Creeping Carbs!

Oh, this maintenance thing is not easy.  One weekend of fun, up five lbs. i can say that is my end limit and smack down time.  I am back down 2 lbs with 3 to go.  It is work.  Again, if anyone says this is the easy way out, laugh out loud at them!  I would never be this weight without this surgery and I am determined not to lose this grace.  Of course the main culprit is the carbs- ever lurking and waiting to re- claim me.  I say, "No!"

My restriction is great.  It is just setting my mind to protein first!  Ok - got this. 

Nancy

I will be feeling the same way when I get to goal (I need to get my surgery scheduled first! Ha!!) but I know I will be addicted to the scale and if I go up 5 lbs, that will be my sign to get back on track. You look great and are doing wonderful!! 

I weigh daily. It keeps me honest.  Good luck!

Nancy

I weight daily now for that very reason!! Keeps me honest and on track! :)  Thanks!!

First, you are doing great and catching the weight gain when it's just a little bit.  That's what I do too and it really works.  Do you mind a little unsolicited advice?  If this is too much, just ignore it and move on.  I mean nothing negative about your approach, just sharing some hard won wisdom that has worked for me and applies to me in particular, but maybe it also applies to you.  

Whenever my carb count goes up, I have noticed that it's more about my grazing than my regular meals.  If I concentrate on sticking to a particular number of meals and avoid all snacking, the carbs naturally rebalanced downward.  It seems to be easier to watch the number of meals than the number of carbs.  Of course my carbs are lower at almost every meal due to my program.  I am used to eating low carb for meals, snacks or just grazing seems to be the real culprit of carb creep for me.  I hope there is something here that is helpful to you, maintenance is no joke.  

You are totally correct.  I seem to be incredibly hungry in the morning and could eat from 6AM through noon.  That is my grazing time. ( Lite popcorn, Quest bar and anything not nailed down if it is available.)  The grazing also happens more at home than work- more junk available.   Even with this , my grace is that I am not hungry by mid afternoon.  I could easily have a shake for dinner every night and close the day.

I find I can still eat the popcorn and protein bar as long as I make sure my meals are on schedule and that is all the extra that I have.   I will try to watch and I did start checking in on My Fitness Pal to come clean with this.  

Thanks for taking the time to respond.  I do find that my meals remain low carb and high protein. That is the great part by sticking to a plan for a long time.  

Nancy

Do you mind if I continue investigating possible reasons for the early morning hunger?  If and only if, you don't mind, here are a few possible suggestions.  (Of course, keep in mind that I am only going on my experience here). 

When is your last meal of the night?  Is it possible that the time between meals is a bit too long?  Also, what are you eating in the morning?  Is there enough protein and fat in your early morning meals?  My doctor recommends about 30 grams of protein before 10:00.  Are you anywhere close to this?  Also, fat in small amounts seems to cut my hunger dramatically.  Just some "food for thought".  :)

My dinner is usually light - protein and salad or a vegetable- 2 oz protein tops. I usually eat dinner around 6PM.  I never eat after 7PM - old habit from former diets. Maybe a heavier dinner would help with the morning hunger.

At 6 AM at  I have ISopure ( 25 gms protein)in my coffee with no fat 1/2 & 1/2 and a large glass of water with mio.  At around 9 or 9:30 I have a 80 calorie Dannon light greek yogurt (12 gms protein) and a few slices of fresh fruit.( usually berries of some sort)  So I do hit the 30+ gms of protein by 10AM.   Once I start eating I feel like I can just continue it!  Days that I am rushed I can easily wait to lunch with only my protein shake  in the AM.  I drink tons of water so that is good.

 I do eat regular salad dressing on my salads.  I eat most meats- don't worry about low fat since I only eat at the most 2 oz at a time.  At this time like most people this far out I found that I can eat most anything.  Carbs of course slide down easily.They taste good so I have to be vigilant.  I had very few carbs most of the first year so indeed they taste good to me but being this weight is better than the carbs.  I never drink alcohol and only occasionally have bread at meals.  I have to be careful with cookies though certainly 98% of the time I can stay away from them.

In thinking, honest self , my husband cannot eat a lot of things because of his history of throat cancer. We order calzones, pizza and pasta fagioli(sp)  at least once a week.  I will have a taste of corner of calzone or 1/3 piece of pizza. It really does not sit well with me so  that truly is it.  Those nights I don't eat much because it does not agree with me  and maybe that contributes to my hunger. I just can't be bothered to eat. I will need to track those nights better.  I will add some meatballs and salad to the order or an antipasto salad.

Ultimately maybe I should forget the protein bars but they help me meet my goals. The Fit popcorn gives me some crunch so it helps me keep away from the fully loaded junk. 

This current weight gain was from too many treats on a weekend- not my regular routine. We have my grandson for 4 days every other week and those times there is more around the house than usual. We usually have a full house - my son, my daughter, baby, 4 dogs and a cat!  Oh yeah, the dogs are mine. When my grandson leaves, everyone else does too- just me and my honey left. It gets quite chaotic. My son cannot drive his son because he is an epileptic and will not be cleared to drive him until November. That is also why the baby comes to us for his visits because my son won't be alone with him while he is this little and he could have a seizure.

So like anyone else here, we have a normal life.  Thanks for taking the time to look at this.

Nancy

Nancy, first, I want to make sure you understand, I think you are doing great.  Sometimes it just helps to put our heads together and problem solve as a team.  I know that it helps me to do that with some VETS when I might be a little stuck or something new comes along.  That is where I am coming from, offering the same type of support that I myself would want to get.  :)

I was looking at your breakfast and thinking that there is not much fat or dense food involved.  The protein drink, yogurt and fruit would leave me hungry.  I wonder what would happen if you switched it up to something like chicken breast (one ounce) with one fried egg on top?  I wounder if the dense protein and the fat in the egg yolk would keep you full for 4 hours or so?  Might be worth an experiment.  Good luck, and here is to a healthy normal (busy) life.

I was just talking about that with my co-worker who is a fellow sleever.  Adding eggs tomorrow! I will see what else I can add & see  if that helps.  I think the food is  not dense enough.  

Cheers to you too!  I only took good vibes from your help and post!

Nancy