SusanG02Been #eatinghealthy for a bit over three weeks, weighing everything, counting calories. Scale has moved two pounds in the wrong direction 😕
Jonathan Kamens 86 47@SusanG02 I've been on this journey and have advice, but I don't want to impose or intrude, and much of it may be stuff you already know and I don't want to be that guy, so let me know if you're interested. And if you say yes and then I start in and tick you off, you can tell me to buzz off no hard feelings. 😉
@jik What a lovely way to lead into that. You are right, sometimes people's well meaning advice just doesn't work in someone else's situation. But sure, I'm open to hearing what worked for you and grateful for you offering to do so (provided it's not exercise - I'm not mobile right now). Thank you
@SusanG02 So, first and foremost, don't worry! Healthy weight loss takes a long time. Be kind to yourself and give yourself reasonable goals that you can achieve without tanking your quality of life, because any weight-loss plan which makes you miserable is one you won't be able to keep up, so you'll eventually fall off the wagon and gain back the weight. It's best to find a healthy, sustainable lifestyle that allows you to lose weight gradually.
@SusanG02 You can cause initial weight gain when you change your diet, because (not to get too graphic) when you change your diet it can change the speed with which food moves through your system and the density of the food you're eating. So this may just be a healthy outcome of your dietary changes!
@SusanG02 Your weight fluctuates a lot, so to know the direction your weight is going in, you need to weigh yourself over multiple days, preferably at around the same time. Until you've got 4–5 data points you don't know what your weight is. If you're serious about managing your weight a smart scale that automatically uploads your weight into an app which shows a rolling average will be a big help. I have one and when I'm actively trying to lose weight I weigh myself daily.
@SusanG02 The last significant piece of advice I have is that it's not good enough to just count the calories you eat, you also have to count the calories you burn, because the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat. If you're only measuring half of that equation, you don't have the whole picture.
@SusanG02 I wrote in detail about the system that enabled me to lose about 40 pounds over several years on my blog at https://blog.kamens.us/2022/12/28/how-i-lost-40-pounds-and-you-can-too/ . You may find that useful to read for ideas, though my system might not exactly work for you without tweaks.
Having said all that, I want to reiterate the most important thing: this takes time, so be patient and extend grace to yourself.
Good luck!
Having said all that, I want to reiterate the most important thing: this takes time, so be patient and extend grace to yourself.
Good luck!
@jik thank you so much. I appreciate your thoughts and the information you provided.
You are right that it may be that the increased fiber may be part of the situation (and really, what is two pounds in the scheme of things when I have much more to lose and I want to do that by eating healthier foods).
@jik I have reached out for a medical referral to a licensed dietician and once I get those appointments set up, I'm hoping to get some good personalized information from them. I'm tracking everything now so I have a leg up when I start with the dietician.
I'm also going to read your blog post for more information, and thank you again.
@SusanG02 You won't be minimizing how important two pounds is when you've _lost_ two pounds. ;-) Good luck.