Monday: cycles of weight loss

Well guys, it's monday. I've been trying to lose weight again since saturday - and the 'weight gain' i had throughout the maintenance period of 1.5kg, is gone and i'm back to 70kg - so that just proves that all i was gaining was mostly a lot of fluid (especially since my tape measurements didn't change!). Pity, cos i'm worried that now that i don't have the fluid - i'm not going to have as much energy. But never mind!

So today is weight loss day 3! Weight loss day three has a big importance to me, actually, in my weight loss history. Because those days all so long ago (4 months!) when i used to serial diet and binge eat, day three was always the day when the diet would break! Sometimes it would be before day three, but it would never be after day three - so lets see, shall we? Lets see how long i go before the nagging hunger and dizziness sets in again...

Put up a post on the WW forum today, that i thought was a good representation of some of the stages I have noticed you go through when you are losing weight. Just thought maybe i should post it here. These stages are based on the current medical knowledge as to how the brain reacts to changes in weight, and since i know from personal experience, this is how it feels - i think this may be very much true... (does that sound terribly egocentric? i hope not!)

STAGES OF WEIGHT LOSS

When you first try to lose weight, it is mostly because you are overweight, which is mostly because you have been eating a bit more than you should be (sounds simple, and basic, but that part has to be clear!). When you do that, it actually makes your body try and prevent weight gain without you even having to do anything (though this can be easily overloaded, and that is when you DO put on weight). So when you first start restricting your intake & exercising more, you’re almost doing double weight loss - i.e. the amount of work you are doing, plus what your body is helping you achieve by increasing your metabolism. Gradually that would slow down, & your lossess will be largely from your efforts, until you almost start working against your body in losing weight. i.e. think of it in these stages:

Stage 1.
Body trying to lose weight (+energy,+metab,-hunger,++motivation)
+ weight loss efforts (-food,+exercise)
= ++Loss

Stage 2.
Body stops trying to lose weight (normal nergy,Metab,Hunger,+motivation)
+ weight loss efforts (-Food,+Exer)
= + loss
(here is often where lose 'fluid', though may have happened in Stage 1)

Stage 3.
Body starts worrying about losing weight (-Energy,-Metab,+Hunger,-motivation)
+ weight loss efforts (-Food,+Exercise)
= no or little change (plateau!)

Stage 4. [Danger! Danger!]
Body starts panicking (--Energy,--Metab,+++Hunger,---motivation)
+ weight loss efforts almost impossible because of body panicking (++Food,--Exercise)
= gain!

How to use these stages to your advantage...

The key is to avoid that stage 4. Unless you stop it, stage 4 will come eventually, no matter what speed you lose weight at, and stage 4 is 'binge mode': you eat everything and as hard as you try to analyse it, you can't work out why. However, the faster you lose, generally the faster you cycle through these 4 stages (and the sooner stage 4 will come), so you don't get the maximum benefit of actually working with your body to lose weight.

Hence: I think its vitally important to recognise stage 3, and the very very early onset of stage 4 (i wake up feeling odd on that 'day three') & not let it get to Stage 4 - do this by upping your caloric intake with wholesome foods (yes, carrots are wholesome - but they won't tell your body its not starving when all its craving is eggs, bread and cheese!), & keeping exercising (but not pushing yourself!) to maintain a stable weight for a week or two (i.e. make sure you aren't actively still trying to lose weight, but try not to gain either. This will actually boost your metabolism and energy levels so that you shouldn’t gain!) - then you will cycle back to s2 (though if you go a little bit overboard, fortunately you do tend to cycle through 1 as well! :p), & end up at s3 again.

These ideas are based on the principles of weight regulation in the human body. It's a "negative feedback system", similar to how your body controls your temperature (i.e. body temp increases --> body works to decrease it, and visa versa) - except here it's controlling (and also controlled BY) the amount of fat in your fat stores, the amount you are exercising (energy expenditure) and the amount you are eating (energy intake).

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'RE AT STAGE 4
Just in case some more clarity is needed about how to cycle from a stage 4 to a stage 2 (or, if your lucky, maybe even a stage 1!) - here's some advice.

