I got back from my long weekend camping trip on Monday and am pleased to report that I LOST weight. My diet included ice cream, butter tarts, a couple of bags of cheesies, handfuls of M&Ms, etc etc. BUT...I made sure I got at least a 1-1.5hr hike in each day and my meals were rather light (although I did eat my fill of ribs one night!). Still, one lunch was a single veggie patty and another lunch was an avocado and 2 hard boiled eggs. I have to say I am rather surprised since I usually see a small bump in water weight after a trip but even with all my indulgences, I guess I managed to keep my sodium intake reasonable.
Also, yesterday I ate a cheesecake (440 cals) AND a large scoop ice cream in a yummy waffle cone (650 cals? OUCH - it was THAT bad?!). But kept my weight steady. Breakfast was my yogurt and granola (250 cals), lunch was 2 spinach cakes (150 cals - I did forget to eat my apple and chickpeas after that), and dinner was a chicken and rice soup (200-300 cals maybe?). I didn't plan such low cal meals...but I guess it worked out as I ended up eating only about 1800 cals all day (my maintenance is about 1700-1800 since I am so short). The desserts filled me up so I wasn't too hungry plus I was too busy and kept forgetting to eat my planned sides. Interesting because I felt like yesterday was an indulgent day.
@Cookie78 Concentrate on making sure you burn plenty of calories paddling and that should offset any extra eating you do. Usually on trips like that, I just make sure I do plenty of physical activity (squeezing some extra in whenever possible) and I'm just fine. As it is, I was on the lazier side with last weekend's camping trip as usually I manage about 3 hours of physical activity. (Helps that I LOVE hiking, canoeing, swimming, etc and happily do it for hours). Do tell us more about your canoe trip - are you canoe camping too? I keep thinking of doing something like that but really, really hate portaging (and so do all my canoe companions) and just don't have the right lightweight gear.
@Frugal Lizard It's interesting how you feel at different parts of the journey. A few months ago, I wouldn't even be able to imagine switching to maintenance just FOUR pounds from my goal. After all, how hard is it to muscle through? As it turned out, I did need that mental break and the past 2 months of maintenance has given me a lot of confidence. I'm only 1.5 pounds from my goal now and am hopeful I will (very very slowly) lose that by the end of August. I'd love to drop another 5-10 more pounds after that but still don't know when I'll be ready to be more focused and increase my deficit.
@rockstache @RedmondStash I totally agree about the mindset change. It's GOOD not to feel defeated after a small setback. To know that small blips in the journey will come but that the long haul can still look good. And @microspice is so right - this group and being able to read as everyone shares honestly about their journeys - oh boy, it helps SO much!
I just spent the weekend with a good friend who was the first among our group to lose some serious weight. He used Weight Watchers and went on a rather extreme diet (1200 -1500 cals for a big and tall man) and lost the weight very quickly. He then quickly picked up all kinds of sports including cycling and running (we both started long distance cycling together). It's been about 5-6 years now. Last year, I could see about 10-20 pounds creep back on. This year, there has to be at least 20-30 more pounds back on him. I know its his eating habits. He was involved in so many endurance sports for the first 5 years that even as his old eating habits started to return, he was still able to stay trim. He hasn't been running/cycling much for the past year and with his eating getting worse, its coming back. He told me he has started cycling a couple of times a week again so we'll see. Based on what I see of his mindset, I have a strong feeling that he is going to be part of those statistics that say the majority of ppl who lose weight typically gain it back within 5 years. I hope he is able to reverse this - but it's hard to say. It's rather heartbreaking since his weight loss changed him rather dramatically (in a rather negative way). He started hanging out with a different crowd, started drinking more and partying more...and eventually left his wife of 20 years. Both my DH and I have complained that he isn't as much fun to hang out with as he likes different things now. If he puts all the weight back on, will his new friends and new girlfriend still be around?
It also makes me concerned about long-term maintenance. I naively thought that if you successfully kept the weight off for 2-3 years, that was it - you were set for the rest of your life. I'm starting to realize that this is not the case and this is something that will require vigilance...forever.