Well,
As i said before, my weight loss has been having a bit of a standstill for the past 1-2 weeks... and waning energy levels (with increased hunger, and being FREEZING COLD 24/7!) have told me its cos my body is starting to panic a bit and my metabolism is dramatically slowing!
Nevertheless, I was AGAIN shocked when last wednesday we drove down to Melbourne: which means 2 x 12 hour drives of poor sleep, no moving (no exercise), an army's worth of food (and not very healthy!), and boredom... I coped pretty well, though - we took the left over platter of sandwiches from the funeral, but did end up gorging on them - about 12 x small 1/4 meat/egg/chicken sandwiches... and then something twigged in my body and i was STILL hungry - so I had a giant handful of nuts/sultanas... and then decided i wanted to try the apple cake that we also took home... and still kind of hungry i finished off the evening with an apple and tried to sleep...
Well, was I surprised when I came home and weighed myself over the next few days to discover that not only had I not gained weight, but I had actually LOST (+ cms, so it wasn't just losing muscle and gaining fat!).
Strange how despite experiencing this same pattern of losing weight and speeding up my metabolism only when i'm eating ENOUGH and eating MORE of healthy(-ish!) foods, I am always surprised and shocked to discover how easy it can be to lose weight... After years and years of pushing my body, and starving myself, and exercising ridiculously to try and lose weight (and just seeing me plateau for a few weeks - then end up starving and bingeing the next week!) - I feel this tremendous guilt and amazement that the key to my success this time has just been making sure i'm eating MORE.
I just hope that I can share my experiences with other people so that they never have to feel the emptiness and despair of hunger/plateauing again, because it is such a lonely and depressing world to be in! I hope that anyone (if anyone is!) reading this, that they WILL take my experiences on board, and realise that I don't just have a magical body or metabolism - you too can retrain your metabolism to get easy and effective, sustainable and long term weight loss. Please do take the leap of faith. Stop seeing binges/falling-off-the-wagon as YOU being weak, and it's your fault - it's time to see them as an innate, ancient response of your body to hunger, and as inevitable if you push your body to that extreme. If you accept that, then you can arm yourself with defences to stop them happening (before the urges get out of hand) with nourishing foods that will supercharge your metabolism and energy levels, and quickly get those nagging hunger pangs to disappear (without 'blowing' your diet!). You have to be honest with yourself: learn the warning signs before you crash and burn, because the longer you leave it - the harder it will be to get it under control!
It's just about being too smart for your body, and not letting it be too smart for you!
xox Nikki
PS: I went for a walk/run yesterday, and I had SUCH renewed energy! Nourishing my body with food showed me run longer, faster and more often than I have before on my walks - and I now have a new time! And I've stopped being freezing cold all the time!
It's important that you learn the symptoms of your body when you are hungry / full (i.e. when your metabolism is slow, or fast!) so that you can best use that to your advantage. When my metabolism is slowing - I get cold, depressed, hungry for protein/fatty/carb-rich foods (i.e. energy dense foods, especially nuts, bread and cheese! I get completely obsessed with food and working out when i can eat next, and I spend half the night/morning ravenous!) , and really really tired. So I eat myself out of it, until I start feeling the cold less, and my body starts itching to exercise with huge amounts of energy, I feel really positive and sociable about life, and I find that I can go a bit longer without feeling hungry. I also start craving salads and vegetables, and the thought of sweet/fatty unhealthy foods makes me feel quite sick - and that's when I know my metabolism is supercharged and ready for effective and easy weight loss.
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2 comments:
HI Nikki,
Just to let you know I have read your blog a little bit over the past week or so and have just checked out your last post. I am very interested in your theories re watching out for your stages- you make it all sound so simple but I just don't know how anyone can read their body that well. I am keen to try your theory out and take a weight loss holiday when my body is about to plateau and before it reaches stage 4 like you describe but have know idea really what I am looking out for. Does each stage last a couple of days or weeks? For example- I have been doing WW for 8 weeks now and have lost 6kgs, the first two weeks were big losses but they have slowed now, I have not had any gains but the weight loss has slowed down. I am 2.5kgs away from being within my healthy weight range but would love to lose a couple more kgs on top of that.
In your post today you were talking about your body being cold depressed etc. You almost described my week- I have been quite depressed and over anxious with the weight loss this week and have just had two days off from my regular walking/jogging on the treadmill and this morning when I forced myself (normally I look forward to it) back on there I couldn’t work as hard as I usually do. So I guess I am asking you what stage you think my body is at? Sorry if that is a tough one but I suppose I still don’t quite understand what you are trying to say in your blog (but totally believe in it)
I am also interested to see your weight loss week by week and to know what stage you were in on each week/ whether you were actively dieting or whether you were “on a weight loss holiday”
I am so sorry with this long drawn out and probably jumbled confusing message- but I am in a rush coz the kids are nagging me to come and do puzzles.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Michelle
P.S I also have a blog- wannabyummymummy.blogspot
Hi Nikki,
Thanks so much for your reply. I have just spent the past couple of hours reading through the DR Amanda site and book preview and then re-read your blog from start to finish and think I may try maintenance. (Although I am shit scared of putting on weight!!!! and also a little disappointed that I probably won't make my end of August/September goal weights) I had planned on seeing some friends I hadn't seen for a couple months at start of October at 61kgs (nearly 10kgs lighter than when I last saw them)
While I was reading I decided I would eat what my body was craving and had about10 maltesers (Do you have ANY idea how many points in those!! :( I then ate what I had planned for dinner then had 4 biscuits (lots of suger but only .5 point each) then some fruit and nut mix. The latter has definately filled me up. So I have gone over points by about6 today (although had 3 bonus points from tready this morning)
Honestly- I am not sure about this- I really would like to keep losing weight even if it is slow but feel my body is definately in starvation mode at the moment. If only the whole maintenence thing could just be a few days and I could get back into it- but after all my reading this afternoon I know thats not going to work. I feel like I am about to risk so much by doing this but think I need to do it.
Anyway need to get to bed- again- thanks heaps for replying.
Michelle x
P.S I am only 157cms so healthy weight is 52-62kgs so still overweight.
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