The scale was up two pounds last Saturday. I have still lost over 13 lbs, but that hit
like a bowling ball. I was livid. HOW can this be? I have increased my exercise. On the Weight Watchers Active Link I log
between 9-14 points EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I have increased my protein by 9 grams a day. What gives?
So, I asked some friends, and group nutritionists and the
answers I got were not the ones I expected.
I am going to condense the finding in this highly glamorous blog.
1. Take a look at your medication. Then look again. I have been on Metformin for years to manage
some of my PCOS symptoms. Turns out
Metformin can cause a disruption in the T3 to T4 (Thyroid gland)
production. This can throw off your best
efforts to lose weight. I will bet you
didn't know that. It can help people
lose weight initially, but in the long run, it may cause you to plateau or
stagnate. Some birth control medication will thwart weight loss and cause weight gain.
Lesson: Make your doctor sit down and LISTEN to you. Bring in ALL your medication including
supplements and have your doctor go over the side effects. Make sure you have a written list of symptoms
you are experiencing. If they are
uncomfortable, or do not know the consequences of the drugs you are taking on
your weight loss then find a doctor that does.
And do NOT leave the office until they send a referral.
2. You are not eating enough protein. Atkins and South Beach
both promote high protein no sugar, no grain diets. They are a little bit right. Protein cannot be stored as fat. (Did the light bulb go off? It did with me). I added a scoop of protein powder to my
coffee in the morning and suddenly the scale is moving again.
Lesson: Lean meats are good.
Vegetables are great. Fruit is
delicious. Brown rice, sweet potatoes, and
whole wheat fiber bread are fine. Our
brains work better if they have carbohydrates in moderation to work with.
3. You will not lose a ton of weight running. Running uses protein/muscle AND
carbohydrates/ calories. Your body has
to repair from running, so it will take the good stuff with it. Believe it or not, walking fast for a long
time is a lot better for straight up calorie burning than other high intensity
activities. Running is good for
improving muscle tone, heart and lung muscles, and endurance. You need to hit that target heart range and
keep it there for at least 45 minutes.
Going over the target zone won't burn fat.
Lesson: Walk a few days a week, do yoga, weight lifting, and
run a few days a week. Keep the activity
changing so your muscles don't get used to one single activity. Find you target heart range and stay there to
burn the most fat and carbohydrates.
4. Dairy isn't the devil.
Okay, so we aren't baby cows. We
probably don't need the extra calories that slugging down moo juice
provides. However, it is loaded with
calcium. And in the protein infused dark
chocolate organic milk is super handy if you are finishing at the gym and don't
want to carry a turkey sandwich to go.
Most of the protein milk is lactose free, so your tummy will thank
you. I also love organic Greek yogurt,
and lactose free cottage cheese.
Lesson: Organic, fat free Lactose free milk is a great high protein
way to fuel up without carb loading.
5. Calories are not created equal. Sugar calories are easily stored by the
body. They sneak their way into white
flour, popcorn, chips, white rice, sugar, "regular" Russet potatoes, and
artificial sweeteners. The body loves
these and will use them to enlarge fat cells. Or, if you go for a walk after
eating a bag of M&M's the calories from the candy will be used first, not the
weight you have been trying to lose. The
body is very efficient at storage. The
easily obtained calories will be used before the reserves. Protein based calories are not able to be
absorbed by the body and they will make their way through the digestive track
fairly quickly.
Lesson: Balance protein with vegetables. Hummus and vegetables, or Granny Smith Apples
with PB2 (powdered peanut butter that is 90% Fat Free), or celery and fat free
cottage cheese are great ways to fuel up with the stuff that will force your
body to pull from it's fat storage. Make
your body use the fat cells. Don't eat
Macaroni and cheese with a side of bread.
6. About eating the calories you just worked off… Depends on how you worked them off. Did you run a few miles? Then eat back 40% of those calories with
protein, fruit, or vegetables. Did you
go for a long walk? Then there is no
need to eat more. Those calories came
directly off your hips, butt, and boobs (okay, maybe that is where I lose the
most weight). The low intensity
activities like yoga, and walking are very efficient at helping you drop
weight. Do those at least three days a
week for at least an hour total per day.
I break mine up over lunch and then an after dinner session. However, if you are weight lifting, running,
roller derby, or playing basketball, then you are going to need to refuel, or
your body will think you are trying to starve it.
Lesson: Not understanding how your body uses fuel for each activity
will lead you straight to a plateau or worse, weight gain. Know your body, and your activities and eat
appropriately.
7. You can't guess the calorie count of food. I use My Fitness Pal, as it is the only
option for my phone. I have a Windows
phone and cannot use Android apps. Eating
out last week on a date with my husband, I learned that a Red Robin California
Chicken Burger has over the entire daily allotment of calories. If I didn't have the app, there is NO way I
would have guessed it was SO bad for you.
I thought it was "healthy."
Tracking your food helps you have a plan for what you eat, and give you
an idea what it is going to take to either maintain or lose weight. If you have Android and are part of Weight
Watchers, I recommend that you use the tracking system. It is much better than MFP as I have used
both in the past.
Lesson: Just because it's chicken doesn't make it
healthy. Get an application for your
phone and use it every day.
8. You go to bed hungry. If you have eaten all your calories for the day and you are still hungry, then eat a small snack. I like rice cakes, raw almonds, or a slice of low-fat Swiss cheese. If you go to bed hungry, you will not sleep well. No sleep means the next day you are more likely to make poor eating choices. It is a cycle you can avoid just by having a small snack. I advise having 50 calories at the end of the day to put toward a snack. I eat five small meals a day to ensure I don't get too hungry and overeat.
Lesson: Eat the snack. Sleep better.
9. You are not sleeping enough. New parents aside, most of us make choices that land us in bed late and up early. It is best to make sure that you have the television, phone, and computer screen off for at least an hour before going to bed. That way we have a high quality of sleep. Don't drink a lot of water before you go to bed. Silence your cell phones and land lines. Do whatever it takes to protect your bed time. We all need at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. Otherwise, our bodies go into "flight or fight" mode and try to store all the calories we consume. If you don't get enough sleep, you have a lot less power over the cupcakes at work.
Lesson: Go to sleep so the next day you are prepared to make good eating choices.
10. You give yourself 20% more credit for exercise than you did. Cover the screen on the exercise machine with a smiley face. It is worthless. Use a heart rate monitor with a chest strap to get as close to perfect results as possible. If you always go with the number on the machine screen, which doesn't take in to account your weight, height, age, and heart rate, you absolutely will not get an accurate number. It will always give you a higher calorie burn number than what you did. If you allow the number on the screen to dictate how many calories you intake if you have just run, you could be overshooting your goal! All the calories add up. Make sure that you get an accurate read on your work out. The calorie tracker applications will also give you a higher number. Go with a heart rate monitor and get an accurate read. Or if the tracker isn't in budget, use the application on your phone but take account it could be off by as much as 10%.
Lesson: The best bet is to invest in a heart rate monitor.
Copyright January 27, 2015. This blog, and all posts therein are property of H.Jennings. So do NOT translate, spin, or otherwise steal my stuff. I work really hard to come up with funny, interesting and relative topics to write about. Don't even think about violating US copyright laws. I can see your IP addresses from other countries. Don't think I don't know what you are doing. Every single time I report you. I hope you are found.
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