Maintainers keeping it off

This is the first in a series of posts that summarize threads on 3 Fat Chicks. They all relate to maintaining and the struggle of maintaining, which has been on my mind a lot lately.

The title of this thread is "How many Maintainers have NOT regained?" It focuses on the mindsets and habits of maintainers who have kept their weight off. I will be continuously updating this as more things get posted in the thread.

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I've stayed between 155 to 165 throughout the deaths, funerals and now the estate process. One of these days I'll kick it into gear and get back to a comfortable size 6 but until then I just refuse to give up. I will never become obese again.

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The perspective of that entire pregnancy gaining/losing experience was good, I think. I am 100% certain that I never, EVER want to be obese again, and I will do everything I can to keep that from happening. A regain of 20 lbs from where I am today? Not at all desirable, but I could live with it. Obesity, that awful discomfort in my own skin - no. Not happening ever again.

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I have not gone the route that I've frequently gone in the past of saying "to heck with it" and just eating anything and everything in sight. Could my eating be better? Definitely. But in evaluating my choices---more stringent eating/lower weight vs. looser eating/a bit higher weight---I chose the latter. The point is, though, that it was a conscious decision, and I do not feel as if I let go of the reins and was out of control. I think mindset defines maintenance success almost as much as the number on the scale.

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Maintenance for me is about narrowing the weight range. I used to lose 40 pounds over 6 months then gain it all back over two years. Pretty unhealthy. Now I gain and lose in closer to a 10-pound range. Feeling a little bad that I'm out of that range today, but on January 2 we will get back on track, and by the summer I'll be back in the 190s I'm confident.

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To me, maintenance is all about the new long-term habits I mastered on my fat loss journey and the knowledge and discipline that goes with it. As I am working on improving my body composition gradually, I go up during some periods by max 10 pounds from my true maintenance weight of 165 pounds (trying to gain some new muscle mass) but the beauty now is that I have all the necessary tools and know-how to go back down whenever I please. I have actually done a couple of experiments where I went up 10 pounds and then lost them again without much hassle.

Once you realize how simple it is to lose weight (simple, NOT easy) once you have the know-how and new, better habits and mindset, you will not fear gaining the weight and fat back.

It is hard work and it goes on every single day but if you learn to enjoy the process, you're golden.

Going back to what has worked

I posted on 3FC about being hungry all the time and the consensus was that the myfitnesspal-recommended 1330 calories is not enough. Well, if I do nothing all day then it perhaps it is enough but if I exercise a few times a week with one of those times being a bike ride, I need to eat a lot more than that to stay happy.

Overall, I should be eating all the calories I "earn" through exercise because that will bring me up to 1500-1600 calories total, which is what I've discovered is a sustainable daily intake. At that range, I eat fulfilling meals, get some healthy snacks, and can sneak in a guilty pleasure or two. And that's what I need to be able to keep at it. 1330 just wasn't doing it for me.

Anywhos, eating all the calories I burn is good when it comes to running because right now I'm burning about 200 for each run, which bumps me up to the sustainable allowance. However, when I go for a bike ride, I "earn" 750-1000 calories a ride, which would bump my daily allowance to at least 2000 calories, if not more. And that's not a number I'm willing to consume even if it is all (or mostly) healthy. So on those days I'll stick with eating 1500-1600 (this excludes the food I eat during the ride for energy) and redistribute the rest of the earned calories for days I don't exercise at all. This way, I should still be at my goal over the course of the week.

At least that's the theory.

I believe that the last week of hunger was due to not eating properly and not at the right times. I was eating whatever was convenient instead of what I knew was filling and delicious. And I was also waiting until I was hungry to eat something, which is never a good idea. This made it seem like I was always hungry and that's not a good feeling to have when you're just starting out with weight-loss. And that feeling of "this sucks" was only exasperated by the scale not budging. All in all, not good vibes.

I've also found that I need to eat something that 1) I believe is delicious, 2) that is warm, and 3) that is a legitimate home-cooked or home-made meal for it to feel like it was fulfilling. Otherwise I won't think I've really eaten and even though I will have gotten the proper nutrients and calories, I will still feel hunger. Although I love my nut bars, bananas and smoothies, they are not sufficient meal substitutes for me for both lunch and dinner. At least one of those meals has to follow the rules stated at the beginning of this paragraph.

So today instead of microwaving a burrito or heating up potstickers, I made an old staple for lunch. It's cold because it's just a sandwich so Criteria 1 is not satisfied, but it's delicious and is a legitimate meal (my mom makes this for me all the time when I'm home). Two out of three isn't bad, especially since I know I will be stuffed (in a good way) when I finish it.

So colorful and delicious! And I even somewhat enjoyed making it.

