Vent...health, habits, etc.

[TexasProud]

This is why I wonder if it is even worth it to set health goals, like really. I have been doing super well, but I controlled the environment. When the environment changes or my control changes, it all goes out the window. Discipleship weekend with teenage girls. I still only drank water, but yeah pizza and cookies.  I had healthier options, but I had no willpower.  Part of it was lack of sleep.  I made decent choices Friday night, but after only 3 hours of sleep, Saturday I ate horribly.  Sunday, the breakfast at church was horribly unhealthy.  So I get on the scale and I gained almost 4 pounds over the weekend.  The four pounds it took me 2 weeks to lose. All the hard work.  I still will be pretty close to my 5 pound loss for the month of January, but still.  I lost 8 pounds...

So I will get back on the wagon and eat the way I am supposed to, but it will be easy because there is no junk food in the house as we gathered up all the junk food and sodas that were left and left them at the church..  So... over the next few weeks I will lose the 2 pounds and maybe another pound or two, but then I will spend 25 hours on two flights to Africa, get there at midnight, sleep in a strange hotel and drive for hours over bumpy roads to get to the hospital compound.  I have no clue what I will be eating...whatever I am fixed.  I am guessing it will be carb heavy like the food we are served in Honduras.  Will I be able to drink the 80 ounces of water I have been drinking on a daily basis...doubtful. For a couple of reasons...not sure how much filtered water I will have access to, and I have been going to the bathroom every 30 minutes at home and I probably will need to be able to go hours ( like on the planes but also if we go out into the countryside in Kenya) without going to the bathroom. I will be there for a month.

So part of me says... Why in the hell am I even trying to establish healthy habits.  I should just eat whatever I want as I was stable in my weight, though overweight.  But this feels completely hopeless.  I got my water and healthy breakfast of oatmeal this morning, but  just struggling about why I should even care.

[Eos]

I hear you. I was away for two days and gained three pounds back after spending the month doing a slow, steady loss.  It is distressing, but I also realized that this is my post-menopausal reality and not a fluke. So I ate really carefully and walked a bunch for two days, and 2 of those pounds are gone.  There's something I don't understand about those fast gains but I guess my only thought is, you're establishing healthy habits for the longer run so just focus on this year.  Two steps forward one step back is still forward motion, it's just slow.  Give yourself the grace you'd give others in this situation.

[Soror]

Didn't I see you say somewhere one of your goals for this year was to work on not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good? 

Your train of thought is just that. It's a very rare person that eats perfect 100% of the time (and of that tiny fraction most probably have eating disorders).

A pound a week is a pretty ambitious for an older lady. 

And from what I've read being a bit overweight when you're older isn't a huge health issue. Being very obese yes- slightly overweight no.

 

[Soror]

Just now, Eos said:

I hear you. I was away for two days and gained three pounds back after spending the month doing a slow, steady loss.  It is distressing, but I also realized that this is my post-menopausal reality and not a fluke. So I ate really carefully and walked a bunch for two days, and 2 of those pounds are gone.  There's something I don't understand about those fast gains but I guess my only thought is, you're establishing healthy habits for the longer run so just focus on this year.  Two steps forward one step back is still forward motion, it's just slow.  Give yourself the grace you'd give others in this situation.

When you put on a few pounds quickly after restrictive eating that is most likely water retention from eating foods higher in sodium and/or carbs than you had been previously. You'd have to eat a lot extra to gain that much weight over 2 days time but our weights fluctuate naturally due to changing hormones, carb, and salt intake etc. Conversely when you lose weight quickly after adopting a diet it's mostly water weight. 

And you're totally right when you are post-menopausal the body is less forgiving. Healthy habits are important but that doesn't mean it is perfection all the time. It means trying to eat well most of the time. 

Being mentally healthy is realizing that sometimes circumstances are beyond your control. Sometimes crap happens.

I've had a busy week and been gone too much and not eating enough. Then Thursday I made it to 4pm and realized I hadn't ate since breakfast. I got a gluten free pizza and ate the whole thing in one sitting without guilt. AFter a week of not enough food and a long stressful day. Whatever. It is what it is.

