PSMF ~~ * JUNE THREAD * ~~

[Lioness0455]

Morning everyone,
I did much better overall yesterday. Getting in the greater majority of my protein before dinner helped a whole lot.

It's my current understanding that "Free Meals" are more psychological in nature. Rather than physical. They don't do a whole heck of a lot to bump up leptin levels, which is what refeeds are all about. So, as a category 3, you don't really "HAVE" to take a free meal until you "need" one. They are a tool to help us STAY on plan.

Now...Even though the chart in the book says 2 free meals per week, what keeps getting said by Lyle on his website is 1 or 2.

I've read about lots of Category 3's just doing them as social situations come up, without any weekly pattern. Category 3's still have LOTS of leptin, so they can get away with much more than the rest of us can.

One of the interesting things about myself that I've been noticing this past week is this feeling of a "need to rush" to get in all I want to eat during this 2 week break. I think that feeling is seriously interfering. And could be causing a lot of the carb cravings that I didn't have last time.

Last time I took a 30 day break and it was easier to get in what I've been missing during that time. So if this were "really" maintenance, I don't think I'd be having the kinds of trouble I've been having this past week. I think it's been the realization that I'm looking forward towards another 6 weeks of deprivation, rather than "enjoying" my break, that is causing my current woes.
If I had more control over what my free meals consist of, I think I wouldn't be stumbling as hard right now.

Yesterday went really well until later on in the afternoon when the vertigo got to be too much for me, so I went to bed early. Kept me from snacking after dinner though lol. For the first time in a looooong time I'm actually slightly dehydrated this morning, so the scale says my body fat went sky high over night. Hardly. Cuz my jeans are still baggy and my extra large tee shirts are still hanging on me.

A good lesson in not focusing too awfully much on what the scale is saying. As my clothes are a much better indicator of what's happening. I noticed yesterday that I've lost A LOT of fat from under my arms (just above where my bra sits, I don't know what you call that area). Not a place where I would normally use a measuring tape on. So I'm beginning to realize a tape measure isn't all it's cracked up to be either. I'm losing in places I'm NOT measuring lol.

Diet break stats:
Day 1: 171
Day 2: 172
Day 3: 174.4
Day 4: 173
Day 5: 174
Day 6: 175.4
Day 7: 176.4
Day 8: 175

Today marks one week at maintenance, and I'm only 4 pounds up. Since my average glycogen/water retention is 6 to 8 pounds, it's "looking" like I lost more fat than the scale was willing to say. I'll know better after the first week of my next diet round. That week will be even more telling, cuz of the depletion that occurs that first week.

[Lioness0455]

Sorry for the double post. It told me this morning that the server was too busy and to try again later. Not wanting to lose any of that I resent it just now. Ah well. Next time I'll copy it and check to see.

[tnleigh]

Vickie - way to go with recognizing those cravings and figuring out how to work with them.

I got all my protein in yesterday and felt much better today. I've found that having a large protein shake late in the day really helps keep me from craving things I'm better off not having.

I'm going to a cookout tomorrow night, so it'll serve as my free meal. I'm also taking RFL home with me to read over the weekend. I've read bits and pieces of the book but there's so much info there that I need to give it a thorough reading - and then another

[3Diva]

Hey ho... Late Friday check in.

Hello Gibster, nil, Vickie, and some new faces!

Sorry, I've been so scarce, my mom's been hospitalized with a serious pneumonia and possible cardiac and liver complications! so between my 2 little ones and living at the hospital, I haven't had time to do anything extra. I have, however, kept to my diet... Why, I can't tell you except mostly that I've been too sick to my stomach to eat much, so forcing myself to eat little bits of protein throughout the day hasn't been that hard... and I guess it's one thing that's not spinning totally out of control. So with that aside...

My first PMSF day was 3/31 (I believe), but I was TOM and I didn't count my weight or measurements until 4/4.

So without further ado...

Measurements: 9wk ago NOW
(170.8) (153.8)

Neck x 13.25
Band Size 37.125 35.25
(under arms)
Bust 40.75 38
(highest crest)
Ribcage 34 31.25
(under bust)

NW 35.25 32
BB 39.825 36.875
Hips 43 39

Wrist (R) 6.5 6.5
Forearm x 10
(R below elbow)
UpperArm
(cut in delt/bicep)
13.5 12.5
Thigh (R) 24.75 22.5
(high)
Thigh (R) x 16.25
(just above knee)
Calf x 13.5

[3Diva]

PArt 2.

I have an Accumeasure Digital Body Fat Caliper that I got for a steal on Ebay. However, I'm finding it very frustrating. I'm very unsure of the exact technique of skinfold measurement, so I'm getting wildly different results! Anywhere from 25.7 to 35% body fat.