Lastly, my faux plateau broke today when I went down to 208.5 lbs, which is FINALLY down from the 210 I've been hovering at for over a week. What a relief!

What to change?

I was reading a thread on the forums of 3 Fat Chicks (3FC) about changing habits and how long it takes to form new ones. Another point that was brought up and discussed was whether our food addictions or our bad habits ever go away, or if it's a lifelong struggle to give up certain things and talk yourself out of that extra donut.

A lot of people mentioned that they've given up soda or fried food or cut something unhealthy out of their diet and that's done wonders for their weight-loss, which got me thinking...

I honestly don't know why I'm fat. There is not one thing that is a calorie sink for me. I don't really like junk food or soda. I really do prefer a healthy meal over something greasy and fried. And I've played sports my entire life. So why am I fat?

I guess my problem with understanding my eating habits is that I don't generally eat unhealthy food. I can't remember the last time I went to McDonald's or Taco Bell or any fast food place like that. (I also can't remember the last time I was in an elevator, which is kind of weird.) I also don't think I've ever bought soda. When I snack on store-bought things, it's usually "healthy" stuff, obviously not just veggies otherwise I wouldn't have this weight problem, but rather things whose ingredient list I can pronounce and understand. I don't fry everything (or anything for that matter) and generally stay away from high-fat recipes. I've also noticed that I don't eat much meat, which definitely cuts down on calorie intake.

I like to think that these habits are the reason I don't have any health issues and my blood pressure and pulse are super low. But I think my time of great health is running out and I can't rely on luck to stay out of trouble. I need to fix something to ensure this streak lasts for much longer. But what do I change?

After tracking my calories for the past couple of years (sometimes daily, sometimes sporadically) I've concluded that it must be my portion sizes that are the problem. And I'm also wrong in assuming that the only bad and calorie-rich things are the processed foods at the store or at a fast food joint. Just because something is healthy and home-made doesn't mean I should eat three helpings of it, even if it is organic free-range beef stew. Those calories add up!

I guess those realizations are key to understanding where to go from here. In short, there is not one thing I can cut out from my diet, but instead, I just need to eat less. Oh, and lay off the beer.

Simple, right?

Breakfast challenges

I've started participating more in the forums on the 3 Fat Chicks forums recently because I feel like I need to be more involved that way to keep reminding myself that I need to make smarter decisions about food and not just write it down and say, "Oh shucks, I probably shouldn't have eaten that extra brownie, or had that extra beer."

The support on there is really amazing and I've learned so much about so many people and the struggles we all go through, as well as the ups and downs. Now I don't feel like a failure every time I slip up, or even due to the fact that I've been "losing weight" since freshman year of college (that would be September of 2003) and instead have gained over 50 pounds. So yeah, 3FC is cool.

BUT, I often find the challenges don't really apply to me or go along with what I need and want. If you can't tell from my blog entries over the summer and my recent sign-up for a 10-mile obstacle race (I don't expect you to because I'm sure no one actually reads or follows this blog), I'm a pseudo-masochist. I play rugby after-all.

Most of the challenges on 3FC, however, are weight-loss challenges. Like, "20 pounds lighter for New Years'", for example. Maybe I should get more intense about my weight-loss, but at the same time, I'm more so trying to change my lifestyle one step at a time instead of losing weight quickly and focusing on the numbers. I'm not ragging on these kinds of challenges at all. I think they're great. They're just not for me because they bring out the unhealthy I-need-to-lose-weight-fast-no-matter-what-the-cost part of me, and that usually doesn't last very long. I mean, look at my weight-loss history. I've been a yo-yo dieter and it obviously hasn't worked.

So, if you're still with me, the point of this entire entry is that I finally found a challenge that's perfect for me! It's a streak-based challenge where you pick something you will or won't do every day for 21 days and stick with it. If you mess up, you start the counter all over. Here is the "Every-Day" 21-Day Challenge explained even better.

Long story short, I've never been a good breakfast eater. I prefer to skip it and sleep in the extra 10-15 minutes. Always. The only time I eat breakfast is when I'm home and my mom makes it for me as soon as I wake up and I have nowhere to be so I can get up and eat as late as I want.

So my challenge is to eat breakfast every day. And since I've joined the thread, I've kept with it. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that the thread is THE ONLY reason I've kept with it, since I think 7 days is the longest I've ever gone for eating breakfast. I even got up a bit earlier today to pour myself some cereal before school. It's so weird. But I love it.

Since I've got the breakfast thing mostly down, I'm going to work on sticking to my exercise plan daily since this 10-mile race is sneaking up really fast on me and I've been slacking too much lately. So wish me luck!

And you should join the challenge as well. It totally works!