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Experiments, tests, trying things out..

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  • luxia2020
    luxia2020 Posts: 55 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    "defensive strategies" :blush:
    How will you mitigate the damage?
    What parts will you cling on to the "very end" going down with the ship and the music playing because they are the most important aspects of why things work?
    --What if your next job is night shift? what part of "the plan" would you still be able to get to work?
    --you built flexibility mid-day you said. What if your friends drag you out to after nine pm half price sushi? will you survive?
    hey: I just stumble into these things: your clear thinking and plan above is already above my pay grade :smile:
    But I am a believer in onions and fall-back positions due to being a "natural" pessimist... and then neutrally observing happy happy things happening.
    If I were an optimist things would be better, right? But I am not.. so there's that and we each work within our hamster limits! :lol:

    Haha, funny you say these things because my daily habits and personality are already "mitigating" the majority of these questions. I'm naturally a lazy, will-not-move-if-Earth-no-go-kaboom type of person. Therefore, I always plan for events and assignments with several weeks of buffer time once I receive notice. It's all for when "I don't feel like doing anything and just want to sit and stare into space." Which happens a lot. Unannounced, last-minute hangouts go in the days "I don't feel like doing anything." Schedules and stuff I set are guidelines to follow, but it's OK to deviate. At the end of the day, that's all they are: guidelines.
    But, this is also why it's only "scientific" in quotes because it's too heavily dependent on my personality and beliefs. It's also reliant on I've learned how to adapt to my brain, so I'm less reluctant to make healthy habits, except for exercising. I prefer to rely on increasing NEAT movements since... I don't like exercising, period. :D Though, I admit that's harder to do since I naturally prefer to do things efficiently and effectively so I can waste more time doing "nothing."
    If I had to "cling onto the very end" something, it would just be food logging since that's all I've been doing. There's just something about seeing that overall total at the end. Regardless of whether I go over for the day, food logging helps me plan my meals. I've had days where I've changed the meal plan several times in an hour, but seeing that number allows me to double down on how much to eat. I willingly commit to it and accept the consequences if I still want to eat something after a 15 to 30-minute buffer. As long as the weekly result is only two digits over the target, I still call that a win in my book! If I go over, I go over for a day. No big deal. I have proven that going over for a day isn't going to ruin my weight loss goal. It's even more inconsequential if my weekly target is still kept at the end of the week. Have to enjoy life somehow, am I right?!
    As for your fun examples, I believe that "nighttime is for self-indulgence/care and relaxation." Therefore, under no circumstances will I ever subject to a night shift. Need more money? That's what the gig economy is for. And, like all freelance gigs, that's subjected to however I wish to allocate my time.
    Realistically, my friends all know I leave the evenings to do my game dailies or catch up on my light novels to whine down, so they would never invite me out after 21:00. I guess it's a good thing I'm usually the one dragging people out instead! B)
    However, I won't deny that if they invited before 19:00, chances are likely I'd be out until midnight. If there was miraculously a half-price sushi place still, I'd still go for my usual delicious selection of sashimi. Ever since I realized carbs make me hungrier quicker while not as satisfying as I hoped, I don't care much for them anymore.
    You might ask, what if my friends want to hang out every day for the entire week? I always tell them, "Nah, I'm OK. I must recharge for a few weeks after the last social event." Perks of being an introvert! :#
    Another thing I didn't mention is that I have another built-in flexibility in my schedule: dinner time. Unlike my other meals that are specifically blocked for an hour at "specific" times, my last meal of the day is blocked in a 4-hour window because the real goal is to finish eating by 21:00. It'll still count as long as I stop eating at 21:00 98% of the time. XD
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
    edited April 2022
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    I may have to start hugging you as much as I "virtually" do Garfield -- at least up to today!

    Though I admit I sometimes want to "hug" her a bit too tight around the neck... but hey, where would be the fun otherwise??!! :lol:

    Obviously (see ladies, I'm learning) all of us won't do things the same way. BUT, what I see and hear is:

    --you're thinking it out
    --you're planning it out and are committing to exploration with no expectation of start / end / or speed
    --you're willing to make changes while exploring potential options
    --you're willing to evaluate how things are going and re-evaluate and modify as needed
    --your goals at any one point (other than maybe in the very beginning? I wonder how much your initial deficit was) do not seem counterproductively/scarily excessive

    So what's not to like? :love:

    --I love seeing resilience factored in plans because *kitten* happens... even unlikely things such as being three or even four digits off target by the end of the week!!! :naughty:
  • Yoolypr
    Yoolypr Posts: 2,954 Member
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    Charts, graphs and calculations, oh my! I am so impressed by the amount of work and studying you have done.
    I’m sure I’d benefit from being more scientific about losing weight at this stage. I’m trying to eat maintenance calories for my goal weight. Being old and short gives me 1550 maintenance calories based on light activity. I may be more active but I’ll start low.

    This is a little more doable than the 1200 calories MFP suggest for weight loss. Tried to do the 1200 but it’s just impossible and restrictive to the point that I eventually cave and then begin snacking.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
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    Oh my! Now Bella, how is your higher order math (I don't actually grok math, I never did though I recall once learning something about matrices which I currently have no clue as to what they do!, and the other day I was looking at something I wrote in my 20's for a class I got a charitable pass at and I am fully blanking at what the symbols even stand for!).... anyway. MATH!

    My personal observation (re fitbit for example) is that there is a larger error the more active I am. At the base calories level if I were to make a cut the eventual weight loss would be much closer to expected than it is when making it from an active day.

    This may be related to being used to the particular type of exercise. Of course with a power meter and a bike you are much safer at estimating actual expenditure than by using steps as a proxy for movement.

