Still Losing

[JamieLogical 8,701]

I reached my goal weight of 165 just before my 1 year surgiversary. I am now almost 15 months out and I'm still losing weight. I really want to stop! This morning as I was getting into the shower, I noticed I could see the ribs in my BACK in the mirror!

I haven't been doing any structured exercise for a while now. We just moved to a new house on Nov. 6. The weeks before that were filled with packing and planning. The weeks since then have been NON-STOP physical and manual labor to get our new house to our liking. Painting every room, installing new light fixtures, installing new faucets, installing new door hardware, hanging curtain rods, installing new cabinet hardware, building furniture.... I took the first full week after the move off of work and every day was solid physical work. Since I came back to work at the beginning of last week, it's been a little less intense. I actually look forward to coming to work, because it means I get to sit down! But as soon as I get home, it's non-stop physical and manual labor again until around 1:00 in the morning.

Anyway, the point in all of that is that I am definitely burning a lot of calories right now, even if I'm not exercising on a schedule. Once all the house stuff is done and we are finally unpacked and settled in, I want to get back to a normal schedule of running and biking 4-5 days a week.

I don'd know how to get enough calories in to stop losing weight right now, short of just drinking them or eating terribly. I've been trying VERY hard to still eat on a schedule and get all my Protein in, even through all the craziness. Sometimes I'm going 4-5 hours without eating instead of my normal 2-3, but I am still eating at least four times a day, usually at least five. I'm eating lots of cheese and nuts in an effort to get more calories, since those have more fat and thus more calories by volume. But I just can't keep up and the pounds keep coming off.

Any ideas on how to get more calories in without resorting to unhealthy habits?

[sweetie716 270]

Maybe add another Protein bar? Some of them are packed with calories and Protein. Premier Protein Bars are normally almost 300 calories and 30 g of protein. There are 25 g of carbs though, if you are tracking that.

[JamieLogical 8,701]

Maybe add another Protein bar? Some of them are packed with calories and Protein. Premier Protein bars are normally almost 300 calories and 30 g of protein. There are 25 g of carbs though, if you are tracking that.

I haven't tracked carbs at all. I found that just getting all my protein in tended to keep carbs low due to the limited space. I am already at 3 Protein Bars a day right now though! Since my time is so limited and I've been so insanely busy. I do protein bars for Breakfast, afternoon snack, and evening snack. My only "real food" is lunch and dinner.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

Start snacking on nuts. They are high and fat and Protein. You can also increase your carbs. I know you said you have no room after Protein but keep in mind that it's okay not to get enough protein in a day. In the wild we didn't get all the protein we needed each day and so that's how we evolved. So skip some protein and eat carbs instead. Then once your weight loss slows monitor to find the balance of carbs so that you don't gain weight.

[Healthy_life2 8,322]

@@JamieLogical

Dang, you are right.The move itself is exercise.

Extra calories. Set your goals in my fitness pal for intake of more calories. My Dr. had me try a few food to get my calories up.

Ensure - 1 *ounce bottle is 220 calories. Its an easy grab when you are so busy.

Nuts - 201 calories per ounce

Whole wheat past, bread, whole fat milk yogurt butter. and brown rice.

[AvaFern 3,516]

Sadly enough, I don't have your problem, lol. I have been stuck at or around goal since I hit it, which is ok with me, although losing a bit more would be nice. I watched a lot of YouTube videos prior to surgery and one woman noted that the one difference between her losing weight diet and her maintaining diet was a 400 calorie Protein shake that she added after the gym every day. Even though you are already getting all of your Protein, this could add the calories you are looking for without a lot of fat, and it sounds like you've been super busy, so it might give you some extra energy as well.

[KristenVSG2014 1,872]

My sister went through the same thing when she bought her house. She went from a perfect 130 pounds to 115 in a short time and started to look gaunt. They finally got it fixed up and she got back to a healthy weight after her schedule normalized.

Anyway, my suggestion: Peanut Butter. Pretty much 100 calories per tablespoon. Add it to a banana or apple for a snack and you've added 300 calories to your diet. Or eat with celery if you want to stay at 200 calories. Heck, put it on half a piece of English muffin or toast! You need those calories!

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

Maybe instead of 3 Protein bars go for 2 bars and some veg? Like carrots/celery and hummus for a snack. Or if you are on the go the hummus to go packs. I know Sabra makes some and if you convenience store like Wawa and 7-11 sell their own versions. If you are doing really high level activity your body will burn the carbs.

[JamieLogical 8,701]

My sister went through the same thing when she bought her house. She went from a perfect 130 pounds to 115 in a short time and started to look gaunt. They finally got it fixed up and she got back to a healthy weight after her schedule normalized.

Anyway, my suggestion: Peanut Butter. Pretty much 100 calories per tablespoon. Add it to a banana or apple for a snack and you've added 300 calories to your diet. Or eat with celery if you want to stay at 200 calories. Heck, put it on half a piece of English muffin or toast! You need those calories!

I thought of Peanut Butter too, but overdid it last night. Ended up feeling pretty sick, like all the peanut butter was stuck in my esophagus. My fault for eating too much too fast! But I do agree that peanut butter might be a really good way of getting some extra calories packed in. So long as I can manage my eating and not make myself feel sick again.

[FocusOnMeNow 599]

Also unless there is some reason why you absolutely have to get the house together ASAP then try to cut that back to only two hours of extra work per day and eventually it will all get done. I highly recommend blending a frozen banana or some other fruit into a Protein Shake at least once a day. It will give you some extra carbs and some extra nutrition. Remember that fruit has nutritional value. And please down that shake right before and or right after your unpacking/workout. And just slow it down. The work will always be there????

[slvarltx 332]

There are plenty of weight gaining powders out there that will allow you to up your calories without filling up too much or putting a nutritional balance out of whack. Here is a link to livestrong that has some of these powders. You can get them at GNC or Amazon. It should be very easy for you to arrest the weight loss. Best of luck.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/36839-weight-gaining-powders/