Confession

[barbie]

Lilac I love your new photo! You are gorgeous! I do worry about maintaining in P3 and beyond as well. I just lost 30 lbs and recently regained 10! I'm tired of always dieting to lose weight, I am looking forward to being able to just try to maintain for a while. though I still have a ways go.. ugh..

I would look at it as a new adventure.. Maintaining... Then it will become habit, and you won't have to think about it so much. At least that's what I'm telling myself!

[C'Marie]

Wonderful thoughts, everyone.

I do believe in the metabolism reset - BY THAT, I mean I can gain a couple and get it right back off, usually. I have had 5 P3/P4 cycles and IF I DO WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO, weigh every day and take ACTION if I am up too high, I have no big problems maintaining. It really just takes daily diligence. To ME, that is a MIRACLE. My weight pretty much pops down right away. Therefore, I conclude, have a new setpoint. NO, I could not eat pizza every day. But I can eat it when I really want it and then watch what I eat afterwards for a bit. That's an ok trade-off in my book. I really want to be healthy, not just eat crap for fuel anyways.

I have dieted almost my entire life, starting at 13 and today I am pushing 50. I have never known how to maintain before. I would get down to what I wanted to weigh, begin to eat "normally" and put it right back on, plus some. So I have just redefined "normal" for me. Lilac, you are SO right about Dr. Simeons just saying to eat "normally" - I think if we were in his clinic right now we would be getting the info on what that really is/was in his day. No processed foods, eat REAL foods, and normal-sized, not SUPER-sized, portions. They just simply didn't have that stuff. Not only that, but real food satisfies. The empty junky calories just do not, because they're not feeding your body what it needs, so it continues to want more volume. Eat enough REAL food and your body will eventually settle down. That's one reason I like the detox effects of P2.

The fact that I am still hopeful after 5 rounds, Red and Lilac, oughta give YOU hope as well. I'm not going back. I will be here and still have my loss next July. Who's with me?

[amylou]

I think that's why the thought of maintaining is scary...a lot of us have never had to do it before! I've spent my life either losing or gaining. I went on my first official diet at 18 (but my mom tried things on her own w/ me prior to that), and at (almost) 42 I still haven't gotten it! I'm tired of living my life like this...yo-yo ing back and forth!

I just want to finally "get it". I want to be at peace with food.

[Majerus]

I just love this thread.

[barbie]

Originally Posted by Majerus

I just love this thread.

BUMP THAT!

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by C'Marie

I'm not going back. I will be here and still have my loss next July. Who's with me?

I'm with ya, Marie. I hereby solemnly swear that I will be in my window next July.

As far as being at peace with food, *I* need to really understand what that means for me and what I might have to give up to get it. Nothing is free, not even peace. I probably WILL have to continually monitor my food, calories and macronutrient ratios. I KNOW I will need to weigh myself daily and take my scale on vacation. I for SURE can't eat stuff like fast food or pizza without the consequences of gaining outside my window--and I KNOW that I'll need to eat clean or correct my weight every time I do it. And you know what? I am getting ok with that. I have spent too much of my life miserable about how I look and what size I am wearing, and self-medicating with cr@p to make myself feel better. I am getting my tastebuds in line with how I KNOW I should be eating. I am developing an aversion to fast food. I am training my brain to think about those size 16 pants that I recently gave away when I smell cupcakes or think about ice cream. So if it takes diligence on my part, I'll do whatever it takes to keep wearing the size 6 jeans that I most recently bought, feeling great about how I look, hearing things like "you're half the size you once were", dating men 15 years younger than I am ( ) and keeping my health into my 90's.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

[LilacBruze]

Soooooo... questions?

(and thanks for the compliments on the photo but I feel like a thread hijacker if I say more than that lol)

What happens when you are done with P3 and P4, stabilize wonderfully, and never, EVER touch junk food or empty carbs. What if you ate 2500 calories worth of healthy, wholesome foods, but your BMR dictates that you can only have 1800 calories?

Also, again I don't know much since I am just in P2, but the correction days... well... couldn't you do that if you hadn't done HCG and over-indulged and needed to get back on track? Would a steak day or GY day or egg day NOT work for someone who never took HCG? Because if it WOULD work, again I am not seeing the "resetting the metabolism" part. Feel free to talk to me like I'm two years old (I tell my boss this all the time, lol) because I am not arguing, I am just trying to understand, yet having a difficult time doing so.

