Day108: Gain to Lose

HAHAHAHA, so true!

It’s been 108 days.  I have stayed at the same weight loss total of 22 pounds for the last 3-4 weeks.  During that time I have fluctuated by a couple of pounds.  I gained a little and lost a little, and then repeated.  I gained a little around my birthday last week, and am losing a little this week.  It just seems to be in a constant state of fluctuation for the past couple of weeks.  [I’m sure that has nothing to do with the delicious birthday cupcakes my friend Michele made!] 

It’s tough to keep fighting the battle and staying at 1200 calories when you don’t see much of a change.  So I went to the web [like most smart people do] and googled “long term dieting.”  After a few articles, I found one [at fitnessblackbook.com]  that was talking about taking “strategic breaks” during long term fat loss to boost your metabolism.  It was really interesting!  No, it’s not saying to eat a whole chocolate cake right before bedtime each night. [I wish!  Wouldn’t that be awesome to have a diet that told you to eat chocolate cake every night…along with your other food of course.  Who wants to eat JUST chocolate cake.  Ok, stupid question.] 

Here is the run down. 

1.       When you want to lose weight, you cut calorie intake and usually increase calorie expenditure [exercise].

2.       Your body responds to this cut by gradually lowering your metabolism to reserve energy for basic bodily functions.

3.       When your metabolism slows down over time, you don’t need as much calories to maintain your current weight. 

4.       You end up having to either exercise MORE or eat even LESS to maintain fat loss. [Yikes!]

So the idea is to change your caloric intake to “maintenance level”.  This means figuring out how many calories your body needs to maintain its current weight.   Men can use this calculator.  Women can use this one.  Or you can go to the awesome My Fitness Pal Website and use their wonderful features.  You may gain a few pounds while your body adjusts, but they will come off easily when you go back down.

I am changing mine from losing 2 pounds per week, to 1 pound per week.  This ups my calorie intake by 380 calories!  [This for some reason makes me very happy!]  I think I will keep this for 2 weeks and then switch it back and see if I get a jump start. 

109 days is a long time to have to be very cautious about my very limited food intake.  I will be equally cautious, but I will also enjoy my extra 380 caloriesJ.

Wish me luck!