Aye yi yi. I know it's me, because I can't tell how much or how deep to pinch.

I'm guessing I should probably take a diet break, but I'm really scared I"m going to massively screwup. I'm going to go back and read Vickie's notes and try to decide what to do tomorrow. Any help is appreciated!

[gibster]

Good Morning, ladies! Well, I seem to be losing steadily, little by little, which amazes me since I'm loading up with drugs for this sinus infection. Not complaining - LOL.

Diva - Welcome back. Hope your mother is doing better. Family illness/hospitalizaton can play havoc with your eating. Good for you for keeping it under control. Great progress!

I think I'm feeling well enough to do my Callanetics today. I've missed 2 sessions this week. Grrrrrr...


Start 236.8
Week 1 234.6
Week 2 230.4
Week 3 229.6
Week 4 228.4
Week 5 227.8

Day 36 227.2

[gibster]

oops

[tnleigh]

Diva - KUTGW, so sorry to hear about your mom, but way to go with staying on your diet. Your results are fabulous.

I'm still making my way through RFL. There's just so much info there! If nothing else, I have definitely upped my protein substantially this week which has had a noticeable effect on my appetite. Even when I'm making not so great food choices, I'm eating much less of the bad stuff because the protein shakes are keeping me full.

I will be interested to see if my scale shows a loss when I weigh-in on Monday. This week was TOM on top of trying to incorporate more protein and eat within a five hour window. *sigh* I don't know why I always have to try to do so many things at once.

Will have a 30 minute treadmill workout this afternoon and a couple of minutes on the rebounder.

[gibster]

Good Morning, all. More nasty weather here last night. I was out with my sister just a few miles from home, when we heard there was a tornado down in my town. But when I got home a few hours later, no damage that I could see in my neighborhood.

I did an hour of Callanetics Evolution yesterday - that's a real workout! This morning I will have to go in to the office for a few hours. I hope everyone else has a great day!

Start 236.8
Week 1 234.6
Week 2 230.4
Week 3 229.6
Week 4 228.4
Week 5 227.8

Day 36 227.2
Day 37 226.4

[Lioness0455]

Yesterday I decided that I "really" NEEDED to re-read my RFL Handbook, as well as the Flexible diet book, (I bought the packaged deal), cuz it feels like I'm just stumbling in the dark here.

On my last diet break, I was able to blame a lot of stuff on the fact that my in laws were home during most of it. But this time...I can't do that, so I'm STUCK with facing myself. LOL.

Course--I've learned a whole lot. Like how you really have to be willing and able to be AWARE. What am I doing...and WHY am I doing it???

You know...the first time I took a break I was very TERRIFIED. I think having a lot of success with low carb tends to do that to us. We fall into this "mindset" that carbs are BAD. But on the other hand, being "freed" from all of that, and learning that fat/weight loss really IS about our total caloric intake, our energy expenditure, has basically caused me to go completely to the other extreme!!!

Now I realize that all of that is part of the learning process, but it can be very scary, until you learn how to relax a bit about it all. Cuz the thing is, you can only do "so much" damage in a 2 week period. And I'm talking Damage as far as fat regain is concerned. Plus, you don't HAVE to "stay" on a break if it's causing you SERIOUS relapse.

Kindda reminds me of when one of my sons wanted very badly to learn how to swim, but he was very, very afraid of water. Used to beat me up when he was a baby and I would try to bathe him. I'm talking "that" scared of water.

I had him in the shallow end of the pool when he was about 6 or so, and he had grown "safe" with that level of water. But was unwilling to put his face in the water. Especially since dad had scared the living bejesus out of him by throwing him in..once. At that time, he had sunk to the bottom of the pool, and stayed there, so "I" had pulled him up, outta the water.

This time, he asked me what he was supposed to do when he ran out of air and couldn't breathe. We were talking about the shallow end of the pool, where the water was not very deep. Certainly not over his head. Maybe up to his chest. So I just simply said, "You stand up."

He looked at me, and it all finally registered. At which point, he climbed out of the water, ran over to the DEEP END, and jumped in.

Sometimes...some of these things are just "duh" moments that we haven't quite gotten a good grip on yet. Just because we START a "diet break" that doesn't mean we HAVE to finish it. We can call it quits any time that we need to. If it's scaring us, or we're out of control that badly.

Granted, the PURPOSE of going on that break is to up-regulate everything so that our future attempts at fat loss will be faster and more successful. So the body gets a rest from it all. But true success is a very individual thing, and we have to do what is best for us, regarding where we're at...at the moment.

Lyle DOES say there are a select few who do better without refeeds, free meals, and even diet breaks. It all depends on your own, personal metabolic and emotional eating issues.

