Plumfoodie's diary and ramblings

[Plumfoodie]

Thanks all, sorry I'm so late in catching up.

Re the south beach diet, I personally wouldn't say that phase 1 is very low carb. You can eat plentifully of things that are banned on very low carb diets, like all veggies apart from non-starchy ones, beans, milk/yoghurt. It's my understanding that very low carb diets restrict these things quite strictly - this is the impression I have from other minimins areas (where people are concerned that they've had an 'illegal' splash of milk in their tea for example) and friends who have done low carb diets (and had to count things like cherry tomatoes and not have more than 3 per day). That wouldn't suit me at all, but SBD phase 1 I found ok because you can have as many non-starchy veggies as you can eat as well as 2 cups of milk or yoghurt per day and servings of beans. Phase 1 is designed to kick the cravings and even out blood sugars for people who have been eating a lot of refined carbs but it's not a compulsory part of the plan and people could start with phase 2 if they wanted to.

 

[Plumfoodie]

I'm really behind on updating, I have been struggling a little bit since last week. I had a gain on Thursday, which I was expecting (as you start phasing in good carbs again your muscles rebuild their glycogen stores and associated water) but it still got me a bit down, especially as my weight has stuck at that point since then.

I'm sticking to the plan and trying not to feel anxious about whether 'not tracking calories' can work as well for me as 'tracking every single calorie' did. I know realistically that I need to give it at least a week or two to settle after I've finished the process of fully re-introducing low GI carbs and fruit (which I've almost finished now) before I can judge how it's going. After having tracked calories for so long, it feels like a loss of control and like it can't possibly work, at the moment. But again in the thinking part of my brain I know that loads and loads of people successfully lose weight this way and I can't keep tracking everything for the rest of my life so I must re-adjust and learn to eat in a way that controls my weight but is also liveable - logically there's no reason to think that the structure of the SBD won't help me do that. It's just a bit scary at the moment.

I've got two more weigh-ins before I fly to Cyprus to visit my parents; I'm not thinking at the moment that I'll reach my goal of 160 lb by then, but I've really got my fingers crossed that I will have at least seen a loss on one of those days.

(sorry if this seems a bit of a downer to anyone reading, I don't think I've struggled this much for ages. I'm not struggling to stick to my food plan, but struggling to believe that it's actually going to work. It takes me so long to lose any weight that the thought of putting any back on and having to re-lose it is kind of soul-destroying.)

 

[Mis-behave]

I think I read in the books that if you get a gain then maybe one of the items you have reintroduced isn't working for you.. and change that one and try another one.

would be interesting to see what your meal plans are, and portion size? I was going to have some brown basmati rice tonight but not sure how much.. 100g or 1/2 a cup (which is a bit more than 100g) cooked.

I must say I track everything in myfitnesspal ave about 1750 cals a day.

 

[Plumfoodie]

MB, the book does say that, but if you go onto the 'official' SBD forums (which I can see in their app on my iphone) it seems like an awful lot of people gain in the first week of phase 2. I've been having a pretty wide variety of different good carbs: multi-grain porridge, wholemeal wrap and pitta, sweet potato, quinoa, wholegrain muffin half, today some kamut pasta, I'm sure there are others but I can't remember them right now. I'm sticking to the portion sizes mentioned in the book - if I were going to have brown rice I think I'd have the 1/2 cup (cooked) mentioned. I have been doing the gradual re-introduction written in the book, ie 1 good carb and 1 fruit for the first week, now I am on day 10. In fact today is my first day of 3 good carbs so I might have a little bit of brown rice with dinner too!

I could log my SBD calories, but one of the reasons I switched to the SBD model instead of carrying on with how I was already doing low GI is that I'm around a stone above what I think my final goal weight will likely be and I wanted to get into a mindset that I could carry on into maintenance. I had gotten pretty obsessed with MFP logging and didn't want to feel like I had to continue that after I reach goal! And I guess I'd rather have a gain associated with the switch *now* rather than when I have gotten to goal as that would upset me a lot more I think. However if in a week or so I'm still sticking at the same weight (or gained ) then I will log a day or two to see how it comes out.

