More than Just Pounds

Yesterday completed my 2-week maintenance of eating 2300 calories a day.  It was difficult to eat that much food up until the 10th day when I started getting hungry and then it became extremely easy.  I expected to gain 3-6 pounds while my body leveled out at maintenance but as you can see below, I only gained 2.6 pounds.  I lost an entire inch off my body (neck, waist, hip) and gained 1/2 inch (thigh and calf).  

Here is the summary of my results for this 2-week period:

Scale gain = +2.6 pounds

Inches lost = 1 inch 

Inches gained = 1/2 inch

Here is my weight chart for the past 2-weeks as I went from 162.0 to 164.6 (my old scale went from 158-161):

I think doing this experiment has been one of the best things I've ever done for my health.  My entire mindset has settled down and I'm no longer fearing weight gain or eating more food.  I realized that for the first time in my life, I am eating enough food every day consistently.  I was always an under-eater and it was probably only the few days of eating fast food I ate weekly that kept me at the weight I was at in the past.  

I've already blogged about how medication caused my weight gain a few times in my life but my pregnancies did also, even the ones I lost.  I know that my anorexia and bulimia from my late teens had a lot of things to do with why I chronically under-eat.  To think here I am at age 43 still dealing with this is sad but at least I'm understanding more now!

I think I've found my magic number of 2300 calories.  It took me about 10 days to feel comfortable eating this much but now I'm easily eating this and even hungry often.  I'm assuming that is a sign that my metabolism has risen and my body has leveled out and I could probably go higher right now in my calories but I am going to instead do my deficit starting this Saturday.  I hope I don't regret this but I do know that in 4 weeks when I go back into maintenance, I need to take a week off weight training, as I try to do every 12 weeks.  At some point, I also need a week off hiking and these exercise breaks do wonders for my body!  Exercise is stress on your body and causes inflammation and our bodies do better with a week of rest periodically.

I've used a lot of calculators and formulas to try and figure out my theoretical BMR and TDEE.  The average for me seems to be around 1470 BMR and then add in roughly 70 calories extra for the muscle I have and I imagine my BMR is 1540.  That is what I need if in a coma state to survive.  Then, you have to add in NEAT, which is what you do each do like getting dressed, brushing your teeth, making food, etc. which can be around 500 more calories for me and that brings me to 2040.  Then you add TEF, or the thermic effect of the food you eat.  I eat a lot of foods with fiber and it takes more energy to break these down and Chronometer says I burn close to 200 calories a day TEF and that now brings me to 2240.  Add on my workouts, which are almost always 250+ burned and most days I exercise I'm around 2490-2700 calories TDEE.  Since I only workout 5 days a week on average, I went with 2300 calories weekly average for my maintenance.  It is probably still too low (?) but I had to have something to aim for and that was more than enough for me at this point.

BMR + NEAT + TEF + EXERCISE = TDEE

1540 + 500 + 200 + 250 = 2490

It has been a struggle to eat enough and get 2300 calories every day but my appetite is finally picking up and I didn't have to force feed myself yesterday!  I was also able to get in more calories Monday by making a personal size pizza late at night and here are my calories so far this week:

Saturday - 2512
Sunday - 2069
Monday - 2289

I am trying my best to eat 2300 calories for my maintenance but is actually very difficult for me because I'm so full!  I literally force feed myself some days.  This reminds me of when I first started WW last May and how I had to force feed myself that first week because I thought I "had" to eat all my dailies and weeklies.  I went from eating 900-1300 calories a day before WW up to 1500 on average and then I slowly made it up to 1900 by December when I worked on raising my metabolism when I quit WW and started counting calories... and now here I am trying to eat 2300.  Sure, I had days here and there where I hit 2300 or more in the past but not day after day like this.  I've actually never been an overeater, I've always battled undereating and gained most of my weight on medication throughout the years and/or a messed up, slow metabolism.  It probably stems from when I was anorexic and bulimic in my late teens.

Here's what I've eaten the past 3 days for my second week of maintenance:

Saturday - 2512

Sunday - 2069

Monday - 2100 (working on trying to eat up to 2100 tonight)

Currently, my average is only at 2227 calories this week so far.  I'm hoping I can bring it closer to 2300 by week's end but again, it is difficult to eat this much.  Maybe I need to bring my maintenance down to 2200?  I never thought eating more would be so hard.  Eating Saturday was easier because I did a hike during the day and then later in the evening I did a 90-minute garage workout with some dance and rowing and back/abs strength training.  Sunday was my rest day, so I don't push myself to get the full 2300 and then today (Monday), I was too busy doing errands and then it stormed when I was going to hike, so it is a rest day and I'm pushing myself to try and get in at least 2100 tonight.

Here's a look at my weight the past few days:

I completed my first week eating at my desired maintenance of close to 2300 calories a day!  The actual average was 2265 calories.  This was one of the scariest things I've ever had to do. I overcame a lot of fear this week with food and eating. I trusted the science (even though it's a theory lol) and forged ahead day after day so scared I'd end up a whale at the end of this week.