I think if you go INTO the diet break "knowing" and "expecting" to gain back, say...up to 10 pounds, (not unheard of if you're large boned/framed -- which a 6-1/2" wrist is, that's what my wrist is too but my glycogen storage is a bit less than that since I'm only 5ft 2in), with maybe 1 or 2 pounds of that being actual fat, mentally it will be easier.

We are NOT going to gain back everything we have lost up to this point. Because to do that, we would have to "give up on dieting" completely. And I don't think any of us are going to do that.

I think where a lot of low carb folks fall down is in the glycogen storage aspect. They reach goal, and want to stay at "that" magic number, without realizing and accepting that the body is going to replenish the glycogen/water it lost during Induction. If not right at the moment of goal, then sometime in the future.

They gain back a couple of pounds right away, when they first begin to up their carb level, and THINK oh man...it's the carbs. It's this food...or that food. I can't eat that much, I'm too sensitive.

Well...it doesn't exactly work that way. And I saw this more clearly when I took my 30 day break. Especially for extreme low carbers, and category 3s who are only doing small free meals.

When you don't eat "something" consistently, the body DOWN-regulates. On Lyle's plan, we aren't eating very much fat, and we aren't eating very many carbs. So the body adjusts to that, and stops making the enzymes it needs to metabolize a lot of fat and carbs.

When we move into a diet break and/or maintenance, we start eating more fat and carbs. But there isn't the right amount of enzymes to digest all of that stuff, so the body has a great tendency to store what we're eating as either fat or glycogen, depending upon what it's having trouble with.

Now...as soon as it sees all of that stuff coming in, it "will" UP-regulate, and begin making more of those enzymes we need, but for some of us, that takes more time than for others. I think it depends on how long we've been eating at those lower levels.

Refeeds can help with the carbs, but not the fat. So I think that is what is going on with me. Especially since I came to Lyle's table from Kimkins. I'm low in fat burning enzymes. Cuz I've been eating LOW fat for a very long time now.

As the body up-regulates, you can eat more fat, more carbs, more calories, without gaining weight. So that's why things tend to stabilize within a few days, at which point you can truly dial in your maintenance calories.

So generally speaking, you probably want to diet down to around 5 pounds less than your goal, so that when you put back on the water, you're right about where you really wanna be.

Now...another thing I've learned is that the scale does NOT reflect what is really going on with body recomposition. I've gained back the expected 6 pounds of glycogen/water weight, which means I only lost about 3 or 4 pounds of fat this past diet round. Which doesn't "sound" like a whole heck of a lot.

BUT my extra large tee shirts are 'still' hanging on me, I've gone down one bra band size, and 1 underwear size from that 6 week period. So the 6 pound gain doesn't mean a whole heck or a lot. It really doesn't. I'll be gone in a single week, once I return to my diet.

Sorry to hear about your mom Diva. Hope things are better.

Diet Break Stats
(beg fat% 30.8%):
Day 1: 171
Day 2: 172
Day 3: 174.4 29.1%
Day 4: 173
Day 5: 174
Day 6: 175.4 29.2%
Day 7: 176.4 29.3%
Day 8: 175

Day 9: 176.4
Day 10: 178.2
Day 11: 177.4

My plan is to watch my calories a little bit better this week. Haven't been doing that, because I didn't want to go to all of the hassle of figuring out my recipes, when I'm going to be moving back into psmf this next week. So this diet break has been a bit haphazzard.

I did FINALLY figure out what my craving for nuts is all about. SALT!!! I had some un-salted peanuts in the cupboard, and when I was snacking on them last night, my body kept saying -- what the crapola is this? Where's the salt?

[gibster]

Good Morning, all.

I can't believe I forgot to step on the scale this morning! I was rushing around because I was up half the night because of a bad storm (again), and I got up later than usual. Suddenly, I'm all dressed and ready to leave, when I remembered the darn scale. I guess it's not a big tragedy.

Vickie - Thanks for that wonderful post. You know we'll be watching you like a hawk once you start psmf-ing again.

[tnleigh]

Good morning everybody!

I'm still making my way through RFL. There's just so much info that I keep finding myself going back and rereading.

Last week I incorporate a couple of Lyle's concepts, but until I've really absorbed the book I'm afraid I'm not ready to go full out. Basically last week I upped my protein to make sure that I was getting in about 100 grams a day. That was definitely a positive change. I also had 2 free meals that turned out not so positive. I am going to save the free meals until I'm 100 percent on program, otherwise it's just a bunch of extra calories I'm adding in.

Still, even with TOM last week, I weighed in a pound less this morning which is a definite victory for me.

[t0r1]

Good morning ladies! I am restarting today and will continue for 11 days. I bought some pants over the weekend that I hope to fit into for my reunion on the 20th!

Diva - I hope your mother is doing better!

