BordersGirl
Feeling great in 2012!
I thought it was worth doing a little refeed thread to record how I'm going about it as it's a bit different from the refeed plans out there, and people can see how I get on following my own plan.
Here is my current diary with my inane ramblings:
http://www.minimins.com/slim-save-diaries/248931-bordersgirls-final-phase-goal-i-lost-6-stone.html
So this thread will be to record things about my refeed rather than the drivel that tends to go in my main diary. I didn't start a diary when I first started S&S last summer. We didn't even have our own forum at the time let alone a diary section so I did my first 6 weeks without recording it and started a diary when I restarted after my holiday in week 7. I have lost just over 6 stone currently, all of it on S&S plus my gradual refeed.
Here is my first diary (I have no idea why I spilt them up to be honest!):
http://www.minimins.com/slim-save/236897-my-progress-restarting-through-xmas.html
So, onto my refeed. I stepped up to 800 calories last March when I had about a stone to go (to my original goal). I was going to try to get to the last half stone to step up but it got to the stage where I really wanted some additional things so a step up it was. I used My Fitness Pal (MFP) to record everything I was eating and it also helps me to keep track of carbs so that I can stay in ketosis. I've been using it for over 100 days now, recording every single day, and I love it. It'll be my app of choice during maintenance. So why did I choose a maximum of 800 calories? Well it was still low enough to be considered a VLCD and as I still had weight to lose I intended to stay at this calorie level for a while, it gave me some 'extra' calories to use for foods that weren't on plan per se, and I felt that I could cope with 800 calories in a way that being 100% S&S wasn't doing it for me at that time.
Since stepping up to 800 calories I have been having 2 or 3 packs, and some additional things that keep me under my calorie and carb limit. A bit like low calorie low carbing. So a normal day is something like this:
Breakfast - S&S shake or porridge - approx 130 calories
Snack - 2 x Scandanavian Bran crispbreads - approx 60 calories
Lunch - MRP bar or salad and protein - approx 200 calories
Evening - A variation of the S&S 100g of protein and veg but I pretty much have any veggies I want as long as I count the carbs. I generally have over my 200g allowance of veg but that's fine as long as the calories come within limits. Sometimes I have a 'Look What We Found' ready meal. Not all of these are suitable due to the carb content but some are. I generally decide based on how many calories I have left and how many carbs. I try to keep my carbs around the 60 mark, but definitely below 70. MFP helps me with that hugely.
Evening snack - I have a current passion for plain Alpro soya yoghurt. It's 46 calories, 2.1g of carbs per 100g and I usually have 200g and it's so worth it. If I can afford the calories and carbs I have sometimes been adding in some red fruits into the mix, so stewed rhubarb with sweetener (not sugar), strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants. An 80g portion of fruit makes a nice addition to the yoghurt. Or sometimes I have an Atkins snack bar as my evening treat (I count net carbs when using Atkins products or anything containing polyols) or a S&S bar if I can spare the carbs.
I try to get home from work having had around 400 calories and then that leaves me 400 for my evening meal and a snack. It's been working out ok most days. I'm not completely precious about sticking under the 800 calories, it's 'around' 800 calories and a few either side don't concern me to be honest.
Whilst on my stepped up plan I decided to reassess my target weight. I set my original target simply based on when I would have lost 6 stone exactly, and at the start that seemed to be quite daunting enough, but as I approached my original target I decided that I'd like to be a bit lighter. I'm actually under my original target weight now but still have around 9lbs to go to my revised target. Will that be the right weight for me? Who knows. I may reassess when I get there as it was only based on being BMI 25 so it may still not be right for me. Maybe I'll go for another 6lbs so that I can say that I've lost 100lbs and get my 'badge'
. The point is that I'm not precious about my target weight either. It'll feel right when I get there I hope. It's more to do with how I look and feel now than the scales saying a particular thing. I think the scales are really important when you are on your main journey as they are an important indicator of progress but when you start to approach your goal weight becomes less important if that makes sense!
