Hi fortyfour. Thanks for taking the time to read my diary and for the interesting feedback.
I am concerned about my B-12 and iron levels, so I use a fortified soymilk. The nutritional yeast I use is made for vegetarians and has B vitamins and amino acids. With my multivitamin pill, I'm pretty sure I'm getting all the B I need. I also have eggs several times a week and fish occassionally.
Your suggestion about complex carbs is interesting. Like you, I have trouble with sugar and refined grains increasing hunger. Sometimes, when the hunger is really bad, even whole grains seem to make me hungry so I will cut back for a while. It's a delicate balancing act to get the right amount.
I have been maintaining for about 18 mo. I am five feet five inches tall. I currently weigh 125 pounds. My lowest was 117. I have been up to 135 during maintenence. I was 185 before I started losing weight. I haven't counted calories for about a year (I was getting obsessive) but as near as I can tell, I eat about 1,800/day. That is with 10,000 steps/day on the pedometer. For every additional 5,000 steps I add 200 calories. So on a day I walk 20,000 steps I would eat 2,200 calories. One mistake I made was to increase my exercise without increasing my calories. I would get hungry, my self-control would break, and I would binge.
Your question about habit is hard to answer. Some days are easier than others. But I really am not on auto pilot yet. I still plan most of my meals and make a shopping list each week. I get tempted a lot by the refined carbs/sugar. With 2,200 calories at my disposal, I tell myself I can have a little treat now and then, but it just seems to make me crave more and then the healthy food gets displaced.
I hope I have answered your questions. Best of luck with your journey!
Thanks for answering my questions. Yes I think you've answer them all.
I was pretty chuffed yesterday when i looked up how many calories I will be allowed to eat at my goal weight (55kg/121 pounds) 1900 per day. Since i think i am eating 1500 per day and finding that so easy, i think 1900 will be excellent. I don't plan to increase my exercise. I might even decrease it so that i only run once a week and walk on the other days i exercise (which is every second day). I am not sure yet. I'll know later.
What you say about still being tempted by the sweet things and losing control easily when you do eat them confirms my suspicions about this. You know when i started this diet, i reflected daily on the wisdom of quitting sugar for life, as a strategy per se. I worried if it wasn't too radical. If it wasn't completely impossible. But as the time has passed on my diet, my reflections are coming back to me stronger that this is the right course of action for me. People tend to say that there's no relation between a cigarette addiction and a sugar habit and I am the first to see the differences but i can also see very strong correlations between success in quitting smoking and how quitting sugar can mean success in long term weight control. I mean we don't need sugar in our diets. All this stuff - lollies, chocolate, cakes, icecreams, sodas, its all sheer luxury food. Junk food but luxurious junk food. And it is a drug for some of us, with almost equally devastating consequences when we start eating it.
So i won't bother arguing the point with people who advocate you can eat everything in moderation. Yes, you can in theory. But can you in reality? That is the challenge. If sugar is your downfall, then i believe its a very good idea to quit it. Just like the alcoholic can't really cope with one drink but a non alcoholic can easily drink in moderation, the sugar "addict" can't cope with any sugar.
All that said, I am going to see if i can manage to eat for two days over xmas things like cake and xmas pudding and fruit mince pies without losing the plot. If i do happen to binge for two days, i can live with that so long as I return to normal on the third day. But i will try to do it in moderation. One piece cake, one piece pudding, maybe two pies. I really don't know if its possible but i am going to risk it. If it fails, i will know for the next time. If i can do it and not go beyond the two days and remain committed to giving up sugar, in between christmases, then i am going to try to do that. You really have to think ahead and strategise in this business don'tya?
My sister is a skinny person. She's 55kg (121kg) and is 5 5 also in height. Like me and you. However, she has a serious exercise habit as she does competitive triathlon. She eats lots of sweet stuff but also loves her healthy food. But if she gave up her sport she'd also either put on weight or have to give up her sweet stuff. The thing with my sister though is that she has never really stopped doing exercise since she got into her 20s. She's now 48. I'm 47 but i've always done things in fits and starts.
So about the habit thing, i think maybe we can never actually go on auto pilot but the fact that you are not counting calories is very good. I think meal plans and shopping lists are good. I always use a shopping list even when i am not on a diet. I am not really doing a meal plan now but i do think in terms of the whole days food. I was wondering if i would need ot keep recording my meals in a diary after a year and maybe i will. I don't mind. I like doing stuff like that. I like being able to see what's going on. And most of all i don't want to lose focus on achieving and maintaining a low healthy weight.
Thanks for answering my questions and very best of luck with your maintenance.
