Of refeeds and diet breaks

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  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I'm on my second diet break this cut. Not because I need one but because I am living away from home and I am just not into a proper routine to be eating in a deficit right now. Also my training isn't 100% and protein intake isn't great so I'd rather not risk extra muscle loss.

    But it is great, as soon as I regularly increase my calories and carbs I look so much better.. fuller, tighter. I'm actually starting to consider recomping soon.

    Yay!! Diet breaks really are the bomb. I'm thoroughly enjoying mine, though currently doing the double whammy of glycogen replenishment and ovulation bloat. That'll drop off a bit in the next couple of days though.

    They really are!! Have fun :)
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    collectingblues wrote: »
    And another check in (and slight bump), of sorts.

    So. The past year thyroid's drama. Oy. Indeed, as my thyroid endo called it, I'm now 4.5 months out from the new dosage, and OMG I feel eleventymillion times better. My hip measurements are where they were in February 2017, bust is where it was in January 2017, and waist is back to May 2017 (and that's also during my cycle, so the reality may be slightly better). My weight is *gradually* coming back down, and it's trending where it was in March, before things got really horrid. I'd still like to see it lower, because I am not OK at this weight, but the important thing is that the measurements are improving. Which means the odds are good that my fall clothes should fit.

    My PCP and I have had some good talks about what happened, and she thinks it'll be 6-12 months before it all fully comes off -- she said there was little scientific data to back it up, but her experience was that the tissues need that much time to be truly healthy before they start releasing *all* of the fluid; the thyroid was straightened out in May, and the diabetes fully back in line in June... so here's to December, and then to May 2018.

    She also had me do a true trial of going gluten free. I've had on and off GI issues for 20+ years, and things really hit the worst this summer. That was where I really saw the most changes in my waist, and I feel so much better. It's a bit of a dietary adjustment, but not too awful, and totally worth the hassle. We agreed that after the past year's drama, I could take a break from medical professionals for now, and we'll discuss again in December as to whether it's pursuing a celiac diagnosis (with the other autoimmune conditions, celiac is a strong possibility, and she feels it could be seronegative, since I've had negative celiac screens in the past) or whether I should just continue gluten free, and we treat it as non-celiac gluten sensitivity. The treatment protocol is the same regardless, so...

    Awesome update :)

    I had pretty much the same experience going gluten free, though I did it for my eczema, but I dropped a good chunk of water weight that was presumably from inflammation (carb intake didn't change). It is an adjustment, but yes, totally worth it. I haven't bothered to replace things with GF alternatives (I refuse to believe there's such a thing as good GF bread, for example), just eat different stuff to get my carby goodness. My doctor and I agreed that testing was pointless, since it requires eating a significant amount of gluten for several weeks prior. I know there's an issue, I'm not going to subject myself to several weeks of eczema to prove it, and if it's an intolerance rather than an allergy (which is most likely), it's not going to test positive anyway.

    The difference really has been amazing -- and aside from the "Oh, *kitten*, all of my safe quick easy meals have *kitten* gluten" moments, not too much of a transition. I think it helped that I already didn't do a lot of processed stuff, and already made things like English muffins and bread from scratch. My therapist and I brainstormed some ideas for quick meals to keep around the house, which helped.

    I'm torn as to what the right decision is moving forward. I can see pros and cons of a formal diagnosis, but I feel like if the outcome won't change, what's the point? I'm not one of those people who likes to collect diagnoses, so I'm fine with just explaining it to people who need a brief introduction as "I have subclinical celiac". The only upside would be that the re-introduction period would be over the Christmas holidays, so yay for good baked goodies, but at the same time, it takes 3-4 months to get in with our GI group, and *that* would fall over two of my spring half marathons. And I feel like trying to do a half/training for a half while re-introducing gluten would be a bad, bad idea.

    Like, I already know I'm an autoimmune hot mess -- I liked how my PCP phrased it as, "Your body likes to make autoantibodies" -- so knowing that there's another one won't make any difference. My insurance already covers unlimited dietitian visits because of the diabetes -- and my dietitian doesn't take insurance anyway. At work, the head of our organization is GF, so there's GF food *everywhere* at events that I work, and it's seen as a normal request here. The only thing I can see as being a "need" is if things with the ED go south -- I know that no one would believe me that I'm doing GF for legitimate reasons. So I need to discuss that with my PCP, and see what she thinks, and if she'd at least be willing to mark something in my chart/record that indicates that there is a medical need.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    I realize that I've been sloppily implementing a diet break from time to time. My wife started with MFP, but has been following the Eat to Perform model in the last year, based on the work of a few scientists, this program focuses on food as fuel for optimal performance.

