General Discussion about Weight Loss, Health, Habits, Exercise, Mindset, and Similar
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Also Connie do note that after a long period of deficit we do tend to slow down or exhibit some degree of
what is known as adaptive thermogenesis. Which means that that three and a half thousand magic number may actually represent four or five or more thousand calories of actual deficit from what your numbers would have been without the adaptation..
Usually a long enough period of eating at maintenance (or perhaps more undesirably a time period of eating at surplus) helps to reverse this adaptation.
This is the basis of recommendations for maintenance breaks and for people to seek to reverse diet at the end of weight loss
deficits that may not seem to do much 2 years into continuous weight loss might yield results after a long time at maintenance
By the way if you're on your feet and up and about several hours a day you're not sedentary regardless of whether the estimates and calories cooperate.
Most of us tend to compensate for such slowdowns by being able to do much more than we used to be able to and by increasing intensity as we get more fit. But I'm curious what Novus and others may think
Does this mean it takes 5000 calories to equal a pound loss?....or I guess your body thinks it does....
I am curious to see what Novus thinks, too...
I still might try to either increase my exercise a little or cut a few calories if I feel comfortable doing that....I know I could burn a few more calories exercising just by being more efficient while working out....
You all need to help me get the rest of this weight off before I die of old age ( shuddering )0 -
If you play with the body weight planner https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp
You will see that it increases the amount of calories of deficit it takes to lose a pound as time goes on.
It's an alternative way of saying that the calories you spend on base processes and on activity have gone down as compared to previous estimates. Which is a pretty normal reaction the longer you apply a deficit and the bigger the deficit you apply
Does it stop you from losing weight of course not. Does it make it any easier.. of course not!!!!1 -
If you play with the body weight planner https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp
You will see that it increases the amount of calories of deficit it takes to lose a pound as time goes on.
It's an alternative way of saying that the calories you spend on base processes and on activity have gone down as compared to previous estimates. Which is a pretty normal reaction the longer you apply a deficit and the bigger the deficit you apply
Does it stop you from losing weight of course not. Does it make it any easier.. of course not!!!!
So just to not introduce unnecessary gloom here, my own figures showed a 5% slow down, so about 150 Cal a day in my case.1 -
If you play with the body weight planner https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp
You will see that it increases the amount of calories of deficit it takes to lose a pound as time goes on.
It's an alternative way of saying that the calories you spend on base processes and on activity have gone down as compared to previous estimates. Which is a pretty normal reaction the longer you apply a deficit and the bigger the deficit you apply
Does it stop you from losing weight of course not. Does it make it any easier.. of course not!!!!
So just to not introduce unnecessary gloom here, my own figures showed a 5% slow down, so about 150 Cal a day in my case.
I noticed today that I am burning less calories for the same amount of work I am doing....at a 5% rate I will just do each activity a little longer...
Eventually I will need to spend the entire day exercising to get a crumb of bread to eat!...oh boy! lol...2 -
Your 6 week RoL is a little over half a pound per week.
Your 12 week RoL is .375 pounds per week.
If you are attempting to create a 750 calorie deficit per day and you are getting results for 250ish calories a day something is not quite right. The most obvious place to start is medication. Has your weight loss prompted changes in your medication and specifically a reduction or removal of a diuretic? If so, that can skew your results for several months.
If no changes to medication in the last couple of months it may be time to go back to the beginning on how you log. By that I mean logging every calorie you eat/drink after you have measured it properly and verified the accuracy for a couple of weeks. One of the reasons why people slow down or plateau is that they keep adding tricks to their logging and they end up with a discrepancy.
You will most certainly have a certain degree of adaptation but I would not expect you to be getting one third of your expected results because of it.
I absolutely do not think you should increase your intended rate of loss right now. Even if you are eating more food than you think, I would not be trying to lose more than half a pound a week right now. If anything, I would suggest a month break with the first week set to a half pound gain. Physical fatigue will hasten mental fatigue. Mental fatigue is no fun. Long term weight loss is like having a job where demands are appropriate for a team of 10 people but you only have 8. You and your team are not pulling crazy hours but each member is expected to work every single Saturday. It is not an option. At first it is not a big deal. You are up for the challenge and grateful you have a job. Over long enough period of time though you all of the missed family and friend events, the fact that your chores around the house suffer, and that you are never fully rested takes a toll on you. That is what is happening in your body. You are feeding it, but you are feeding less than it needs and you keep doing it. It is good for your health but it has a wearying impact which is why breaks are needed. I think for a time you can get by with 2 week breaks but eventually you may need more. I certainly did. It may be a wiser course of action to take longer ones occasionally to prevent getting close to the end like I did and realizing you need a 3 month break.2 -
Thank you Novus!....I really have a lot of things to think about.....I will keep going the way I am for a few days and keep everything the same....exercises and calories....at least mentally I am in a really good place right now and I have lots of energy and feel great....I think my doctors appointment in mid June will also be an indicator of how I am doing...blood work etc will be done...meds updated, etc...I know I will need a diet break soon after doctor visit and I want to make it a successful break and not a free for all....
