Lot's of Questions, really trying to figure it all out

EdgeChic
EdgeChic Posts: 75
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm on a quest for a healthier lifestyle. I've really tried not to use the word "diet" because once I reach my goal weight, I cannot go off a lifestyle change, but I could easily stop "dieting". This is going to be long, thank you if you make it through, thanks a TON if you answer any questions!!

Anyway, here are my questions.

1.) Last week on Wed&Thurs I weighed 314.4, then I didn't weigh Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Monday is my official weigh in day for the weight loss challenge I'm in, and I was 317.2! Now I did not go over my calories all week except on Sunday (I caved), and I was really puffy Monday, so I assumed it was water weight. Upped my water intake and the puffiness weight away. Today, Wednesday, I got on the scale and I was 318.2, that's discouraging! I ate my calories yesterday and my workout calories. There's just no way. My ankles (where I mostly judge my water retention) look very good, non puffy, but my ring (that has been falling off!) is pretty tight.

Question - this has got to be water weight, right? (Also, my sodium has been up a lot Sunday, ok Monday, and up Tuesday)

2.) I start my day really late compared to most people. I usually wake up and start around 9-10am, and I will have breakfast around 10-11pm. I NEVER wake up hungry, NEVER. I have tried on multiple occasions to wake up and eat but it's made me ill. Because I start my day so late, I usually wind up having dinner around 7-8pm, and will work out around 9pm and have a snack after that.

Question - Is that just ridiculouslly too late to be eating?

3.) I do find that the only time I have to work out is at night. I am a stay at home mom to a 2 year old and 7 month old and my husband is in Afghanistan for the next 10 months.

Question - Is it really going to benefit me to crawl my tukis out of bed and work out in the morning before my daughters wake up?

4.) I have a treadmill in my bedroom and I try to get in 1 hour at 2.0-2.5mph and that usually burns close to 400 calories. I am also about to start the 30 Day Shred.

Question - Should I do both in 1 day or alternate? Also, how do you log the 30 Day Shred? I'm getting a HRM for Christmas, but need a guestimate until then.

5.) My day starts off late, so I usually eat breakfast, lunch & dinner. I've never been a snacker, but I also have suffered from hypogylcemia my whole life, it was even worse when I was thin.

Question - How important is snacking? Should I try to eat much smaller meals, and get some snacks inbetween?


Thank you for all your help!!!

Replies

  • Kminor67
    Kminor67 Posts: 900 Member
    Question 1: Yes, it's probably water weight. Watch your sodium, and drink PLENTY of water.

    Question 2 & 3: Crawl out of bed earlier and exercise, then eat after that. Make sure you're getting some protein in that meal. Eating breakfast earlier will boost your metabolism, and getting the exercise in the morning will help to energize you.

    Question 4: I would alternate so that I don't get burned out, but do whatever works for you.

    Question 5: If you suffer from hypoglycemia, you should eat snacks. I would recommend some fruit, or just a few crackers with some laughing cow cheese, so that your blood sugar doesn't drop dangerously low.

    I hope this all helps!
  • ChubbieTubbie
    ChubbieTubbie Posts: 481 Member
    1--Definitely water weight, you'd have to go waaaay over your cals to gain real weight.
    2--Not too late!
    3--As long as you are moving, it doesn't matter when
    4--I do both. I log it as circuit training and MFP is pretty close.
    5--I rarely snack and I'm losing.
  • Jozie236
    Jozie236 Posts: 47 Member
    Hi. If you have health insurance I strongly recommend making an appointment with a nutritionist so you can hear info from an expert. I certainly have no official knowledge so take this with a grain of salt:

    1. I've yo-yo'd a bit and have found my weight is best controlled when I eat frequent, smaller meals. Maybe snacking will work for you like it has for me. It's kind of hard to keep up with but the benefits are totally worth it. Lots of veggies helps, too.

    2. I think ANY exercise at ANY time is fine. "When" doesn't really matter, or even how much or how hard, as long as you actually DO something physical you will get some results. (You can always improve/refine your schedule to get the best possible results as time goes on).

    3. The last time I lost weight (50 or so lbds. that I sadly didn't keep off) I weighed myself everyday right after waking up before drinking water with no clothing on for about 6 months straight but kept one day as my "official" weigh in day. I noticed that my weight would "dip" by a few ounces to a few lbs in the middle of the week, and then climb back up no matter what I did, but the number it climbed back up to was usually (not always) lower than the weight I had recorded the previous week. I decided that it's just a natural fluctuation, that weight loss happens in a graph, and tried to ignore it.

    4. My personal advice is to stick with what the experts say is "healthy" for three months (diet and exercise). If you aren't seeing results after that, then take a new approach. (Meaning a different diet, or a different way to exercise ~ not resorting to unregulated diet pills or cleanses or something dangerous).

    Hope this helps. Good luck!
  • DancingDreamer
    DancingDreamer Posts: 520
    1) weight fluctuates and its not just water weight, weigh yourself at the same time once a week (in the morning is best) and that will be how many lbs you've lost.

    2) ME TOO! i wake up late and stay up late as well. personally...i think you're fine. and try and eat something small and protein-y for breakfast because you do need energy to get you going for the day and to jump start your metabolism but feeling sick is not good. my mom has the same problem as you, feels sick if she eats a real breakfast. she usually has one hardboiled egg and feels fine, but still gets the energy giving protein she needs.

    and some people will tell you that is too late to be eating but in many countries other then the USA it is actually common to eat dinner around 7 or 8 and sometimes even 9. and they're much healthier countries then the US.

