Thank you everyone for all the advice and support you've given me today. I e-mailed Monica, who writes the blog Run, Eat, Repeat and she gave me some great advice:
"It sounds like your body and your mind are both a little burnt out from being on WW for so long. The combination of not losing and the breakdown at a meeting are sending you a message - maybe you need to take a step back for a few weeks? I know that's super scary to even think about because you don't want to gain it back. But, you really do need to respect your body's signals if you want these to be life long changes.
'I don't know what to eat in order to maintain my weight.' - Maybe your head doesn't know, but I bet your body does. If you eat too much you'll feel super full and if you don't eat enough you'll still be hungry. So, it's unlikely you'll eat enough to gain 10 pounds in 2 weeks. Remember one pound is 3500 calories - that is a lot of extra food to eat to gain that much!"
So, for now, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to continue to exercise and I'm going to respect my body's hunger signals. I'm not going to count points, but I am going to be conscious of what I'm eating. Case in point, today I had oatmeal with banana for breakfast and a large salad for lunch, consisting of the following: beets, lettuce, spinach, green pepper, a spoonful of blue cheese, 1/4 cup edemame, a hardboiled egg, and 1/4 cup chopped turkey and some fat free dressing. I have no clue how many points that was, but it was yummy and contained lots of healthy foods. Tonight, I'm going to have some chicken and a sweet potato with butter. I might also indulge in a glass of red wine.
I had a good conversation with my dad, and we both agreed that I know how to live healthy and that I don't need to obsess over points. I'm also going to get in some exercise--either Body Pump or swimming in the new pool. Happy Monday everyone.
Sounds like a good plan for you Katie - and much less complicated than your own version of WW! :)
ReplyDeleteI think everyone goes through stages where you get burnt out from WW, or any plan for that matter. When it brings you to a point where you're being less healthy because of it - like eating something less healthy just because its less points - then stepping back is a good thing to do. I'm sort of at the opposite end of the spectrum - getting ready to go back to WW because i've been off it too long and the scale is moving in the wrong direction!