Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Weigh In - Wednesday

NO, I don't plan to bore you to death with thoughts on weight loss - I joined a yahoo group with friends who are in the same boat as I, and don't mind my boring THEM. ::snort::

However, I've been thinking and praying a lot about this weight loss thing. I've done the Weigh Down and Thin Within route for nearly 10 years. I'm the type of person who follows these sorts of directions pretty much to the letter. I don't do so in any other area of my life (snort) but I tend to think that the weight loss experts have some secret that I'm unable to crack. When they said "don't eat unless you are hungry", I didn't eat until my stomach growled. I've been telling people I don't eat much and that I work out and I KNOW they thought I was deceiving myself. I wrote it all down for a month and saw the dietitian. You know this part. She said I wasn't eating enough. You know that too. I struggled with this whole "eat whether you're hungry or not, your body needs fuel" because for 10 years I've been led to think that to eat when you weren't stomach hungry was gluttony...and it may be....

Somewhere along the line, however, my body quit giving hunger signals. It did. I've known others who say that their bodies were hungry all the time so they couldn't do Weigh Down/Thin Within....but I think I'm the only one who I've heard say "I'm never hungry - that won't work"....because when they said not to eat until your stomach growled....I didn't. I easily went 2 - 3 days without food. I often had one meal a day and my portions were small.

However, since you hear repeatedly "If you aren't losing weight it's simply a matter of eating less and working out more", I continued to cut back on food and up the work outs...with no results. I was sure that my portions were the "right sizes". I know that many of share how "small a portion really is" but I've been surprised at how "big" a portion really is.

I was TERRIFIED to add 3 more eating times to my day.....because I've been so CAREFUL and have either gained weight (6 lbs in one week), lost huge amounts in one week or stayed the same for so long....even being very careful. I prayed about it. I decided I would try it for a month and see what happened.

After the first two days I realized that I simply COULDN'T add all that food at once. I was sick, bloated, and felt terrible. I am supposed to be getting 10 - 12 servings of produce a day, adding two snacks and breakfast (they can be produce). Debbie really stressed breakfast and said it could be a serving of fruit if that is all I could make myself eat. She shared that there ARE studies that show that there are cycles as to when YOUR body will handle food best. She shared that she can have a glass of OJ in the a.m. and her blood sugars are way off (diabetes) but if she has the same OJ in the afternoon her sugars remain stable. SO....she said I may not be a breakfast eater but I should at least be sure to get my water and fruit in. Since I couldn't make myself eat those snacks when I wasn't hungry, I decided to focus on the breakfast and be faithful with it. IF I do feel hungry or want a snack, I make it produce. (Except for the Chocolate Toffee Almond that is my nightly deployment surival reward).

The first week I stayed the same. I was thankful that I'd not gained a ton but was feeling like this was really not helping me and I may need to do it "my way". I continued praying and felt that I had committed to one month. Today was weigh in day again. I lost three pounds this week. I'm not hungry. I'm eating a LOT (by my way of thinking). I have more energy. Hmmm.....I'm guessing she was right and that you can't eat the way I was eating for an extended period of time without your body going into survival mode.

The Thyroid Diet book I'm reading really stresses the importance of speeding up my metabolism....because it's sluggish. I don't think I'll try all the supplements she mentions - I shy away from those. But the nutritional thoughts she shares match the things the dietitian said. I think I'm on to something....I'm optimistically hopeful to actually REACH my goal this year.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

Retraining the brain is a challenge for me too.

Understanding that when the body is in survival mode from too little food, the metabolism slows down to compensate, was something I've also had to relearn.

Well done! Glad the experiment of eating more is also a hope building success to meet your weight loss goal this year!

Thank you for sharing. It's timely for me. {G}

Kathy in WA said...

Congratulations on the loss, De'Etta. Interesting idea of eating too little. I have heard that before but never knew anyone who actually fell into that category. Lol! Aren't you glad to be an inspiration/example to us all. Ha!

Debbie said...

Great job on the weight loss. You are doing great!

Kristine said...

My mom used to eat an apple and Weight Watchers tv dinner for the entire day and could never shake a few pounds. By eating too little, your body goes into "starvation" mode and slows down your metabolism.

My mom gradually began eating more several years ago and now we have a running joke about which one of us has a smaller rear end--and not surprisingly, neither my Robert or her Mike will DARE to give their opinion--or even admit to having one, lol.

Cynthia said...

I know that I have more success when I eat the 6 small meals that WW suggests. When I kept the journals it was obvious that I wasn't eating often enough and my body would have ups/downs. I've been on both sides... being hungry ALL the time and not eating enough so I know the frustration.

With all the working out I've been doing lately I'm trying to fuel my body with the carbs and proteins it needs and I'm doing much better. I've lost 8 pounds in the last 3 weeks... by making a conscious effort to eat more with an eye on nutrition while at the same time working out.

Anonymous said...

De'Etta, you're doing great with your stick-to-itness. Great job on the 3 lb. loss.

I've decided not to listen to weight-loss people anymore and just pray and listen to the Lord's leading. Radical for me lol.

I am a little concerned about eating food again after 10 days of juicing. But I am consuming a lot of calories juicing (and eating about 1/2-3/4 c. of raw almonds a day, lots of calories there). I did add a salad and baked potato yesterday. My jaw hurt from chewing LOL. It has broken me of eating while bored, eating when everybody is in bed and I'm all alone, etc., etc. It's nice to know it is OK to go to bed with a little bit of hunger and not stuffed full of junk, kwim?

So thanks for sharing your ramblings~Kelly

Yvonne said...

This is what we learned with Weight Watchers. We were amazed about how much food my husband needed to eat in order to lose the weight. It's been life-changing for him. ~Yvonne

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

WooHOO - don't think I'll make this a main blog but just realized that January is over and I lost 10 lbs this month.....that is AMAZING....I worked hard all year last year and lost 10 lbs in the year!!!! If I could do that for the next 6 weeks I may still be able to make my goal before Mike gets home...but I don't think it is realistic to expect that rate to continue for another 6 weeks. LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Yvonne...isn't the key what SORTS of food you are eating? I mean I'm guessing if I ate all refined carbs at each meal I wouldn't be loosing as much as eating these huge amounts of complex carbs (produce).....but hey...whatever...it's working and the fiber is supposed to lower my cholesterol too. We'll know in 6 months. LOL

Anonymous said...

10 lbs is AMAZING De'Etta! Well done!

Jodi said...

yippee, congrats on the weight loss.

Cynthia said...

I think the new WW program is about whole foods... I didn't join because I have all the info I need, but I remember my WW trainer friend telling me it's about more than just counting calories, carbs, etc... it's about eating better foods..

Linda said...

10 lbs is amazing DeEtta! What is the Thyroid Diet book you are reading?