very limited.  Protein bars are also in the mix, which can be a trigger for me, so I have to be careful.  Again, to get a true picture, I need to track everything.  I am absorbing everything you all have written about this topic, as I'm not the exception (drat!) to the rule and can eat more and still lose. :)  No time like the present to get started!

Back to dance tonight - yay!!   Have a lovely rest of the day!   Mary

Scale was at 131.8 this morning. Down .2 so it is moving in the right direction. I'm going to make a conscious decision not to eat any crap today. Too much of a chip or two here, a cookie there, a piece of chocolate or a handful of caramel corn. Even though my calories have pretty much been in range - my choices have not been the best. Such a tough time of year. I work in healthcare and so many patients (and other staff) bring in "treats" daily. I just gotta say no! It was easy to do when I had a lot to lose but much harder now.

On a positive note, I got some new jeans in the mail - size 0 and they fit! I have never worn such a small size in my life! Here is a pic of me in my new skinny jeans! Yikes! That is a big pic! Sorry - I sized it at 4X6 on my end of things!

You're looking FAB Paula!  Congrats on the new jeans size