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So, I got my fitbit set up, although I don't know how diligent I'll be about the logging food part of the app, since I already use fatsecret as my primary space to log food. I did set up sleep and exercise goals for myself. If anything, it's a great tool to see and assess heart rate, sleep, and how many steps I'm getting in. Unlike others, I have to be a bit mindful about how much walking I do, because of my hip. I don't have a car, so I have to walk everywhere and use the bus for transportation most of the time, but since my hip started giving me trouble I'm careful about pushing myself to hard, which of course is why we bought the recumbent bike. It's gentle on the joints, but phenomenal in terms of burning calories and providing good resistance training.
Yesterday's workout was wonderful! I did my first resistance rotation on the bike and brought the resistance down from 19 to 15. It was great to just let myself pedal away and burn a good 400 calories, which I haven't done in a while since I've been increasing the resistance. It also gave my muscles a break, given it was the 3rd day of my workout cycle. I'll bring the resistance back up to level 19 on Tuesday, and then 17 on Wednesday when I start my 2 day cycle. The point of this rotation will be to schedule the highest resistance (and increases) those days when I'm just beginning a workout cycle and my muscles are the "least fatigued", the subsequent days I will lessen the resistance by 2-3 levels, thus I keep my muscles guessing, but don't overwork them either.
I had an interesting experience this past weekend. A close family member that has taken a lot of weight off in the past year came by. They still look great, but confess they were "maintaining" and hadn't lost anymore weight. They also confessed that exercise had been non-existent for them lately and the past week had been filled with cakes, donuts, and 1 pounder hamburgers that might leave keto folks sayin', "protein is good, but that's a bit much". It surprised me this family member used the word "maintenance" to describe their present circumstances.
I highly suggest folks that think that behavior is considered "weight maintenance" listen to the "Half Size me" pod casts, which discuss weight loss the maintainers way. What I really appreciate about those podcasts is it affirms for me that the behaviors and habits I'm instilling now, are going to need to be practiced for the rest of my life, or until I'm senile, or 6 feet under, whichever comes first. Maintaining weight does not mean that I get to suddenly splurge on anything I want simply because I don't need to worry about "losing weight" anymore. That is exactly how weight is re-gained and why many of us are unable to keep weight off.
On the other hand, I don't condemn this family member, I once thought the same thing. To be honest when I had my last big drop I didn't give maintenance as second thought. And, to some extent given my age and the circumstances, I didn't need too. When I hit 162, everything I was doing had already become a conditioned habit, and since I was working on a limited budget, I had no reason to deviate. I often fluctuated between 162-168, but that is normal. And, since I was in my 30's, had a higher metabolism, and still menstruating; if I felt I needed to lose it frankly didn't take that long to lose a few pounds.
That is definitely NOT the case at this point. I have a different job, live in a different state, I'm over 40, peri-menopausal, and I definitely don't lose a few pounds easily! Oh, and now I retain water for more than just the proverbial 7 days out of the month. After much research and contemplation, I realize there is no such thing as sustainable and successful weight loss unless approaches to weight maintenance are being considered at every point in this journey.
On the Buddhist path, we're challenged to ask ourselves what kind of lesson we're learning when instances pop up like this one and we come across someone that makes us question something in a way we never have or even makes us consider our own past experiences and how we once handled them.
In short, how might I have handled a circumstance similar to this family member's if I were in their shoes and decided I wasn't interested in losing anymore weight and simply maintain? It's not out of the ballpark to consider. I refused donuts brought in by my boss, just last week. It won't be the first or last time I will need to do that, even after I reach a goal weight.
Well, first of all I might have forgone the office donuts after eating the piece of cake brought in for someone's retirement. The one pound burger might be okay for one night, but not for 3 nights in a row. And, I might seriously consider how to keep my daily caloric intake lower until I decided to incorporate exercise back in again.
It's interesting because this body will give me a grace period when I decide to throw caution to the wind, track nothing, and eat whatever I want. In the beginning, I will actually lose a little because my metabolism isn't used to so much extra food and starts to metabolize calories at a quicker rate. However, it's temporary and only lasts for about 4-6 weeks before my system adjusts and then I don't lose or gain all that much. But, about 8 weeks in, I don't know what happens, suddenly it all catches up and this body will pack on pounds like nobody's business! Try about 14 lbs or more in 2 an half months!
It's true a person does get to add in more calories (usually 100-200/day), but just how much depends on the individual and I guarantee, it won't accommodate consistent or daily binge/over-eating.
I didn't correct the family member. I let them know about the podcasts I have been listening too, and I am approaching weight loss with a "maintenance" mentality. But, it doesn't pay to attempt to shift someone's perspective if they've already defined for themselves what maintenance means. They'll either pull back and start mindfully eating when the pounds start to come back on, or they'll learn an alternate way. In short, there's no easy way into or out of this...for any of us.
My fitbit reads 744 steps so far. I already took the stairs down from the 5th floor just to get in some extra steps on the way to mailing some office bills. This is gonna be fun...
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
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1267 kcal
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Fat: 51.91g | Prot: 57.77g | Carbs: 112.64g.
Breakfast: Coffee with Cream and Sugar, Jams and Preserves, Great Value Part Skim Milk Ricotta Cheese, Multigrain Bread. Lunch: Signature Cafe Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Salad Dressing. Snacks/Other: Chobani Nonfat Vanilla Blended Greek Yogurt (Container), Red Table Wine, Kashi Chewy Granola Bars - Chocolate Almond & Sea Salt. more...
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