I currently log my food menu in the food notes part of MFP, if you want to add me you can have a peek at them. Haven't had time to keep copying them over to here as well! There are no amounts listed but I stick to what it says in the SBD books/recipes.

 

[irish molly]

Oh Plum, I can feel your frustration and disappointment despite your knowing that your system is readjusting to the carb intake. You are right to take the view that you must stick with it for now. I believe that any plan needs to be followed for a minimum of four to six weeks to see if it suits a person's lifestyle/metabolism etc.
On the calorie counting, I agree that being obsessed with it can be counter productive. IMO its useful to help with establishing correct portion sizes etc. Also, no matter what plan we follow, calorie intake needs to be less than output to effect weightloss. You're a pro at this stage so should only need mfp for checking an odd day here and there just to see you are keeping on track. I know the mfp app makes it all too easy to obsess. I too had to refrain from inputting every morsel into it!!!
Stay positive!!! You are following the phase 2 plan so all should turn out ok. Stay away from the scales!! Have faith in yourself!

 

[Mis-behave]

Your days look good! Well balanced in line with what they suggest. You should be proud you are sticking to the way it's meant to be done, I'm sure you will see a loss next time

I have added 1- 2 fruits (pears, strawberries) and 1 carb (whole grain bread) was going to have rice tonight but kids and OH ate it, so couldn't be bothered cooking more so went without. Not sure if I would count dark choc as an added carb..

I really couldn't get into the taste of ricotta or fake sugar, so still having Ww fruit yogurts - did swap my Cadbury hot choc powder for coca powder and 1tsp brown sugar,(less kcals) I tried milk and nutmeg - yuck! I did in the end just drink plain skimmed milk, but as I don't do coffee or tea my only hot drink is hot choc or hot Ribena and I need to look at this as a life change and what could I live with.. And still lose weight

 

[Plumfoodie]

Thank you ladies for the words of support and encouragement! They were a great help to me and more so today as I've had another small gain this week. My fancy scales say that it's muscle, though. I wouldn't be too surprised as my exercise was less during the phase 1 weeks, I think my session on Monday was a bit of a shock to the system.

I'm going to carry on this coming week, and then I'm off to visit my mom and stepdad in Cyprus for a week (I usually am able to eat pretty well there). If I don't think it will upset me more I may put a day or two into MFP to see what is going on but right now am not keen.

I'll formulate a plan for my return closer to the time as I'm fed up with stressing about it now.

 

[Mis-behave]

I think your menus look good and in line with the plan, I have really only started back with my kettlercise last week with only one class and one HIIT course, this week I will be doing 3 classes plus one HIIT class (high intensity interval training) on Friday so will see how that effects my losses as in the past I would STS for a few weeks or have a small gain.. Then wk 3/4 I would have a big drop..

Also my eating is not really in line with the SB plan yet! Still struggling a bit! So drop back into phase 1 for a few days then trying again..

 

[Plumfoodie]

Thanks MB. I always forget that exercise can have such a big effect (but is worth it anyway for the benefits). I'm tracking on MFP today but only after I've eaten what I would have eaten anyway and so far I'm on track so it might just be that. Also thinking back I haven't been drinking enough water every day this week and normally I have green tea every day or every other day but this week I didn't.

You are really getting stuck in with the exercise; I'm impressed! You might find that swapping brown sugar for something like Sweet Freedom (an all-natural low GI sweetener, you can buy it in Tesco etc) might help? I find if I have anything with normal sugar in it (or bread! even the good kind) makes me want to eat more than I would have otherwise.

 

[Mis-behave]

Thanks I have tried a few fake sugars and they are just yuck!! I am left with a horrid taste in my mouth! At least with brown sugar I can half the amount, cause if it was white sugar I would need 2 tsp not just one!

The spelt flour is really nice, too nice really lol my sons birthday party is coming up and he wants a banana cake so will try making it with spelt flour, don't think it will effect the cake all that much ..

