How is weight maintenance even defined?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

...turns out there isn't a universal definition out there, even for the scientists studying it!

www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_pu
blic_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=43
23116

Next column: taking a look at the past Biggest Loser contestants to see how they've done on maintenance.

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The super-sized 43st (602 lb) mother who is determined to become the world's fattest woman

Monday, March 15, 2010

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1
257850/Super-sized-mother-determined-w
orlds-fattest-woman-years.html

I'm not sure even where to start.

THIRTY medics were required for her Caesarean?!

She earns the money for food by running a website "where men pay her to watch her eat fast food"?!
www.supersizedbombshells.com/Treasur
e/index.html
Judging from what I briefly saw, it's more than eating on there. Adjectives fail me.

These are GOOD things?!

Oh honey, NO.

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One year on SparkPeople

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Wow, has it really already been a year?

I joined on March 9, 2009 because a wellness program at work recommended the nutrition tracker for following our food intake.

It really did help to see what I was eating, because although I'd lost 40 lbs before I joined and started tracking my food, my body fat percentages hadn't really dropped much. Once I became aware of the macronutrient ratios, this changed in a hurry. You can see this, here. Notice the body fat is pretty high between December and March, and then all of a sudden starts going down...
physicsdiet.com/Chart.ashx?t=BodyFat
&s=0001-01-01&e=2010-03-09&u=4a-health
y-bmi

I didn't really start interacting with people here until the end of April when I lost a piece of my support network in real life. I'm not much of a "joiner" really, and neither is my Ithaca/Fingerlakes co-leader CARRIE1948 which is why it's so ironic that we ended up participating in and leading that team, LOL.

In the end, the support here has become very important in my loss and now my maintenance. I've met some really great people here, and even some in person and not just in NY.

I've learned so much over the past year and come so far:

March 9, 2009:

Ate 849 calories (19.6% protein, 66% carb, 14.4% fat, 11 g fiber)
Weighed 292 lbs
53.8 % body fat

March 9, 2010:

Ate 1679 calories (37% protein, 49% carb, 14% fat, 62 g fiber)
Weighed 152.6
18.5 % body fat

Thanks everyone!

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Kayaking burns calories, even in a pool, LOL

Monday, March 08, 2010

Continuing the kayak practice in pools in preparation for spring melt...

Total burn yesterday for two hours:
424 calories!
max HR 122
avg HR 93

I burned more while paddling around practicing my edging than I did in the rolling, but the rolling is more interesting - hence the choice of video, LOL

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Maintenance Goals

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

I have been struggling with the transition to maintenance. My BMI dropped below 25 in December and my moving average BMI at physicsdiet.com dropped below 25 on January 9. While I've reached two goals (body fat less than 25% - in fact it's under 20% and BMI under 25), I still have one goal to go and that's to get my moving average weight to 150. That will give me a comfortable buffer between where I'm trying to stay and the boundary of a BMI under 25.

On the one hand I don't have my weight LOSS goals as hard in my mind anymore, and on the other hand I haven't started the maintenance clock yet. So I'm in a sort of limbo. This is a problem because I am highly goal-oriented and now that I'm off the hardcore weight-loss fast track, I'm not sure what to do with myself. I've been halfheartedly trying to get to 150 but have been experiencing episodes where I eat more than I need to, and sometimes don't even log it.

Today I decided to declare myself officially on maintenance for the purposes of keeping my BMI below 25 in order to give myself a pat on the back for keeping it there for two months. And in two days I will get a REWARD. I get to pick out TWO of the buffs I've been saving for the purpose.

That's 56 days, 8 weeks, 17% of a year, and 3 1/3 % to my goal of keeping it there for five years.

In other words, I have 58 months to go on my 60-month countdown clock.

Why five years?

Because according to the research studies
(McGuire 1999 psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.opt
ionToBuy&id=1999-10771-002&CFID=680149
6&CFTOKEN=15833144 )
that's when I'll have the opportunity to be among a fortunate 70+% in the NWCR who are likely to stay within 5 lbs of goal for another year. Below 2 years of maintenance only 50% of NWCR subjects are likely to stay at goal weight.

Of people who have maintained their weight for 15-20 years, 80% are likely to stay at goal in the following year. So you see, the longer you stay at goal, the better you get at it, and the more likely you will be able to stay there. And despite the odds, I plan on being one of those that do.

I am not in maintenance yet for the purposes of lowering my average weight to 150 and will get a big ole' reward for that when I get there - probably a wetsuit and a brand new sea kayak.

Once I get my average weight to 150 my "scream weight" will be 153 for the average and 155 for the actual number on the scale. I will continue to weigh myself every day. If I go over either of those numbers under any circumstances it will be time to punch the numbers down by eating more carefully and exercising more diligently.

And the maintenance clock will continue to tick. Every month that I maintain I will get another reward. At the 2 year mark I will get something Really Nice. Maybe a trip, or something. I will start saving now.

At the 5 year mark I'm going to get something really really really nice. I don't know what, yet, but it's going to be Good.

EDIT:
3/5/10 - woo-hoo! I did it! 2 months down. 58 to go...

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