Despite "recommitting" on Monday I have had the following "cheats":
- Monday night I ate an extra slice of Vegetable frittata. It meant I went 300 calories over target for the day.
- Thursday night I had an Oat frittata, which is basically rolled oats and egg whites cooked in the microwave to make a sort of pancake-y thing. Recipe is from Runs for Cookies Recipes. I adapted it to use sugarfree maple syrup instead of honey, but it was still 300 calories (including the PB2 peanut butter I had on top!)
And now time for the excuses: I have run 3 times this week for 25mins (which has been tough, ok!) and on Wednesday I also did two gym classes. I have been eating a small banana before each exercise session, which has been within my calories (just) and is helping A LOT with my energy levels.
(Aside: I won't bother posting the calories I've burned because between my dodgy HRM and the apps I use, which I believe overestimate a lot, I only have a really rough idea of what I burned.)
So, you could say, in a perfect world where all calories are equal (Are they?? The internet is confusing!) and my metabolism runs like a well-oiled machine, I might have come out even. But, in terms of Optifast and the program, I am not being a good girl. And, I have always advocated that if you customise the program, then you can't blame it for not working.
I'm also not going to lie and tell you that I was super hungry those times I cheated. I wasn't. It was definitely emotional eating. Whether maybe deep down there was some energy/nutritional deficiency that spurred it on, I don't know. Maybe a bit. Or maybe I'm convincing myself I need more food, and using that as an excuse.
So what do I want?
- I want to exercise. I want to complete the C25k and then proceed to run 5K+ 3 times per week. And I want to go to the gym at least twice per week with my colleague/gym buddy. We have a year's membership, so that's a big incentive. Even if I could write off the cost for myself, I'd still feel terrible leaving her in the lurch a bit. Part of the reason she signed up was that she thought I'd be going too.
- I want to lose weight. I want to lose 15 more kilos. I would prefer it to keep coming off at the nice fast rate it has been, but I am prepared to go slower. Much slower, if it means I can keep exercising at the rate I want to.
- Diet-wise I want something I can stick to. I don't want to do Optifast if it means I have to make so many unsanctioned modifications that there are too many factors involved. For example, if I start plateauing I wouldn't know what to blame or what to change.
I need to get over it and contact them. I need to have a session with someone who can properly modify my diet for me and take all this guesswork away. I need a big dose of reality. And fast.
One of the things I love about blogs is that we can be our authentic selves, so I think it's great that you're able to do that here. If you have doubts or need to make adjustments, that's perfectly okay. It's not as if you're overeating every single day and not getting any exercise in. I hope the dietitian can help formulate a plan with you that will help you move to whatever next step there is for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kathy. It's really nice to be truly honest and authentic somewhere. And thank you for saying that it's ok to have doubts or need to make adjustments. I think you're right. :) *hugs*
DeleteSomething I have noted both online and in my Optifast group is that when a person starts feeling great and exercising hard, their weight loss slows or stops. Consequently they start to feel highly discouraged and some end up quitting Optifast. After all, it goes against all logic that a person should not be losing weight while exercising and eating very few calories. But I really think that it takes time for our metabolism to come back to normal after this fast and that a calorie is not necessarily a calorie. All the hard exercise causes the body to conserve every last calorie and makes people ravenously hungry and prone to cravings. These observations have let me to wonder, if a person's first goal is to get down to their goal weight, if they should only do light exercise until they reach that goal. I don't know anything about the Aussie Optifast program, and heck, I'm only 11 weeks into my own, but now that I've heard and read stories similar to yours, I just wanted to share my unscientific observations for what they are worth. I hope you get the chance to talk to a dietitian and hopefully get some excellent guidance. You've done beautifully on this journey, and I'm rooting for you all the way from California. Hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteI can absolutely feel you rooting for me! It feels wonderful. :-)
DeleteI think you have a good point about the extra exercise contributing to more hunger and cravings.
I think you should push though to be honest.
ReplyDeleteFrom experience when I've got to the stage where I've lost a bit - 'think' I have it all under control and relex a bit suddenly there are a few extra little snacks, portion sizes creep up, a little treat here and there etc etc and before you know it you've put all your weight back on. Particularly with Opti I think its really important to follow the progression they recommend - are you still on one meal transition?
I know its boring and you want to be doing more exercise but think about the big picture. Taking another 3, 6 months or whatever it might be to get to your goal weight IS worth it in the whole scheme of your life. You'll still be able to run etc etc maybe just a bit later than you'd like to fit in with your Opti calories. Remember Opti only recommends light exercise so you're doing a lot more than that. It sounds like you need a bit of tweaking with calories/carbs/exercise and what-not and I'm no expert on that so the idea of seeing an Opti sympathetic nutritionist is excellent.
Jaynie I think that's a really important point. Thanks so much for making it. Another thing Optifast gives me is something to stick to. Some structure. Some space to not have to make so many choices. I'm not going to rush into anything, don't worry. I am considering maybe moving to Maintenance.
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