I will also be more diligent weighing and measuring....I honestly am pretty good about this...it has become a habit...the other night I was weighing some onions and my grandaughter asked why I had to weigh onions....I told her it was to get skinny lol...she thought I had lost my mind!
So on I will go!2 -
I think I found a clue to my weight loss stagnating and taking off again.... the months of end of Jan., Feb., and March I only swam about 12 to 18 times....the water was too cold and I was still eating the same amount of calories!....duh!....I also came off of a gain in Dec. and a couple of binges the first of the year.....the past 4 to 6 weeks I am swimming 5 times a week plus walking more....the past Spring was also super stressful with my husbands sister being left homeless and trying to get her into a facility....now maybe I can settle down and get more weight off at a LITTLE faster pace!3
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Had my yearly physical and blood work done today. Blood pressure is already better then it had been even with only losing 10ish lbs. 118/82 today when last time it was measured pre any weight loss it was 128/92 or so. So I can already see health marker improvements! Now to wait on the lab results. We did a general workup, blood sugars, cholesterol, and thyroid. May have been another too but I don't remember. Thyroid was added because of the increased fatigue of late. We want to be sure nothing is making things even worse.
My doctor did bring up weight loss surgery or seeing a weight loss doctor. I turned both down for now. I doubt I would ever do surgery unless my health took a drastic turn. I also don't want to see a specialist until I give it more time to do it myself. Plus, I really don't want to go see someone and have their answer be to give up more foods or something. I already have to restrict my diet due to other medical reasons. I refuse to cut anything else out. Otherwise I would have a very boring diet!
My guess is cholesterol will be high which I have in the past improved with diet and exercise. I am worried about the blood sugar results because, again, I already have had to cut so much out of my diet and I don't know if I could mentally handle more.4 -
Had my yearly physical and blood work done today. Blood pressure is already better then it had been even with only losing 10ish lbs. 118/82 today when last time it was measured pre any weight loss it was 128/92 or so. So I can already see health marker improvements! Now to wait on the lab results. We did a general workup, blood sugars, cholesterol, and thyroid. May have been another too but I don't remember. Thyroid was added because of the increased fatigue of late. We want to be sure nothing is making things even worse.
My doctor did bring up weight loss surgery or seeing a weight loss doctor. I turned both down for now. I doubt I would ever do surgery unless my health took a drastic turn. I also don't want to see a specialist until I give it more time to do it myself. Plus, I really don't want to go see someone and have their answer be to give up more foods or something. I already have to restrict my diet due to other medical reasons. I refuse to cut anything else out. Otherwise I would have a very boring diet!
My guess is cholesterol will be high which I have in the past improved with diet and exercise. I am worried about the blood sugar results because, again, I already have had to cut so much out of my diet and I don't know if I could mentally handle more.
I feel this so much right now. Fingers crossed that your blood sugar comes back good!!3 -
Had my yearly physical and blood work done today. Blood pressure is already better then it had been even with only losing 10ish lbs. 118/82 today when last time it was measured pre any weight loss it was 128/92 or so. So I can already see health marker improvements! Now to wait on the lab results. We did a general workup, blood sugars, cholesterol, and thyroid. May have been another too but I don't remember. Thyroid was added because of the increased fatigue of late. We want to be sure nothing is making things even worse.
My doctor did bring up weight loss surgery or seeing a weight loss doctor. I turned both down for now. I doubt I would ever do surgery unless my health took a drastic turn. I also don't want to see a specialist until I give it more time to do it myself. Plus, I really don't want to go see someone and have their answer be to give up more foods or something. I already have to restrict my diet due to other medical reasons. I refuse to cut anything else out. Otherwise I would have a very boring diet!