 

[CaliSweden]

Hi Plum, sounds like you're doing great with SBD. It can be very frustrating when reintroducing carbs back into the diet. It's tough at first to see the initial gain, but your body will lose the weight again when it adjusts. I remember my weight gain when I quit Low carb to low GL, but it was only a short term gain. Your body will get back to fat burning in no time

 

[Plumfoodie]

Thanks Cali. You are very sensible and correct. In the last 2 days I have lost 1.9 lb of what I had gained so obviously a lot of it was water - I suspect due to the carbs plus my very heavy workout on Monday. Just hoping it lasts until my next weigh-in day, I think the curse struck again last week.

 

[Mis-behave]

That's good news

 

[Plumfoodie]

Thanks MB. I had to weigh myself a couple of times just to check that it was true, hehe.

I've gone back to tracking on MFP for a little while as when I did it became very quickly apparent what the problem I was having was with going about SBD 'freestyle' - my meals were mostly fine but the snacks (although fitting in with the SBD guidelines) were too much added up. I'm going to track for a bit until I've got a better picture of what a SBD day should really look like and then try to stop again and see what happens. Unsurprisingly at the moment the days look really identical to my plain old low GI days previously, LOL, apart from I'm now getting in two cups of milk/yoghurt per day every day which is good as calcium was always a worry of mine.

 

[Mis-behave]

That's good.. and it would make sense, judging snack sizes can be hard too

 

[CaliSweden]

Congratulations Plum on the weightloss! Woot, work it!

 

[irish molly]

Ah great news Plum. A fab loss this week. You're totally in control so Go Plum!!!

 

[Plumfoodie]

Thank you ladies. I feel I need a disclaimer that it's not an official result until Thursday, lol!

 

[Plumfoodie]

This week's loss..... -2.9 lb!!!

I'm now 0.2 lb lighter than my lightest SBD phase 1 weight, so I think this is the water weight from re-introducing low GI carbs in phase 2 coming off. (Cali, you told me to be patient and you were right! )

Although I won't reach my hoped-for initial goal of 160 before flying out on Sunday I've changed my signature to hopefully achieve it within two weeks of returning. I'm pretty pleased nonetheless especially as TOTM is fairly imminent!

 

[Plumfoodie]

Yesterday a lady at work told me I had gotten too thin! She's someone who lost quite a bit of weight herself on TFR, and she didn't say it in a sideways-complimentary way either. It was a very serious 'seriously, babe, you're too thin now - you need to stop losing'. I was really miffed, actually.

1. Surely it's not actually her business what my goals are. I could understand concern if I were exhibiting signs of an eating disorder but I'm clearly not. I have 38% body fat and a BMI that is at the very top end of the healthy range, and I'm currently a UK size 16 in most clothes (but still an 18 in some of my tops because of my tum). Because of my height, a solid 14 (and maybe a 12 in some generously cut items) is the smallest I expect to get. I am *not* a stick insect.

2. Yes, I am pleased with the changes to my appearance as I've lost weight, and I'm enjoying it being easier to pick clothes that don't make me look quite so lumpy, but the main benefits to me are for my health. My ME has improved as my weight has gone down, and I still want to lose as much abdominal fat as I can, as this produces inflammation hormones and when you have ME inflammation is the enemy. Those are my main drivers for wanting to lose more body fat and a little bit more weight. If she'd asked me I would have told her this but no, she just assumes that I'm trying to get as twig-thin as possible for whatever reason she imagines in her head.

3. Just, hmph. Way to suddenly rubbish all the willpower I've had to have to stick with this for almost a year and a half now. (she's told me several times in the past that I was looking great, which was nice of her) 'So, you know all that good work you did to lose weight? Well, you've sort of ruined it now.' is kind of how it came across.

Yes, I can hear myself, and I know I'm being over-sensitive, and over-grumpy, and I know TOTM is imminent so I shouldn't pay any attention to my feelings of grump. But, just, hmph.