Tracking and satiety

[pinenutcasserole]

I cracked 150 last week - had been hanging around there for ages! Now into the 140s, which is fab. I'm doing 6 days a week of some thing or other now, vs 4, which I'm sure is helping.

But with regard to eating, I only recently realized that Fitday tracking has taught me to attend to satiety. I've re-learned how to eat! The 'full' feeling I used to have at the end of almost every meal would now make me uncomfortable. (Actually tried this out the other day, mostly because I wanted to carb my way out of a hangover - bad! - and it felt AWFUL.)

I can say I haven't obsessed over numbers - been focusing more on quality, and failing there sometimes too. I very roughly aim for between 1200 and 1500 cals a day, and for the 'calorie balance' bars to show more expenditure than intake, and adjust the next days if I've eaten too much. And I've lapsed with the tracking some, too.

But now, even when I don't track until the end of the day, I find I only want to eat btwn 1200 and 1500 - I leave a table feeling sort of 4/5ths full. Which leaves me feeling both satisfied and mobile, if you know what I mean... I no longer have to sit for a bit to digest my food. I feel like I've re-set my hunger levels, weirdly!

I'll continue to track obviously, in case of slippage, but how interesting that one's subjective feelings of hunger can be so altered just by tracking!

[sarkai90]

First of all, congratulations on your success and breaking your plateau! I lost about 20 pounds a few years ago, and I struggle off and on to keep off the last 10 pounds or so. I lose in the spring and summer while I'm tracking my foods consistently, and then every year I gain my 10 pound winter cushion. One of these days I'll learn, but in the meantime, I'm back at it with about 6 pounds until my summer goal. When I hit my goal weight of 135, it'll be my lowest in almost a decade.

Anyway, I notice the same thing with myself about satiety. I splurged the other night on a 700 calorie meal, and I was uncomfortable to the point of feeling sick to my stomach. It was a balanced meal, with lots of fiber and protein, but I should have stopped myself at about 3/4 of the way through my meal. I ate everything I put on my plate, which was a mistake... my body has now adjusted to 300-400 calorie mini meals throughout the day.

I also think it helps to see what you're putting in your body in black and white. It's shocking to see the calories, fat, sugar, etc. in so many of the things I used to love eating. Chili cheese fries don't taste as good or tempt me as much now that I know they have 46 grams of fat!

Good luck and keep up the good work!

[Kathy13118]

Congratulations on finding the key to feeling satiated by your food intake. This is what EVERYONE wants. It's one of the keys to successful weight loss and you figured it out...

[pinenutcasserole]

Thanks both! Nice to get strokes

Absolutely, Sarah - and congratulations on your weight loss, as well! - formerly 'friendly' foods (like poutine: fries, cheese, gravy - that's not friendly at all!) have largely lost their appeal for me, too. I agree it's got everything to do with this learning process, which only happens when you track (more or less) regularly. I mean I used to think I knew what was what (burgers = bad; salads = good), but until I did fitday, I really didn't.

I just find it so strange to be thinking this way... to feel I've really internalized this knowledge, and have it inform, in a not-explicitly-conscious way, how I do things now. It's not even about decision anymore (Though, over the holidays, I did slip, and got myself into crave city.)

When I used to diet, I'd agonize over points or calories or whatever. Used to involve lots of anxiety, obsession, guilt... This time around, I've accepted tracking and working out as a daily commitment - and the crazy-making feelings are gone. So is my formerly atrocious attitude to my body... these days I see it more as a tool for experiences, rather than as an object of derision. And I feel I mostly accept its imperfections Maybe it's getting older, too...

What's amazing is how little internal torture is involved, once you think about it as a pragmatic commitment; decide to make it easy on yourself by not having crap around; include exercise as a matter of course. All habit. Very different from my previous attempts.