[dazygyrl]

thank you, ladies, for making feel more "normal". and so weird to read the thoughts of you ladies...it's like you're in my head reading my thoughts.

lilac...EXCELLENT questions! very eager to read what these wise ladies have to say.

[BlueMonday]

I have accepted that I will never be one of those people that can eat whatever they want. And now that I'm peri-menopausal, even more so. 2500 cals or even 1800 cals just ain't gonna happen except as occasional indulgence that will require a correction day or two. I can live with that.

One thing this plan has taught me is to weigh everyday. Get used to the day-to-day fluctuations and also know where the boundary is where you have to take immediate action. That is the key I think. I was maintaining pretty darn well but went on vacation for 10 days. Couldn't weigh in and when I returned I kept putting it off until "next week when I'll get back on track"-- well, that turned into four more weeks. Never again. Get on that damn scale no matter what. I'm buying a travel scale the next time I am away for more than a couple of days.

[paulabob]

Originally Posted by LilacBruze

What if you ate 2500 calories worth of healthy, wholesome foods, but your BMR dictates that you can only have 1800 calories?

Also, again I don't know much since I am just in P2, but the correction days... well... couldn't you do that if you hadn't done HCG and over-indulged and needed to get back on track?

All I can say is I was 200 pounds, on Atkins for 4 years, and eating 1500 Atkins calories per day would cause me to gain weight. After dropping 10 pounds on Atkins, 15 on hcg, my new number of Atkins friendly food to maintain was 2000 calories. That was HUGE for me. YMMV.

I don't know, I think the whole resetting thing is different for anyone who has a fairly good metabolism, and is able to lose weight on a number of different programs. I think for them, there is less to reset and they may not see such a clear difference. Just my thoughts...

I've seen quite a few people with the same metabolism as me...who have been dieting unsuccessfully (but adhering and rigid, just not losing weight) for years, who have found they could eat more and a bigger variety after their first round.

[shelbyla]

Originally Posted by LilacBruze

Soooooo... questions?

What happens when you are done with P3 and P4, stabilize wonderfully, and never, EVER touch junk food or empty carbs. What if you ate 2500 calories worth of healthy, wholesome foods, but your BMR dictates that you can only have 1800 calories?

I think the BMR calculator just gives you a rough estimate. Your body wants a certain amount of calories in certain ratios or it will retain fat and you'll have to play around with amounts to see just how many. It may be many more calories than what the BMR calculators say. (I always say push that calorie ceiling--better to stabilize at 3000 than at 1500.) But it may be less. Only your body will be able to tell whether you can eat 2500 calories of good healthy food (which is actually harder than it sounds!) or if it needs to be less. Maybe after 2500 calories, you gain a pound outside of your window. Maybe the next day you eat lighter--say 1500 calories--and you get back down. That's the way it seems to be working for me anyway. And honestly, after trying for so long to exist on 1500 calories a day, where I'm at now at 2000-2500 seems like a really good deal to me.

Prior to HCG, I tried to lose weight, many different ways. Low carb, low calorie, supplements, etc. On 1500 calories per day, I was gaining weight. On 2000 calories a day I was gaining weight. On 1200. On 2500. On all healthy foods. On ideal macronutrient ratios (for me 55/25/20). With Hoodia or glucomannen or CLA or Acai. And all this while exercising like a madwoman--I used to do 45 minutes of weights 3-4x per week and 60 minutes of cardio EVERY DAY.

Now by all accounts, I should have been losing weight, even on 2500 calories a day. I would be picture perfect to my diet and exercise plan and tell myself that 2 pounds a week is normal and good. Then I would get on the scale to have lost nothing. Or gained. (And boy did THAT set off binges for me--I mean why should I KILL myself dieting and exercising only to gain weight???) I did this for 7 years and ended up 70 pounds heavier that where I started. Now part of this was hormonal but even after getting my thyroid and adrenals sorted out, I still wasn't able to lose the weight I had gained.

To *me* "metabolism reset" does mean that I can eat a normal amount of calories in for my height, weight, age, and activity level--in whatever macronutrient ratios are right for my body. What it DOESN'T mean is that I can eat 5000 calories a day or eat a lot of junk food that equates to 2500 calories a day. Or even that I can eat 35 chicken wings (which I have done many times!) and have huge amounts of protein--more than my body wants. After HCG, I AM able to eat to BMR and beyond as opposed to what I was dealing with before. And I'm lucky--I CAN exercise (sorry that your health prevents a lot of exercise, LB! ). And I NEVER thought I'd say that I am "lucky" to be able to exercise!

