Back on the horse after a holiday...

BeGrandLike

....and ohmyGAWD, I'm hungry like it was the first week all over again! Before my week away I was feeling great on my 1300cals-plus-exercise (normally about 1500-1600 a day), not hungry all the time, normally with a spare hundred calories or so at the end of the day for a nice glass of wine or a cookie or two.. and after ONE SINGLE WEEK away where I ate pretty much what I wanted it's like my stomach has instantaneously reset itself to wanting massive piles of super-rich food the whole time. Damnit!

(I mean, it'll be fine. I'm seriously just venting here to distract myself from thinking about cake and pasta and coconut and almond butter and....)

But also! I'm terrified to look at my scales. I know I must have put on something over my holiday- the belt buckle definitely got a wee bit tighter, is all I'm sayin'- and it's gotten to the stage where MFP is now scolding me for not having weighed myself in two weeks. But I feel like, no WAY do I want to see those numbers until I've at least gotten that one belt loop back. Don't. Wanna. Know!

How do the rest of you handle The Fear (and get through the couple of weeks of The Hungry) after a holiday? I mean, aside from jumping straight into the MFP forums for moral support and inspiration, of course?

Cbestinme

I'm reading with interest, I don't have an answer (not been on situation yet) but I see some holidays coming up in the next months so I'm also interested to know. Maybe the answer is just to continue from where we left off?

Francl27

You keep logging and be active, and try to plan tasty meals so you don't feel deprived (no reason to cut pasta or almond butter at all).

Honestly though, it happened to me 2.5 years ago, went on vacations when I was 2 pounds from my goal and we had to eat out all the time, I tried to make good choices but it's hard to eat out 3x a day with family and stay under your calories, and I haven't lost a pound since... too hungry to cut again That's why I don't believe one bit in 'eating at maintenance for a week when you're struggling to reset your hormones' lol.

elisa123gal

I went on a three day trip and the last thing I wanted was my hard work to be undone. .. I'm doing intermittent fasting to try and undo any damage and get back on track. If it works well.. I may stick with it. I'm doing the 16:8 eating from 12:30 to 8:30 every day. I'm three days in..and need to give it time to see if it works for me.

BeGrandLike

I tend to give myself one maintenance day per week just cause it helps me feel a bit more normal, and I can use that day for eating out and have a dessert! But it's just one day a week- I think if I did a maintenance week regularly it would turn into a maintenance month pretty quickly....

BeGrandLike

And as for the pasta and almond butter- oh, I eat both! And woe betide ANYONE who tries to snack from my plate once I've weighed them out- I've everyone in the house well trained

BeGrandLike

OKAY so I finally got up the gumption to stand up on that scales this morning! And- okay, let's be honest- I was feeling a bit thirsty when I woke up so I'm expecting the numbers to go up a little by tomorrow, but... *drumrolls*.... guess who's actually down a pound since she last stood on a scales two weeks ago?!? With a week of eating-anything and then another week back on track before I got the guts to actually check the scales?

(HINT IT IS ME! It is ME!)

Which means I'm... *more drumrolls please*

... over 1/3 of the way to my goal! WOOOOOHOOOO!

ladyreva78

Went on a 3 week holiday in September. I'm still trotting besides the horse trying to get back on. Stupid nag won't slow down for me to manage (I don't even ask for gracefully, just on...). But with all the trotting I'm doing, I'm quite happily maintaining my weight.

In all honesty, I haven't found the frame of mind to cut again right now. I've lost almost 17kg this year alone, so I'm taking a maintenance break. If I lose more before the end of the year, great! If not, works too. The only no-go for me is gaining again.

January tends to be the best month for me to cut (less dinner parties, less motivation to go out, everyone is licking their wounds from the Christmas slaughter...). In the mean time, I'm focusing on my fitness goals and take it one day at a time and simply log the days however they happen.

PS: congrats on the loss. It's nice when the scale deigns to move again and in the right direction to boot.

BeGrandLike

17kg!! Sure that's like a pound a week so far this year. Congrats, you!

I think that maintaining a deficit long term can be pretty draining, can't it? I feel like there's a LOT of planning and thinking that goes into it which adds up over time and can be a bit exhausting. Which isn't to say it's not worthwhile- of course it is, and loads of things that are worth doing are hard work. But nothing wrong with taking a break every so often to catch yer breath and get yourself steeled for the next stretch

And thanks for the congrats! Before my holiday I'd started a new working out plan and, well, the minute I started going to the gym the scales started refusing to budge. So I'm mostly delighted that now it seems like my body is allowing me to exercise *and* edge those scales down a little bit every week..

ladyreva78

I think I was getting diet weary. Just knowing that I don't need to lose until next year made me all relax now. Which I think is a really really really good frame of mind at the start of the holiday season

Starting a new work out usually means added water retention for muscle repair. Meaning as much as you'll be losing fat (if you're in a deficit) but that bloody scale won't budge a single millimeter. Annoying as hell but in the long run you'll be happy for that as it means you're working to maintain (as much as possible) lean body mass!

BeGrandLike

Yep! It's one thing to know that logically though, and another thing to wish the *insert-stream of obscenities here* scale would reward you one bit for your hard work. Especially when you're already tired and achy from your new workout and want some payback already!

(And then you remember that you're a grown-up and the long-term benefits of working out are very important. And also THEN you remember about all the delicious calories you just earned in the gym and you reward yourself with a cookie.)

ladyreva78

Mmmm that sounds frighteningly like me... especially after a session with the personal trainer where he introduces a new program. He has a sadistic streak a mile wide