Amy's weight loss diary

Again, it's another one of those "if it works for you" things. I don't think everyone heaps it up, but I know some do, and it can make a big difference. Particularly if you're not calorie counting, as long as you keep it consistent-ish and be honest with yourself about it then you can watch your progress and adapt as necessary. (I suspect the big lesson to learn from it is "be honest with yourself- and if you cheat, you'll pay the price").

I'm a reasonably quick typist and for me this is the best way to keep me honest, to list it out in detail. Unfortunately I think grams are the best way to measure as it's a consistent thing- if I typed "one zucchini", well I know from experience that ranges from 150g to nearly 300g. (plus it's what comes out on my calorie calculator, which is what I'm copying from at the end of the day. I may not remember how many blueberries I had for breakfast, and I don't measure them in measuring cups or spoons- for one thing, I don't know where to get those here so I don't have any- but I have written down "60g", which I write shortly after I weigh things)
 
I feel absolutely disgusting today. I used to have horrendous periods (I'm not going to go into detail, needless to say much of what I'm thinking of is incredibly TMI/ disgusting) in the first 5 or so years of me having my period, and this is the first period I've had in at least three years that's been anywhere near that bad. And it's getting pretty close to being that bad again. I hate my body. I want ice cream. And not that low cal stuff in my freezer, the regular stuff. Fortunately I'm not well enough to go out and get any.
 
Gosh that sucks. Warm/Hot liquids helped me. Are you drinking tea?
Do you have one of those nifty electric heating pads? I love those.
 
Thanks :) I've had a couple of cups of tea today (and some ice tea)- which is more than I usually have because I refuse to drink teabags and I'm too lazy to clean out my infuser that often most of the time. I have a hot water bottle (which I've just heated up again), but I might have a look and see what type of electric heating pads Amazon have, that's a really good idea.

I shouldn't feel too sorry for myself, most of the time my periods are pretty negligible these days (when I was in my early teens they were debilitating, and for more than just the typical reasons- but I'm not going into it), but when they hit they hit hard. I think I might go back to the doctor and see if there's anything else they can do for me- I'm already on some medication to help keep that sort of thing under control, but if I can still get a period this bad notwithstanding, maybe it's time to change it up again.
 
Need some input. The last couple of days I've been pitching at eating around 1250, which is a bit over "lose a kilo a week". My BMR is about 1500. I've eaten 1250 calories so far today, exactly, which means I'll probably get hungry later on (although I could ride through that)- but more importantly, I've read you shouldn't consistently be eating under your BMR. Is it worthwhile for me to go and grab something else to eat, 200-250 calories worth, to bring it up to BMR? I'd love to go back to losing a kilo a week, but that's not my priority right now given I feel rotten, and also I don't want to mess up my metabolism.
 
Ugh I'm sorry you're having menstrual issues.
I found that when I lost a lot of weight (like you have) back in the day, my periods got super heavvvvy for a little while.
If you feel like your body needs more food, give it to it. If not, 1250 or whatever is just about enough.
However, maybe your body is crying out for something comforting. Maybe baked apple and yogurt with maple syrup or somethinggg.

*hugs*

PS: I'm intrigued about the controversial facebook issue.
 
I'm not sure what to make of my body's signals at the moment. I'm not hungry, but I'm tired and I feel rotten. I know that's at least in part the PMS. I also know I want to comfort eat, and I know how to do that without blowing the calories out of the water (in fact, I'd find it hard to blow the calories out of the water, I don't have anything like that in the house right now). I've already had dessert (included in the 1250)- adapted for one with two serves of my low cal ice cream (the rhubarb was fantastic, will definitely be making again), but I could really go a really large bowl of fruit with some Greek yoghurt right now.

I'd be happy to tell you about the controversial issue- send me a PM if you're interested. I don't want to get into it in public because it's something that can be deeply divisive (imo it's no one's business but those directly involved- which on this forum is me and me alone- but a lot of people don't see it that way). It could unlock the answer to a problem I've been having of late, but it's complicated and I need to think/ talk it over with someone (I think I'll be having a D&M with my boyfriend when he gets home from his shift).
 
Boyfriend hurt himself while on shift, didn't get a lot of sense out of him, hopefully he's calling NHS Direct to get some advice on what to do, he sounded like he was in a lot of pain. Still need to talk to him about this stuff though.