[TexasProud]

3 minutes ago, Soror said:

Didn't I see you say somewhere one of your goals for this year was to work on not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good? 

And from what I've read being a bit overweight when you're older isn't a huge health issue. Being very obese yes- slightly overweight no.

 

Good point.  And I should feel better (attitude) in a few days.  Lack of sleep really affects me.  I normally get 6-7 hours.  I am grumpy and feel like I have a hangover... or what I am guessing a hangover would feel like. So yes, hopefully I will have a more positive mindset in a few days.

I am borderline obese according to my BMI.  Losing 17 pounds would put me at the top of healthy weight and the 35 pounds to make it firmly in the middle where I was for most of my adult life.  I gained over 40 pounds on the first anti-depressant they gave me and have never been able to lose it even though I haven't been on them for 6 or 7 years now.  Frustrating. 

[marbel]

I hear ya - it seems like weight loss is always 1 step forward, 2-3 steps back. This is magnified as we age, too, right? I have struggled with my weight my whole life but it gets harder and harder.

So you just keep doing the best you can. I mean, you can refuse all these opportunities you have to serve - which I think is something you want to do, right? - so you can stay home and keep to your routines. But I don't think that is what you really want.

 

[73349]

Think of it this way: Any day you do good things is good for you. What we have today is today.

The weekend is over; you're not in Kenya yet; you just have this day that it is right now. So do your thing today, and be proud of taking good care of yourself today. I hope you can get some rest and feel better.

[Katy]

Those 4 pounds were not fat. It’s at most 1/4-1/2 lb of fat, and the rest is water retention from suddenly having more carbs & sodium than you’re used to. Two tablespoons of extra salt can make you hold on to 8 lbs of water. And the reason low carb diets seem to be so effective is that every molecule of glycogen (carbs stored in the muscle) hold two molecules of water. 

It would be pretty close to impossible to eat the 18,500+ calories you’d need to eat to gain 4 pounds of fat in 3 days (assuming you typically burn at least 1500 calories per day).

Go do a quick HIIT workout (something simple like 10 frog jumps as fast as possible, a break of 30 seconds, and another 10 frog jumps. Then take a hot bath or sauna for half an hour. You’ll sweat out two pounds and the endorphins and heat shock proteins will boost your mood. Plus I’m not sure why, but even 10 frog jumps make me crave healthy foods for the rest of the day. 

[stephanier.1765]

I've learned the hard way to give myself grace in these types of situations. Your body was telling you were exhausted and your body's response, since it couldn't sleep, was to comfort eat. Stress and exhaustion do that to me too. But even in just unusual situations I give myself grace, such as when my son took me out for my birthday recently and he bought me a vegan donut. I've been saying hard no's to anything that calorie dense but, since this was an unusual situation, I took that donut in the spirit it was given and ate it guilt free. It's hard to learn to be kind to ourselves.

[GoVanGogh]

I look at it from a different perspective. We set healthy goals and eat healthy 95% of the time so that we can enjoy those 5% times when we over indulge or eat foods we really now we shouldn’t eat. We really need to stop thinking of foods as “bad” or “good,” but building a healthy lifestyle where our body naturally wants healthier options. But at the same time know that it is okay to have a meal or two or a weekend of not ideal food choices. It isn’t failure to enjoy pizza here and there or eat some cookies. Are you familiar with John Robbins, of Baskin-Robbins? He walked away from inheriting the ice cream chain because he didn’t like the health issues his dad and uncle were having. He says, Ice cream is good as a treat, just not every day. Make things a treat. Where you really enjoy them. Like eating ice cream, seated, with family or friends. Not eaten in the car, from a drive through window, as you go from place to place. Enjoy the foods that are less than ideal. Just not every day or even every month. 

[thatfirstsip]

Semeglutide

[SKL]

I always weigh more after not sleeping well.  It's water.  Get a couple days of good sleep and then weigh yourself first thing in the morning.

[Rachel]

I have no advice but I am sending you a PM.