My guess is cholesterol will be high which I have in the past improved with diet and exercise. I am worried about the blood sugar results because, again, I already have had to cut so much out of my diet and I don't know if I could mentally handle more.
I feel this so much right now. Fingers crossed that your blood sugar comes back good!!
So update!
So while I don't have the exact numbers yet (the results have not been uploaded to my patient portal), the nurse called me this morning to go over them.
My cholesterol is bad, but not so bad that the doctor thinks I will need to do anything about it besides diet and exercise. I expected it to be off. I have a personal history and family history of high cholesterol and I am obviously not in the best of shape. So that is not a shock to me. I am just glad that medication is not being discussed as of yet.
I also had an increased white cell count. I don't feel like I have an infection, but based off of my search, that can also happen with stress, allergies, or inflammation. My allergies have been off the chart of late (just added a new medication for that also). IC also causes inflammation and I know white cells are present in my urine all the time so I wonder if that could impact blood count as well.
Otherwise, everything came back good. Blood sugars were perfect as was my thyroid function. No deficiencies. So I am overall happy.5 -
Had my yearly physical and blood work done today. Blood pressure is already better then it had been even with only losing 10ish lbs. 118/82 today when last time it was measured pre any weight loss it was 128/92 or so. So I can already see health marker improvements! Now to wait on the lab results. We did a general workup, blood sugars, cholesterol, and thyroid. May have been another too but I don't remember. Thyroid was added because of the increased fatigue of late. We want to be sure nothing is making things even worse.
My doctor did bring up weight loss surgery or seeing a weight loss doctor. I turned both down for now. I doubt I would ever do surgery unless my health took a drastic turn. I also don't want to see a specialist until I give it more time to do it myself. Plus, I really don't want to go see someone and have their answer be to give up more foods or something. I already have to restrict my diet due to other medical reasons. I refuse to cut anything else out. Otherwise I would have a very boring diet!
My guess is cholesterol will be high which I have in the past improved with diet and exercise. I am worried about the blood sugar results because, again, I already have had to cut so much out of my diet and I don't know if I could mentally handle more.
I feel this so much right now. Fingers crossed that your blood sugar comes back good!!
So update!
So while I don't have the exact numbers yet (the results have not been uploaded to my patient portal), the nurse called me this morning to go over them.
My cholesterol is bad, but not so bad that the doctor thinks I will need to do anything about it besides diet and exercise. I expected it to be off. I have a personal history and family history of high cholesterol and I am obviously not in the best of shape. So that is not a shock to me. I am just glad that medication is not being discussed as of yet.
I also had an increased white cell count. I don't feel like I have an infection, but based off of my search, that can also happen with stress, allergies, or inflammation. My allergies have been off the chart of late (just added a new medication for that also). IC also causes inflammation and I know white cells are present in my urine all the time so I wonder if that could impact blood count as well.
Otherwise, everything came back good. Blood sugars were perfect as was my thyroid function. No deficiencies. So I am overall happy.
That is great news!! No surprises, and everything sounds manageable, and you know how to make it happen.4 -
Now... if only I could figure out WHY my back hurts! LMAO I swear my body just has to have something going wrong. Honestly, the back pain wouldn't be so bad, but it causes pelvic floor pain and muscle spasms which is really bothersome. Think I need to do some stretching later today (since I just started work).
Sorry I am so whiny. This feels like a safe space (which I appreciate so much). I live alone so I have no one here to help me out and it gets overwhelming.5 -
@Athijade I get that feeling....and I honestly think sometimes it is related to weight loss. Overall it feels fantastic - but our bodies have to adjust and realign themselves. I had miserable hip pain at about the 50 lb weight loss - that stayed around for most of last summer. I was walking a lot but had been for awhile and continued to walk even more so I don't think it was that. I did some googling and found many people experienced back/hip pain after a significant weight loss.
Maybe you too?4 -
I ran today!!!!
It has been months. After the summer and fall of trying to get over my plantar fasciitis, I started again in winter, but stopped due to some foot pain that felt an awful lot like a stress fracture. I'v been increasing my walking distance the last few weeks, and today, ran for just a bit of it. It was so hard, but felt so good. My foot was fine during it, but is a little sore now, so I'm icing it. Fingers crossed!!4 -
I've got all my fingers and toes crossed for you, @eliezalot
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Sometimes we really need to listen to our bodies and pay attention to what they are telling us!…I don’t mean when that little pesky devil sitting on your shoulder is whispering in your ear to go ahead and eat a candy bar, chips and cookies!…I mean the voice inside you that tells you, “ Hey, you need a break!….you need to refuel”….
