WakefieldWendy
07-16-2007, 10:49 AM
Hello all,
I was counting recently and it is 10 weeks today since I have recommitted to Protein Power.
My results (including things I have learned):
1) I ate consistently on plan with the following exceptions: one evening I was out to dinner and ate pizza and dessert; and during my week's vacation, I indulged sometimes.
2) For both of those times, I was not eating crazily. I didn't say "I'm cheating, and therefore I should stuff everything bad I can into me". I made choices (I want that, I don't want that, I've had one of that treat and that's enough, etc.). I did not eat with guilt, and therefore did not feel like a failure - I did not feel like my eating was beyond my control, but that this was a conscious choice within an overall regime of healthy choices.
3) For both of these times, I completely got back on plan when I intended (the day my vacation was over, the next breakfast after the dinner). I did not feel bad about what I had done, but confident I could continue forward. There were minimal or no cravings (physiologically or psychologically).
4) I learned something important when Amy said something about having made a decision to eat, right from the start, the way she intended to do forever, and if that made it take longer, so be it. (Sorry if I am mangling what you said).
When I did PP the first time, I read about phase 1, phase 2 and maintenance. And one of the things I read about maintenance was that you could expect a daily carb allowance similar to your minimum protein requirement. So, while I certainly knew that I needed to change my eating patterns long term (I never thought I could go back to the way I ate pre-PP) I did have the belief that it would get easier. When that didn't happen, I cracked, for a multitude of reasons.
I have learned, this time around, that I need to eat the way I'm going to eat forever, right from the start. There will be no phase 1, phase 2 and maintenance for me.
I have also learned that I am really quite comfortable eating 30-35 ecc per day as an every day thing, and probably will be for the rest of my life. What I need, in order to make this psychologically sustainable, is not to bring my daily carbs to 50-60 ecc (or even higher), but to allow myself days of 150 ecc. If I can never again have doughnuts, or pie, or pizza, then I can't do this. (I am speaking only for me - I know myself, and I'm not saying these things are what is truth for anyone else. Please don't try to convince me that I should be working on trying to live without 150 ecc days because I can't do it and will feel like a failure and that makes the whole thing stop.).
I have learned that my attitude towards a "vacation" makes a huge difference to how I respond in terms of "getting back to it". When I feel like my eating is out of control, I lose it. (And if I try to eat "in control" by never eating carbs, I will fail). So it is a real breakthrough for me to eat carbs rarely, and in control.
5) I lost 28 pounds, which is possibly faster even than the first time I was on PP. (Not sure, I'd have to dig up those records and I'm not sure where they are). I now weigh 230, which is down from 258 10 weeks ago. It is also down close to 50 lbs from last August. (My highest weight ever was last August, and I think it was somewhere between 275 and 280 - I lost weight until the New Year, and got to about 248. Then I eased off and gained 10 pounds to 258 to May 7. I am still 3 pounds higher than when I started PP the first time (at 227). I am under no illusions that this rate of weight loss will last, and I almost don't care. I have no destination weight in mind. (Last time I got to 140 and that was difficult to sustain - this time I suspect I will stop around 160 but this isn't a plan or a goal - I will stop losing weight whenever my eating patterns create a stasis with my current weight).
6) My long-term goals are:
a) continue to eat this way forever (good 95% of the time, and in control vacations the rest of the time)
b) continue to feel in control of my eating, and particularly, making decisions about when to eat carbs, and making decisions about returning to PP eating afterwards (this will require being alert to frequency of carb eating, and to how difficult it is to return to PP eating)
c) control my blood sugars, and other health issues that may arise
Thanks and all the best, Wendy
I was counting recently and it is 10 weeks today since I have recommitted to Protein Power.
My results (including things I have learned):
1) I ate consistently on plan with the following exceptions: one evening I was out to dinner and ate pizza and dessert; and during my week's vacation, I indulged sometimes.
2) For both of those times, I was not eating crazily. I didn't say "I'm cheating, and therefore I should stuff everything bad I can into me". I made choices (I want that, I don't want that, I've had one of that treat and that's enough, etc.). I did not eat with guilt, and therefore did not feel like a failure - I did not feel like my eating was beyond my control, but that this was a conscious choice within an overall regime of healthy choices.
3) For both of these times, I completely got back on plan when I intended (the day my vacation was over, the next breakfast after the dinner). I did not feel bad about what I had done, but confident I could continue forward. There were minimal or no cravings (physiologically or psychologically).
4) I learned something important when Amy said something about having made a decision to eat, right from the start, the way she intended to do forever, and if that made it take longer, so be it. (Sorry if I am mangling what you said).
When I did PP the first time, I read about phase 1, phase 2 and maintenance. And one of the things I read about maintenance was that you could expect a daily carb allowance similar to your minimum protein requirement. So, while I certainly knew that I needed to change my eating patterns long term (I never thought I could go back to the way I ate pre-PP) I did have the belief that it would get easier. When that didn't happen, I cracked, for a multitude of reasons.
I have learned, this time around, that I need to eat the way I'm going to eat forever, right from the start. There will be no phase 1, phase 2 and maintenance for me.
I have also learned that I am really quite comfortable eating 30-35 ecc per day as an every day thing, and probably will be for the rest of my life. What I need, in order to make this psychologically sustainable, is not to bring my daily carbs to 50-60 ecc (or even higher), but to allow myself days of 150 ecc. If I can never again have doughnuts, or pie, or pizza, then I can't do this. (I am speaking only for me - I know myself, and I'm not saying these things are what is truth for anyone else. Please don't try to convince me that I should be working on trying to live without 150 ecc days because I can't do it and will feel like a failure and that makes the whole thing stop.).
I have learned that my attitude towards a "vacation" makes a huge difference to how I respond in terms of "getting back to it". When I feel like my eating is out of control, I lose it. (And if I try to eat "in control" by never eating carbs, I will fail). So it is a real breakthrough for me to eat carbs rarely, and in control.
5) I lost 28 pounds, which is possibly faster even than the first time I was on PP. (Not sure, I'd have to dig up those records and I'm not sure where they are). I now weigh 230, which is down from 258 10 weeks ago. It is also down close to 50 lbs from last August. (My highest weight ever was last August, and I think it was somewhere between 275 and 280 - I lost weight until the New Year, and got to about 248. Then I eased off and gained 10 pounds to 258 to May 7. I am still 3 pounds higher than when I started PP the first time (at 227). I am under no illusions that this rate of weight loss will last, and I almost don't care. I have no destination weight in mind. (Last time I got to 140 and that was difficult to sustain - this time I suspect I will stop around 160 but this isn't a plan or a goal - I will stop losing weight whenever my eating patterns create a stasis with my current weight).
6) My long-term goals are:
a) continue to eat this way forever (good 95% of the time, and in control vacations the rest of the time)
b) continue to feel in control of my eating, and particularly, making decisions about when to eat carbs, and making decisions about returning to PP eating afterwards (this will require being alert to frequency of carb eating, and to how difficult it is to return to PP eating)
c) control my blood sugars, and other health issues that may arise
Thanks and all the best, Wendy