Advice / Guidance
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emmyjaykay wrote: »Quick q for those of you who have TOM come visit!
My calories dipped recently and I'm having a lot of trouble sticking to them during TOM. I'm thinking about lowering my deficit to a 1-1.5lb loss just during this week of my cycle to give myself some more leeway. I'm cool with a slightly slower rate of loss but I was wondering if anyone had tested this out or had any thoughtful suggestions for me?
This is exactly what I do. My “normal” rate is at 1.5 week I am during period week I said it up to .5. It’s been working great and hasn’t noticed noticeably affected my overall rate of loss and has made it much more sustainable.3 -
While I cannot comment from direct experience on TOM I have seen the same advice about lowering deficit or just eating at maintenance by many many successful losers on MFP.
Sustainable and miserable just do not mix. Miserable is sacrificing everything to hit a specific number day in and day out to lose weight at a specific rate. Sustainable means that the rate will be variable some weeks or even that a week might not have any losses at all. We aren't just trying to lose weight but learn how to effectively manage ourselves through the process to avoid misery and deprivation.
I do not know for sure but I would suspect there is a greater bodily energy requirement during TOM. It probably varies from woman to woman which is why some women never mention a struggle while others are white knuckling it if they try to stay at full deficit.
This is more than I ever wanted to comment on this subject...7 -
While I cannot comment from direct experience on TOM I have seen the same advice about lowering deficit or just eating at maintenance by many many successful losers on MFP.
Sustainable and miserable just do not mix. Miserable is sacrificing everything to hit a specific number day in and day out to lose weight at a specific rate. Sustainable means that the rate will be variable some weeks or even that a week might not have any losses at all. We aren't just trying to lose weight but learn how to effectively manage ourselves through the process to avoid misery and deprivation.
I do not know for sure but I would suspect there is a greater bodily energy requirement during TOM. It probably varies from woman to woman which is why some women never mention a struggle while others are white knuckling it if they try to stay at full deficit.
This is more than I ever wanted to comment on this subject...
And being a mostly-cis woman, I can say that I suspect that the degree of hormonal drop, and the degree to which women have inappropriately used food for comfort and as a panacea, are going to play into how TOM hits you when you're dieting. Habit's very strong, and if you're used to eating All The Chocolate every month, just deciding to change your habit isn't going to change that until you've dealt with it several times and established a new pattern.
I will add that a lot of us have a lot of undiagnosed gyn disorders, and that is going to definitely play into it. And then, of course, starting in our forties we start having the entire thing begin to shut down, and that is its own set of weirdness. I'm very bloated this month, to the point I am up a size in pants and my fingers are swollen. I am not normally bloated beforehand, but apparently we're trying it out this time. Who knows?
All we can do is just get more data and keep an eye on the long term and know that it will average out.1 -
AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »While I cannot comment from direct experience on TOM I have seen the same advice about lowering deficit or just eating at maintenance by many many successful losers on MFP.
Sustainable and miserable just do not mix. Miserable is sacrificing everything to hit a specific number day in and day out to lose weight at a specific rate. Sustainable means that the rate will be variable some weeks or even that a week might not have any losses at all. We aren't just trying to lose weight but learn how to effectively manage ourselves through the process to avoid misery and deprivation.
I do not know for sure but I would suspect there is a greater bodily energy requirement during TOM. It probably varies from woman to woman which is why some women never mention a struggle while others are white knuckling it if they try to stay at full deficit.
This is more than I ever wanted to comment on this subject...
And being a mostly-cis woman, I can say that I suspect that the degree of hormonal drop, and the degree to which women have inappropriately used food for comfort and as a panacea, are going to play into how TOM hits you when you're dieting. Habit's very strong, and if you're used to eating All The Chocolate every month, just deciding to change your habit isn't going to change that until you've dealt with it several times and established a new pattern.
I will add that a lot of us have a lot of undiagnosed gyn disorders, and that is going to definitely play into it. And then, of course, starting in our forties we start having the entire thing begin to shut down, and that is its own set of weirdness. I'm very bloated this month, to the point I am up a size in pants and my fingers are swollen. I am not normally bloated beforehand, but apparently we're trying it out this time. Who knows?
All we can do is just get more data and keep an eye on the long term and know that it will average out.
Yup; my body changes up on me a lot. When I was a teen/young adult, I skipped pretty badly, but things evened out in my 30's, and I've been regular for the last 10 years with the occasional blip. Course, it turns out I had been hypo thyroid for years, and its been so long now I can't really tell if the straightening out came with that diagnosis and medication or not.
And now that I'm entering my 40's things are changing, too. I don't go as long as I used to; nowadays, 3 to 4 days is pretty much it; when I was younger, I'd go 7 or 8 days. All summer, I was like clockwork, too - I'd count 28 days, back up 2 and be right on the money for about 4 months; then my body decided to change, and I was a week late. Then for a couple of months, it was 28 days on the dot. This month? 27 days. Can't just stay predictable at all!1 -
AlexandraFindsHerself1971 wrote: »While I cannot comment from direct experience on TOM I have seen the same advice about lowering deficit or just eating at maintenance by many many successful losers on MFP.
Sustainable and miserable just do not mix. Miserable is sacrificing everything to hit a specific number day in and day out to lose weight at a specific rate. Sustainable means that the rate will be variable some weeks or even that a week might not have any losses at all. We aren't just trying to lose weight but learn how to effectively manage ourselves through the process to avoid misery and deprivation.
I do not know for sure but I would suspect there is a greater bodily energy requirement during TOM. It probably varies from woman to woman which is why some women never mention a struggle while others are white knuckling it if they try to stay at full deficit.
