957 Days - Here is what it looks like

6 September 2010 is a date that will forever be etched on my mind - that is the day I actually started making a difference to my life - and the person that I wanted to be for the rest of my life......

That is 957 days, or 2 years, 7 months and 14 days ago - and more importantly 52kg's later (114 lbs)

The next date is 20 April 2011 - the date I joined MFP.

That is 731 days ago - yes - today is my 2 year anniversary on MFP, so I thought I needed to reflect a bit.

I lost 50 kg's (110 lbs) in exactly one year - so on 6 September 2011 I reached my first goal - on the exact day I had started. I had been eating 1500 calories a day (eating back 50% of my exercise calories), and had lost close on 1kg (2lbs) a week. I was obviously very obese when I started, so I did not fall into the "normal" rules.

Now if you do the maths you will very quickly ask - so you only lost 2 kgs in the past 1 year and 7 months - and you will be absolutely correct. Am I in maintenance? No I am not - I really want to lose another 18 kg's(40 lbs).

So yes - in most people's books I have been on a 19 month "plateau" - I kept eating at deficit - increased my exercise significantly from what I was doing in my first year - and I have lost 2kg's (4.5lbs) - yah me!!

My measurements have not actually changed all that much either - I am still wearing the same clothes - and the fit about exactly the same. What has changed is that I am much fitter, healthier and stronger than I was 19 months ago - and that is friggin awesome - I wrote this in August 2011 - and it is still true "I don't have a goal weight - I have a goal life!!"

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/327447-i-don-t-have-a-goal-weight-i-have-a-goal-life

Now here is where it got interesting - and to be honest very frustrating.

After that I dropped down another 5kg's, but then over xmas 2011 I tore the meniscus in my knee - and landed up on crutches for 6 weeks. In March 2012 I had a meniscopy, but that did not resolve all my knee issues, the MRI showed that I had severe osteoarthritis, and absolutely no cartilage left in my knee.

I am only 52, so very young for a knee replacement, but I also knew that I loved my new found fitness levels, and did not want to spend the next 10 years on the couch, so we decided to do a knee replacement.

So in August 20120 I had a total knee replacement done on my right knee - a fantastic decision - I was back in the gym 10 days after my surgery - initially mostly upper body weight training, and 1000's of miles of stationary bike work, but I kept pushing my physiotherapist and surgeon to allow me to start training legs. After 8 months I was back to doing deadlifts, squats, lunges and everything else I was doing before my surgery. Those of you that know me know that I have the most awesome coach in the entire universe - coach Alex - that has been at my side since day one - and he has designed programmes for me (and my knees) that adapted some of the normal exercises and movements to "knee friendly" exercises

Lessons:

1) Don't drop your calories - make sure you understand your BMR and TDEE
2) If you have tried everything and you are still not losing weight use the knowledge of some of the people on here that is doing an amazing job helping people figure things out - they have written some great posts, and are always answering peoples questions - a few that come to mind that I personally respect a lot: helloitsdan, Sarauk2sf, taso, heybales, sidesteel - these people have an amazing amount of knowledge - they "have been there - done that" and talk a lot of sense.
3) Do your own research - the internet is an amazing place - you do need to sometimes cut the crap from the real stuff - so don't think Dr Oz has the answers please....(some links right at the end)
4) Find a Exercise Nutritionist or a Functional Medicine practitioner with experience in weightloss (99.9% of GP's know very little about weightloss - or nutrition for that matter, so most of them are going to repeat the same wrong information
5) Get bloodtests and cortisol profiles done - there is nothing better than actual information to inform your decisions and next steps.
6) Keep being positive - moaning an *****ing every day becomes a vicious circle - you will start believing your own negative words
7) Injuries or "disabilities" is not an excuse - find ways to work around these - sitting on the coach is the easy way out - but you will NOT get the outcomes you are hoping or wishing for sitting on the couch feeling sorry for yourself.

So a few pics for those of you that does not want to read on - it is long - sorry :-)


161010 CF by .donelle, on Flickr


Day#14_PlayingCards by .donelle, on Flickr


20Apr2 by .donelle, on Flickr

This is me in the gym 7 am this morning


20Apr3 by .donelle, on Flickr

For those of you that want to read on here is some more information:

During all this time my weight was yo-yoing up and down in a 5kg (10lb) range, but I was not too fussed - physically I had a lot to deal with, I was just thrilled that through all of this I was maintaining my initial loss - and not picking up any weight - so even though I was mostly eating at a deficit (and should have been losing) I did not worry about it too much.

By the end of 2012 though I was recovering well from my knee surgery, and ready to kickstart the loss of this last 15 to 20 kg's.....
I started exercising more - burning between 3500 and 4500 calories a week - and nothing was happening - I was eating around 1600 calories a day - and about 50 to 75% of my exercise calories.....

So I could not really exercise more - and I refused to lower my calories - I have done enough research to know that was a recipe for disaster - so I was not going to go there!!

I have read Dan's Roadmap a million times - and done the calculations in heybales's spreadsheet over and over.
It kept coming back with my BMR at 1990 and TDEE at 2400.

Being blonde it took me a while to actually admit that I was most probably still eating to little - the rules have changed - I was not morbidly obese anymore - I now had 30 to 40 lbs to lose - and I should follow the rules for a "normal" person losing weight!!

So I upped my calories to 1800 - and now eat back most of my exercise calories (mmmm - the stubborn blonde is still netting below BMR at around 1500 calories)

I was losing slowly - which was OK as I was now expecting 0.5 lb per week - but the scale was still up and down like a yo-you.

During this time coach Alex went on a Functional Medicine course (well actually two) and came back with lots of ideas - and more importantly a plan of action.

So I got a ton of blood tests done (26 different things) - I now have extensive knowledge of every hormone and nutrient in my body - and analysis of the potential problem areas, and right now we are working on a plan of action to address these issues.

A few things in particular stood out for me - I was quite low on vitamin D (being in the middle of the best summer we have had in years, I really thought I was getting ample sunlight), and I was very low in protein (you are looking at a cave girl that has been on a paleo / primal lifestyle for 18 months - so I definitely eat enough protein - but somehow my body is not absorbing it!!)

I also have some issues with my cortisol levels - which might be pointing to some "metabolic stress" - my body has been through a massive weight loss, 2 surgeries last year, torn ligaments in my ankle over xmas 2012, frozen shoulder, so some cortisone injections into the shoulder - so yes - it has had some major stresses placed on it - no wonder it is trying to hold onto some fat to protect itself :-)

And then joy oh joy - I am a 52 year old woman - so yes - some major hormonal changes are happening in my body.

All I can say is thank goodness I lost that first 100lbs before all these other factors came into play!!

As I said I don't have all the answers - but I do know that I might be a bit of a "special snowflake", and hopefully over the next few months myself and coach Alex (with the help of some very smart functional medicine practitioners) will figure out how to address the issues with my blood chemistry and hormones that has been identified.

Lastly a few websites, and articles that I personally think has some excellent information:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/vitamin-d-and-body-comp
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Blog.aspx
http://www.metaboliceffect.com/
http://www.metaboliceffect.com/metabolic-damage/
http://www.aucklandholisticcentre.co.nz/Holistic-Medicine-Holistic-Doctor-Auckland/weight-loss-resistance.html

If you are still reading - good on you - and thanks for listening :-)

If you are still reading - good on you - and thanks for listening :-)