Linda - How are you liking Callanetics? I have been meaning to get back to doing my video. Have you noticed a difference yet?

My weight today is 139. Time for lunch...I'll post my food later!

[gibster]

Tori - I actually didn't take my measurements at the start, so I don't know if there's been any improvement. My thought is that I'm carrying around way too many extra pounds right now for any toning to be evident. I figure I'll be able to tell by how my clothes fit. But, that being said, I really like Callanetics. I tried the Evolution version on Saturday, and I recognized some of the back and stomach exercises as almost the same as the ones my PT gave me for my lower back (osteoarthritis - ouch!). So, I'm more enthused now, because I usually "forget" to do my PT exercises - until the pain flairs up again. This will keep me at it.

[amiga74]

Originally Posted by Lioness0455

Now...Even though the chart in the book says 2 free meals per week, what keeps getting said by Lyle on his website is 1 or 2.

the 2 free meals per week is a typo. Really it is 1 free meal.

best of luck all you pmsfers!

[stormwolf]

Table 1: Frequency and duration of free meals, refeeds and full diet breaks (reformatted slightly)

Cat 1 gets a full diet break every 11-12 days , but no free meals and they refeed 2-3 full days at the end

Cat 2 gets a full diet break every 2-6 weeks, 1 free meal a week and they refeed for 5 hours once/week

Cat 3 gets a full diet break every 6-12 weeks, 2 free meals a week, but no refeeds.

(p 72 of RFL Handbook 2008 ed)

ETA: for category 2&3, as has been said before, you don't *have* to take both free meals- they are psychological, not physiological.

[gibster]

Yes, it's 2 free meals per week. Lyle talks about not using them on consecutive days - and not 'getting cute' by having them on Friday and Saturday of week 1, then Sunday and Monday of week 2. LOL

[t0r1]

Today has been a success! I didn't snack at all and didn't feel hungry. Food for today was:

1/2 greek yogurt (low carb, high protein), 1/2 ff cottage cheese, protein powder and flax seed blended in the food processor. A yummy treat for breakfast!

1 can of tuna w/ egg white, low fat cheese and salsa w/ broccoli

5 oz. chicken breast w/ rommaine, walden farms dressing (no cal, carbs or fat) and broccoli

About 1/4 c. yogurt and cottage cheese concoction leftover from Sunday morning for breakfast

One day down 10 days to go!

[gibster]

Tori - Where do you buy Greek yogurt? I bought some years ago at an ethnic deli, but I've never seen it around here.

[muscles]

Hey guys, I've been doing PSMF for a couple weeks now and have lost 15 lbs. Fun stuff! Mind if I join in on the conversation from time to time?

Gibster, our Walmart carries the greek yogurt here

[amiga74]

sorry, my bad. i have the older version anyways.

[Hazelia]

I am starting PSMF myself this week.

Quick question, where do you purchase Walden Farms dressing? Can you get it at Wal-Mart?

[nill4me]

Hey there gang...back from my daughter's HS graduation over the weekend.
Flew to Chicago on thursday, visited with my parents, drove to Wisconsin on Saturday, went to graduation party saturday, and graduation ceremony on sunday (1 down 1 to go! LOL), got home monday night.

Essentially, I've had a mini-diet break. How can you PSMF around your mom...LOL...I don't think it is possible. I was afraid to get on the scale this morning, but was pleasantly surprised that it didn't scream at me, especially since it is also TOM!

I've got these next 4 days at home, to PSMF, and then I'm on vacation for a week, which I will be treating as a diet break as well. I'll watch what I eat however, so I don't blow back up!

Day 1: 237 (restart after NOLA fiasco)
Day 8: 225.6
Day 19: 225.8
Mini-Diet Break - 6/5 - 6/9
6/10: 227.4

I see that we have some new folks, and that is great!!

[gibster]

Good Morning, all!

Welcome back, Nill. Hope you didn't encounter any nasty weather while you were in this neck of the woods. Congrats on pretty much maintaining.

Hazella - I've found Walden Farms at my local Jewel. You may have to look at a health food store, if you can't find it at a larger chain.

I'm still sniffing and snuffling, but the worst of my cold is over. I've been so busy at work, that the days are flying by. I went to Home Depot last night and bought a new battery for my back-up sump pump. I left it in the trunk because it's way to heavy for me to lift. So I told my son about it this morning, and we talked about him installing it when he gets home today - then he promptly takes off for work without taking it out of my trunk!

Time for me to get moving. Another busy day.


Start 236.8
Week 1 234.6
Week 2 230.4
Week 3 229.6
Week 4 228.4
Week 5 227.8

Day 36 227.2
Day 37 226.4
Day 40 227.2

[nitenurse]

You can buy Walden Farms dressings from the sponsor of this site, Netrition