getting close!

Good morning!

I know being part of a support group helps predict success in maintenance.  I'm not much for joining groups, but I am all for pushing my comfort zone if that will help me be successful. Plus, I recognize most of you regular posters from the VSG forum and have always enjoyed your insights.  

And, the last couple of days I have found myself uncharacteristically over-sharing my musings about goal weights/bmi's with others in real life.  My friends are supportive and all that, but, I don't want to be that person who goes on and on about this particular topic.  (And Lordy, can I go on and on!) But, in this forum, it is appropriate, right? 

So, here I am!  

I am pretty sure that I am 5 lbs from goal.  (By the way, unless it changed overnight, my ticker probably isn't exactly right. Someday, I will tackle it again.)  I have loosely decided to not change my eating until I reach 125 which would be goal.  At that point, would begin to adjust food so that if I float down a few more pounds that is (probably) ok and 125 will be the top of my personal range.  

If you spot flaws in my thinking, please do let me know!  I will never be offended.  I have a long history of being horrible at applying "things I know" to myself.  I also know that I have some disordered thinking that I frequently recognize but not always until I get called out on it.  

I will also throw out there that at my height, 5'3.5", 125 will  take me to a bmi of around just under 22 (I think 21.8)  I think the BMI chart is appropriate for me although I know it is inappropriate for others. 

Anyhoo, thank you so much for being out there!  Although, I am not sure how many of you frequent the boards on the weekend....

Shel

Welcome Shel! So happy you have joined us! I just joined this group a few weeks ago and it is a great group of supportive (and wise) people! We are about the same height (I have a 1/2 inch on you) and my goal weight is 130 with a range of 125-133 that I will accept. I'm pretty muscular (usually) so the BMI chart is a little off for me. I've had some muscle wasting with the quick weight loss so am looking rather thin in the arms, shoulders, back and ribs (think little frail old lady!). I hope to return to weight lifting soon and get a little definition back.

I've learned from these fine folks that it is best to pick a range (but not too big of a range) around your goal weight. Get too low, add some calories, get too high, reduce those calories. I'm still trying to figure out my maintenance calories but just had varicose vein surgery last week so I am a bit screwed up (fluid shifts and not able to do my usual level of exercise). My plan however is to add 100 calories per wee****il I stop losing. Right now I am sitting around 1,100 calories per day.

Paula

Hi Paula!  

I find everything about you fascinating!  I find myself thinking about little old lady body composition when I catch a glimpse of my bare arms in the mirror.   While I don't think I have ever been unusually muscular, at times I have been pretty darned fit and hope to get back to that sort of physical ease.  

I also hope to have a gigantic varicose vein removed eventually but the vascular folks will only schedule me once I have tried compression stockings for 3 months.  The delay is ok with me since it potentially will determine whether anything is covered by insurance.  

Thank you for the welcome!  

Shel 

Good morning all:

And welcome Shel.     You are doing so very well!!

Well, it has taken so long to get onto OH for some reason. Would post and then it would go!

Not a great day yesterday because I listened to the tapes that:  You are stupid, you are always going to be fat!  Mary, yesterday you said it so very well.

Finally at about 3pm snapped out of it.  And then it was ok.

Have not got on the scale this morning as the bathroom was full ( I have guests ) and had to go straight to the kitchen.

Thank you all for the on-going support.   

We will all get there.  Thank you for the inspiration! 

Thank you for the welcome!  Crazy brain tapes!  Hope you are enjoying your company.  

Shel

Welcome Shel. It's great to have you here!  This is a great group and I've gotten lots of great support and advice here over the past couple of years. Joining the group as soon as I was doing maintenance was a really good decision. And there are several of you just starting out right now so it will be great for you to compare experiences.

Also, no one in the 'normal' world - or even over on the VSG forum - will feel your pain from a 2 pound gain like we will :-). 

Thank you!

I DID notice a lot of angst over here about 2 lbs!  It was one reason I decided that this is the right place since I have such a history of denial which leads to a runaway regain train.  

I'm going to do it different this time.  Better to acknowledge and address 2 lbs regain than finally pull my head out of the sand a hundred (or more) pounds later.  

     Welcome Shel !!  You are in the right place, at the right time. When and how to begin to add back calories is a tough question. For me, I had struggled to get to 800 calories per day from 600-700 per day. My first consideration was looking at my rate  of loss at that level. I was still losing 1.5-2.5 pounds a week. My target range is 141-147. When I reached 149, I went to 900 calories a day by adding in healthy fat (seeds & nuts mostly). My plan is to hold at that level if I'm losing less than 1.5 pounds a week, and add another 100 calories per day when I'm losing more.  My plan is to "ease into my six pound goal range", with a few pounds to spare at the low end. I've set 135 and 149 as my red lines... 149 I revert to my successful eating plan immediately before maintenance... 135 and I need to accept that my plan of increasing calories is insufficient, and I need to brainstorm with nutritionist.

     I lost two pounds my first 5 days at 900, so I shifted to 1000. It is a work in progress for sure! It has been a blessing to find a group of determined, deliberate individuals who are fiercely protective of their hard earned health, and are so willing to share.

Diane Ocean

Hi Diane O, 

I love seeing the details of your plan --- both with calorie progression and how you plan to manage your red lines.   So you reassess calories at approximately one week intervals?

Thank you for the welcome!  Shel

Being all of six days into this, I plan to make adjustments weekly unless I lose more than two pounds in under a week, and I adjust up 100 immediately. I'm finding that I'm much more active than I had been, and I don't eat back exercise calories, so I just need to be mindful of that. I'm seeing from others that real swings and fluctuations happen for no reason, and I'm going to need to learn to stay the course and not be reactive.