My alternating re-feed experiment

[dazygyrl]

oh, terri!!!! that is soooo awesome! what a great gift for your birthday coming up!

so happy for you!

[raygun]

Originally Posted by TerriMM

Just a quick update before I head out. Yesterday I went back to protocol. Today I'm down 1.5.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we're speaking virgin territory!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

oh my gosh!!! i've always wanted to be a virgin again!!!

[CherylB]

Originally Posted by TerriMM

Yesterday I went back to protocol. Today I'm down 1.5.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we're speaking virgin territory!

Wait. I'm confused. "Back to Protocol" meaning back off your experiment of up and down days? Please explain.

On the virgin territory weight!

[dazygyrl]

i think she means protocol is what she does on down days, cheryl.

[CherylB]

Okay. I thought her particular protocol was the up day/down day thing, so the down day didn't seem more protocol than the up day. Ya know? But thanks for explaining.

[chicamala]

It is very cool to see how this plays out for you! Congrats on the new loss!

[Bierarsch]

Originally Posted by TerriMM

Just a quick update before I head out. Yesterday I went back to protocol. Today I'm down 1.5.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we're speaking virgin territory!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Originally Posted by raygun

oh my gosh!!! i've always wanted to be a virgin again!!!

This made me giggle.

[TerriMM]

Well just like the first time, virgin one day and “what the heck did I do” the next! The one day re-feed turned into more like 2-1/2 days. It’s remarkable how easy it is to fall back into bad habits. But I didn’t stress about in then and am not going to now. The damage is up 6.9 #. Almost the same as I went up during loading. It took six days to lose my load weight, so my goal is to beat that. I have the added advantage of having the DH out of town during the week so I’m free to go to the gym and eat only when I’m hungry (as opposed to “dinner time”). I also have the calorie cycling to keep the pounds peeling off working in my favor.

I may change my tune as the week wears on me, but at this point, I planned a re-feed instead of moving to P3 so I could have the freedom on a special weekend. I knew I’d need to come back and re-loose some already hard fought for pounds. And then I’d move on to P3 when I was where I wanted to be and happy to stick with the P3 plan. And I wore all my skinny clothes for my birthday weekend! So, all is going according to plan at this point.

I am back on protocol this morning and plan to remain there through the week to get 6.9# gone. And yes, by protocol, I mean I’m following the original 500 calorie plan from P&I on down days. I will however employ the cycling when and if necessary. At that point, I intend on using the cycling on a weekly to semi-weekly basis to keep the pounds coming off, with the 125# goal in the crosshairs. My 40 day plan ends June 28th. I hope to be there by then.

Thanks for everyone’s support and hopefully continued suggestions. I have to admit, if it wasn’t for having to report, I probably wouldn’t have weighted in today. And with the extra lunches and dinners going on this month, maybe I would have waited until July to recommit. So thanks for keeping me accountable!

[dazygyrl]

hi, terri! good to have you back!

great attitude on the refeed/wt gain. it'll come off quickly, i'm sure!

glad you have fun wearing your skinny clothes.

[TerriMM]

Hi Carrie,
Believe it or not, it actually feels good to be back and moving forward!
How'd your weekend treat you?

[dazygyrl]

my weekend was good.

sat i barely ate 300 cal b/c i was just not hungry. my scale stayed the same sunday morning. so i am eating all my calories whether i am hungry or not. was down 0.4 this morning. slow, but sure.

i wrote in the alternative thread about my upcoming anniversary quandary. lol. i won't repeat in your thread so as not to hijack it.

[nola baxter]

Hi Terri

It is great that you reported back in. Whether you stuck to the plan or not!

But go easy on yourself;
there is often a physiological basis behind uncontrolled/unplanned eating,
the body truly hates to feel starving, and when there has been a period of dieting and restriction, it always wants to push back and protect itself by driving you to eat- sometimes with good reason!

Scott Abel (coach/trainer) says to "coax" the body, not "force" it.
The more you try to force the body, ie, push it too hard when it is not feeling comfortable in the process, there is always a backlash effect;
like pulling a rubber band back hard- the harder you pull it back, the more it will spring back the other way!

I suspect the weight you have gained will drop off quickly- but dont make yourself stick too hard to 500 cal days if the body is protesting like crazy! It may cause a rebound in the other direction soon or later.
hmm- thats my feeling anyway..

Right now I am giving my body a rest from trying to get it to lose weight- I feel it needs it.
I am doing my 5500cal/1500cal two day rotation- which overall is a high calorie intake (3500 daily- a few hundred over my maintenance).
I can feel that my body is loving the food and feeling better with it- kind of like it is giving a sigh of relief at having extra and being satisfied, rather than always surviving on a bit less.
At the end of the day, I believe the solution to what we are trying to achieve is to work with our bodies and learn to follow their subtle cues, not against them by punishing, denying and forcing.

It is all a journey of experience..


Nola

[TerriMM]

Great advice Nola, thanks. I was planning on using my newly acquired cycling arsenal if needed. I may opt for it sooner then later to trick the body into thinking we're both on the same side.

[nola baxter]

Good idea..lol
and good luck!

[Bierarsch]

Hang in there, Terri! You are doing great! I am finding it very hard to stick to protocol on the weekends. I am really considering the cycling.

[TerriMM]

I'm thinking my cycling may end up being centered around weekends as well, always my hardest time.

One thing interesting I've learned already. Cycling and Re-feeds are completely different animals.

