Heidibobeidi
Plateau- need to cut out carbs!
Feb 23, 2015
So, it's been a while since last I reported in. Since surgery on 6/26/14 I've lost 136 lbs, without much in the way of exercise. Now I've hit a long plateau and trying to do everything I can to break out of it. I began letting my eating slide after my discovery that I can tolerate sugar again. Let me explain.
Last month I was hit by this weird dizziness/spaciness and went to the urgent care for it, worried that it might be my vitamin levels or something. They checked me out and told me I was fine, but before that I had decided to try eating a bunch of new stuff and see if that helped me at all. I had also been feeling extremely agitated and moody, with wild mood swings from unfounded anger to sadness. It felt like severe PMS all the time, no fun. Until that point I had been sticking to a heavy protein diet, with practically no carbs at all. That weekend I started eating any and everything I could think of; liver, avocados, ice cream, crackers, etc. My mood started to lighten almost instantly, but my dizziness remained. Long story short, I read about something called Carbohydrate Psychosis which occurs when you're on an Atkins type diet consisting of no carbs, which makes people exhibit manic depression type symptoms- remarkably similar to what I was experiencing. When I started to eat carbs again, it went away.
Since then I have plateaued, but felt great. Now, I'm at the point where I'm 18 lbs from my goal weight and I don't want to get stuck at only 8 months out! So, I'm going to cut down on carbs again and keep a close watch on what I eat, plus make sure to exercise every day on my bike at home. I've started doing pushups with my arms while on the bike too, so hopefully with these changes I'll get to Onederland.
On a side note, I've been getting really bummed lately with my job and with my plateau and with winter not going away. Since my weight loss I've been getting so cold and I can't get warm until I get into bed at night. It just drains me. Work's been super busy and I feel like I'm giving 110% when none of the rest of my team is, and that's also wearing on me. There's no recognition for giving the extra effort, and I'm quickly getting burned out. When I'm home all I think about is work, and when I'm at work all I think about is going home. The weekends go too fast, I just feel like I never leave this place. Hoping getting on top of my diet and exercise will help.
I still look at myself and see all the flab that I need to get rid of, the fat that hasn't gone away yet, the sagging skin... really everything BUT all the progress I've made. I put my size 20 pants on which are still snug at the waist and I beat myself up for not being comfortably an 18 yet. I really don't want to get stuck in this negative cycle and become anorexic. My muscles are already so weak and puny, I can't imagine losing more muscle mass. I think I need a support group.
So, things I'm changing- exercising every day, cutting down on complex carbs, tracking my food intake, being more active here, looking for a support group.
Fingers crossed that I get out of this slump soon.
