ms.sss

ASIDE: Honestly, I love this forum. So good to read other's takes on the same issues. Now in terms of the current issue at hand, I guess my goal is to just feel good. And like the way I look in the mirror. Right now, I've got both. I am "sort of" maintaining at around 1900 average cals I think. I've been between 114 and 117 for the past 6 weeks, and staying at the upper end of this range for the past 2. However, I seem to still be getting smaller (i.e., losing inches)?? My clothes continue to get looser at certain areas, BUT I don't actually SEE any noticeable weight coming off myself these same past 6 weeks. If anything, I think I am rounding/filling out, especially in my face (which I like because I was looking pretty "sunken" before). I have never had a DEXA scan for the purposes of body fat determination, but my smart scale has me consistently at around 15-16% body fat since June so I don't think I'm building any huge amounts of muscle to explain the inch loss. Sooooo...I'm not really sure if I should up calories, change my exercise regime, do nothing or what, as I don't want my clothes to get looser, even if I don't actually SEE me getting noticeably skinnier. (also, just to be sure it just wasn't me, I asked Mr and the Kid and they too do not think I got any skinnier over the summer, and that my face looks much healthier because the sunken cheeks and eye sockets have filled in...I was calling myself Skelator for a while back then!). So yeah. I guess just like with everything else, I just gotta wait and see what happens, right?

Hahahahahaha I'm already wearing kids clothes. I've got my 13-year old's hand me downs (that she wore couple years ago) in my closet. Gap kids size 12-14. Abercrombie Kids size 12. I'm pretty short and lost all my boobs so it works 😂

YOWZA. You look phenomenal! HIgh five, lady ✋🏼

I know I keep saying this, but chicharron, baby! Crunchy, salty, high in protein, fat and ZERO carbs! Edit to add: of course probably only when you are out of the losing phase as its really high in calories...

Smoothie was definitely sweet. I put in a teaspoon of Stevia, which i realized after made it a little too sweet. Will cut the amount next time. I've never heard of a savory avocado smoothie...what would you put in it? ...and on the other note, a sugar-free Popsicle surely is OK, no matter what time..?

5'2", ♀️10m PO, maintaining 117.4 lbs this morning. Didn't eat past 7:30 last night! Yay! Menu for Yesterday, Thu Sep 12: Totals --- 1526 cals --- 117g protein --- 37g NET carbs --- 109g fat 9:00am (0 cals) peppermint tea + ½ Stevia packet 12:30pm (140 cals) salad greens + carrots + vinaigrette 90g pan fried chicken in butter 3:00pm (188 cals) salad greens + vinaigrette 11g almonds 100g pan fried chicken in butter 5:00pm (505 cals) avocado smoothie (130g avocado + 2 cups almond milk + 1 tsp Stevia) 50g chicharron 7:30pm (685 cals) 19g beef jerky 35g almonds 50g chicharron 125g green seedless grapes 20g dark chocolate Yesterday's Exercise: 15 mins strength training (arms) 15 mins strength training (core & but)

Question for the maintainers out there: how do you determine when its time to start weight loss/gain efforts or stay the same? I mean, do you have a specific amount over/under your maintenance weight that signals a time to get back to basics or increase calories? Or do you rely on what you see in the mirror? How your clothes fit? Body fat percentage? I am starting to think that how much I actually weigh may no longer be a good indicator of whether I should be losing/maintaining/gaining....

Same! Every. Single. Day. at least one of my meals is pan-fried/grilled chicken breast with salad! I recently gave in and got a Costco membership just so I can buy chicken breasts and salad greens in bulk.

@2Bsmaller18: give it a bit more time. Based on your menu post above, you were only at 1100 cals this past Tuesday (2 days ago!) Which, as discussed is most likely too low calories for you. Keep at 1400 for a couple more weeks (though more and more you sound like you are like me, and may need to go up to like 1900). Avocados. Switch your 2% milk to full fat. Red meats. Potatoes. Salmon/Oily Fish. Full-fat mayo in your chicken salad. It's hard. I had a difficult time mentally getting around the high cal stuff (still do a little). Keep at it. (and keep venting if you need to ❤️ )

This has happened to me 3 times now since surgery and each time was because I went to bed too soon after eating. Could this be the issue with you as well?

5'2", ♀️10m PO, maintaining 116.5 lbs this morning. I forgot to take my body measurement yesterday (Wednesdays are body measurement day for me), so I just pulled out the tape and made note of them now. Despite my weight being pretty much stable for the past few weeks, the inches seem to be still coming off (oh, boobs, why are you forsaking me?!?!). The one place that is starting to trend upward though are my things...must be all the running? This now has me thinking that if I take the butt exercises (which i HATE) more seriously, I can increase inches there too. Menu for Yesterday, Wed Sep 11: Totals --- 1600 cals --- 127g protein --- 60g NET carbs --- 104g fat 9:00am (0 cals) peppermint tea + ½ Stevia packet 1:45pm (285 cals) salad greens + vinaigrette 51g avocado 15g almonds 92g pan fried chicken in butter 4:30pm (364 cals) salad greens + carrots + vinaigrette 110g pan fried chicken in butter 40g chicharron ¼ leftover protein bar 6:30pm (413 cals) ½ cup hot & spicy peanuts ¼ cup cottage cheese ¼ cup raspberries ½ cup green seedless grapes 9:30pm (538 cals) 3 buffalo chicken wings 2 tbsp blue cheese dip 2 tbsp red hot sauce 49g chicharron ½ cup protein ice cream Yesterday's Exercise: 15 mins strength training (arms)