This is more than I ever wanted to comment on this subject...
And being a mostly-cis woman, I can say that I suspect that the degree of hormonal drop, and the degree to which women have inappropriately used food for comfort and as a panacea, are going to play into how TOM hits you when you're dieting. Habit's very strong, and if you're used to eating All The Chocolate every month, just deciding to change your habit isn't going to change that until you've dealt with it several times and established a new pattern.
I will add that a lot of us have a lot of undiagnosed gyn disorders, and that is going to definitely play into it. And then, of course, starting in our forties we start having the entire thing begin to shut down, and that is its own set of weirdness. I'm very bloated this month, to the point I am up a size in pants and my fingers are swollen. I am not normally bloated beforehand, but apparently we're trying it out this time. Who knows?
All we can do is just get more data and keep an eye on the long term and know that it will average out.
Also the hormone changes caused by prolonged calorie deficit. It could be that if you add that into the rest of the mayhem it becomes too much for some. Eating maintenance even for a few days would give some relief even if the levels are not fully restored.
It is funny that the body does have a famine or starvation mode but it is definitely not the mythical starvation mode that says the body won't release fat.1 -
Help please! I need to know the minimum amount of calories I must have per day to be ok.
I’m at 972 Cals today and I’m just not hungry.
45, female, 5’1 283.2 lbs. sedentary I cannot figure out the calculators.1 -
You need to be eating at least 1200 calories a day to give your body enough fuel to function properly.....If you are doing any kind of exercise you should add a few calories to your day...1200 is the absolute minimum amount....1
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Thank you Connie1
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Today I am really struggling with swelling. My wedding ring is tight. I’m not sure where the water retention came from but how do I get rid of it?1
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_inHisGrace wrote: »Today I am really struggling with swelling. My wedding ring is tight. I’m not sure where the water retention came from but how do I get rid of it?
Force water consumption....the more you drink, the more you will go....elevate your feet and drink drink drink0 -
conniewilkins56 wrote: »_inHisGrace wrote: »Today I am really struggling with swelling. My wedding ring is tight. I’m not sure where the water retention came from but how do I get rid of it?
Force water consumption....the more you drink, the more you will go....elevate your feet and drink drink drink
Drink water to get rid of water? I’ll try it!1 -
_inHisGrace wrote: »Today I am really struggling with swelling. My wedding ring is tight. I’m not sure where the water retention came from but how do I get rid of it?
I agree with #conniewilkins and I will also drink dandelion tea when the swelling gets uncomfortable. I'm not sure if it really works or just coincidence...but it feels like it helps.
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Tea iced or hot helps , too!1
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I also heard that eating a banana helps with the swelling from water retention, too! Or, well, eating more potassium helps with it, I should say2
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_inHisGrace wrote: »Help please! I need to know the minimum amount of calories I must have per day to be ok.
I’m at 972 Cals today and I’m just not hungry.
45, female, 5’1 283.2 lbs. sedentary I cannot figure out the calculators.
@_inHisGrace
There is no set minimum for a day. In fact, you could not eat anything at all for a day.
However, there are a couple of potential gotchas.
1) Energy management - you could end up fatigued today or tomorrow.
2) NEAT suppression - related to one but you may also not burn as many calories when you eat less
3) Hunger management - you could end up ravenous tomorrow.
@conniewilkins56 is right that your absolute basement bottom needs to be 1200 without a doctor's okay and monitoring but it is an average of 1200. So if you eat 1000 calories today and 1400 calories tomorrow your average is 1200. Over the course of a month or more your true basement needs to be close to your assigned or calculated calorie goal.
While I still had more to lose I had many low hunger days and I ate below my goal. I watched my 7 day average and if it was getting too low I simply ate something calorie dense. This was often pizza day.
I learned through trial and error not to allow myself to have two very low days in a row so I did force a minimum the second day.
I also learned that energy management is not as easy when you get closer to goal so I do not, unless I am sick, allow low calorie days anymore. That is not an issue since I never have low hunger days anymore.
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@NovusDies thank you for this. My appetite is back lol
I have such a hard time understanding neat and tdee.1 -
I’m working on figuring out what my long term weight loss goals look like.
I have been obese since I was 12 years old. I’m 45 now.
This time around I’m looking at this day by day. Sometimes minute by minute.
I have disordered eating and food is my drug of choice.
I’m not sure about my goal weight anymore. I thought it was 125 but now I look at the weight charts and I am supposed to be like 105-110.
It’s unmanageable for me to think I have so much weight to lose.
Is it wrong to not make long term goals at this point?2 -
_inHisGrace wrote: »I’m working on figuring out what my long term weight loss goals look like.
I have been obese since I was 12 years old. I’m 45 now.
This time around I’m looking at this day by day. Sometimes minute by minute.
I have disordered eating and food is my drug of choice.
I’m not sure about my goal weight anymore. I thought it was 125 but now I look at the weight charts and I am supposed to be like 105-110.
It’s unmanageable for me to think I have so much weight to lose.
Is it wrong to not make long term goals at this point?
I didn’t even think about long term goals until very recently....my long term goal was to just get thru one more day!...I didn’t do any exercise until this past summer after I had been on MFP for over a year....my recommended weight is around 155 to 165 and I have no intention of getting that low....I want to get under 200 and that is my focus....I do not want to have excess skin removed so I think around 190 to 195 is pretty reasonable for me not to look like I am in someone else’s skin!...I want to feel comfortable!....you are too short that is the problem lol....hugs!3 -
Lol I agree!! I am too short!!!2
Be sustainable! I want to be healthy 10 years from now, not just 10 days from now.
