Maintenance vs Losing Weight - Setting Calories
I lost about 15 lbs between January and early April (a little over 1 lb per week on average), then took a month maintenance break while I was travelling in April for almost 4 weeks straight which helped me figure out my maintenance calories (about 2100/2200 calories) and learn how to actually maintain my weight for the first time in.... forever? :) Thanks again for talking about the importance of maintenance and how important it is not to just either lose weight and then hope for the best or simply have a "free for all" period while gaining parts or all back again. Listening to your approach and attitude about weight loss and maintenance has been so, so useful for me!! Anyways, my question is about approach/mindset. In an ideal world, I would like to lose another 15 lbs or so, but much, much slower and in smaller chunks. So, when I restarted taking a deficit in May after the April maintenance break, I set my calorie target to losing about 1/4 lb a week in "Lose It". I tried sticking to it for 2 weeks, but because of many invitations out, visitors, etc., I kept going over by a bit and unintentionally maintained and got very, very frustrated. More important than losing more weight is maintaining what I lost. So, to avoid getting frustrated and quitting tracking etc altogether eventually, I took a step back, set my calorie goal back to maintenance, and.... was able to either stick to maintenance or take a small deficit every week since then. This led to another 1.5 lbs lost in 6 weeks. I know it's not a lot, but it makes me super happy as it's a pace I feel I can sustain even in the summer (with many, many trips, weekends away, visitors, evenings out, etc.). So, basically, my new goal is "maintain or lose a bit" from now through mid-September which is when summer officially ends and normalcy returns here in Italy (where I live). I'd love to hear your thoughts on the strategy of using your maintenance calories basically as a maximum ceiling per week, trying to take a deficit when it doesn't feel too restrictive and otherwise following my minimums (track everything in Lose It & some movement every day). I suspect it's just lower brain chatter, but I sort of wonder if setting maintenance calories and then trying to stay under when possible will somehow be harmful in the long-run.... like.... maybe I'll start seeing being at maintenance calories as not good enough and then get frustrated with that? I think it's just my lower brain looking for a "fault in the system" of how I'm progressing while actually feeling good about it, but maybe not? It's making me a bit nervous. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks for all you do!
Happy Scale Maintenance
Hi Heather, I can’t thank you enough for your very logical and practical approach to weight loss and maintenance. You are an extremely skilled coach and your clients and podcast listeners are so fortunate to have you in our lives. Here’s my question: My maintenance range is about 4 pounds since I have a small frame. When I look at the Happy Scale log sheet, it throws me off a bit to see that arrow pointing up AND pointing down. I have an emotional reaction - unhappy when it’s up, happy when the arrow is down. I know it’s not realistic to see the flat line everyday. How can I curb my emotional response to the arrows. Thank you Heather, Jena
Ice cream binge
Hi Heather My question is about ice cream! After listening to all of your podcasts it got me thinking about myself with ice cream…. I can’t seem to have a tub in the freezer without always thinking about it until I have some, I tried delaying the time to eat some but seems to not help. Then when I do eat some I just want more and could end up eating a huge portion even to the point of not feeling well but the next day I would still eat more. What should I do about this? Should I not buy it at all? Looking forward to hearing from you and thanks for all you do!
Conquering the weekends
Hi Heather, thank you for everything you do! My question is about conquering the weekends when you're trying to lose weight. I find that I do extremely well during the week, but tend to trip on the weekends, eating excessively, eating out of plan and adding in a glass or two of wine. Come Monday, the scale has moved up. It feels like taking one step further and two steps back. Although I still manage to stick to my workouts over the weekend, I still notice a sizeable gain. Any tips that can help me be more disciplined over the weekends and continue on the downward trajectory? Alternatively, any episode you can point me to for more help? Thanks again!
Food scarcity and in-laws
Hi Heather, I have been listening to your podcast since December 2022, and I have learned SO much! I finally feel equipped to tackle weight loss with sanity, taking small steps and focusing on habit change so that I can achieve my goals without angst or bingeing! I am so proud of all of my habit change thus far, and in general it feels easy and sustainable, because my weight loss plan is perfect for me and me alone. One of my big lower brain issues revolves around food scarcity, and the paper-pencil journal has been an absolute game-changer in helping my lower brain calm down and stay quiet all day long, because I have already looked in my pantry and fridge and I have a clear plan about how I will feed and nourish my body every day. However, this food scarcity issue has been triggered hard core in the past when I visit my in-laws. We live far away, so my family stays with them for a week or more at least once a year, and we usually time our visit to coincide with a family reunion, which involves a LOT of different opinions, preferences, and spontaneous outings. I have very little control of my family's schedule during our visits, which makes my lower brain freak out since I truly don't know when our next meal will be or what it will be. Packing lots of our own snacks from home helps me calm my lower brain down, but I would love to hear if you have any more tips for how to write my paper-pencil journal each morning in this situation as well as how to generally keep my lower brain relaxed so that I do not fall into bingeing as a result of *feeling* restricted while on our visit. I logically know that I will always have enough food, but my lower brain does not know this, and when we do eat meals or even when we get home from our visit, I end up way overdoing it to help soothe the panic and fear that arises from this childhood food scarcity issue. Thank you for your advice!!