When you’re trying to lose a lot of pounds, getting the scale to go down feels like such an uphill battle. I’m not just imagining how difficult it can be to lose weight. I read a study that said people are 10% heavier today than they were in the 70’s – even when they consume the same number of calories and have similar daily activity routines. That’s hardly fair. So what’s causing it? Food? Chemicals? Stress? I don’t think anyone really knows.
It’s a curse: Those who need to lose weight the most have the toughest time succeeding at it. We all know that fast and easy weight loss is the holy grail of dieters, but I suppose it’s a matter of realizing that it took time to put in on, and it’s going to take time to take it off. The sad news: people who have a body mass index between 30 and 35 (yep, that’s me) have a lower chance of attaining even a 5% weight loss in a year. I read that one in 10 women and one in 12 men succeeded in that 5% weight loss—and at least 50% of men and women regained the weight within 2 years. Again, this is not good news for the obese dieter.
Reminder: small weight loss goals rather than one big one – experience multiple mini successes to help you stay the course! And I am celebrating the weekly losses (okay, I have the big one out there, too.
I’ve also read that dieting can disrupt hunger-related hormones and cause them to remain at altered levels. This means you feel hungry all the time—which is nearly a guarantee that if you manage to lose weight, you won’t be able to keep it off. I frequently misread the hungry signal anyway. It’s just habit, not hunger. Water is an important component to healthy weight loss and to stem hunger signals that aren’t hunger. As I’ve said before, I do like water. No flavors, just plain water. I need to track my water intake better. I always just assume I’m getting enough
Reminder: Ignore the outside stuff and stick to the balanced diet. Track what I eat, and don’t forget the water intake.
While regular and demanding workouts sound like the answer, they are not the only answer. I’ve scheduled my water workouts pretty well, although that was disrupted this week by a swim meet. Anyway, I know routine movement throughout the day is really important, too (hence the Fitbit). I want to improve this part of my routine. I have been increasing my steps, daily. Good news. I upped my limit to 3000 and have surpassed the last three days. So now I’m going to add another little extra. I watch a lot of TV (don’t judge), but I record and fast forward through commercials most of the time. So … I’ve decided that when I’m watching live television, I’m going to get up and walk every time a commercial comes on. I’ll let you know how that works out!
Reminder: Focus on movement and healthy eating. Weight loss management that combines both exercise and diet leads to more sustained weight loss – and that’s what I’m after!!
I keep reading that sleep must be a priority on the weight loss journey. Make a point of turning in earlier and the weight comes off quicker … well, there are challenges here. First, I often have difficulty sleeping – pain, discomfort, an overactive mind. Second, I get up at 4:30 a.m. to head to the pool at about 5:15. So, if I’m going to get the recommended 8 hours of sleep, I have to go be asleep by 8:30 p.m. Yeah, that doesn’t really happen. I try, but mostly I just lay there until I finally drift off an hour later. To get the sleep in, I’d have to go to bed at 7:30 – and, well, I’m just not going to do that. I’m not sure how napping fits in – I do a lot of that, too! The other sleep issue is routine. Everyone recommends a consistent sleep schedule. I do tend to get 8+ hours of sleep on the days I don’t go to the pool, but -6 on pool-bound days. I really don’t know how to reconcile this short of actually getting ready for bed at 7:30. Good grief.
Reminder: Sleep matters – get the eight hours in! Sleep deprived people gain weight, and I don’t want to be in that category.
Obviously I have some thinking to do on sleep strategies. Ah well.
One other note: although I have had some substantial pain increases recently, I really do feel like I’m moving better. The day I hit almost 4000 steps, I never would have guessed it.