    I started to follow a similar model and don't maintain a deficit for longer than 8 weeks at a time now. I suspect this is more psychological than physiological, based on the data. Still I note a drop in performance when in a cut and have to scale down the intensity of workouts, particularly resistance training. The most notable difference is recovery time. I've been tracking this via Polar H7, following their recovery matrix.

  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    Such beauties! Is your floofy guy a maine coon? He looks like a cat who would love laying on his back in the sun with all 4 legs in the air :) I love the little ruffle at his neck!
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    Such beauties! Is your floofy guy a maine coon? He looks like a cat who would love laying on his back in the sun with all 4 legs in the air :) I love the little ruffle at his neck!

    We suspect he has either some Maine Coon or Norwegian Forest Cat in him. As you can see, his sister got none of that. His ruffle will mostly disappear soon, still sporting a good part of his winter coat atm. They all enjoy laying in the sun with their legs in the air!
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    Such beauties! Is your floofy guy a maine coon? He looks like a cat who would love laying on his back in the sun with all 4 legs in the air :) I love the little ruffle at his neck!

    We suspect he has either some Maine Coon or Norwegian Forest Cat in him. As you can see, his sister got none of that. His ruffle will mostly disappear soon, still sporting a good part of his winter coat atm. They all enjoy laying in the sun with their legs in the air!

    <3
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
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    ah, adorable! He looks a lot like my mom's cat, Gus (short for August - my sister's idea since that was when he was born). Gus has the same coloring and long hair that is super soft, almost like a rabbit's pelt.

    my mom had another that looked a lot like the gray, but he disappeared on her a few months after she got him, and we never did find that cat. She had let him out on the back porch to enjoy the winter sun, and he disappeared after the train came down the tracks on its weekly run. Mom hopes that he ended up at someone's home who took him in and took care of him.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    TL;DR

    1. I'm in maintenance now, all about me, blah blah.
    2. Diet breaks! Make them part of the plan - really!
    3. Even a slow recomp can make a visible difference in a little as six months. Give it a try!

    I didn't want to bump the thread just for an update, but now that we're all here... :)

    I've been in maintenance for 6 months! Taking a real diet break in Dec. helped me lose the last few lbs. in Jan. and Feb., and I've been within a 5 lb. window since then. For me, maintenance is a little trickier than straight weight loss - I was losing so slowly (under .5 lbs./week) that I didn't worry about under-eating, since the rate of loss never varied much over time so it was down to logging error.

    Now I have to make sure I'm fueling my activity (got a taste of under-fueling a couple of times, no thank you), and I'm still having a little difficulty mentally going over my sedentary plus just walking calorie limit when I'm training hard and need more.

    I've become a spreadsheet person (mostly from comments in this thread), and because I'm that nerd and kind of miss my old job, I'm designing a little database to crunch numbers and give me fun little reports using input from all the various tools I use (Fitbit, Strava, MapMyFitness, even 5K to 10K). Most of that is based on a little insecurity that if I don't do this exactly right, the weight will creep back on. I know I have a lot more flexibility than that, but I'm not there yet.

    I think the two main things I want to share about my experience are:

    1. Take your diet breaks! Really! I wish I had known to plan-in regular diet breaks all along, instead of periodically spinning out of control and having to fight to get my discipline and routine back. I was following moderation in my food choices and losing slowly, but eating less than you burn is a stress to the body even if you don't notice it consciously. In my case, the Dec. diet break did so much good not only physically, but mentally.

    2. I strongly recommend recomp, especially if your goal weight is at the lower end of your healthy range and losing more weight is not the answer. When I hit goal I had already been doing progressive weight training for about 6 months (and by that I mean a very moderate half an hour twice a week), but since I was still losing, I was getting stronger but there wasn't much to show for it visually. In the last six months there's been a small but noticeable change for the better in my body composition - I'm looking forward to seeing the results in a year :)

    Wishing the best for everyone! And keep those kittah pictures coming!

    Wait, that's all a little on topic, isn't it???

    But srsly, awesome work :)
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    TL;DR

    1. I'm in maintenance now, all about me, blah blah.
    2. Diet breaks! Make them part of the plan - really!
    3. Even a slow recomp can make a visible difference in a little as six months. Give it a try!

    I didn't want to bump the thread just for an update, but now that we're all here... :)

    I've been in maintenance for 6 months! Taking a real diet break in Dec. helped me lose the last few lbs. in Jan. and Feb., and I've been within a 5 lb. window since then. For me, maintenance is a little trickier than straight weight loss - I was losing so slowly (under .5 lbs./week) that I didn't worry about under-eating, since the rate of loss never varied much over time so it was down to logging error.

    Now I have to make sure I'm fueling my activity (got a taste of under-fueling a couple of times, no thank you), and I'm still having a little difficulty mentally going over my sedentary plus just walking calorie limit when I'm training hard and need more.

