Do you go in cycles?
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KittensMaster
Posts: 748 Member
i find that as I have gotten very close to target weight, I lose weight in cycles.
I take a week and go at it hard, drop a pound or two. Then I take the next week basically as maintenance. Let my body rest up and do it again.
I know there are many ways to drop pounds. And I'm at the end of a two year journey. Maybe this is a way to not get bored and learn how to maintain?
Maintaining seems to be a common challenge since most people gain weight back
Just wondering if anyone else does this.
I take a week and go at it hard, drop a pound or two. Then I take the next week basically as maintenance. Let my body rest up and do it again.
I know there are many ways to drop pounds. And I'm at the end of a two year journey. Maybe this is a way to not get bored and learn how to maintain?
Maintaining seems to be a common challenge since most people gain weight back
Just wondering if anyone else does this.
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I probably need to do something similar. I try to rachet the calories down for a week, give it a good hard sprint, but then toward the end, I get hungry, tired of being "hangry," and overeat calories. Weekends are usually high calorie. This kind of ruins any deficit I had earned. I start again on Monday every week on the calorie-battle. Haven't lost anything in over a month. Frustrating. I know how to maintain, which I have learned from my maintenance breaks, like what you are proposing. Can't seem to manage to lose any more though.
I think about making my 20-min HIIT sessions longer. But I'm more of an endurance person than a sprinter. And I'm lazy. If I had the time, I'd take intense 2-hour hikes daily, or bike rides, and would enjoy that a lot, but I homeschool and have 4 kids, so I have to do whatever I can in the small amount of time available. I have to be quick and efficient.0 -
Yes and no, lol. I haven't wholeheartedly tried to shed since before xmas 2014. But I listen to body and naturally go through high and low days. Some days 1000 kcal net feels more than enough. Other days 2500 kcal net and I still want more... Hunger is an elusive feeling to dissect
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baconslave wrote: »I probably need to do something similar. I try to rachet the calories down for a week, give it a good hard sprint, but then toward the end, I get hungry, tired of being "hangry," and overeat calories. Weekends are usually high calorie. This kind of ruins any deficit I had earned. I start again on Monday every week on the calorie-battle. Haven't lost anything in over a month. Frustrating. I know how to maintain, which I have learned from my maintenance breaks, like what you are proposing. Can't seem to manage to lose any more though.
I think about making my 20-min HIIT sessions longer. But I'm more of an endurance person than a sprinter. And I'm lazy. If I had the time, I'd take intense 2-hour hikes daily, or bike rides, and would enjoy that a lot, but I homeschool and have 4 kids, so I have to do whatever I can in the small amount of time available. I have to be quick and efficient.
Exactly me, except for 4 kids and homeschooling !!
My daughter has 4 and does that. Babe has no time at all. You are doing incredibly well to have any time!
Longer HIIT would be tough. But you seem tough enough to do it!
I am an endurance athlete
I am trying to balance that with eating back some calories and not too many
I have a little over 80 miles of cycling Thursday thru Saturday. Then I will ride today and tomorrow probably 50 more. Then call it a week.
I'm averaging 80 miles per week with one hard week and one light week.
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I have hit a stall that is now on week 3. I was losing super fast before, averaging 1.6 lbs a week not exercising. Then I joined the August challenge and literally only started walking with the goal of doubling my weekly average steps from the previous 3 months from 3000 to 6000. That's all I have done and I am actually under my goal at the moment. My last loss was on Aug 1.
After the first week of no change I thought I would increase calories by about 150, because I was at about a 30-35% deficit, though not really intentional. I'm just not hungry enough to eat more. I have been making a greater effort to get the calories now and I haven't gained weight. I have measured too and there's no change there either.
This week I am doing some strength training using resistance cords cuz that's all I have room for at home. I don't know what the magic combination is that I need to unlock for more loss but my body needs to figure it's life out!0 -
Your progress pics show amazing progress!
My trainer even told me it is gonna get tough to drop weight now.
But you know if we focus on the positives, think about how far we have come.
Look back a year and then get perspective.
Keep at it. We can encourage each other on for that last mile!!