So my weight loss has been slower than on 100% S&S but I'm ok with that as I'm treating my refeed as learning to live for the future, and nothing is more important than that. I knew that a fast refeed wouldn't work for me so I am taking things very, very slowly upping the calories as I go. In addition to this I feel so much better in my own skin now and I don't have the huge urgency to lose the weight that I had at the start. Slow and steady works for me now. It wouldn't have done at the start as it would have taken me years to lose 6 stone on a more 'normal' diet, and that's making an assumption that I could manage to lose it like that in the first place as I'm actually rubbish at dieting but this one works for me and then some.
My eventual maintenance plan involves being quite strict during the week and allowing myself some more calories for weekends and special occasions. I also struggle more at weekends. I find the diet as easy as anything to stick to when I'm at work but the weekends are harder so my maintenance plan reflects that. Because of this I have stepped up a little more at weekends to 1000 calories to start to get used to the different regimes. So I'm currently on an 800 weekday / 1000 weekend regime, and pretty much stick to the same type of things as above but I get the odd little extra treat at weekends or allow myself a slightly more calorific meal. I'm still careful with carbs though, and am not having any alcohol yet either. I was a big drinker previously and had intended to drink at weekends only in maintenance but now I'm not sure if I'll ever drink regularly again. I suppose I won't know until I introduce alcohol and see how I feel about it. I may find that I've missed it too much but we shall see I guess. This is a journey of discovery for me and nothing is actually cut and dried. I'm working things out as I go.
So that's way longer than I expected my first post to be but it records the background to my refeed and where I am with it currently. I intend to stay on the 800 / 1000 plan until I reach goal and then start stepping up some more and introducing carbs to take me out of ketosis as I will not be following low carb long term. Well I say that, I will be lower carb than my previous 'fat' diet for sure but I won't be ketosis low. I also hope to make better carb choices than before. I'll be observing Weasey's refeed plan with interest as she is in front of me having reached goal. Weasey's refeed is a little different from mine but there will be a point where she starts to introduce carbs and up the calories above where I am currently and I'm interested to see how she finds her eventual maintenance amount, and how long it takes her body to adjust the metabolism to the new levels. All interesting and important stuff.
Here is my current diary with my inane ramblings:
http://www.minimins.com/slim-save-diaries/248931-bordersgirls-final-phase-goal-i-lost-6-stone.html
So this thread will be to record things about my refeed rather than the drivel that tends to go in my main diary. I didn't start a diary when I first started S&S last summer. We didn't even have our own forum at the time let alone a diary section so I did my first 6 weeks without recording it and started a diary when I restarted after my holiday in week 7. I have lost just over 6 stone currently, all of it on S&S plus my gradual refeed.
Here is my first diary (I have no idea why I spilt them up to be honest!):
http://www.minimins.com/slim-save/236897-my-progress-restarting-through-xmas.html
So, onto my refeed. I stepped up to 800 calories last March when I had about a stone to go (to my original goal). I was going to try to get to the last half stone to step up but it got to the stage where I really wanted some additional things so a step up it was. I used My Fitness Pal (MFP) to record everything I was eating and it also helps me to keep track of carbs so that I can stay in ketosis. I've been using it for over 100 days now, recording every single day, and I love it. It'll be my app of choice during maintenance. So why did I choose a maximum of 800 calories? Well it was still low enough to be considered a VLCD and as I still had weight to lose I intended to stay at this calorie level for a while, it gave me some 'extra' calories to use for foods that weren't on plan per se, and I felt that I could cope with 800 calories in a way that being 100% S&S wasn't doing it for me at that time.
Since stepping up to 800 calories I have been having 2 or 3 packs, and some additional things that keep me under my calorie and carb limit. A bit like low calorie low carbing. So a normal day is something like this:
Breakfast - S&S shake or porridge - approx 130 calories
Snack - 2 x Scandanavian Bran crispbreads - approx 60 calories
Lunch - MRP bar or salad and protein - approx 200 calories
Evening - A variation of the S&S 100g of protein and veg but I pretty much have any veggies I want as long as I count the carbs. I generally have over my 200g allowance of veg but that's fine as long as the calories come within limits. Sometimes I have a 'Look What We Found' ready meal. Not all of these are suitable due to the carb content but some are. I generally decide based on how many calories I have left and how many carbs. I try to keep my carbs around the 60 mark, but definitely below 70. MFP helps me with that hugely.
