Just moved to maintenance phase
GabinkaP
Posts: 188 Member
I've just completed the 2nd diet I've ever done. The first was successful, too, but maybe too successful. The 2nd one feels more right.
So what did I do before? Some good stuff, some stuff that seemed good that wasn't, in the end. Good: trained my brain. I learned that it takes 3500 calories burned to lose a pound and that you'd burn 12x your weight in calories if you were in a coma lying in bed all day.
So I set my goal weight at a weight I naturally was when I lived in the mountains of the Czech Republic and walked all the time. 110 pounds was easy then. 110 x 12 = 1320. So that was my budget. It took me 7 months but I lost 30 pounds to reach 110. I tried to eat within my budget and move more. I found I can walk 4mph with ease and for long distances.
One problem was that I didn't live in the mountains anymore. In Midwest US, you have to have a car to get anywhere and I have a sit-down job. So way more sedentary. That made 110 hard to maintain.
Another problem was the 1320 budget was quite depriving. It wasn't something I could continue to live on. I raised my budget and gradually kept gaining and ten years later, I was at 147.4.
So this time, I set a more realistic goal weight for my environment: 125. 125 x 12 = 1500. I can live quite happily at 1500 calories. I don't feel deprived most days. Many days I end the day at 1400 calories and don't feel hungry. Again, I got back to moving more. I got a Fitbit and now try to get my 10k steps every day. I lost 22 pounds in 6 months. I weight 125.0 yesterday.
So this time I want to maintain it. And since I can live on 1500 I'm going to keep that as my budget for maintenance. I'll probably lose a bit more weight. That's surely okay! I may gain a little (Today, 125.4) but not panic. If I go over 1500 now and then, I won't panic. I think I'll likely be in the 120-125 range and that seems a good range to me. So, now we'll find out if I'm right.
So what did I do before? Some good stuff, some stuff that seemed good that wasn't, in the end. Good: trained my brain. I learned that it takes 3500 calories burned to lose a pound and that you'd burn 12x your weight in calories if you were in a coma lying in bed all day.
So I set my goal weight at a weight I naturally was when I lived in the mountains of the Czech Republic and walked all the time. 110 pounds was easy then. 110 x 12 = 1320. So that was my budget. It took me 7 months but I lost 30 pounds to reach 110. I tried to eat within my budget and move more. I found I can walk 4mph with ease and for long distances.
One problem was that I didn't live in the mountains anymore. In Midwest US, you have to have a car to get anywhere and I have a sit-down job. So way more sedentary. That made 110 hard to maintain.
Another problem was the 1320 budget was quite depriving. It wasn't something I could continue to live on. I raised my budget and gradually kept gaining and ten years later, I was at 147.4.
So this time, I set a more realistic goal weight for my environment: 125. 125 x 12 = 1500. I can live quite happily at 1500 calories. I don't feel deprived most days. Many days I end the day at 1400 calories and don't feel hungry. Again, I got back to moving more. I got a Fitbit and now try to get my 10k steps every day. I lost 22 pounds in 6 months. I weight 125.0 yesterday.
So this time I want to maintain it. And since I can live on 1500 I'm going to keep that as my budget for maintenance. I'll probably lose a bit more weight. That's surely okay! I may gain a little (Today, 125.4) but not panic. If I go over 1500 now and then, I won't panic. I think I'll likely be in the 120-125 range and that seems a good range to me. So, now we'll find out if I'm right.
0