Will post my food later, in case I eat anything else, but I opted for a second lot of dessert which brings me just above my BMR. Mostly because I feel rubbish (and as a consequence ate dinner much earlier than usual). But here's some pictures:

Breakfast- porridge with blueberries. Snack: tea, plum, strawberries. Lunch: mix of sauteed veg and cottage cheese. Dinner: leftover soy chicken with cauliflower rice. Dessert 1: roasted rhubarb with 2 serves of homemade low cal ice cream. Dessert 2: apple, plum, strawberries, blueberries, Greek yoghurt and cinnamon.
 
You may have had two desserts, but they were both probably the healthiest desserts you coulds have had, so don't beat yourself up over being above your BMR.

It sounds like you are really stressed and miserable right now ((Hugs)). What happened to your boyfriend?
 
You sound so miserable i don't think you should be depriving yourself of calories at the moment. I think you need to go easy on your body, until the misery ends. Rest a lot, eat well but comforting things. Baked vegies perhaps. The tried and true chicken soup?

Have a big bowl of fruit salad and yoghurt too.

I don't think it sounds too confusing. Menstruation does this to some people. Your homones are all over the shop. Its one reason why you want to eat more. Why you feel miserable. The pain is another reason of course.

If you have consistently long and painful periods - though i don't think you do anymore - then you need to have an ultrasound on your fallopian tubes. You might have PCOS>

A friend of mine had period distress for years and years and was really slack about getting it treated but when she did - she had keyhole surgery - there was an amazing improvement. She has this unfortunate habit of not dealing with stuff head on but will suffer extremely for years rather than get the problems fixed and nothing anyone can say will make her deal with it any faster. Some people are just like that. But its hard to watch the unnecessary suffering.

How come you are not taking a painkiller. I'd hand you some paracetamol if i could cause i find this stuff really good for pain.
 
The electric heating pads come in different sizes. Before, (notice I keep speaking in past tense about this... that's because I have an implanted birth control that stays in my arm for 3 yrs...haven't had periods since I got it done a year ago) I would place the pad on my bed and lay my stomach directly on it and go to sleep. Or I'll lazily lounge in bed on my back with it under my clothes on my stomach while watching tv. During your period, sometimes ya just don't want to move ya know? lol

3 heat settings, indicator light, soft washable covering, long cord blah blah blah. It's great! ^_^
 
Thanks guys. I've had my medical issues re menstruation checked out, I'm actually being treated and they've told me there's very little more they can do for me. I don't often have problems with my periods anymore, and in fact this is the worst one I've had in a very long time. That being said though, it's definitely time to go back to the doctor. Maybe there's a solution that they were unwilling to suggest when I asked them a few years ago- things may have changed as my development has ceased entirely now (according to my boyfriend- who works in a medical setting- bone structure and brain structure are matured by 25 but not much earlier)- or maybe they'll have a different solution to what they would've suggested in Australia. Won't lose anything from talking to them.

My boyfriend ended up being taken to the hospital as a precaution (with blue flashing lights, sirens and everything, in his words). He felt quite silly about it because he lives literally 5 minutes walk from the large hospital complex for this region, but NHS Direct told him there was no way he was walking. A few minutes after my last post he sent me a text telling me he was going to the hospital, and I headed straight there (I made record time- normally it'd take me 35-45 minutes, possibly more given the time of night and lack of buses, but I got there in about 30). They were worried about heart problems- they did about half a dozen ECG tests as well as bloods and some other stuff I didn't understand, and the paramedics did more at his place- but it turned out to be a false alarm (possibly a pulled muscle?). We got out of the hospital at about 1am- they gave him some heavy duty painkillers- and walked (very slowly) back to his place, and had a very disturbed night. We've not been awake very long, apart from getting him his painkillers. He's just wandered down to see if he can get an appointment with his GP tomorrow- hopefully the words "casualty" and "ambulance" will get him in. Adrenaline has gotten me by so far- although when I get home I suspect my PMS, lack of sleep, and stress is all going to hit me like a tonne of bricks.
 
Eep! Glad to hear your boyfriend is ok though. I know my now husband and a false alarm with arm pain that had him checked out, and false alarm or not it was way scary.

Hopefully the damn female hormones give you a break - sometimes it's such a giant pain in the ass to deal with being female :/

As for eating less than your BMR - I'm not really sure if that's one of those bits of 'white knowledge' that's true or not. Starvation mode is such a trickys ubject, and it seems like there's a lot of debate. My personal solution is that I tend to have a somewhat higher calorie day on my weight training days, so I doubt I'm often eating below my BMR... But that's more because I hold on to pipe dreams of building muscle while trying to lose weight, and not so much because I'm that concerned with the effect on my metabolism. (Well, and also because I like to eat :p) I've heard going under 100g of carbs for too long can have thyroid implications, but not the bit about eating less than your BMR. That actually sounds more like a rule of thumb that's intended for people who don't know that much about nutrition to make sure they don't get in trouble nutritionally.