    I admit that you are a WAY WAY WAY more experimental hamster than I've even been. I was initially TERRIFIED PETRIFIED SCARED to even TOUCH anything that was working for fear of regressing.

    I would have experimented on the way down. Not at maintenance. Just to give myself the cushion of having a target deficit while letting end results be actual vs slower vs no loss but not risking re-gain.

    Also... remember to give yourself time. Time will pass and the numbers you get today are NOT permanent. They do change over time and are somewhat elastic.

    So yes. You are a super adventuresome hamster. Me? Much more scared and timid! BEWARE OF PROWLING CATS! <--- WAIT A SECOND. I know WHY you're adventuresome! YOU are a CAT not a hamster! I forgot!!!!! :blush::lol::kissing_heart:
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
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    That seems an extremely small increase of TDEE for the increase in the number of steps?
  • MelissaAY1017
    MelissaAY1017 Posts: 39 Member
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    I absolutely LOVE looking at all the numbers & charts this group ends up discussing - strangely, even moreso when I've been in a bit of a funk toward logging and actively working toward losing weight!

    I think I've finally identified the culprit - and I suspect it's also why I mentioned I got stuck right in the 225-230lb range the last time I lost this amount of weight - hormones. My body is adjusting in how it handles all the lady-things, and I'm starting to believe maybe there's some truth (for me) in some of the things I've read about fat stores, release of hormones as fat is lost, etc. Unfortunately, feeling like I'm only "losing" one week a month rather than three is INCREDIBLY demotivating - especially with 75-80lbs to go.

    I've barely tracked this week - still eating the same things for breakfast/lunch, with the exception of maybe an extra cup of coffee. Dinner/dessert/snacks have been entirely intuitive - and certainly more than I had been eating for several weeks. Yet, I'm still within about 4 pounds of my last reported low weight. No stressing about the number of carbs or sodium. No counting. Treating the scale more as an "oh, ok that's interesting" than a "why is it not lower, I'm doing all the right things?!?"

    I had planned to be totally back on point and somewhat strictly so until vacation, to maybe drop another BMI class before heading out. Clearly, my body is saying something different. With the exception of a few weeks in total, I've been in some level of restriction for 9ish months - almost to 23% of starting weight lost. Perhaps I'm overdue for a bit of a reset phase - it's the part I never successfully implemented last time, and got to 206 by brute force before burning myself out. I'm not interested in repeating that situation, as much as my hamsters want me to hurry up and lose this weight already - so perhaps some experimenting is on the docket for me, too. ☺️
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
    edited April 2022
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    Are you adopting some TIMID (not tiny which is what google had corrected to) onion strategies?
  • Bella_Figura
    Bella_Figura Posts: 4,098 Member
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    A millefoglie of strategies...
    Why have onion when you can have cake...
    64xgmx0gcle1.jpeg
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
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    I like onions... they're filling!

    I like cake... but I can only have it sometimes! I can have onions ALL the time! :wink:
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
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    Strategies and safety nets to fall back on!….no wonder I binge….I need to find these while I continue my journey!….I put one foot in front of the other one every day….as long as I don’t take detours or get stuck in the mud, I do ok!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
    edited April 2022
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    MelissaAY1017 wrote: »
    by brute force before burning myself out. I'm not interested in repeating that situation, as much as my hamsters want me to hurry up and lose this weight already - so perhaps some experimenting is on the docket for me, too. ☺️
    conniewilkins56 wrote: »
    I need to find these while I continue my journey!….I put one foot in front of the other one every day


    Good plans the bolded! :wink:
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
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    Bella, with your graphs, does your weight reaction has an offset of a day or two to the caloric change? You could offset the values by a day or two if it does. Never done it myself, but I'm pretty sure that I do have that day or so of offset
  • Bella_Figura
    Bella_Figura Posts: 4,098 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Bella, with your graphs, does your weight reaction has an offset of a day or two to the caloric change? You could offset the values by a day or two if it does. Never done it myself, but I'm pretty sure that I do have that day or so of offset

    The graphs don't reflect that, so I do the mental adjustment myself to track the correlation between intake and the slightly delayed weight reaction; it would be a simple tweak to reflect it graphically - I'll do it now!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
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    I've never figured out the actual timeline for me. Have you? Now that I've found a spreadsheet 🐹 or rather 🐈😎
  • lauriekallis
    lauriekallis Posts: 4,717 Member
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    I'm pondering some of the chopping block decisions I have made. Some still ring very true for me - the overall cutting of grains from my daily life (not from occasional treats!). But, I find myself reconsidering - especially after your posts, PAV - my cutting Peanut Butter from my life.

    Last year peanut butter became a bit of an issue. But. Perhaps for just cause because my diet tends to be naturally lower in fat? Maybe too low. Maybe that is why I found myself just going a bit coo coo with the peanut butter. Jars were disappearing at a ridiculous rate. So I just stopped buying it.

    But, now, there are the occasional cake eatings. Maybe that has as much to do with the fat as it does the sugar?

    A few (many) tablespoons of peanut butter is far better than a cake (most times).

    Maybe I'll buy a jar of peanut butter this week and see how that goes.

    I can't see myself living the rest of my life without peanut butter.

    I can't believe how many times I've typed the word peanut butter.

    Idealization???????? :D
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,867 Member
    edited April 2022
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    All natural SUGAR FREE crunchy peanut butter.... <-- killjoy!!!

    Now add some powdered de-fatted peanut flour to it to increase protein!!!!
  • conniewilkins56
    conniewilkins56 Posts: 3,391 Member
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    PAV, you do not have to add extra ingredients to everything!….SMH….leave the peanut butter alone….

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