I have been in a bit of a funk this week, which is also probably causing me not to want to write as much. Not sure what's causing it exactly, but I'm feeling down on this whole thing, despite my success. It's not even that difficult to stick to the diet, but I guess I'm still having a hard time seeing how I'm going to keep it off. I know diet proponents say that your cravings shut down and your relationship with food is magically healed, and who knows, maybe it will be. All I know is that when we got Thai takeout on Wednesday night with some friends, and they were eating Pad Thai and drunken noodles and coconut shrimp, my mouth was watering. It was the hardest time I've had since starting this diet resisting food. And it wasn't some random, emotionally-driven craving (like when I was in the ER with my two -year old and could barely resist eating a donut to comfort myself), it was the desire for really, really, amazingly delicious food.
The point is, I still wanted the food. I still wanted A LOT of the food. So why is eating nothing for 40 days going to make me want the food less?
I'm hoping that I will be so happy with the results that I will be motivated to maintain it. I will be able to choose indulgences wisely and carefully because I just don't want to blow it.
Anyway, I'm less than halfway through. Maybe this will all become clear to me by the end. Sorry to be a bummer (especially in a post with a joyful and hopeful title), just writing what's in my mind.
So, yeah, I passed the 20-pound mark, and I am thrilled. Right at 20 pounds, people started to notice and say stuff, and it was getting pretty frustrating that I felt like the weight loss wasn't showing up. I know I am tall and "big-boned," but COME ON.
| Day | Date | Weight | Daily Change | Total Loss |
| Day 1 | 11/1/2010 | 229.6 | n/a | n/a |
| Day 2 | 11/2/2010 | 225.6 | -4.0 | -4 |
| Day 3 | 11/3/2010 | 221.6 | -4.0 | -8 |
| Day 4 | 11/4/2010 | 218.6 | -3.0 | -11 |
| Day 5 | 11/5/2010 | 218.6 | 0.0 | -11 |
| Day 6 | 11/6/2010 | 216.4 | -2.2 | -13.2 |
| Day 7 | 11/7/2010 | 215.8 | -0.6 | -13.8 |
| Week 1 summary: down 13.8 # | ||||
| Day 8 | 11/8/2010 | 214.8 | -1.0 | -14.8 |
| Day 9 | 11/9/2010 | 215.4 | 0.6 | -14.2 |
| Day 10 | 11/10/2010 | 213.8 | -1.6 | -15.8 |
| Day 11 | 11/11/2010 | 213.6 | -0.2 | -16 |
| Day 12 | 11/12/2010 | 215 | 1.4 | 14.6 |
| Day 13 | 11/13/2010 | 213 | -2.0 | -16.6 |
| Day 14 | 11/14/2010 | 212.2 | -0.8 | -17.4 |
| Week 2 summary: down 3.6 # this week; 17.4 # total | ||||
| Day 15 | 11/15/2010 | 212.4 | 0.2 | -17.2 |
| Day 16 | 11/16/2010 | 210 | -2.4 | -19.6 |
| Day 17 | 11/17/2010 | 210.2 | 0.2 | 19.4 |
| Day 18 | 11/18/2010 | 209.4 | 0.8 | 20.2 |
| Day 19 | 11/19/2010 | 208.6 | 0.8 | 21 |
My friend and coach Shannon said I should be losing about 5 pounds a week now, and is trying to troubleshoot with me reasons why I don't seem to be. But I'm really not worried about it and think my body is just settling out. I should lose close to 5 this week if not 5, but I wouldn't expect to keep up a rate of a pound per day, especially since you're supposed to lose 30-35 pounds in 40 days.
Hoping a pretty fall weekend can get me out of my funk and hopeful about the long-term prospects of this plan again.
Glad you're okay, Kat. You sound like you're doing great. I don't think that anyone can say what you "should" be losing because everyone's body is so different. Over a pound a day is on the verge of being physiologically impossible...so I think that your weight loss is stupendous. I don't think there is anything to troubleshoot.
ReplyDeleteYou can make this your life or you can use this as a tool to have a life. I think that tweaking the diet can go too far, too. You can examine every "strong flavor", worry that you had a piece of cucumber with your greens, fret over washing the dishes and touching some oil accidently, etc.
I too am having concerns about maintenance. I am seeing where I need to prepare. I am not confident in my abilities either but hope to be by the time I get there. I am really grateful for the chance to see what normal people feel like when they simply choose not to eat, instead of being "forced" to eat by their cravings and glucose levels.
I too have trouble around tasty food. My husband's pizza's, which I prepare. But I love the feeling so much, I hope this sustains me to follow maintenance. I am hoping that this plus the tapping (which I need to actually do, not just talk about) helps me to succeed. I never thought I'd succeed this much this quickly.
ReplyDeleteI just have a feeling all will be well.
You know what? It isn't abnormal to want really amazingly good food. What's abnormal is to eat to excess and to eat in response to problem that really require other solutions.
ReplyDeleteI think what you are going to get from this diet is an AMAZING drop in your weight, and all the good feelings that come along with that, and a resetting of your appetite. Just from eating so little, I think you will find yourself satisfied with much less food.
But no, I don't think it's going to solve all the other stuff. Like I've said before, I think that's a journey that to some extent or another you'll always be on. Lucky you, though, you have really good company!!
What I hope you'll gain in the big picture is the ability to recognize more clearly when you have physically had enough food, and more awareness of when you are turning to food for reasons besides actual hunger. Which I would also like to say EVERYBODY DOES, even skinny dancers on tour, not that I know anything about that. :) But it seems like the people who don't have such ISSUES manage to offset that need to comfort-eat with the ability to stop sooner, and/or to choose lower-calorie foods and enjoy them more slowly.
Whatever. It's all a process, and I think this diet is going to leave you feeling SO MUCH LIGHTER and so much more in control and so much more fit to pick up where you left off with vigorous exercise.
If it solves all the other stuff too? Please let me know. Then I will DEFINITELY jump on board, and soon.
Once again - recognizing and desiring good food isn't pathological. It's human!!
love you
Kat, you know I really think that my problems are 99.999% physiological. I feel like a different person on this diet. I can easily tell when I'm full. I can easily tell what true hunger is. I can easily, easily resist breaking this diet and eating ANYTHING else---now. Not in the beginning, as you know. But once it kicked it, everything is easy.
ReplyDeleteI think...THIS is how normal people feel. They can choose to eat. They can choose to not eat. It's all up to them. They don't feel hungry all the time. After they eat, they have more energy. They aren't getting heavier and heavier no matter what they do.
I have been working for years on all of my issues around food, and then I go on something like this and WHAM! Ease and comfort around food. Control. Enjoyment. A life based around things other than when I'm going to eat next. I cannot say how much this experience has given me.