Offically 32 lbs down as of yesterday. Sorry about wearing the green shirt for my before and afters, LOL. But, it's such a great shirt for comparison. Since last February when I began this journey, I have averaged a 2.9 lb loss per month. And, that is on top of working out 5 days a week. So, learning to embrace the concept of "steady and slow gets ya to your goal" is not lost on me. I've lost a lot in the"boobage" area and I have no booty anymore, LOL!! But, it's okay, in lieu of feeling less heavy, I'll embrace it with open arms. This being is still unfolding, and it has not been easy, but if there's a "hard" in life to choose I'm thoroughly thankful I committed to choosing this one.
For those doing CICO, HSM community has completely altered my approach to calorie deficits. Heather Robertson has a counter trend way of doing things and as she says often, when they say "zig" we say "zag". So, for those interested this is how I do it based on her suggestions. My diet is totally non-restricted. I actually use the fit bit for more than just steps counted. I used it to find my daily caloric burn, or TDEE for days I exercise and days I don't exercise.
When I first started, my daily caloric burn without exercise was around 1800-1900 cals. And, this is where I took my deficit from. So, I simply cut 420-500 cals from that average and started losing weight immediately. When I first began I did a deficit of 420, which gave me around 1500 cals/day. Heather also suggests giving yourself 2 maintenance cal days per week. Doing this allows us to practice maintenance, portion control, decreases binge behavior, and fuels the metabolism (and, yes it works). The first week of every month, you can eat your exercise cals within a deficit
Maintenance cal days are not binge days. It means you eat maintenance calories, so even if a maintenance calorie day falls on an exercise day and I burned more than 1800 plus cals, I still eat 1800-1900 cals on those days. I am now losing up to 1 lb - 1.3 lbs with no plateaus and I'm not fluctuating as much.
This is not a "fast" way of losing, it is a steady way of losing so that 1) We don't damage our metabolisms, and 2) We spend some time doing the head work, and face some of the screwed up emotions and issues that cultivated these unhealthy habits to begin with, and 3) Actually, show up do the work to create new sustainable healthy habits that will keep the weight off.
Every 8 weeks we are encouraged to take a week long maintenance break to fuel the metabolism, practice maintenance, and give ourselves a "deficit break". I have one coming up next week and I'm more concerned about how to get enough food in and there's good reason. Since approaching CICO in this way,
My basal metabolic rate seems to have increase and now I'm actually burning on average up to 2150 cals on NON exercise days (I'm actually burning 200 more cals per day than I usually do). I may actually need to decrease my deficit and eat more. LOL. On exercise days, I'm actually burning between 2300-2600 cals. To that end, last week I went over maintenance and ate 2400 cals and still lost a pound. So, something throwing logs in the burner for sure.
Tips suggested by "Half Size Me" that are very helpful
1. Make sure you get some form of protein in with each meal
2. Allow yourself to work in at least one sweet treat for yourself each day
3. Include fiber rich veggies in with your meals.
4. Track and log food everyday
5. Set minimums for yourself. These are things you will do at the very least on days where the momentum to keep going is low.
There's actually a few others to help with emotional eating and binge behaviors, but these are the ones I use to ensure I feel full, satiated, and still have room for my wine and a treat in moderation.
Is this easy? Hell no, it's actually not easy at all. The "eating part" is easy. But, when you do it this way it forces you to sit with a mind that is resisting "change" at every corner. It means you gotta show up and do the work even when your mind is pitching a fit. You don't have to do it perfectly, but you have to do it consistently. You're not allowed to make changes unless you know they are sustainable and if they're not, it's back to the drawing board to explore what changes are sustainable. It's going in and digging deep and facing the pain and discomfort of memories or experiences compelled us to make an enemy of our bodies. And, lastly it's about learning how to be kind to ourselves, set boundaries for ourselves, care for ourselves, and genuinely love our forms in a manner worthy of our being.
I don't know if I recommend this approach to everyone. It's not easy, it's slow, and it's hard. I've discovered "changing the mind" is a whole lot harder than changing the body. But the end result is something everyone deserves. Heather always says, "ya gotta choose your hard". This is the hard I've chosen and I haven't had one moment of regret, with the exception of wishing I had started this earlier in life :-)