1) don't push harder. If you push harder, then you will only continue oscillating between a stage 3 and 4 - very minimal weight losses, probably between binges that will put havoc on your metabolism and that WILL lead to weight gain. This is how rebound weight gain happens!!!! So don't restart the unhealthy cycle of decreasing metabolisms and increasing weight gains! So this means, don't eat even less, don't exercise even more to punish yourself or to compensate for a binge you may have had, or to try and 'jump' over a plateau. your body is smart, and you cannot trick it! Think about the basic weight loss principles: losing weight = calories out > calories in. BUT calories out is unfortunately determined by your body, and it can get mighty good at being very calorie-efficient and minimalising your weight loss, despite huge restrictions or exercise-efforts. So, what i'm saying here is aiming to get much more 'bang for your buck': i.e. more weight loss with less effort... you like the sound of that??? hehe, me too!

2. relax back, but don't go crazy. For me, this involved still trying to keep up some exercise (30-45 mins a day should do it, even if its just incidental exercise or housework!), but relax back a bit and eat exactly WHAT you are craving, WHEN you are craving it, and STOP when you feel honestly and comfortably satisfied (under is just as bad as oversatisfied in this case!) - though try and make what you eat as wholesome and least processed as possible (i.e. Consider healthier alternatives to what you are craving, since your cravings are the BEST indication of what your body needs and what will shut your body's hunger and slowing metabolism up! e.g. full-fat banana milkshake vs chocolate, muesli with fruit and yoghurt vs icecream, coconut-milk-based-curry/rice or cheese/wholewheat-cracker vs hot chips, hot cross buns or raisin toast vs cake. - Though sometimes i need to do half and half: i.e. half milkshake, with half amt of chocolate! and that worked for me fine!). Remember that hunger is more than feeling full: your body is smart, and makes you feel hungry in other ways (dizziness, lethargy, constant thoughts of foods, cravings) if it is lacking in fats or proteins or vitamins or minerals (that is why it is so important to work out exactly what you are craving!!!). You may find you need to relax back for a week or two, but don't panic - as you will notice with each day that goes by you feel less hungry less often, and crave less and less of those foods with higher caloric content.

Most people (including me) get paranoid about doing this because they don't trust themselves not to go crazy. That is why it is important that you grab this in the very early stages of stage 4, because that will make it a whole lot easier! Breathe. Take breaks between snacks, whilst being honest with yourself as to how much you NEED (again, less can be as dangerous as more). Don't go for the thing with the lowest point/caloric value, when you are craving something else, as that will only make it worse! Don't trick your body, or it will trick you! Respect for your body's wishes will show your body respecting your wishes for weight loss. BUT if this is impossible, you don't have to go the whole 9 yards - At least try and increase your intake: If you are on points, that may mean eating ALL your point values for weight loss plus exercise points, or eating the amount for your height/weight by pretending you are on weight maintenance points. Because effectively, that is what we are aiming to do: tell your body you aren't starving, and tell it to halt gaining weight and halt losing weight for a bit.

If you aren't sure if you are really and honestly hungry, or really and honestly full. Then stop - and try the distraction technique (though be wary, as if you do the distraction technique when you are hungry, you may be even more (and dangerously) hungry when you come back. I usually get around that by getting something along the lines of what i think i need: cracker/cheese, apple, even cuppa tea etc. Then try distraction). This involves you leaving the kitchen, and doing something else entirely different - something which you do not associate with food at all (i find the www.youplay.com site works a treat, esp. when i think its boredom-related hunger) - for about 15-20 minutes. If, at the 20 minute mark, you find that you still have nagging hunger or cravings, or constant thoughts of food - then yes, you are probably hungry. Go get something to eat, and repeat the distraction technique if necessary until you can happily get on with your work without thinking about food.

If you are uneasy about doing the above (i can understand!) at least heed my advice of NOT further restricting yourself today or exercising like absolute mad in response to either weight gains or 'binges' --- as that will only make it worse, and you will reach stage 4 again very very soon.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE: --- When i hit the stage 4 resistance a few weeks ago, i saw it coming and the red lights were flashing. That day, i actually ate ONE ENTIRE MEAL more than usual, which was definately more than my daily caloric allowance (i.e. for my height and weight) should allow. The next day, whilst i probably still ate more than my DCA (or BMR as they call it for Basal metabolic rate), it was less than the day before... and within a few days it was all back to normal, and i was eating the correct amount for someone who wants to maintain their weight, and craving lots of healthy and lower fat/sugar foods again - until saturday, when i woke up with lots of energy and motivation, and something told me i was ready for a new weight loss challenge.

