 |
| Advertisement |
I call it "unsuccessful successful" because while I did lost over 40lbs, I fell off the wagon right away when I went on vacation immediately after I hit my goal weight. At the time I restricted myself to 1000 calories a day and one cheat day. Here are the lessons I learned.
1000 calories a day isn't enough for me
I'm a smaller male (5'8") and BMR is around 2000 calories. I thought if I cut that in half then I would lose about 2lbs a week. It didn't turn out that way.
1000 calories was okay the first week or two. But after week three I began to get insatiably hungry. I would sit at my desk fantasizing about the upcoming cheat day. "Oh I can't wait for that mashed potato bowl at KFC!" I would Google image search the next junk meal just to stare at it. I didn't think this was a problem until after the diet was over. Looking back, in my starving state I idolized junk food, and it should have come as no surprise that once I hit my goal I fell off the wagon so quickly.
Cheat days do more harm than good
My first cheat day seemed restrained and quaint compared to what they would turn into. At first it was just a 2000 calorie binge at Rubio’s followed by half a roll of cookie dough and two energy drinks. But by the end I was staging snacks by my bed the night before and tearing into them the moment I stepped off the scale. I would go to fast food joints twice a day and bring home cookies, chips, sodas to eat in between. There wasn't a moment when I wasn't eating. Once again what I thought was a reward for six days of discipline turned into idol worship of junk food.
I had no maintenance plan
In the end, I lost the 40lbs and got to my goal weight anyway (the same GW I have now). But during the entire diet I never learned good eating habits. I knew them intellectually but I never put them into practice. I gained all the weight right back and more. And despite thinking I would lose 2lbs a week I only lost an average 1.5lbs anyway. I had a few good 2lbs+ weeks in there but the average was 1.5.
Changes I made this go around
My diet this time is simply moderation. There is nothing I forbid myself from eating, but I know exactly what my trigger foods are and I stay away from them. I'm counting about 1200-1500 calories per day and I'm not taking any cheat days. I feel better this time, and even though I still feel cravings during the day, I'm not starving myself. Once I catch myself having thoughts of junk food (which I think are involuntary), I actively think about something else. I try to stay busy but not frantic.
I've slipped a few times though with a single cheat meal here and there. I don't punish myself for that (even though I feel very guilty when it happens). I just realize that tomorrow is a new day. A well-balanced meal will never be as delicious to me as an entire Little Caesar's pizza, but it feels good to know I'm eating right and noticing the difference in my pants each week.
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2qBVY4x