    3) unfortunately, yes. it will jump start your metabolism to work out in the morning. that being said, you could just wake up and do some warm up yoga in the morning, its slow, relaxing, not hard, feels good, and yes, IS exercise! :) you can find a good video for it on youtube (my favorite is by an australian guy named Robbie). and then you can do your more vigerous exercises at night. :)

    4) i'd say alternate. that sounds like a bit much exercise to be doing in one day. you might shock your body into thinking you're starving and it will save up fat then.

    5) i'd say try doing the 6 small meals a day. or the three medium meals and three small snacks a day thing. my grandma was hypoglycemic and she passed out if she didnt eat snacks so i would worry about you passing out, though if you feel like you are doing fine, i'd say keep at what you do. :/ what ever you feel is right, its your body after all.

    i hope some of my advice helped and i wish you great luck on your weight loss journey and change of lifestyle! good luck! :flowerforyou:
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    The most important change you need to make is to get up and eat IMMEDIATELY. Both my husand and I skipped breakfast for our entire adult life, until recently. Eating that soon after waking made us both very nauseous (I actually did throw up once) . . . but that only lasts for a few weeks and before you know it you actually wake up feeling hungry and it doesn't bother you any longer. This is imperative!!!!

    The next important thing is to not have an entire day of "falling off the wagon" . . . we all cave every now and again and consume more than we should, or something that we shouldn't . . . but don't allow yourself to continue on that path the rest of the day.

    You should also try to get up and exercise in the morning, there are numerous studies that show it does help raise your metabolism for the rest of the day . . . but in my personal experience it actually has a motivating feeling . . . after you have done all that hard work it is much easier to resist temptations all day knowing it will just undo all your work.

    Also, stay away from the scale! Do everything you can to eat healthy, have healthy snacks in between meals, drink that water, and stop eating anything at least 2 hours before bed. I found that my weight fluctuated a lot in the first number of months and it really is hard on your motivation . . . so I put my scale in the garage and only got on it once per week. Try to eat your dinner earlier and do not have a snack afterwards, use your snacks for mid morning, and mid afternoon instead.

    Eating unhealthy will make the scale tip up more than you would think, all that sodium and saturated fat really has an impact on the number. I also usually do not eat my exercise calories, if I do weight training I do find it makes me hungrier so I may eat back 1/2 of them . . . this seems to work for me as if I eat them all I won't lose anything that week.

    I love the 30 Day Shred but don't do it every day due to bad knees, only every second day. If I do the Shred I may take the dogs for a walk but don't do any other exercise that day. On the off days I run outside or on my treadmill. When using your treadmill try to increase the intensity at times, for example start out walking for 5 minutes to warm up, then increade the speed, get used to this for about 2 - 3 minutes then really amp it up for 60 seconds (I mean run, really push yourself), then back down for 2 - 3 minutes and repeat for as long as you can . . . keep challenging yourself. Interval training such as this has a lot of amazing benefits and will help bring better results.

    Have some fun with the kids as well, make playtime something that will get you up and moving as well!

    Good luck!
  • clothes_of_sand
    clothes_of_sand Posts: 59
    1. I couldn't say for sure, because I don't know exactly what you've been eating, but it's likely water weight. Just keep an eye on your weight to make sure it doesn't continue to go up, and control the sodium intake better. Also, LOTS of water. Water is your friend.

    2. Recent studies have shown that it doesn't really matter how late you eat, so I wouldn't worry about that. The main problem with eating late is that if you eat when you're tired, you tend to eat more to overcompensate and to try to boost energy levels. Make sure you don't do this. It might be a good idea to try to get up earlier and try to eat at least a little something, but I would go with whatever you think you can stick with. Looks like you've been doing something right, anyways :)

    3. Work out when you have time and when you're comfortable working out. I like to work out in the afternoons, because that fits best with my schedule and it's when I have the most energy. If you don't feel like you're getting enough of a workout at night or if it's causing problems for you, then I would either try working out in the morning or even finding something that your kids could do with you (like a dance dvd or something). Maybe make it a game. I know that 2 year olds can be tough, so I understand if that's not workable, but it's at least something to consider.

    4. I'm also doing the 30 day shred. I would alternate at first, for at least a couple of days - a week, to see how tough the shred is for you. If you find that it's easy enough that you could do both on the same day, then either do that or bump yourself up to the next level on the 30 day shred. I usually log the 30 day shred as "circuit training" at about 20 minutes. (accounting for warmup time). I'd say that's a fairly good estimate until you get your HRM, but take the number with a grain of salt anyways.

    5. Again, snacking is one of those "do what works for you" kind of things. I've found that I do better if I snack on low calorie healthy things like fruits and veggies throughout the day, because then I don't eat as much of higher calorie foods at mealtimes, and my energy level is more consistent. However, snacking isn't for everyone. It seems like what you've been doing has been working pretty well, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just make sure that you eat often enough that your hypoglycemia doesn't cause problems.
  • EdgeChic
    EdgeChic Posts: 75
    Thank you everyone for your replies.

    I am going to start trying to eat smaller meals and some little snacks here and there. I also think it'd be beneficial for me to get up and get an hour on the treadmill in before my girls wake up, hopefully that'll give me a little extra energy to keep up with them!

    I am glad to know that I am not eating TOO late. I just needed to hear it from other people.

    Thank you all for your replies, they are so helpful!
  • bigcoon103
    bigcoon103 Posts: 30
    I'm too late with advice, everyone has said it. I myself like the 3 small meals and 3 small snacks. It has helped me for almost 2 yrs. The exercising is up to you, your schedule. I'm a morning person up a 6 all the time. Try it, if it doesn't work change it to fit you.
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