Should I still do the maintenance challenge?
Dear Heather, thank you as always for being one of the wisest, most sensible voices in the weight loss wilderness. All the materials you've made available through the Halfsizeme community have helped me so much over the past few years. My Mom passed away at the end of November and I put on 25 lbs, which brought me very close to my highest-ever weight again, 385 lbs. By the beginning of March, I had reined in the binge and dropped 13 lbs. I rejoined the Halfsizeme community and decided to join your May maintenance challenge. If I had stayed on track, I would have been somewhere in the 350s for the challenge, which is the most weight I can carry and still be truly mobile, feel clean after showering, fit comfortably in the car, etc. My problem is that a family conflict related to Mom's death derailed me again in March and I regained everything. Now I'm back on good habits and have relost 8 lbs. But that means by the time the challenge starts, I will still be in the 370s. I feel like the priority, now that I am back on track again with healthy habits, should be to get down to the 350s (probably by July) and then try to maintain for a month--but I will miss out on the challenge then. :( What is your advice? Could I audit the challenge so I know what to do when I'm ready? Or is it worth the risk and discomfort of staying at this weight so I don't miss out on this experience of learning to maintain with the group? Thanks in advance for your advice, Heather! Very much appreciated.
Define binge?
Hello, Heather! I LOVE your podcasts and your seemingly infinite wisdom surrounding eating and weight loss (and weight maintenance!). Can you define bingeing? Sometimes I overeat (maybe 300 calories or 400 in a day) but I've often wondered if that is considered a binge? Is the definition different for different people? I'm nearly 60 years old, 5 feet and one half inch tall and weigh (as of today) 159.1 pounds. I'm staying around 1300 calories and am losing about 2-3 pounds per month. I would say I'm lightly active (walk about 1.5 miles per day most days). I haven't overeaten (binged?) as much since I've followed your paper pencil plan!
Should I make any changes going into Menopause?
I have about 10 lbs left to lose and I am entering menopause (I was on birth control until a few months ago and I think that masked the signs of peri-menopause). I am wondering if some cravings and weight fluctuations I have are due to hormonal changes. Are there any changes I should make in my weight loss program due to menopause (currently using the Lose-it app and have lost 25 lbs in the past year, I attribute much of that to finding your podcast 9 months ago). Thank you so much for all you do. I am a therapist and I am recommending your podcast to all clients trying to lose weight. Best, Jess
rewarding yourself and celebrating you achievements.... but how?
Hi Heather! First of all, thanks so much for all that you do. I am so grateful I found your podcast earlier this year. I started my latest weight loss journey in January and lost about 15 pounds by the end of March (just over a pound a week – just like I had hoped). I knew April was going to be difficult because I would be travelling for almost 4 weeks straight. It really made me nervous. I was afraid to gain weight and I was afraid to not enjoy my trip because of eating and weight worries. Thanks to your podcast I found the courage to take a maintenance break rather than “quit” for a month and just hope for the best. It made my trip so much better!! I simply changed my app settings in “Lose It” to “Maintenance” and tried to estimate my way through 4 weeks of restaurant meals without measuring anything. I was able to enjoy the trip that much more because I knew I was still following my plan (tracking my food and walking lots every day and having a daily calorie allotment). It really gave me the confidence to enjoy lots of indulgent meals and treats and hold back on just some meals and treats as needed to stay within my calories. I didn’t feel I like I was holding back much as the calorie allowance was so much higher than the previous 3 months anyways (about 600 calories more a day). Long story short, here is the amazing result…. I weighed myself this morning and am up only about half a pound after 3 weeks of maintenance and taking a deficit of about 1200 calories in the 4th week. I really almost can’t believe it worked! I feel like I now know my current maintenance calories (2200 a day) and more importantly, I now for the first time in a long time, believe I can actually lose weight and keep it off. Now here’s my question….. I feel like I never figured out how to reward myself for making progress on my goals and celebrate my achievements. I know this is something you talked about in a newsletter as being important a few month back. I just honestly don’t quite know how. I know this is so silly, but any suggestions? I feel like in order to keep motivated (to keep losing weight and to maintain in the long run) I have to build better habits around celebrating achieving what I set out to do. But how? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Best, Sabrina