Don't be frightened about a weight gain during this period (you may gain, you may not!). As i said above, I put on 1.5 kg during this maintenance period, but DID NOT GAIN A SINGLE CM. this 1.5kg will probably actually come on within 24 hours of starting maintenance, but don't be frightened by it - unless you drank 2 litres of pure olive oil, you could NOT have put that much weight on. 3/4 of it will be fluid, and the remainder 1/4 is likely to be a combi of gained muscle (yay!) and gained fat - and the longer you maintain, the more likely that that extra 1/4 will be all muscle! (that's one fabulous thing about the maintenance phase. Research indicates it is almost impossible to build muscle mass whilst losing weight. Think about it: your body is doing everything it can to prevent you losing weight, it would just be plain stupid to take energy from your fat and use it to build muscle! The maintenance period is a FANTASTIC opportunity to build up muscle mass, that will show your metabolism and fitness levels sky rocket! And provided your weight loss periods aren't massively drastic, then that muscle mass will stay there and boost your metabolism the whole time you are losing weight! Just make sure if you do do extra exercise during maintenance, that you eat plenty to compensate - otherwise you will technically still be in weight loss mode!).


WHY THIS WAY?
Why restriction/maintenance/restriction/maintenance???

This is the best way to lose weight, as new research is increasingly proving:
1) You will be many times more likely to keep the weight off for good,
2) it is easier and requires less motivation, as you are working WITH your body, rather than against it.
3) this method is just as fast as conventional methods: continually and slowly reducing your intake and increasing your exercise (i.e. for those lucky people who have the motivation to lose weight by not allowing your body to adapt to your weight loss, but by continually decreasing your food intake and exercising more - they are unfortunately rewarded with a slow weight loss, slower metabolism, and even less energy). This happens because despite being on maintenance for a while and not losing any weight - when you try to lose weight, it is the fast weight loss of someone who has just started a new diet for the first time!



MY RULES OF THUMB FOR COMBATTING STAGE 4

- Avoid artificial sweetners or MSG like the plague (actually make your stage 4 even stronger!),
- Use plenty of sunflower, olive and sesame oils (avoid transfats and oils such as canola, which damage your satiety centre in the brain that makes you feel full),
- white bread and pasta won't do as much as things like oats (natures wonderfood!!!), chickpeas (natures wonderfood #2), barley, brown and arborio rice, wholemeal pastas, rye/wholegrain bread. But in all honesty, if you don't like wholegrain breads (i ADORE them) then just eat the white ones! I don't eat plain white bread (can;t stand it), except for turkish or lebanese bread.
- Never ever ever EVER dismiss cheese, full-fat milk, coconut (research has proven that there is a chemical in coconut that is extremely effective at increasing satiety and turning off the starvation response), nuts, eggs, or oils as unhealthy - trying to include these as much as you can (i.e. without going overboard) in your everyday diet, especially whilst trying to lose weight, will keep that stage 4 away for as long as possible.
- Biggie: try and let at least 40% if your diet be vegetables and fruit. I do the 2 serves fruit, 5+ serves veg a day recommended by the govt.

Stage 4 is best combatted by you trying to find out what your individual feelings are when you are hungry, and when you are full (they can vary a lot from person to person!)
Hunger may be: thought of food, tiredness, waning motivation, depression, anxiety, lethargy, dizziness (I hallucinate!), that feeling that you need 'something more', physical rumbling stomach, bad breath (this one is a bad sign, as it is an indication that you are mostly burning muscle mass and protein, rather than fat!).

I find that i get quite a few of these - and i find each of them indicates something different about what i need:
When i hallucinate/feel dizzy, it's because i'm hypoglycaemic (low blood sugar) --> carbohydrates will fix this up. So a carrot or apple (their sugar hits your blood stream quick) is good, then have something with a more sustained sugar release (i.e. lower GI) e.g. oats, wholegrain cracker. When i'm craving 'something more' or having constant thoughts of food it's usually because i need to be eating more fat. When i'm have a rumbly stomach, that indicates gut emptiness - so i go for protein and veg. Of course, most meals you should be aiming to cover all of these four groups, so that most of the time you are feeling a combination of all of them or just gut emptiness.

And above all, use what you FEEL like eating as a guide over what to eat. If you want cheese, a carrot won't help!