On my cycle day, I had a goal, planned on how to achieve it, went about it purposely, felt good about it and found success. Re-feed I went into with a "whatever" attitude and let the chips fall where they may. It was very hard to control and/or stop the madness The planning is on the back end on how to recover.

I'm not sorry about the re-feed mind you. It was for a reason and may or may not end up being beneficial in the long term. But going forward, my cycling plan will be more towards the preplanned, purposeful route.

Until I change the plan again, of course Like they say "it's my lie, I can tell it anyway I want"

[TerriMM]

Well today I'm down 2.7, biggest one day drop to date. I pretty much expected it with my huge gain that I knew had a lot to do with water weight, but it was still great to see. I also don't believe under the same circumstances I would have dropped that much in one day if I had jumped on Atkins Induction, perhaps for the week but not the day. That gives me a lot of encouragement to see this re-feed weight disappear within the week.

Yesterday, although I pretty much followed the food list for P&I, because of my choices (mostly meat) I ate 786 calories. Planning on a 500ish day today.

Hope everyone is doing well today and the whoosh fairy is not making herself scarce.

[dazygyrl]

awesome, terri!

i can't remember, but have you kept taking hcg all this time during the interruption?

[TerriMM]

Yes. I was thinking that may have contributed to the extra water weight gain as descriped in P&I.

How are you doing this morning Carrie?

[dazygyrl]

i am good, terri. down 0.4. baby steps for me, i guess. total is 9.2.

[TerriMM]

It may sound like baby steps when you look at it daily, but when was the last time you lost over nine pounds in less then a month? Great job

[dazygyrl]

oh, no doubt FOR SURE! i totally agree....that's why i'm not worried.

and who knows, maybe if i stuck closer to protocol my losses would be more, but i feel great with the way i am doing it and to me, that is more important...not feeling miserable and STILL losing weight! win-win, as far as i'm concerned.

[TerriMM]

Couldn't agree more! Hence the weekend blow out. I'm also enjoying the cycling more as well as trying the help my results along. But I am looking forward to getting back to low carb at the end of the month. Have you decided on your duration for P2, or are you just playing it by ear?

On a side note, how's your friend doing?

[dazygyrl]

well, i think i will just do the 40 day round to use all my pellets. don't want to waste them. lol. i will do an interruption meal on our anniversary on the 24th. i think day 40 will be july 3.

thank you for asking about my friend. she's still fighting anxiety. dr. adjusted her meds. i need to text her and see how she's doing. haven't heard from her in a few days.

[TerriMM]

Good Morning! Hope everyone's day is starting out in a positive direction!

I'm down .2 today, 700 calories yesterday. I was a little surprised it wasn't more, but at least it's the right direction. I was really hungry last night, not typical for me.

Tomorrow I'm planning an up day around 1400 calories, mostly with a boost in protein. Today I'm going to stick with the 700 range.

[TerriMM]

Originally Posted by dazygyrl

well, i think i will just do the 40 day round to use all my pellets. don't want to waste them. lol. i will do an interruption meal on our anniversary on the 24th. i think day 40 will be july 3.

thank you for asking about my friend. she's still fighting anxiety. dr. adjusted her meds. i need to text her and see how she's doing. haven't heard from her in a few days.

Good Morning Carrie,
I was looking at my pellets last night. I'm on day 29 and still have over half a bottle left. Do you think they'll go bad? Have you heard anything on keeping them over for another round?

[dazygyrl]

well, since the bottle says that there is enough for 40 days, then that's what i was going to do. there will be leftover of mine as i only take 8 per day instead of 9. i will just do the 40 days and decide what do do with the leftovers later, i'll probably toss them and get a new bottle if i want to do another round.

congrats on being down. i was only down 0.2 today, too.

can you give a menu of what your 1400 day will look like?

[TerriMM]

Originally Posted by TerriMM

Morning All,
Well yesterday was my first up day. I ate 1260 calories:
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs, strawberries
Morning Snack - 1/2 C low fat cottage cheese
Lunch - Bison Meatballs with fire roasted tomatoes, lettuce
Afternoon Snack - 12 almonds
Dinner - 7 oz chicken thighs in Chakka marinade, Broccoli & Cauliflower
Evening Snack - 2 cups sugar free whip cream

I was stuffed and felt like I over did it. I stilled myself to be up today, telling myself the whole time to look at the big picture and what I was trying to accomplish with my metabolism. I was down .7

So today is straight protocol. Tomorrow is protocol as much as possible, as I'll be on the road and Saturday is refeed

This was my last up day. I thought it was closer to 1400 but it was only 1260. I'm still formulating tomorrow in my mind. I'll let you know when I have it figured out.

An additional note: the next day, after returning to protocol, I was down 1.5.

[jabbok]

Originally Posted by TerriMM

Good Morning Carrie,
I was looking at my pellets last night. I'm on day 29 and still have over half a bottle left. Do you think they'll go bad? Have you heard anything on keeping them over for another round?

I have used my pellets for more then 1 round, I keep them in my medicine cabinet where it is dark and cool haven't had any issues with them going bad so yes you can use them for your next round.

[Bierarsch]

Terri, on your Up Days are you eating P3 foods with a specific calorie goal? Are you doing Up Days once or twice a week, or just going with the flow?

I am trying to formulate my own cycling plan because I gained .8 today after feeling extremely hungry and dizzy last night. Here are my stats for the last 8 days, including today:

139.6
140.1
138.5
138
138.7
138.7
138.8
139.6

I plan on cycling until I reach goal, even if it's past 40 days. I am on VLCD26 today.