RAMBLING
February was a pretty tough month for me...lots of "specials"......40 year anniversary, Valentines day...."no malignancy" biopsy result which definitely requires celebrating. I was fine with it all too. I was maintaining my 10 pound loss. While losing is the goal, maintaining the loss is the bigger issue.
Now we're into March and nothing happening until later in the month---my birthday and then there is Easter too....my favorite holiday.
I seem to be hungrier than usual most days now. Don't know if it's due to the excesses of February or what is causing it, but most days I'm eating on average a hundred calories above my allowance. And even with that additional 100 calories I'm finding myself to be very hungry.
In fact yesterday I hit it out of the ball park to the tune of 2200 calories. Just could not get filled up. In the past that would have panicked me. But while it no longer does, I'm just trying to get a handle as to what is going on. I think everyone experiences these periods of being hungrier than normal.
To offset yesterdays excess and to try and get a handle on the situation I'm trying to hold today's calorie intake to 1400, which is 200 less than my allotment.
But let me tell you....as I sit here typing this post I am starving. I ate a pear about an hour ago. But I could eat a horse right now. It is a sheer battle of the will for me....trying to make it until bedtime without eating again.
Lately I haven't been getting much sleep and this could figure into my problem. On average I've only been getting around 6 hours a night, and then with the time change, my body clock is "upset". I never do well when we "spring" forward. In fact, it takes the "spring" right out of my steps.
Today I did get out---it was finally warm enough---and walk/run for 30 minutes...the first and last 5 minutes being my warm up/cool down. Let me tell you---my feet are feeling it. This is the first serious exercise I've done in about a year due to the tendinitis. Hopefully it is healed.
I plan to do the walk/run every other day. According to what I've read this should minimize injury.
My main goal right now is to maintain the 10 pound loss....and keep moving forward to losing more.
Musing
I've read on-line that it is common with weight loss to have plateaus. We've all experienced those. But I read that the third plateau most dieters experience can last from a month to 12 months. That got me to thinking.
The first time I lost 50 pounds I had a couple of short lived plateaus fairly early on, lasting a few days. Then about 7-8 months in I had a plateau that lasted several weeks. I remember being very discouraged and lamenting to my husband. At that point I'd lost 32 pounds. It seemed the weight just wouldn't budge.
I'm in about 5 1/2 months this time. Due to eating a higher amount of calories my weight loss is only about 1/2 a pound a week on average, or two pounds a month which is fine by me. I'm only desiring to lose another 10 pounds and at that rate I'll be there in 6 months time.
But I'm wondering if the battle I'm experiencing now is that long term plateau....where it seems your body hangs on, for dear life, to every ounce.
If there is any truth to what I've read, just knowing that this is common would make it easier to just keep following the plan. The plan should work. It's up to me to follow it...to walk the walk.
I'm just wondering what some of you have experienced personally as far as length of time spent on a plateau---how long term was it?
Of late, one thing I've noticed that I haven't experienced in at least a couple years, is a burning sensation in my mouth and tongue often accompanied with a dry mouth. I used to experience this all the time, then it went away. Perhaps I deficient in some vitamin or mineral, although my "diet" is very healthy. I'm getting lots of fruits and veggies. Of note though, I haven't been consuming as much animal protein these past two weeks.
Hmmmm....maybe that's my problem...maybe that's why my hunger level is way up there. Note to self....in the next few days eat more servings of complete protein from animal sources.
Problem solved? Perhaps...time will tell....I'll keep you posted.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
When I got to the end of this post I realized my thoughts were leading me to the solution, perhaps, to my problem of excessive hunger. Whereas I'd been making sure to get 60 grams of animal protein daily, of late--- about the past two weeks---I've been eating mainly vegetarian meals.
When it comes to keeping a food journal I've never been one to include my thoughts and feelings at various times of the day in connection to meals and eating.
But after having just rambled on and possibly hitting on what my problem is, I'm seeing the benefit of doing more in my food journal than just writing down the name of the food I ate and how many calories it contained.
On another note, let me say here trying to lose 20 pounds has proven as hard as losing 50 pounds. It seems my body doesn't want to give it up. It would be so easy to think, oh well---it's just 20 pounds----no big deal.
But it is a big deal---20 becomes 50 in a blink of the eye. Whether you have a 100 pounds, or 50 or twenty, or ten---we're all in the same boat. Daily, making the decision to persevere when the going gets tough...or to call it quits..... is an ongoing battle and struggle. Lets all hang tough and get the job done.