Moving away from the career-angst topics for a bit.
I need to lose some weight. 10 pounds, specifically. They've just crept on over the past few years and I want them gone. More importantly, I don't want any more to join them. The reason is simple, I eat too much. I've always been lucky enough to eat like a teenage boy and stay slim, but those days are over and I need to adjust. My mother is not overweight at all , is quite active, eats extremely healthy and has developed mild type 2 diabetes in her 60s. Her cholesterol has been high since her 40s. So my genes are not in my favor. Also I have PCOS, which raises my risks for those things in itself.
G has also put on 10-15 pounds over the past few years. He's got 9 inches on me, so it doesn't really show as much as mine! He started tracking his calories in a smartphone app (you know the one) recently, and I signed up and started today. Its a pain to remember to log every bite, and I know some of the calories allotted to certain foods are unlikely to be accurate. I also don't like how it shows you "net calories" by subtracting your output (calories burned, based on the exercise you input) from your intake. I want to know the GROSS calories I need to stay under to lose 0.5 lb/week (what I put in for my goal), not the NET. Mostly because the "calories burned" estimates are even more likely to be overestimated. Both food and exercise calories are input by users into the system, and you can choose from those or create your own. I have NO idea how I would go about accurately calculating out how many calories I burned in my 30 minute strength training circuit.
And eating out makes it near-impossible to be accurate. We went for dinner last week and G got a chicken salad sandwich. This restaurant does not offer calorie information, and no one had input an estimate. There were 20+ different types of chicken salad sandwich you could choose from, ranging from 300-1000 calories each. He went for a high calorie version because they sandwich was HUGE and mayo-rich, but who knows?
The upside, though, is that regardless of accuracy, the very act of having to add every morsel that enters your mouth into the app creates more mindful eating. G definitely thinks he's snacking less at night, to avoid the shame-add of 4 servings of Thai Chili Cashews or 6 servings of Pirate's booty. Just today, I reached for some fruit when I got hungry after dinner, rather than settling in with a bag of tortilla chips.
I've got a few more tricks I'm working on, too:
1) Record what I eat (as above)
2) Get comfortable with being hungry. I cannot stand to be hungry at all, so I eat. I tell myself I "need" to eat because I'm hungry, but clearly my body has just gotten used to more food than it needs---the weight gain is the proof of that. I've been trying to power through the afternoon and evening hunger pangs until I get used to it. Unfortunately, I do get headaches when I get hungry, and its hard to be productive and patient and all that, but I know its temporary (I've done this before, when I got used to MAJOR breastfeeding-induced snacking that continued long after I weaned).
3) Track my steps. I got myself a FitBit in JANUARY and haven't opened it yet. Its time.
4) Exercise for health. I've been going on nice leisurely 3 mile runs for my exercise, because its pleasant to be out in the spring and see the flowers blooming and the river gleaming. But I'm not burning a whole lot of calories nor am I getting faster or stronger doing the same thing 3-4 times a week. I re-started strength training and calisthenics (push-ups, planks) once a week. I also need to switch up my cardio work-outs, maybe add intervals and speed work, consider swimming or classes at the Y (which will look more appealing when it gets hotter out there). I know exercise isn't going to help me lose weight (because I eat too much), but it will help me gain more muscle and look better/more toned.
5) Sit less at work. I need to start taking more frequent breaks to get up and move. I try to be efficient about things that require me leaving my desk, but its probably better for my body AND concentration to get up every hour or so.
Apparently I need a net of 1200 calories per day (remember, this is calories in-calories out, not total calories) to lose 10 lbs in 20 weeks. I'm curious to see how far off I am and a little apprehensive of what deliciousness I'll have to cut out of my life. But you do what you have to do.
I hear ya on the PCOS. DC2 is weaning which means my pants are starting not to fit. Which means I have to realize that I'm no longer hungry all the time and just listen to my hunger.
ReplyDeleteThe easiest way for me to lose weight is to go on metformin. But I HATE metformin with a violent passion. Since I'm not planning on children, I hope never to take it again. (But if I cared about my weight I totally would.)
