Venting Again!

 Definitely use daily plate.  Right after surgery, I had a big notebook where I was counting EVERYTHING and it was such a pain in the ass.  I started with daily plate and it was SO much easier to keep track of the counts.  I hate math, btw.  All you gotta do is key in what you eat, the plate does all the dirty work for you.  

At 4 months out, i still use daily plate every day.  it keeps me accountable for what I put in my mouth.  and strangely enough, I find myself eating pretty much whatever, whenever, and when I log it on daily plate, I  tend to surprise myself and see that everything is usually right where it should be.   It helps too, if I log in around mid-afternoon to see where I am so far for the day, and that helps me decide what I should or shouldn't have for the rest of the day.  

1 pound a week is still better than gaining, right?  If you're following your nutritionist's food plan, you'll be fine.  In doubt, call her up.  At 3 weeks out, I discovered I wasn't getting in nearly enough calories and I was stalled big time.  It'll pass.

(((Hugs))) Hope your stall is short.

This happens to many early on.  Part of it is the amazing changes we go through, the other part is pure science.  Have you taken your measurements, cause I have found that in stalls and I have had several, one that was almost a month, I still lose inches.  Here is the scientific info;

Our bodies use glycogen for short term energy storage. Glycogen is not very soluble, but it is stored in our muscles for quick energy -- one pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs of water to keep it soluble, and the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs. So, when you are not getting in enough food, your body turns first to stored glycogen, which is easy to break down for energy. And when you use up 2 lbs of glycogen, you also lose 8 lbs of water that was used to store it -- voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs that most people lose in the first week of a diet.

As you stay in caloric deficit, however, your body starts to realize that this is not a short term problem. You start mobilizing fat from your adipose tissue and burning fat for energy. But your body also realizes that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy -- like, to outrun a sabertooth tiger. So, it starts converting some of the fat into glycogen, and rebuilding the glycogen stores. And as it puts back the 2 lbs of glycogen into the muscle, 8 lbs of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble. So, even though you might still be LOSING energy content to your body, your weight will not go down or you might even GAIN for a while as you retain water to dissolve the glycogen that is being reformed and stored.

Anne

thanks Ann I have been trying to keep this in mind.