    I've become a spreadsheet person (mostly from comments in this thread), and because I'm that nerd and kind of miss my old job, I'm designing a little database to crunch numbers and give me fun little reports using input from all the various tools I use (Fitbit, Strava, MapMyFitness, even 5K to 10K). Most of that is based on a little insecurity that if I don't do this exactly right, the weight will creep back on. I know I have a lot more flexibility than that, but I'm not there yet.

    I think the two main things I want to share about my experience are:

    1. Take your diet breaks! Really! I wish I had known to plan-in regular diet breaks all along, instead of periodically spinning out of control and having to fight to get my discipline and routine back. I was following moderation in my food choices and losing slowly, but eating less than you burn is a stress to the body even if you don't notice it consciously. In my case, the Dec. diet break did so much good not only physically, but mentally.

    2. I strongly recommend recomp, especially if your goal weight is at the lower end of your healthy range and losing more weight is not the answer. When I hit goal I had already been doing progressive weight training for about 6 months (and by that I mean a very moderate half an hour twice a week), but since I was still losing, I was getting stronger but there wasn't much to show for it visually. In the last six months there's been a small but noticeable change for the better in my body composition - I'm looking forward to seeing the results in a year :)

    Wishing the best for everyone! And keep those kittah pictures coming!

    Wait, that's all a little on topic, isn't it???

    But srsly, awesome work :)

    Dammit, I was afraid you'd catch that!

    Thank you so much, being a part of this community really means a lot to me (sniff). Really.

    :drinker:
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    mph323 wrote: »
    TL;DR

    1. I'm in maintenance now, all about me, blah blah.
    2. Diet breaks! Make them part of the plan - really!
    3. Even a slow recomp can make a visible difference in a little as six months. Give it a try!

    I didn't want to bump the thread just for an update, but now that we're all here... :)

    I've been in maintenance for 6 months! Taking a real diet break in Dec. helped me lose the last few lbs. in Jan. and Feb., and I've been within a 5 lb. window since then. For me, maintenance is a little trickier than straight weight loss - I was losing so slowly (under .5 lbs./week) that I didn't worry about under-eating, since the rate of loss never varied much over time so it was down to logging error.

    Now I have to make sure I'm fueling my activity (got a taste of under-fueling a couple of times, no thank you), and I'm still having a little difficulty mentally going over my sedentary plus just walking calorie limit when I'm training hard and need more.

    I've become a spreadsheet person (mostly from comments in this thread), and because I'm that nerd and kind of miss my old job, I'm designing a little database to crunch numbers and give me fun little reports using input from all the various tools I use (Fitbit, Strava, MapMyFitness, even 5K to 10K). Most of that is based on a little insecurity that if I don't do this exactly right, the weight will creep back on. I know I have a lot more flexibility than that, but I'm not there yet.

    I think the two main things I want to share about my experience are:

    1. Take your diet breaks! Really! I wish I had known to plan-in regular diet breaks all along, instead of periodically spinning out of control and having to fight to get my discipline and routine back. I was following moderation in my food choices and losing slowly, but eating less than you burn is a stress to the body even if you don't notice it consciously. In my case, the Dec. diet break did so much good not only physically, but mentally.

    2. I strongly recommend recomp, especially if your goal weight is at the lower end of your healthy range and losing more weight is not the answer. When I hit goal I had already been doing progressive weight training for about 6 months (and by that I mean a very moderate half an hour twice a week), but since I was still losing, I was getting stronger but there wasn't much to show for it visually. In the last six months there's been a small but noticeable change for the better in my body composition - I'm looking forward to seeing the results in a year :)

    Wishing the best for everyone! And keep those kittah pictures coming!

    Wait, that's all a little on topic, isn't it???

    But srsly, awesome work :)

    Dammit, I was afraid you'd catch that!

    Thank you so much, being a part of this community really means a lot to me (sniff). Really.

    You can make it up to me with a critter pic to get things back on track.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
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    ah, cute bunny!

    I know they're destructive, but I still think bunnies are such cute little critters and a blast to watch play in your yard :) Which I suppose as long as they don't over-populate, then they aren't any more damaging than less cute creatures lol Such as the darned ground moles I need to get rid of.....
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    bmeadows380 wrote: »
    had my updated bloodwork done yesterday morning after going 2 months on the new synthroid dosage my endocrinoligst ordered. free T4 was up, but instead of going down, my TSH actually went up, and my free T3 actually went down.

    so my endo finally put in an order for a low dose of Cytomel, which I'll pick up on Friday morning. I sincerely hope this helps get me straightened out; I'd like to have some energy, not to mention get off this depression roller coaster I've been on - and this stupid diet plateau!

    I'm glad that your endo was able to own that he was wrong, and is putting you on supplementation.

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