@FluffyChix, thanks for your sharing your point of view, its interesting to see your thought processes. I agree that the menu on this specific day was not ideal. Luckily these types of eating days are not the norm and come few and far between. Also, not sure about the anorexic categorization based on this one day's attempt to curb the snacking? Though in the end the conclusion was that snacking is needed anyway, so maybe this point is moot. Going to post yesterday's menu now, which is what I think is my happy medium... P.S. I also agree with you that I need to stop eating so late, its a bad habit I picked up on a vacation last month. I have been staying up longer now just to digest my food so I go to bed on a relatively empty stomach. Bedtime has consistently been about 2 or 3am for the past few weeks. I get up around 8am, so am not getting enough sleep, and am pretty tired by late afternoon (which Mr. thinks is why I have been gravitating towards sugar at the end of the day). A vicious cycle all of my own making! Need to work on that...

So I used to get sick with my multivitamin when I took it on an empty stomach. Do you take yours with food? It may help...

Heading to the office for an afternoon meeting...while I did enjoy comfortably wearing summer clothing for the fist time in a loooong time this year, am now reunited with my true love: FALL. I heart fall clothing

oops, i can't edit this post anymore but I meant to type 0 carbs.

5'2", ♀️10m PO, maintaining 116.8 lbs this morning. Menu for Yesterday, Tue Sep 10: Totals --- 1768 cals --- 77g protein --- 67g NET carbs --- 119g fat 2:15pm (585 cals) salad greens + vinaigrette 95g oven roasted zucchini 12g pepperoni slices 2oz rib eye steak 150g avocado 5:30pm (54 cals) ¼ protein bar ½ oz rib eye steak 7:30pm (474 cals) 3 buffalo chicken wing 2 tbsp blue cheese dip small side apple walnut salad w/ honey lemon vinaigrette 1 vodka caesar 10:00pm (594 cals) 39g almonds 39g almond bark ¼ cup spicy peanuts ⅛ protein ice cream Yesterday's Exercise: 1 hour zumba 15 mins strength training (arms) 15 mins strength training (core and butt)

For me it was the fats. I didn't get diarrhea, but I got way more regular once I introduced alot of fats into my diet. Yep, me too. It has to be done, though. Yesterday I tried an experiment of only eating when I'm hungry (i.e., not snacking) and I ended the day waaaay too low on calories, even with a last minute protein shake before bedtime. So if I don't want to lose any more weight, I guess I need to just keep eating. We are the same height, and sounds like you get some exercise in (based on the muscle comment), and I seem to be maintaining on 1900 average cals a day (based on a 4 week cal range of 1600-2200 avg daily cals). So you will likely continue to lose weight at your current 1100 cals a day. Like Fluffy said above, you can increase your fats and carbs. I personally do not purposefully increase my carbs, but I do try to increase my fats as much as I can (avocados, nuts/nut butters, olive oil, butter, full-fat everything). I also eat a lot of chicharron (yeah I know not the healthiest thing) but its a lot of calories and fat & protein - and basically no carbs - AND its not filling (just 50g of it is like 200+ calories, 20g fat, 25g protein & 0 fat) I dip it in some apple cider vinegar...YUM. Also, RE: the water. I'm also averaging way less mL of water per day since increasing my cals, for the same reason as you. I get most of my water in in the morning before my first meal of the day (I normally skip breakfast, not a breakfast person), then I basically spend the afternoon/early evening eating, then I'm back to drinking water up until bedtime. The eating does cut in to my water drinking time, but its the best I can do right now.

Thanks, I'm becoming a boot addict. Also, no need to fear...you have a great bod and can totally pull anything off, including high boots.

5'2", ♀️10m PO, maintaining xxx lbs this morning. Ok, so I implemented a don't-eat-unless-hungry strategy yesterday to curb what I thought was an increase in unnecessary snacking lately, but it looks like I need the snacking, as I ended up with too few calories by day's end. *sigh*. Menu for Yesterday, Mon Sep 09: Totals --- 590 cals --- 71g protein --- 21g NET carbs --- 22g fat 10:00am (0 cals) peppermint herbal tea +⅓ Stevia packet 2:00pm (152 cals) salad greens + carrots + vinaigrette 5g grated cheddar cheese 1 tbsp diced sun-dried tomato 87g pan fried chicken in butter 4:00pm (35 cals) 1 cup almond milk 5:00pm (166 cals) salad greens + carrots + vinaigrette 1 tbsp salted shrimp paste 87g pan fried chicken in butter 11:30pm (237 cals) protein powder + decaf instant coffee + benefiber 1 cup almond milk ½ cup full fat miilk Yesterday's Exercise: 3km run + 2km walk

Mornings are starting to get cold...the fall clothes are coming out of my closet...and so are the boots!!! Can I say that since I was able to zip up a pair of boots over my jeans a few weeks ago, I've since bought 3 more pairs, lol

No, none for me, other than the regular fullness/dumping feelings... (sorry I'm no help...hopefully someone will have something useful to add 🤞🏼)

I had a 6 month prescription of 30mg, and when I ran out, I got the rebound symptoms (foamies and slimies galore! burning in throat in the mornings) and asked my doc to re-prescribe me. I'm 10 months now and asked the doc to help me wean off of it, after reading some tips on how to do so. So, once I finish off my current stash of 30mg (probably another month or so) here is the plan: reduce dosage to 15mg daily and take this for two weeks. then take the 15mg every other day for two weeks Well see what happens...