I don't think it's good to get used to being hungry. If you're doing it right, you should never be hungry for long. And hunger decreases your willpower which leads you to be more likely to binge later. Also it hurts work and everything else! Plus I think you've noted you get hypoglycemic before. Better: every time you get hungry, eat raw veggies, fruits, or a small amount of nuts (or a small piece of high quality low sugar chocolate). There's a reason weight watchers gives veggies 0 points. At work today I brought an apple, a peach, a banana, and a pear for snacks (and I have nuts in my drawer). When I'm at home I never eat fruit because I have so many other less-healthy options.
When I found out I had PCOS I completely changed *how* I ate (this was when I was willing to do anything to have a baby). I eliminated added sugar from diet completely (starting with HFCS, ending with sugar), and got rid of all refined grains (and white potatoes). I upped fruit and veggie consumption (with a focus on the apple-cherry glycemic side, but I really don't think grapes are that big a deal), ate more nuts, and switched to 5 meals per day. Pounds just melted off effortlessly and I was never hungry... also lost the hypoglycemic mood swings I used to get. Pounds melted off even more when I took metformin.
Right now I'm not doing all that because DC2's wheat allergy meant that we have a lot of refined carbs at home (potatoes! corn!) and while she was nursing a lot it didn't matter for my bottom line, but it's starting to matter now. And it's soooo hard not to eat them. Especially since I haven't completely made peace with whole wheat after being allergic to it during pregnancy. Since no baby's existance is at stake I'm not motivated to go cold-turkey.
According to a NYTimes article I read, apples are the best for calories/satiation. It was a study on people eating reduced calorie diets and said that it's the volume/mass of the food that's important for satiation, not the actual calorie count. So apples have a lot of water and fiber in them, but the body reads it as food mass, so an apple will keep you more satiated than a similar calorie other kind of food.
Other things: use small plates, make sure food you don't want yourself eating isn't easily available, only eat free food if it's really high quality (this was a problem for me at work-- domino's pizza isn't worth it!), pay attention to your hunger and don't eat just for sake of eating, take small portions and allow yourself refills if you're still hungry. Make it easy for you to get healthy calories and difficult to eat more than you need to mindlessly. But don't do things that take away your willpower because that leads to bad outcomes. :(
All good suggestions, thanks! I gave up the "free food at work" a while back. And I'm used to giving this spiel to patients.
ReplyDeleteBut I absolutely know that if I'm I get myself in the habit of eating at certain times, I feel hungry at those times. The whole "hunger is your body telling you it needs food" is patently untrue---if it were, then so many people wouldn't be overweight! I I used to eat my lunch salad + fruits (I eat a TON of fruits at work, also find it hard to eat them at home bc of other options) during the work day and not be hungry, because I'd be walking around, in the lab, etc... without the ability to eat. Now that I'm in my office more, I started having afternoon snacks and expecting those snacks. I've been reading more anecdotal stuff from people who've lost weight and the bottom line is that if you are reducing your calories you WILL feel hungry until your body adjusts---and it will adjust. It makes sense to me. I'm trying to spread my food out into smaller portions throughout the day but I don't want to start eating MORE calories, even though I feel hungry. what's different this time is that I'm going in with the expectation that I WILL feel a bit hungry, and that's OK, and its temporary (i.e if I still feel hungry 2 weeks in, I'll add a snack) and that helps me not freak out about it. Time will tell, I'll definitely keep updating about this
I dunno, I really do think that adding more fiber (and cutting sugar if there are insulin problems) helps with the transition, since it makes you feel fuller longer but has fewer calories. I always gain more weight in the end when I try to ignore my hunger because I have zero willpower. I do much better when I limit myself to healthy options that won't mess with my insulin. Part of this I know is the PCOS and the hypoglycemia. I just cannot make good choices about food when I'm hungry, so I end up getting chips before dinner instead of an apple at snack and insist on delivery pizza for dinner instead of what we were originally going to have (which is generally heartily endorsed by my enablers who like delivery pizza and not having to cook, not that pizza is bad, but delivery pizza is not as healthy as our home-pizza).
