Face the Truth Fridays: Met Goal, Still In DDDY Challenge and My Big Accountability Button

248.8

The scale shows 1 pound down and I've met my blog's weekly weight loss goal.

I've been eating at "maintenance caloric level" (I suspect it's MORE than maintenance level, but I might be wrong.) An online caloric calculator says that at my new weight in the 240's, I maintain that weight at about 2200 (and change). Eating at 1760 calories, about 500 cals less a day than I need, translates to a 1 pound loss a week. So, this jives with my nutrition log. I've kept very close (sometimes over, mostly under or close to) 1760, and the week's total have been under the 1760x7 caloric amount. I've lost what the math says I should.

It's been novel drinking a lot of water. A lot for me. I used to struggle to get in 4 cups, and some days I had 1 or 2. On this challenge, I have to get 8 minimum, and I've been over 10 consistently. Yesterday I made it to 16. Today, I was out a lot and afraid to have to hit public bathrooms constantly, so I waited until I was on the way home to buy 2 16.9 ounce bottles to add to the 3 glasses I had earlier. Then I got home and had MORE. I'm at 10 glasses so far.

It's not been super duper easy to eat at 1760. It means not having a lot of my faves. It means avoiding most restaurants. It means some meals have just been protein shakes. It means a lot of salads and nearly no desserts. It means snacks are high protein, low fat, calorie-controlled.

But it has been DOABLE. I've had a hard time keeping under 2200 calories for the 3.5 years I've been blogging. To have almost completed two weeks at this caloric level has been giving me hope and encouragement.

So, the truths I'm facing:

1. I do better with the accountability of  reporting for a challenge.
2. I do better with the accountability of putting my food and weight here every day. Just knowing I have to type out what I ate and how much I ate (calorie wise) has made me NOT eat when I was tempted more than twice this week.
3. I don't like going to the bathroom this much (yikes), but I like how the water-filled belly calms my appetite some.
4. If I want to be 160 (or so) and stay there for the rest of my life, I will always have to be a disciplined eater and make up for excesses shortly after they occur (like right after) or have to suffer regains week to week.
5. Luxurious indulgences in whatever I want 3 meals a day are no more. Give and take, balance, has to be the rule of EACH day. Too much breakfast means less lunch and less dinner. And so on. I knew this intellectually, now, living like a "maintenance person", I see this in action, and it's a bitch. But it's reality.
6. 1760 calories is Not that much food. Sorry. Don't care about others' perceptions. For me, it's still restricting and giving up and sacrificing and it ain't bliss. It's not Eden; but it's not Hell, either.
7. It helps to tell myself, when dinner has to be a 200 calorie shake cause I overate at lunch, that "Tomorrow really is another day," and I can dream about what yummy breakfast I can have. Knowing there will be another chance to eat something delicious makes it less painful to have those "make up for the excess" meals. And water.

Back to #1--accountability.
I'm a person who always does better when I 'report' to someone. Someone makes me accountable in some way. It's not just me seeing weigh-ins or calorie counts. This makes me think twice when chocolate or pizza beckons. Maybe this is why WW meetings work for some people (I hate having to get dressed, drive, and sit in a room as specified, and much prefer the online way, but I can see how it would be an accountability tool.)

So, I'm sticking with Allan's challenge, though my urethra is having a conniption.

If you're someone who just isn't cutting it along. YOu slack off. You can't seem to make eating/drinking goals, then consider finding some sort of accountability structure. Consider using your blog to show your stats unflinchingly, even for a limited time. It might help.