I have really been pushing myself the last few weeks to do more and keep going when I am very tired…it makes me feel good to see how much I can do…I forget that I am not a young woman and that I have been out of shape for a long time…I have put my body through a lot of stress, wear and tear through the years…..I have a lot of replaced and missing parts!…last week I swam six days with no rest day and I didn’t eat a lot of burned exercise calories…i went to the gym 3 days and rode the bike…I stayed up way too late and got up early…my husband is becoming more home bound and it is up to me to get groceries and run errands…I am doing a lot more of the every day household chores…I was dreading going to the pool but I forced myself because that is the way I am!…I didn’t want to feel old!
It finally caught up with me this week…I swam Monday and I hurt everywhere…my work out routine was not good at all, floundering around and taking lots of breaks…my knees, toes, shoulders and hip were killing me….I wasn’t sleeping but 5 or 6 hours at night…I was hungry…FINALLY my body rebelled!…I didn’t do any swimming Tues. or Wed…I shopped a little and worked in the kitchen, laundry, etc…I made myself go to bed and I slept about 9 hours both nights…
Today I went to the gym and rode the bike ten minutes and worked in the pool for an hour….I was flying in the pool and I was much more energetic and efficient….I ate a lot of fruit and stayed hydrated while I was in the pool….it’s amazing how much better I feel….
I ate healthier food this week and less goodie calories…I ate more protein….I drank more water and stayed hydrated….I actually listened to what my body was telling me…..SLOW DOWN…..I am not going to lose the rest of this weight if I die trying to lose it faster…I have lost 109.0 lbs as of this morning in two years…I am not in a race or a competition with anyone….I am doing this for ME!…
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And there you go Connie... enjoy the moments and the process itself. It is amazing what a rest day (in the context of a regularly established routine) will do.
After multiple times of failing to keep up with exercise plans because I would do the (insert exercise) later, or after I prepared, or I would have had to do xyz before, or ... I went looking for an activity that had the lowest barrier of entry for me. Which, not surprisingly, was simple moving around and walking.
I mean I would drive to the McDonald's drive through. McDonald's is 200m from my house in a straight line. 320m using google maps and taking into account all turns and cross-walks. Not surprisingly there were many days where I wouldn't even hit 1500 steps (this would be below MFP's sedentary setting)
Anyway. From walks being something to plan... they are now missed when missed! But a "forced" day off almost always results in an extra spring the next day!
Connie for a fall chicken you're looking pretty springy to me!
And congrats on the new lows! 2 -
As always, Connie - you are an inspiration. Glad your wee break left you feeling so good today!1
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lauriekallis wrote: »As always, Connie - you are an inspiration. Glad your wee break left you feeling so good today!
I really want to continue this way of eating and my level of activity for as many more years as I can!…I can’t really judge my longevity by my parents or grandparents ages when they died!…my paternal grandmother was run over by a car when I was in my early 20s and my paternal grandfather had a massive heart attack at 55…. My maternal grandfather was killed in a cave in 1969 when I was 18 and my maternal grandmother lived until her mid 80s in very good health….my dad died at 61 from a heart attack….my mom died mid 70s but we might as well have buried her with my dad when he died!….I have no heart problems and my grandparents siblings all lived to their late 80s and 90s!…I am aiming for 100!….I am not losing all this weight to not live to be an old woman!
PAV….I am high maintenance!2 -
conniewilkins56 wrote: »lauriekallis wrote: »As always, Connie - you are an inspiration. Glad your wee break left you feeling so good today!
I really want to continue this way of eating and my level of activity for as many more years as I can!…I can’t really judge my longevity by my parents or grandparents ages when they died!…my paternal grandmother was run over by a car when I was in my early 20s and my paternal grandfather had a massive heart attack at 55…. My maternal grandfather was killed in a cave in 1969 when I was 18 and my maternal grandmother lived until her mid 80s in very good health….my dad died at 61 from a heart attack….my mom died mid 70s but we might as well have buried her with my dad when he died!….I have no heart problems and my grandparents siblings all lived to their late 80s and 90s!…I am aiming for 100!….I am not losing all this weight to not live to be an old woman!
PAV….I am high maintenance!
You are amazing!2
