The Doctor Is In

January 31, 2008 at 4:48 pm (Weight Watchers)

As I mentioned earlier, I made a doctor’s appointment so I could get some sound advice on my current eating and exercise plan. 

The first thing we talked about was the caloric intake and what was feasible for me.  Currently I am at 1250/day and that’s where I was planning on staying.  Dr. R feels that is lower than is neccessary for ongoing weight loss (these opinions are obviously for ME and should be used by YOU with caution).  He figures that around 1350-1400 is a reasonable range and will still net weight loss at the end of the day (or week, as the case may be).  In that same vein he firmly stated that the rate of my weight loss is no longer a good thing.  With less than 30 pounds left to go the losing should be slowing down. 

The next thing we talked about was metabolism and whether or not it is possible to screw it up with diet. He maintains that it has never been scientifically proven that a low amount of calories for a long period of time followed by a reasonable increase will cause you to gain tonnes of weight.  What he did say (and forgive me, it was a lot of info in a short time so I will tell you what I understood) is that there are different versions of metabolism.  I didn’t understand exactly what he was saying but the general idea is that there is a limit to how much you can burn through ketosis (which is not a bad thing!).  Once that limit is reached, you don’t get any additional benefit from cutting more calories.  Once that ketosis limit is reached your body switches to a different sort of fat burning.

We talked about why I’m cold all the time and he said that it totally has to do with the weight loss, it has to do with the fact that my body was used to be insulated by a layer of fat that is no longer present.  Unfortunately, there is very little that I can do about it and just need to wait it out and that eventually my body will adjust to the new circumstances.

We also talked about how many calories I should be adding back for exercise.  Based on what I do and for how long, he figures that I should be putting about 200-250 back in.  Now, surprisingly he said that adding the 200 back in is sufficient for the increase that he suggests in the first paragraph.

He suggested also that I start to phase out Weight Watchers.  That surprised me a little.  What he said is that WW is great for teaching portion control and calorie content and getting you on your way.  He said that WW is not a forever plan.  For someone like me who has already lost a great deal and has only a small(ish) amount left to go that I need to start developing my own plan for how I’m going to live the rest of my life.

So, how do I carry all this out?  For starters, I will still be going to the weigh-ins every week.  That part is non-negotiable.  I think once I reach the target (below 170) I am going to stop going every week.  I know that once you are a lifetime member (goal + 6 weeks maintenance) you are supposed to weigh in once/month and that’s what my plan is (although I will have to purchase a scale for home because I won’t be able to stand not knowing for a whole month!). 

As far as increasing calories?  I’m going to monkey with it a bit.  Actually I’m going to combine some principles of the CORE plan with the points counting plan (FLEX).  I am no longer going to assign a points value to fruits and vegetables.  That frees up around 4-5 points daily and that should bring me right in line.  So I will still have 25 points/day but I will be over every single day.  That would make me insane to see the tracker be over so I will just assign the produce as 0 and still be on target.  I still need the accountability of the points program and I’m still learning some of the portion control lessons so I can’t ditch the points altogether.

It’s funny, because after he said that I need to eat more, the fat girl who lives inside me was pretty excited and thought that was a golden ticket.  It’s NOT!  It doesn’t really change anything that drastically.  He also mentioned that while I do need to eat a few more calories every day that they need to continue to be the healthy and nutritious ones that I am already eating (almost like he HEARD the fat girl inside start cheering!). 

So that’s where I am.  Still following WW but modifying it to suite my own needs even more than I already had.  Starting to build my own plan for longterm health, adding in some extra calories to cover off the exercise as well as allow me to eat more and dealing with being cold until my body adjusts.

All in all I’m very glad that I went.