lonniehuffman's Journal, 06 September 2021

Back at the beginning of August Kevin asked me to make changes to my diet plan. He wanted me to gain 10 pounds, only weigh myself once per week and to relax all the rules I had around food. He didn't think I was eating enough most days. My rules helped me maintain my weight for over a year though. I've done nothing but gain since I started Kevin's experiment. I've gained 13 pounds, not 10. Although I think I'll continue weighing myself only once per week, because I kinda liked that, I gotta bring my rules back. Without my rules I fear I'll be obese again really soon. 

Lonnie, without some rules, I think most of us would gradually gain back the weight we've lost. I believe we can eat all foods (barring health restrictions) but we can't just be out there eating Willy Nilly. There has to be balance and some foods should only be eaten occasionally in moderation. My "rules" help keep me on track and I think yours do, too. Sometimes Hubby laughs at my weighing & measuring, but I like knowing exactly what I'm eating. 

We gotcha. It's a slippery slope, so do what you need to do. 

You learned what works over time & practiced it into permanence🤙 

Man, I would think all of your hiking wouldn’t have let you gain! 😮 I am doomed!😁 

I’m with you SherryeB. . I have maintained my weight for many years. It was easy, I lost weight every day that I worked and had to aggressively make sure I got the calories and the nutrients I needed. When I retired I knew there would be adjustments in my activity level so I started monitoring and really paying attention. I’m still doing it. I miss logging some meals because they are too complicated to detail with the FS app which is ridiculous and not user friendly, not to mention inaccurate, a lot! But I still KNOW whether I am over or under. 

Oh Kenna I am with you on the FS app difficulties :) 

I think it was a good experiment and I'm sure Kevin appreciates your giving it a try, but I agree with you, it's time to get back to what you know works for you. Have a great day, hope the house renovations are advancing as planned. 🌞 

Oh Lonnie! I experienced the same thing! Evidently I'm not ready to eat "intuitively" yet. I've got to have some guardrails 90 percent of the time, knowing I can jump the rail when a special event calls for it. It was too long of a haul to get the weight off in the first place to let it come back! 

My rules help me feel in control, SherryeB. That willy nilly stuff is dangerous. 

Why is it so easy to gain weight and so hard to lose it. It is a slippery slope, Katsolo, too slippery. 

I fear it wouldn't be permanent if I continue my little experiment much longer, acomandr. Fat Lonnie would come right back. 

Yeah, Shrewdness! One would think all my activity would keep the weight off. I walk at least three miles everyday, plus I've been doing lots of bending and stretching while working on that house, and I only have breakfast and lunch (no dinner), but still I gain so easily. 

Kevin gets frustrated with me sometimes, Kenna, when he wants to try something new that has lots of ingredients and I tell him I can't have it because it's too hard to enter everything into FatSecret's recipe thing. Although the tools here are the best I've seen, they could definitely be better. 

Thanks, shirfleur. I discussed it with Kevin and he's being very understanding about my ending the experiment. I did learn from it though. The biggest thing I learned is that I didn't gain weight as fast as I thought I would. I thought I'd gain like 7 pounds a week, and it ended up being only like 2 pounds per week. That makes me feel comfortable continuing to weigh in once per week instead of everyday, like I was. The house renovations are still ongoing, but should be completed by September 15th (that's our goal). Thanks again! ❤️ 

Yes, my intuition seems to be non-existent when it comes to food, larilyn. I think I can take the training wheels off, but I still need those guardrails. 

Lonnie Huffman—- when faced with a food concoction that you are unable to get an exact calorie count on, you can still eat it. You can visually see the ingredients, you can tell if it would or wouldn’t normally work for you. Then you use your portion control skills and eat. If you know you will be eating a small portion only, make yourself a salad or nuc some cauliflower to act as a filler then just move on. Walking is such a great exercise for total body health but doesn’t have the calorie burn that other activities do depending on time, distance and speed. I personally don’t have the time to walk 10 miles a day. In addition, anytime you do any exercise repetitiously you body becomes more efficient at doing it and you actually don’t expend as much energy. That’s one of the reasons to shake up your activities a bit when you can. Hang in there Lonnie.  

Lonnie, you are such a great inspiration. Love that you keep on top of your goals and post such great pictures. Your hikes amazing! Good luck with your renovations! 

Thanks for sharing your process, Lonnie. I think most of us can relate to the experiment and adjustment approach. It's a learning process.  

Lonnie, maybe Kevin would not be so put off by your maintenance rules if you ate some of the foods he suggested. If trying new foods was one of the ways you had fun together before, he might think you are becoming less adventurous. What I do when faced with a dish not on FS that I'm not cooking, is eyeball it & either log the ingredients I think are in it or find a dish on FS that's close. That's what Kenna suggests, too. Doing this occasionally won't throw you totally off... even if it's not totally accurate. It's a balance using logging as a tool to help lose/ maintain, but we don't want it to totally take over our lives.