How to determine your weight goal
Hi Heather, Over the last year I’ve lost the most weight I’ve ever lost (50lbs) through gradual lifestyle and habit change. I am mindful of calories and track them at the end of the day, but I do not have a calorie goal that I work to. I have found that the more flexible I am with myself and less restrictive, the more ‘normal’ I eat naturally. I find if I have a specific calorie goal, I will focus on it all day and it flares up my lower brain and I will rebel. I will also ignore signs from my body and get frustrated if my body is not doing exactly what I think it should be doing (I.e. being more or less hungry than I think it should be). Instead, I focus on my food habits and remain interested at where the day has taken me calorie-wise. I am losing, on average, about 4 pounds a month and I am also quite active; I play netball once a week and run or do HIIT 5 times a week- not for weight loss but for the mental health benefits and energy it gives me. I would like to continue to eat and live my life in this way. As a side note, I’m also breastfeeding still but I do not count that in my calories as it fluctuates so much and I have no idea what it would convert to in calories. My question is that I often see people have a weight number goal in mind or know how much more they want to lose, but I feel a bit lost as to where I should be aiming for. I had a goal of a healthy BMI, which I am about 2lbs away from. Ideally, I would like to keep my way of eating/living that I’m doing now and my body naturally plateau where I can maintain that weight, or is that wishful thinking? Do I need to actively plan where I want to be or the range I want to be in? How do people know where in their weight loss journey it’s time to maintain going forward? Before this I’ve always been overweight most of my life, crash dieting, not being able to keep up with the restrictive program then gaining it back so I’ve never got to the point of knowing what weight I could live my life at. Hope this doesn’t sound silly! Thank you for all you do and all your content, it’s incredible. Dee
hungry during the night
Hi Heather, during the day I eat frequent meals and snacks and don't really ever let myself get hungry. That seems to be a strategy that works well for me in that it prevents crazy cravings and overeating when I'm too hungry. I have noticed lately that I often notice feelings of hunger in the middle of the night when I wake up for a quick pee or for whatever other reason. It's manageable in that I don't get up to then eat something, but I have to admit I don't love the feeling of then trying to fall back asleep hungry. I'd also rather not get up and start snacking since I think it would wake me up more and I really ideally want to get back to sleep as soon as possible again. Any suggestions on how to prevent night hunger? Some background info.... I have lost a total of 23 lbs since the beginning of the year. Since earlier this summer, I actively switched my settings in Lose It to maintenance and am following an abundance approach where I mostly stick to maintenance and eat less when I feel like it won't bother me to eat less. It's working well and I am happy about the current rate of continued weight loss of 1lb to 1.5 lbs a month. I am still a bit overweight (178 pounds at 5 feet 7 inches) and plan to keep going like this for the foreseeable future. My maintenance calories are just under 2200 a day and walk about 10,000 steps a day. I have actively been working to lower my cholesterol and am tracking my macros. I eat meat/fish for the most part only once a day and the rest of the day I try to stick to stick to mostly vegan (with the exception of 0% Greek yogurt and egg whites). Once in a while I'll have some cold cuts and about once, maybe twice a week, I have a bigger meal out (like pizza, hamburger, etc). On average I am at about 14-16grams of saturated fat, 30-35grams of fiber, and 90-110grams of protein per day. Any suggestions to prevent these night hungers? Thanks for all that you do!! Listening to your podcast has really helped to change my mindset around weight loss and maintenance!!
Having Trouble With Dessert
Hi Heather! I've been a podcast premium member for a while now and I really love it. I listen to your podcast all the time and I agree with everything that you put out there. I have about 100 pounds to lose, I've lost almost 15 pounds so far - which, sadly enough, I wasn't able to do for a long time. I feel like this time will be different, but I've encountered a problem. My main issue was binge eating, and it still is something I struggle with - but making all my favorite "binge" foods at home and in a way that I like it and that's lower in calories has been super helpful. I cut out snacking and make large enough portions for breakfast, lunch and dinner - and I've been trying to fit in a treat every day to make the process more sustainable. I don't really have a problem overeating breakfast, lunch, or dinner - especially when I keep myself busy. But when I have dessert, I always want to get another bowl. I tried making a healthy dessert like Greek yogurt with fruit but I just didn't like it that much. A part of me said maybe I should give up the ice cream, etc. and wait a few weeks - reset my palate and move more towards fruit for dessert? But that might be my lower brain and I don't know if it's sustainable. A part of me got from Karolina's series that maybe I should keep eating this daily, and it won't be as tempting to overheat, but it's been almost 2 weeks now and I'm still struggling with this. It's been really hard. Part of me wants to just cut out dessert because it's really causing issues for me, but I don't know if I could stay away from dessert forever. I tend to want to dissociate while I'm having these treats and it feels like an unsatisfying binge. I'm leaning towards giving up these hyper palatable foods and making healthier desserts that don't tempt me to binge. Any ideas? What do you do for dessert? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Strength Training Once a Week
Hello! I already take a walk in the evening most days and working on a calorie deficit, but I keep hearing about the many benefits of strength training! If I were to use dumbbells at home once a week for an hour long full body workout would that benefit me at all? Or would I need more days. I’m still in school and my life is pretty busy right now. Thank you.