In any event, best wishes to your boyfriend and to you in figuring out your tricky situation! If it's a personal decisions than hopefully your friends will continue to back you and give you support.
 
Hi amy, i'm here to remember you that you HAVE to make lowcal rice :D
 
Ohu, i've read about your boyfriend.
I hope everything is ok and you're having a good evening :hug2:
 
Thanks :)

I will make that low cal risotto when I've got the leftovers out of the house and I'm feeling a bit better. I've got a vegetarian one and a chicken/ spinach one.

I'm at home now, and starting to unwind. The adrenaline's finally leaving my system and I'm feeling overwhelmingly tired. I've had very little to eat today, but I'm not hungry, I just want to curl up in a corner under a blanket right now. It's been a very tiring 20-odd hours.
 
Glad your finally able to relax after all that stress, hope you get a good nights sleep x

Doctors are quite good at seeing you in an emergency, so with any luck he'll get seen tomorrow. Deep breaths.... In.... out.....
 
Thanks :) I certainly hope I get a good night's sleep, I need it more than I have in a long while.

The doctors said they couldn't see him, but he should come back in on Friday when the hospital have sent the results of the blood tests and if there's anything wrong they'll squeeze him in. Not brilliant, but from the sounds of things his condition's improving a lot. (both when I was with him- I left his place about 6- and since then he's reported just that the codeine's making him feel a bit ill and that that's worse than the pain)

I thought I should lay out what I had to eat yesterday. Was a normalish day. Not sure if I'm finished eating today, I'm currently under 1000 calories and starting to get hungry (I could justifiably go to bed now but I want to get my patterns back to normal)

Tuesday 17 May

Breakfast: 45g porridge oats (made with water), 87ml milk, 60g blueberries, dash (estimated 0.5g) cinnamon. Subtotal: 212 calories, 8g protein, 36g carbs, 3g fat. 16/68/16 split

Snack: cup of tea with 267ml water and 40ml milk. 91g (5) strawberries, and a 77g plum. Subtotal: 78 calories, 2g protein, 17g carbs, <1g fat. 12/82/6 split.

Lunch: 76g (1) onion, 221g (1) zucchini, 172g (5) mushroom, 125g (2) tomato, sauteed in 10 sprays of Frylight, with 150g plain cottage cheese and under a gram of chili powder and pepper. Subtotal: 246 calories, 24g protein, 32g carbs, 4g fat. 34/49/17 split

Snack: Cup of tea made with 257ml water and 54ml milk. An 84g peach. Subtotal: 51 calories, 2g protein, 10g carbs, <1g fat. 19/76/5 split.

Dinner: leftover soy marinade chicken, 80g 'cauliflower rice' with a dash of onion powder (which made it taste less like blended cauliflower), and a teaspoon of reduced salt soy sauce. Subtotal: 442 calories, 24g protein, 36g carbs, 22g fat. 22/31/46 split.

Dessert 1: roasted rhubarb (151g rhubarb and 21g caster sugar) with two serves of my homemade low cal ice cream. Subtotal: 218 calories, 4g protein, 34g carbs, 1g fat. 9/86/5

Dessert 2: a 78g plum, a 119g apple, 86g strawberries (I think 5 of them?), 99g (rest of pack) frozen blueberries, 143g Greek yoghurt, dash of cinnamon. Subtotal: 270 calories, 10g protein, 48g carbs, 4g fat. 15/69/16 split.

Then I went to the hospital.

Total: 1521 calories (86%), 77g protein, 215g carbs, 37g fat, way over sodium allowance. 2028.1ml water, so not enough of that.
 
Yesterday when i read about your boyfriend i meant to comment but i forgot. Now i can't find the original post. But my comment was going to be along the lines of some minor things it could be. I had a boyfriend once who had a sort of panic attack which started with pains in the arms. Actually his arms went really numb. It happened to him while he was a work that evening. He was a singer. When he was telling me about it later on in the night, it started again, and so i rushed him to hospital. It turned out to be hyperventilation and caffeine attack. He drank lots of coffee. about 8 cups a day. They just put a paper bag over his face and he was cured.

Another thing is panic attacks can often feel like an elephant sitting on your chest. They feel like a heart attack.

Though i don't recall your boyfriends case being exactly the same as either of these things.

Given that he is overweight, there really is cause for serious investigation i guess and i hope the results come up clear, although he is so young. At least he wasn't having a heart attack.

Yes it must have been a pretty stressful day.
 
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