Originally Posted by LilacBruze

Also, again I don't know much since I am just in P2, but the correction days... well... couldn't you do that if you hadn't done HCG and over-indulged and needed to get back on track? Would a steak day or GY day or egg day NOT work for someone who never took HCG? Because if it WOULD work, again I am not seeing the "resetting the metabolism" part. Feel free to talk to me like I'm two years old (I tell my boss this all the time, lol) because I am not arguing, I am just trying to understand, yet having a difficult time doing so.

I think that anyone can do a correction day and have it work. That part, I don't think, has anything to do with the HCG. I think in P&I it even says that this is behavior that thin people automatically engage in. So for example, if they eat very heavily one day, they automatically eat lighter the next day. Or in preparation for an event, they eat lighter to "save up calories" so when they overindulge it doesn't do as much damage. I think the difference is that we have to do it consciously, as opposed to just doing it naturally.

Btw, I don't consider these dumb or even infantile ( ) questions. I think they are really really good and really important. They make me think about WHY and HOW. And they help me formulate answers for myself, not just whoever asks. I think you are completely AWESOME for asking them. It shows you have a curious mind. And we all know curious minds burn more calories than stale minds...

(Sorry for the book! )

[C'Marie]

Like Shelby, I think that it is normal/natural for naturally thin people to restrict intake for a few days before or after a heavy day. For former obese people, like me, that part isn't normal. Watching what I eat isn't normal. Listening to my body isn't normal (those signals actually SHUT OFF years ago), correction days aren't normal, and my processing of even healthy foods wasn't normal-I could gain weight on next to nothing.

If I had a normal metabolism, then, sure- correction days would've helped. What Hcg has done for me is make me NORMAL - now I get to learn to live like it.

That's how I KNOW the resetting thing worked for me. I can do what I could never do before. I can watch what I eat and stay in a range. I can eat way more than I used to and not gain. My body feels different.

So whether or not someone can do a successful correction day without previously doing hcg would mean to me they were "normal" without it. I was not.

[RedsSkinnyJeans]

excellent thoughts - all. will add more tomorrow. Wrist bandage, uber-pain and had some hefty pain medication tonight. This place is so incredibly helpful. so grateful.

[LilacBruze]

Everyone, thank you SO much! I know Red started this thread but as you can see it has set some serious thoughts in motion for me. I DO NOT WANT TO FAIL. IT IS NOT AN OPTION. This is where everything comes from - my questions, my stubbornness in staying with P2 for so long, everything.

I guess in some odd way, diabetes has educated me a little more as to what my body can and cannot handle. I remember when I first joined LCF and was doing Atkins and was posting on the Atkins board, I was SO proud that I had a treat of Dreamfields pasta for dinner one night: no sugar added pasta sauce, meatballs with no breadcrumbs, etc. I weighed out everything exactly. On paper I consumed about 7 net carbs. I thought I did really well. Then I took my blood sugar 2 hours later and was HORRIFIED that my glucose was almost 250!

That is when the lessons began to hit home. It is not just about losing weight to me. It is not about indulging one day and doing a correction day the next. It is about treating my body right. Breaking the cycle. Living.

Thanks for putting up with me!

[julieboolie]

Amen to all your posts!! So great to be surrounded by you all!!

We're all here b/c we've struggled w/ our weight. Maintenance is much harder than losing, and we all agree that losing is REALLY hard!! 90-95% of people who lose weight regain it. Sad, but true.

I've maintained my 100lb weight loss over the past 8 years through overall lifestyle change. I am a general low carber. I allow occasional treats, but then go back to my "normal" which is LC to maintain.

This recent re-gain I had was completely earned. After many months of calorie restricting and sacrifice I felt like a girl on a mission. I was basically out of town or celebrating for over a month. No time to CD and regain control. So, what I learned is that complete gluttony will make me re-gain.

But, along the way there have been many victories and I do believe with diligence (not doing week long indulgences, weighing regularly, exercising) I can maintain it. I'm the smallest I've ever been. I never had a good metabolism as a kid, youth or young adult. It's always been a fight for me. I can tell w. this recent year of weight loss, that I have the potential to be and stay smaller. I just need some normal life to practice. I think we can do it!

The fact that you're worried about it, means that you will stay diligent and be on top of it. I think you'll be in those size 8's for years to come!!