[judijo]

Believe it or not, I am a lifetime member of weight watchers. That meant, that sometime in my life, I lost weight on WW and maintained it for 8 weeks, or some such. I was 20 years old at the time.

The way they did it was to add 50 calories/day for a week. Once there is zero gain/loss for a week, that is the maintainence calorie level for life, give/take for activity levels, etc.

[Kenyar]

yes but judijo, i dunno if thats right because throughout my journey i never had a steady weekly weightloss. i mean i could sit at a weight for 3 weeks and dump lbs all at once. so i doubt the one week rule will apply here i guess its gonna take me getting to know my body VERY WELL from here on out. its all so alien to me lol!

someone needs to write an instruction book for this!!

[clancythecamper]

Kenya ~ you are writing the book, we read a little more each day! This is why this site is so invaluable. We learn from eachother! Maybe try adding a shake at nite? Healthy but still extra calories. I'm trying to figure out what to do next myself. I am still walking/jogging but having issues with abdominal fat that just wont go away like I want it to! Yes, there's the theory about ab exercises - ugh! - but really, what can I do that I will actually do!! Parts of me look like a sharpei, parts of me look like a concentration camp survivor and I have a front butt that simply needs to be transplanted onto my non-existent back butt!

[DocSanae]

Probably the best thing to do -- though not the easiest-- is to cook everything from scratch. That way, you will know what is going into your mouth. Just about everything.
Processed food have quite a lot of unwanted stuff in them that you aren't really aware of and are unhealthy, and also, some of your dumping may come not from one particular ingredient, but a combo.
Also, it may be that the fresher the food, and the more freshly it is cooked, the better you do with it (this seems to be the case with a lot of people) until you are quite a while away.
kitty56 has a lot of good menus and I'm sure Dx E does too, so you should try some of them.
You should also try planning a complete daily menu and stick to it.

Since you still find it difficult to deal with your pouch and it may take time, but by upping your intake slowly, and introducing variation slowly, you should be able to get the hang of it.

Remember, *slow* food is best for you.
((((((HUGS)))))

P.S. To recover your weight just a bit, you probably need around 1500-1800 kcal total (I am figuring you are not getting in any more than 1000kcal right now). Also exercise your butt off to make sure you put on as much muscle as you can in that weight you regain--you need 'em for your phys apptitude test, so it's killing two birds with one stone.

[greensgirl19]

Boy, Kenya, this is just one subject we serial dieters can't fathom! Hopefully your new doc will have ideas you can live with. We don't want you wasting away to nothing! You're already so tiny!

[Kenyar]

Originally Posted by clancythecamper

Kenya ~ you are writing the book, we read a little more each day! This is why this site is so invaluable. We learn from eachother! Maybe try adding a shake at nite? Healthy but still extra calories. I'm trying to figure out what to do next myself. I am still walking/jogging but having issues with abdominal fat that just wont go away like I want it to! Yes, there's the theory about ab exercises - ugh! - but really, what can I do that I will actually do!! Parts of me look like a sharpei, parts of me look like a concentration camp survivor and I have a front butt that simply needs to be transplanted onto my non-existent back butt!

YOU ARE KILLING ME!!!
i fought with the "what can i do that i will do" part as well. i havent done ANYTHING. i feel so guilty too. i have done exercise in dribs or drabs but i havent really committed to anything. which is terrible. i laughed so loud this morning when i read this. thanks for being you clancy

[Kenyar]

Originally Posted by greensgirl19

Boy, Kenya, this is just one subject we serial dieters can't fathom! Hopefully your new doc will have ideas you can live with. We don't want you wasting away to nothing! You're already so tiny!

i debated for a while to even say anything about this on here. just because all 31 years of my life have literally been a yo-yo. LOL. i dont think i LOOK that small but apprently its not "healthy" to be underweight?? who knew???

[Kenyar]

Originally Posted by DocSanae

Probably the best thing to do -- though not the easiest-- is to cook everything from scratch. That way, you will know what is going into your mouth. Just about everything.
Processed food have quite a lot of unwanted stuff in them that you aren't really aware of and are unhealthy, and also, some of your dumping may come not from one particular ingredient, but a combo.
Also, it may be that the fresher the food, and the more freshly it is cooked, the better you do with it (this seems to be the case with a lot of people) until you are quite a while away.
kitty56 has a lot of good menus and I'm sure Dx E does too, so you should try some of them.
You should also try planning a complete daily menu and stick to it.

Since you still find it difficult to deal with your pouch and it may take time, but by upping your intake slowly, and introducing variation slowly, you should be able to get the hang of it.

Remember, *slow* food is best for you.
((((((HUGS)))))

P.S. To recover your weight just a bit, you probably need around 1500-1800 kcal total (I am figuring you are not getting in any more than 1000kcal right now). Also exercise your butt off to make sure you put on as much muscle as you can in that weight you regain--you need 'em for your phys apptitude test, so it's killing two birds with one stone.

i always appreciate your advice. whats even better is the way you administer it. my old dr would have told me "eat more!" and left it at that lol.
i dont mind cooking. i just dnt because of the reheating issue. when i do cook, as opposed to buying prepared foods, it always sits that much better in the pouch. i need to take the time to create some things that are quick and convenient. basically what i need is time, and its a bit limitedright now. i am scred to death to exercise though. not making excuses. i just thin one of two things will happen: i will either shrivel up like a raisin, or it will induce some type uncontrollable apetite. either way i am a bit freaed out. but it has to be done.

doc, refresh my memory again: you can lose rapidly/ semi-rapidly for up to 18 months? or 24 months? in either case...

thanks for the advice.

[DocSanae]

Yes, the losing window is 18-24 months.
If you exercise as you put back a little bit on, you'll probably look the same on the outside, the only difference being you are more packed.
One way to gain weight is to eat after exercise--your metabolism will be more active, and your body will try to absorb more. Also, you absorb protein better after exercise, because your body is going to work on building up the muscle you used with exercise. Then, rest after eating.
That's the way our sumo wrestlers--those guys who wrestle barefeet and in thick silk loin cloths-- gain weight. They get up early in the morning, start practicing (without eating breakfast) at around 5:00AM, that goes on till before noon, then eat a hearty brunch, take a nap, and eat supper. CraigT calls it *force feeding* .
While these guys are big, and when the weight/height ratio is calculated, they are obese, but when measurements for body fat percentage is taken, the data is almost invariably below 25% which is the upper limit for men. In other words, they are packed with muscle, not fat, no matter how big they are.

[MsVickie]

Im agreeing with Doc on all this. This time of year so much fresh food is becomming avaiable. Honey....to cook it from scratch to me is just as easy as throwin somthing in the oven or mircowave and checking it to see if its done.