TL;DR - Hit a plateau in weight loss and need some guidance on how to move forward.
BACKSTORY
I am obese and trying to get my life together. I have been struggling with weight problems for a very long time. At age 18 I worked out so much I finally made it to a size 6. That's the smallest I have ever been and it was alot of work. Like 3+ hours of gym, 4-5x per week.
The last time I lost a significant amount of weight was 2016. I had dental surgery and was only able to eat eggs, yogurt, juice and mashed potatoes for 5 weeks. I lost about 15 lbs from that. Once I saw that weight loss I started to actually try. I continued eating potatoes and pork chops for dinner, eggs and stuff for breakfast. No bread, no pasta. The occasional candy at the movies. I did not feel like I was depriving myself. I was also doing walking/running workouts. I eventually went from 223 to 183 at my lowest. This was from May to August 2016.
Then as it happens life and its problems come through and you slip. Sadly I am not very resilient to unexpected trauma and I stayed locked inside eating for maybe 5 months after that. I eventually settled at 215 as my resting weight in June 2017. I started going outside and back to walking and running but I developed a pizza, burger and candy habit. I also developed PTSD and social anxiety from being attacked while walking outside. At my heaviest in December 2018, I was 235. I eventually lost some of that and came to a resting weight of 220. I have been hanging out there back and forth a few lbs since 2019. In September 2019, I hire a therapist to help me with ADHD, PTSD and just generally to be a functional member of society.
ENTER 2020
My 2 grandparents die at the start of the year. I go home for their funerals and shoot up to 230 again. Back in my city and settle at 220 as expected when returning to my routine. I have a habit of a couple nights per week eating 2 snickers, 1 bag of skittles and a pack of cheese puffs. I would always try to quit and then just buy them at night anyway like a junkie. I never kept snacks or chips in my house, just always going each night to get my fix. Even as late as midnight. I felt like someone you would see on Intervention. I was very ashamed of myself but could not seem to stop. I would try to eat only one of the items but always ended up eating all of them like a compulsion. So clearly I have some sort of BED. In my quest to get healthy I do a hydrostatic weight test /body composition thing. I have 40% body fat, lean body weight 132 lbs and fat weight 88 lbs. My goal weight is 140 lbs but I am not sure if that is possible based on those numbers.
Then Covid 19 hits. Unlike others, I have felt the most relaxed and stress free since being in quarantine. For the first time in a long time I can say I felt some sense of peace. I work from home and have done so for about 7 years. Nothing in my routine has changed except that I shop in the daytime rather than 10 pm at night. But because everyone is locked down there is no pressure on me to go out and work on my social anxiety and I decide to use this time to work on something else that has been bothering me and held me back from doing things for years.
On April 4, I have my goodbye meal of Chipotle and quit everything else cold turkey. I start the Keto diet. Very strict. Rarely going above the 20gs carbs. On the days I did go over, it was because I snacked on some grapes or a watermelon. I never drank sodas before and I always cooked my own food so this was not a change. I do not consume caffeine. I cut out chips, candy, any and all added sugars, any food that I did not make myself. For 2 weeks I have carb and sugar nightmares/cravings but I don't give in. I just drink water or go to sleep.
I bought a food scale. I weigh every single thing I put into my mouth. I keep a detailed log of all my meals in MyFitnessPal. I have not had any cheat meals. The other foods I had that I did not make from scratch was Birch Blenders Chocolate Keto pancake on Sundays because I wanted to practice going to bunch when we reopen. At this point, I am trying to eat 1200 calories or so. Its a struggle at first without things like rice but eventually I make it. In 2 weeks I lose 10lbs to 210. I am very happy, but know that its probably just water weight and not fat loss. Then things start to bounce around for the next 4 weeks. Up 2lbs, down 4 lbs, down 1lb, up 3 lbs. So here I am, stuck at 210 for about 4 weeks and I don't know what to do.
I do more research. It says I should have my a Calorie Goal of 1488 per day and 94gram of protein. I have started to hit the 94g of protein but it's hard for me to hit 1488Cals. I at least make it to 1200 on a daily basis. My Samsung Fit says to get my goal weight I have to eat 1188cals and burn an additional 500 through exercise. I know that below 1200 is bad for women so I always try to hit that amount. I also workout. I am doing C25K and workouts on YT. Sometimes when I am feeling too down to go outside or do my workout, I still try to get my 7500 steps. I put on a show on Netflix, and I have been walking nightly in my living room while the show plays.
Should I give up Keto and try something else? One Keto thing that I am really struggling with is making all my meals fresh. I precook all the meats and such for lunches and dinner, but I still have to saute veggies or chop stuff up. So I am in the kitchen cooking 2-3 times per day. Because I have ADHD every time I break for longer than 10-15 mins it takes about 45 mins for me to be able to start working again and then I will hyperfocus and work for 4-5 hours because I know what breaking means. So lunch is very difficult for me. If I have lunch its often at 3 or 4 pm and then I don't want dinner, but I need to hit my calories and protein. I also don't want to eat after 8pm. Its hard for me to pack in all the calories I need in just 2 meals (breakfast and dinner) while having a ready made snack for lunch. I take Concerta for the ADHD which affects my appetite.
While being on Keto I have found I miss things like baby carrots and watermelons. I currently have .5-1oz of a berry fruit as a treat occasionally. I also miss the ease of making rice and chicken and just heating that up each day for dinner.
Things I currently eat:
Breakfast is usually 2 Eggs, 2 Slices Bacon, 1 Oz Mushrooms, 1 Cup Spinach, 14g Shredded Cheese, occasionally 8oz Ripple Almond Milk (if I need the Calories)
Lunch is a salad/wrap of some sort. 2 Cups Romaine, 1 Oz Grape Tomatoes, 2 Oz Cucumbers, 1 OZ Feta Cheese, 1-2 Hard Boiled Eggs, 50-60g Avocado, if I need more cals I add 1/2tb of Olive Oil to the avocado to make a dressing. For protein I have 4oz of chicken thighs or a can of Tuna.
Dinner. 4OZ of some protein (chicken, pork, beef). On Wednesdays and Sundays I have 4-6 oz of Salmon. I have this with either sauted kale, spinach or cauliflower rice.
For snacks/if I am missing calories I have Baby Bell Cheese, Target String Cheese or .5-1 oz of Almonds.
Is there a way to combine breakfast and lunch? Are there casseroles I can make or maybe some soups? All the soups I know use below ground veggies. I live in America now but I was raised in the Caribbean. I use salt and spices in my food but I checked and they don't have calories or added sugars.
Appliances I have: Food Scale, Ninja Chef, Food Processor, Instant Pot. Lots of pots and pans and I know my way around the kitchen.
I would like advice if possible. The reasons I am feeling so terrible, is because I finally have the chance to work on myself in a decent head space. I am trying my best and I feel like a failure. I see others losing so much weight in lock down and I know I can do better. I have done better. I just need some guidance and a better path. I can probably upload some photos of myself tomorrow if a body composition shot is needed.
Thanks for reading.
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