Not only did I not end up a whale but I shrank across my body!!

-1/4 inch Neck
-1/4 inch Bust
-1/4 inch Waist
-1/4 inch High Hip

I did gain in some unimportant places - +1/4 inch under bust and +1/4 inch in calf. I imagine the under bust is just from the sheer amount of extra food my body is processing. The calf is probably from the intense leg workout Thursday night and the hill climbing from yesterday's hike.

On my old scale I stayed the same at 158. On my fancy new smart scale, I am up exactly 1.0 pounds at 163.0. And that is most definitely the extra food and its glycogen stores of water.

To say I'm ecstatic is actually an understatement!! To know I can eat at the maintenance I desire is pure bliss to me.

I have had an analog scale all throughout my weight loss until now!  I finally got a digital scale and opted to go with the FDA-approved Renpho Smart Scale and I got it for $20 on Amazon surprisingly.  I had watched a lot of videos from health professionals on how close to body fat % this scale is compared to a DEXA scan.  It seems to be within -2%.  So, I add 2% on to whatever reading it gives me and that puts me at around 25% body fat, which is what I thought I was based on my past history in fitness in my 20's.  I did have to set it to athlete mode because I workout 5-6 days a week.

However, this scale puts me 4 pounds higher than my old scale - EEK!  It was upsetting at first but then I realized, it is just a number!!  I can always subtract 4 pounds and make myself feel better if needed in the future or hop on my old scale for a mental health boost lol.  What I like about this scale is it gives me more than just 1 pound up or 1 pound down - I get .4 or .8, etc.  That has proven to be so eye-opening to me as I have used this scale for about a week now.  I try and weigh the same time every day - in the morning after using the bathroom and walking around for a few minutes to make sure my fluids are where they should be after laying in bed all night.

Here is all the data it shows you and tracks on the main window:

You can see how my weight naturally fluctuates from day to day with their comparison tool:

I feel like my problems are now explained after coming across the MATADOR study!  I now understand what has happening to me.  My body has been adapting to the calorie level I stay at and then it stops losing.  It is called metabolic adaptation and the way to prevent this is to eat at maintenance for a week or two after 2-3 weeks of a deficit.  Anyone that has been dieting for too long obviously has metabolic adaptation.  That is why you hear people saying that they can't eat more than 1200 calories or they gain weight.  They have been a deficit for so long that their bodies adapted to 1200 calories being their maintenance.

What is amazing is that you CAN increase your maintenance calories and/or metabolism!  It's also called reverse dieting - gradually upping your intake by 50-100 calories every week until you reach your maintenance level.  I decided to just go ahead and go from 1700 to 2300.  So far, it is going well, I was losing weight at the beginning and we will see how this goes.  I'm finding it very difficult however to eat 2300 calories without adding in junk - so I bought some organic fruity loops cereal, chips, some healthy mac and cheese and other higher calories foods to enjoy as I eat in maintenance for 1-2 weeks.  Then, I will drop down to just 1800 for 2-3 weeks and then back up again to 2300 for a week and repeat.  

You can get a more in-depth explanation about this in this video I came across where she explains it very well: https://youtu.be/y_RXVFl_aWs

What I have learned is if you stay in a deficit for longer than 4 weeks you will most likely experience metabolic adaptation.  That is why so many start a deficit or a new diet and do great the first month and then things slow down.  According to the study, all they need to do is actually take a week and eat higher at maintenance and then get right back to their deficit for up to 3 weeks.  

This will not only help you when you transition to eating at maintenance when you are done losing weight but it will help you be able to eat like a normal human being and not be forever stuck at a TOO LOW calorie level to maintain your weight!  And your body needs this extra fuel, so you can't afford to consume so little every day for the rest of your life.  You won't have energy and you will start to have health problems and your skin won't look as good and your body won't perform as well on lower calories.

I will do updates as I go but right now I'm loving it and feeling great peace!  This is my answer to so many questions I've had about my journey.

My little experiment of lowering my calories down to 1450 really flopped!  Not only was I was so weak and every day was depressing - but my hair even started falling out.  It really is amazing how quick my body and thyroid starts having issues when I reduce my calories by too much.  Not only did it do all that but my ghrelin must have also increased because I became so ravenous that I ate over maintenance for days!  The scale is actually up 3 pounds even to 159 - just like any time in the past when I didn't eat enough food.

So, after a 5-day piggie fest of overeating, my leptin must have kicked in and calmed down my hunger and I was able to eat 1700 calories and I feel so much better.  I just can't drop below 1700 with all the exercise I do - I think my body has let me really understand that once again.  I have to just ACCEPT the fact that these last 10-15 pounds will be slow-going and probably 1/4-1/2 a pound a week.  I have fully accepted that and am at peace with it now.

Weight loss is a journey and a mental fight.  We all want to lose weight quicker and then when we get so close to our desired weight, we want to get there yesterday!  That can cause us to try and make it quicker by cutting our food too much and then we risk health issues, ghrelin turns up and we're ravenous and never satisfied and of course - the hair falling out.  It's just not worth it.