Monday, October 28, 2013

Same as it ever was

For five consecutive Mondays the scale has given me the same report. It's just information, and I pretty much know what it's going to say on Monday morning, based on the daily weigh-ins which are now part-and-parcel of my morning routine.

I went to a couple different BMI and ideal-weight calculators this morning, hoping I could be done, but knowing I'm not. Each time I filled out my personal stats and clicked the "Calculate" button the result was the same: I'm still a couple points above the tippy top of normal BMI, and I'm still 13.5 pounds above the tippy top of a normal weight for a woman my age and height.

Still, it's been easy to maintain this weight the past month.

This week will be challenging, and will include another cheat meal Thursday night. First time pizza has been on the menu since last winter, but that's what I hear we're having for dinner Halloween night. (I'm going to be at my son's home, helping to pass out candy while he and his wife walk my granddaughter through their neighborhood.) There will be salad, as well, and I might take some chunks of cooked chicken with me for a topping, and skip the pizza.

Or I might not. Having been gluten-free since April, I'm a little concerned how my body will react … and really not too interested in experimenting! Then again, I don't want to make a big deal out of my food, and I told my daughter-in-law not to do anything different just because I'm on a paleo plan.

So, decisions, decisions.

I've made one decision, and that is to begin another Whole 30 on November 4. Because of this week's trip and next Saturday's fancy-schmancy dinner, it would be silly to start today. The only things coming up in November are a houseguest for three days, who will be totally on board with anything I cook, and Thanksgiving. We're eating out, at a lovely buffet which I have successfully navigated in the past. No reason to think I won't be able to again.

This Whole 30 will end on December 2 (making it a Whole 28), unless the dinner I'm going to that night is compatible with the plan.

I'm a little disappointed to have run into a weight-loss roadblock this month. I'd hoped to continue losing at least a pound a week. Having a month with a big fat ZERO in the loss column isn't what I expected to happen, but I guess after six months of steady losses I shouldn't be surprised.

It would be more unusual to continue moving down and reach my goal without leveling off at some point. And it's been good, in a way, to know I can be satisfied with this way of eating whether I'm losing or not. I've haven't once considered going back to bread and beans and dairy, oh my.

Honestly? I'd rather have – mmmmm – bacon.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I am a little confused about you doing a new Whole 30 because I thought you were already eating that way.

Consider the last few weeks practice for maintenance.

Debbi said...

A Whole 30 is really, really strict - meat, vegetables, fruit. From the website:

"In addition, no Paleo-ifying dessert or junk food choices. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say, “Paleo pizza.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no coconut-flour pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely."

Which, for me, means no pumpkin mug muffins, mostly. I've also been eating a square of dark chocolate every other day or so, which has some sugar, so I'll quit doing that next month. I've noticed my vegetable consumption going down while my fruit-and-nut servings have gone up. Will try to reverse that trend and see what happens.

So while I've been eating paleo since April, I haven't been on a strict Whole 30 that whole time. I think this will be like pushing the reset button. At least I hope so!

penney said...

(voice of experience speaking) sometimes when your body gets used to your eating a certain way and/or keeping a close calorie count, it just seems to adjust and hang steady for a while. when this would happen to me (3-4 times over my 4 years), I'd do something drastic like just eat bananas for a couple days or use the straight protein diet for a couple days - just enough to jolt my body awake again.

Unknown said...

I saw this -- makes sense to me that if you're stuck, you have to find something to change. I thought I had replied but maybe my catch a response was wrong.

I saw someone post that she uses Whole 30 as a "cleanse" rather than an eating plan.

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