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I still have approx 50 pounds that I want to lose but may settle for 35-40, won"t know until I get there I guess. So I am nowhere near maintenance, but have always lost weight in "steps". I don't plan higher calorie days or higher carb days usually ( sometimes though), but have noticed that I will lose weight quite rapidly at certain times, then maintain that weight with some fluctuations, for about a month, then I will go down that next step again. I am happy with that, since it is way better than where I have come from. I tell myself that this means that this weight loss is sustainable. I know that it will get harder to lose as I get closer to my goal, but I am feeling so much better even at the weight I am at now, that I am sure that I will feel even more amazed as I reach my goal.0
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I am nearly half my size
It is surreal
Hard to believe.
Life is just so different.
@Kitnthecat
Stay the course, it is so worth it0 -
Kitnthecat wrote: »I still have approx 50 pounds that I want to lose but may settle for 35-40, won"t know until I get there I guess. So I am nowhere near maintenance, but have always lost weight in "steps". I don't plan higher calorie days or higher carb days usually ( sometimes though), but have noticed that I will lose weight quite rapidly at certain times, then maintain that weight with some fluctuations, for about a month, then I will go down that next step again. I am happy with that, since it is way better than where I have come from. I tell myself that this means that this weight loss is sustainable. I know that it will get harder to lose as I get closer to my goal, but I am feeling so much better even at the weight I am at now, that I am sure that I will feel even more amazed as I reach my goal.
Same. It's like my body gets a set point and tries to keep me there. I don't know how else to explain it. I'll hover right around there going under and even over it, then boom, go to the next level. Seems to be in around five pound increments. Decrements I guess.0 -
I don't purposefully cycle, but I do notice that one week I'll drop 2-4 lbs and then next week I'll eek out one lb..... maybe. It's slow and frustrating, but it's going down and not up. So I'll just accept it for what it is and keep on trucking.
I'm really quite content eating this way though. We ate at Golden Corral on Saturday and part of me missed having the mashed potatoes, but it was more or less a mental thing than a physical hunger.0 -
I have my morning weights on the back of junk mail for about 6 months. They are nothing but CYCLES but so far if given enough time each cycle is a bit lower pound wise.
As you know I am not doing this primarily for weight loss but for pain loss but when it started controlling the pain well the weight started dropping slowing and 6 months of eating <50 grams of carbs and high fat cured the 40 year struggle with IBS.
I read straight dropping weight loss is almost a sure fire way to insure major new weight gains in the future. Based on that cycles is what you want. This is why I go into maintenance after every 10-15 pound loss. At my age/health one more regain may kill me.0 -
What are your goals, Kitten? Are you shooting for a 6-pack? That's like uncharted territory for me -- no idea how to get there.
This whole trip has been embarrassingly low effort for me, but I didn't need to lose that much. I stopped counting calories a few months ago and the weight just kept dropping due to the hunger suppression.
I'm at around 20% BF now, and except for the water gain from a recent infusion of sodium, weight's been stable for a few weeks. I'd be happy to stay like this for a while, but ....
I can see this turning into sort of a hobby. Continue working on muscle gain and weight loss as a form of entertainment. Especially now that I'm an old dude, the work needed to gain muscle might be worth it. So, yeah, I could see myself cycling my hobbies. Muscle gain one month, weight loss the next, then back to guitar and mando for a while. 0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »I have my morning weights on the back of junk mail for about 6 months. They are nothing but CYCLES but so far if given enough time each cycle is a bit lower pound wise.
As you know I am not doing this primarily for weight loss but for pain loss but when it started controlling the pain well the weight started dropping slowing and 6 months of eating <50 grams of carbs and high fat cured the 40 year struggle with IBS.
I read straight dropping weight loss is almost a sure fire way to insure major new weight gains in the future. Based on that cycles is what you want. This is why I go into maintenance after every 10-15 pound loss. At my age/health one more regain may kill me.
Very interesting
I know you are in this for a healthy long haul.
Maybe the cycles are just a matter listening to our bodies. It seems most long term dieters and fitness people see that
Well this discussion has taken a very interesting turn
I feel more typical of people in the group instead of the odd one out!
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