Sunday, April 17, 2011

Weight a Minute... Why isn't this working?

While I was visiting my doctor about my naughty Achilles tendon, I took the opportunity to ask her if she had any ideas for me for losing weight. I was so successful losing all the baby weight before Anna was a year old, but it's been a roller coaster of up and down since I had Eric. Exercise and watching my eating have worked in the past, but even with running several times a week and not being too stupid about my intake, I can't seem to lose.

Frustrating. I don't even want to go to parties, because all my cute party dresses are about 20 lbs too tight. {Not go to parties? Who is this person, and what have you done with Krista?}

My doctor is awesome, and she had some valuable insight for me. So I thought I'd share it...
1. Write down everything you eat.
OK, I knew this from Weight Watchers, but I haven't been doing it. Her reasoning is this: There is a really big window of food intake to maintain weight. There is a very small window of food intake to lose weight. The difference between losing weight and maintaining weight can be as few as 300 calories. If I'm not tracking everything, I won't know that, and a couple snacks or an extra glass of wine might be holding me back. {If only it were only one extra glass of wine!}

2. Our bodies will tell us we're hungry for the heaviest we've been in the last 2 years. TWO YEARS. So even when I've lost weight, my body tells me I'm hungrier than I should be. I have to maintain my real weight for TWO YEARS—and be hungry some of the time—in order to convince my brain of my new, lower weight. {And by "new," I mean back to pre-baby!}

3. Running long distances may be thwarting my weight loss.
WHAT? That's so counter-intuitive.
But yes, our bodies learn quickly how to conserve energy. She suggested I add some sprints into my training runs to shake things up. That makes sense!

So what will I do with this information?
Well, I guess it's back to Weight Watchers.
And I need to adjust my thinking that it's just going to be ok to be a little bit hungry for a few years. I know having snacks like raw veggies and fruit around will help, I just need to take the time to prepare for each day so I'm ready. I'm anxious to try the speed training as soon as my dang Achilles heals!

What do you think? Good information?
Have you been on a weight loss journey yourself? If so, what works when you're successful?

6 comments:

  1. Weight Watchers has always worked for me, so off I went on Thursday and signed back up. Sometimes I really was eating more than I thought. Last time I was dieting, I jump started my weight loss with some weight training. Just adding some free weights to my work out routine gave me the little boost I needed to get the scale moving again. I don't know why that helps...I guess there is some scientific reason, but you might want to try, especially while you can't run!

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  2. You know, you're totally right about the weight training. Muscle burns fat, plus it just looks better, right?
    Congrats on starting WW! Let me know how your progress goes.

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  3. The only thing that ever worked for me was writing down everything I ate and lowering the calories slowly - I ate the requirement for 5lbs below where I was and then adjusted again when I met that goal. Otherwise, I got hungry and ended up eating way too much and feeling like an idiot. I'm having the same problem as you - after my first, I lost the weight without much trouble, but almost three years after my second, I'm still about 20lbs more than I'd like to be. Best of luck to you!

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  4. There are mobile apps where you don't really have to do the calculation... you plug in what you eat and what exercise you do for how many minutes and the app does all the calculations. It helps you set goals and let's you know if you're on track. I have one, I know how to use it, I've just been lame lately and not done what I know I should be doing.

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  5. Yep, it's advisable to ask your family doctor about losing weight because since he already knows your health background, he can advise you about the things that would really work for you. I'm pretty sure that these tips have been effective. So how have you been doing with the sprints?

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  6. I never knew that about #2. Thanks for sharing and good luck.

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