Sort of a bit lost …

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  • posted by gosh-thatbig
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    Hello

    A bit of advice please…

    So, background.
    151 kg, 1.86 m. 46 years old. Overweight for about 20 years.
    Referred myself for gastric sleeve bariatric surgery.
    Started on the pre-surgery diet and then father in law died so cancelled operation.
    Carried on with diet.
    Felt amazing and made the link that it was more or less the same 800 calorie diet that I had read about.
    Got more in to it and brought in kefir, kimchi, pulses, yoghurt, and so on and had a really great few months. Totally changed so much, not just my waist line and honestly saved me in more ways than I thought possible.

    Started Jan 15th 2019 at 151 kg
    Weight today (22 July) is 103 kg

    I want to get to about 95 kg which was my rugby playing weight.

    Over the last month or so, since May half term, I have sort of lost the focus a little. It is partly still there, I am still doing 16:8 and still doing low/no carbs, but the snacking has increased a little as have portion sizes. The snacking is, however, healthy – yoghurt usually and pumpkin seeds. But I have also started exercising a lot more, 3 x 500 calorie cycle rides per week for example.

    I generally now eat about 1200 calories per day and on the days where I ride it is perhaps closer to 1500.

    I therefore think I am running a deficit of around 1,000 calories per day and the weight loss is continuing but very slowly. At the start I was losing 0.4 kg/day each month, now its not even 0.1kg/day.

    Obviously very happy with where I have got to but should I:

    A) get my focus back and stick to 800/day for the last month or two.
    b) carry on with the roughly 1000/day deficit and gradually morph to a sustainable pattern over the Summer?

    Thanks

    Gosh

  • posted by BikeyGuy
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    Hi Gosh, I’m new here too.

    You can find out what you need to function here https://tdeecalculator.net/ and from that what your deficit is.

    You’ve found that the weight loss is fantastically encouraging at the start – 50Kg in 6 months is an absolute inspiration! – but obviously it slows up as you go along. I cycle as well and have gleaned from various posts on here that you shouldn’t up your calorie intake to “compensate” for effort expended. The more techie folk will be along soon to explain that one to you, the main thing is to keep on top of your salt and liquid levels. Be wary of relying on garmins to calculate how many calories you’ve burnt 😉

    If you can get back to 800 calories a day that’s great, if you can stick to or increase the 16:8 that’s definitely going to help. Some motivation to keep you on track? While you’ve been discarding weight (I’ve been told by those who know, not to use the word loss!) your calf muscles won’t have shrunk by too much in comparison to your body – and they’re going to be very helpful on the bike!

    Stick in and go for it !!

  • posted by JGwen
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    Hi, its not the calories as much as the carb creep which may have occurred that could be the problem.

    You need to keep your carb levels down low enough so that your insulin levels are low enough that your body can access your fat stores for fuel. – Think of insulin as a switch which controls if your body is fuelled by the calories eaten or the calories stored in your fat.

    Some people can achieve that at 50g of carbs a day, others have to set a lower level of carbs. Quite a few of us who were overweight for many years have to get under 20g of carbs. If you keep your carb levels low enough then any deficit on calories is filled by the calories drawn from your fat cells. So if you are burning 3000 calories and eating either 800 or 1200 it will simply make a difference in the rate of fat loss and research suggests it will have only a minor impact on metabolic rate.

    However, if your insulin levels are too high your body can’t access the fuel in your fat stores so will instead become more efficient and reduce your metabolic rate. (Look up the research into the impact on the metabolic rate of participants on the biggest loser TV show. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21538 )

  • posted by gosh-thatbig
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    Thank you for the positive comments.

    Carb creep.
    That is exactly the right term and is precisely what has happened. I was running at about 40g of carb when I started. Probably at 60 now. Need to cut this back. Easily done, I can remember what I was eating at the start. A good point made in another thread is that I don’t need to add fat to my diet yet, I still have enough of my own. I was using fat containing foods to broaden my diet but that came with a side order of carbs which I had not factored in. Interestingly, now that it is mentioned, I have noticed my metabolic rate seems slower (napping in afternoon) over the last week or two. But that could be the cycling, or the heat, or being 47!

    I am not so much upping my calorie intake to compensate for the cycling, it just sort of happens when I get back.

    Thank you again.

  • posted by JGwen
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    The napping in the afternoon could also be a result of carb creep. – I find it I eat enough carbs to drop out of ketosis I no longer feel as energetic and slightly more carbs makes me feel sleepy or lethargic – Before this Way of Eating (WoE) every meal included carbs so I hadn’t noticed.

  • posted by gosh-thatbig
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    Hello (again).

    I am a bit unsure that I have made any progress. Stuck at about 50 kg loss. I am keeping 16:8 and very low carb but finding that I am eating about 1500 – 1800 calories per day usually in the form of dairy, nuts, seeds. Essentially little handfulls around evening meal time. I previously found this very easy to avoid.

    In terms of where I have got to I am at a BMI of 27 from previously 42. I started on 15th of January so have kept going for 9 months.

    I appreciate that this is all psychological. I could if I really really wanted to get back to 800 calories and a continuously ketotic state but I think I have lost focus. Can I get it back?

    In terms of targets, I wanted to get to 95 kg and a BMI of below 25. I am at 103-5kg and a BMI of about 27. Other targets, fitness really good now for my age, happily cycling 30km and entered 50 mile events. Clothes, again, very happy, can buy from more or less anywhere (that a 47 year old would go in to) and have a number of sizes above where I buy at so am ‘normal’ in that sense. In terms of the demographics of obesity I am in the ‘light’ 50% of men in the UK now, the mid point is about 27-28 looking at the recent demographic data.

    I would like to lose a bit more, purely for aesthetic reasons, but in other respects I am honestly very proud of what I have done and actually a bit shocked. So if I do want to get it back I need something motivating. I guess this is a very poorly focused post but wanted to work out if there is still any lead in the tank. Has any one else been in this situation?

    Thanks

  • posted by BikeyGuy
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    ” I could if I really really wanted to get back to 800 calories and a continuously ketotic state but I think I have lost focus. ”
    Don’t knock yourself too much, gosh-gettingsmaller, you’ve done fantastically well!
    You mentioned much the same in July, though. Sounds like you’re a bit like me and get bored easily 😉

    I’m sure I read somewhere on here that if you’re low-carb or -calories for too long your metabolism slows and becomes difficult to correct. I’m currently in maintenance and find it difficult to physically eat more than I was when I was shrinking – which could be my subconscious ensuring that I don’t return to where I was, right enough. Maybe it’s time to have a few stuff-my-face days and then come back “refreshed” to start another chapter in your ongoing discard? A bit like cross training, you need to do something different so you don’t get stale.

    Or how about trying something as daft as a couple of different recipe books to shake things up?

    (Disclaimer:- These are personal opinions/ideas, not to be taken as weight-loss fact!)

  • posted by gosh-thatbig
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    Yeah, things haven’t changed much since July.

    In my defence I have been away for most of August and actually lost a little bit of weight. It was France and I wasn’t tempted by the endless bread options there.

  • posted by MelBelle
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    I notice you mentioned snacking. Wondering can you quit snacking for a few days and just eat at set meal times? I’m close to my goal and find it very important to have strict eating window and no snacks to keep losing. Also, I don’t look at the scales so much as my clothes. Have something tight to try on. Because your body composition may be changing even when the scales don’t change.

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