DeleteAnd I'm not alone-- Willpower by Baumeister says that scenario is completely normal. Hunger reduces willpower for most people and food increases it. (It's also hard to diet and be good at work or money at the same time, empirically. We're best with one NY resolution, not multiple.)
I also bet the hunger thing is more normal for people who are unhealthily over weight and really do need to make their stomachs smaller. You're talking about 10lb that have crept up over a number of years.
Thinking about limiting food options, of course, has convinced me that I'm starving so I had to eat a piece of fruit. :\
I'm eating my fruit now, too! I agree with changing composition of food---more fiber, lower GI foods. No I don't get hypoglycemia (its actually EXTREMELY rare to get truly documented low blood sugar, though people may "feel" spikes and falls). The pizza delivery cop-out happens for us when we haven't pre-cooked our meals, so that is the most important thing we need to keep up with, our Sunday/Monday cooking for the week. Yes, I read that in Willpower, and I do believe it, but I don't have the problem so much of "bad choices". I honestly eat really healthy throughout the day and am still gaining weight (and yes, my thyroid is fine), so the only option is to eat less calories, right?
DeleteI try to get in the habit of eating lunch as late as possible (like 1 or 2 in the afternoon). It helps me not be completely ravenous by 4 or 5 and helps me avoid cookies and binging for dinner. Once you get used to not eating at noon, you stop feeling hungry then, and it just takes a couple of days. The trick is to be busy at those times so you don't obsess over it. Then I eat dinner at 6:30 or so. I also try to limit each meal to 500 calories (which I know I will violate, it just keeps me in check). For instance, oatmeal for breakfast, sandwich (that I make) plus piece of fruit for lunch, 1/2 a quesadilla for dinner. If I get hungry mid-afternoon I eat a piece of fruit.
ReplyDeleteLater lunch...good idea. I do that on days I have clinic in the morning or some other super-busy thing. The time I gained the most and lost the most were both in residency. I gained a lot the first year just because I didn't plan well on call and ended up eating at McD's every night (the only thing open after 8pm), and would partake of the donuts at morning report, and the free pizza, etc... at noon. But when I wanted to lose it, it came off so quickly. I just stopped eating anything other than what I brought from home (and on-call I'd go at 5pm and get a foot-long veggie sub from Subway), and I rarely even had time to finish the food I'd packed I was running around all the time.
DeleteI completely feel your pain. I am currently wearing a pair of pants that I bought ~2 months postpartum. They were maybe a little snug then but I figured they'd be great in a few weeks. Today they are definitely tighter than when I bought them! UNCOOL. I tend to be able to lose weight easily when I really want to, but right now since I'm pumping/breastfeeding I struggle with "Well, I have to eat whenever I'm hungry because MILK SUPPLY." I guess I need to be eating healthier things,that are less calorie-dense then.
ReplyDeletePart of me wants to shake things up and go quasi-paleo for a while to see how I feel but the other part of me would miss oatmeal and whole grain english muffins too much.
What is paleo?
Deletepaleo = meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, unprocessed foods. raw milk/organic dairy, if any. no grains (wheat, rice, corn, etc) or legumes (beans, soy, peanuts). no sugar or artificial $(*&#. i could never go all the way and i find the no legumes thing a little questionable, but i think i (and many others) rely too much on grains ("whole" or refined) and i like the emphasis on whole and unprocessed.
DeleteI can't get on board with no legumes. And no cheese (right?). I am OK with the idea of lower-grain though I'd have a REALLY hard time cutting out completely.
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ReplyDeleteThe new Fitbit told me I was already getting 10k steps/day, but now that I've had it for a few days, I realize that I could probably challenge myself to do 15k, and that would be more than I'm regularly doing now. So there may be hope for bumping up the exercise. Eventually I'll get to calories!
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough line to walk between the little extra hunger pains that come when you're adjusting to a lower calorie level, and the ones that take away your willpower. I usually find I've struck the right balance when I start to feel better after day 3 or 4 (I get headaches too, and sometimes have trouble sleeping because I'm hungry). At that point if I have adjusted, I know I'm at a level I can live with but won't be so taxing as to destroy my willpower or any other joy in my life!
ReplyDeleteExactly what I'm thinking Leanne. Thanks for your thoughts!
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