Evening snack - I have a current passion for plain Alpro soya yoghurt. It's 46 calories, 2.1g of carbs per 100g and I usually have 200g and it's so worth it. If I can afford the calories and carbs I have sometimes been adding in some red fruits into the mix, so stewed rhubarb with sweetener (not sugar), strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants. An 80g portion of fruit makes a nice addition to the yoghurt. Or sometimes I have an Atkins snack bar as my evening treat (I count net carbs when using Atkins products or anything containing polyols) or a S&S bar if I can spare the carbs.
I try to get home from work having had around 400 calories and then that leaves me 400 for my evening meal and a snack. It's been working out ok most days. I'm not completely precious about sticking under the 800 calories, it's 'around' 800 calories and a few either side don't concern me to be honest.
Whilst on my stepped up plan I decided to reassess my target weight. I set my original target simply based on when I would have lost 6 stone exactly, and at the start that seemed to be quite daunting enough, but as I approached my original target I decided that I'd like to be a bit lighter. I'm actually under my original target weight now but still have around 9lbs to go to my revised target. Will that be the right weight for me? Who knows. I may reassess when I get there as it was only based on being BMI 25 so it may still not be right for me. Maybe I'll go for another 6lbs so that I can say that I've lost 100lbs and get my 'badge'
. The point is that I'm not precious about my target weight either. It'll feel right when I get there I hope. It's more to do with how I look and feel now than the scales saying a particular thing. I think the scales are really important when you are on your main journey as they are an important indicator of progress but when you start to approach your goal weight becomes less important if that makes sense!So my weight loss has been slower than on 100% S&S but I'm ok with that as I'm treating my refeed as learning to live for the future, and nothing is more important than that. I knew that a fast refeed wouldn't work for me so I am taking things very, very slowly upping the calories as I go. In addition to this I feel so much better in my own skin now and I don't have the huge urgency to lose the weight that I had at the start. Slow and steady works for me now. It wouldn't have done at the start as it would have taken me years to lose 6 stone on a more 'normal' diet, and that's making an assumption that I could manage to lose it like that in the first place as I'm actually rubbish at dieting but this one works for me and then some
. My eventual maintenance plan involves being quite strict during the week and allowing myself some more calories for weekends and special occasions. I also struggle more at weekends. I find the diet as easy as anything to stick to when I'm at work but the weekends are harder so my maintenance plan reflects that. Because of this I have stepped up a little more at weekends to 1000 calories to start to get used to the different regimes. So I'm currently on an 800 weekday / 1000 weekend regime, and pretty much stick to the same type of things as above but I get the odd little extra treat at weekends or allow myself a slightly more calorific meal. I'm still careful with carbs though, and am not having any alcohol yet either. I was a big drinker previously and had intended to drink at weekends only in maintenance but now I'm not sure if I'll ever drink regularly again. I suppose I won't know until I introduce alcohol and see how I feel about it. I may find that I've missed it too much but we shall see I guess. This is a journey of discovery for me and nothing is actually cut and dried. I'm working things out as I go.
So that's way longer than I expected my first post to be but it records the background to my refeed and where I am with it currently. I intend to stay on the 800 / 1000 plan until I reach goal and then start stepping up some more and introducing carbs to take me out of ketosis as I will not be following low carb long term. Well I say that, I will be lower carb than my previous 'fat' diet for sure but I won't be ketosis low. I also hope to make better carb choices than before. I'll be observing Weasey's refeed plan with interest as she is in front of me having reached goal. Weasey's refeed is a little different from mine but there will be a point where she starts to introduce carbs and up the calories above where I am currently and I'm interested to see how she finds her eventual maintenance amount, and how long it takes her body to adjust the metabolism to the new levels. All interesting and important stuff.
