Renee wrote me to chime in because I did the whole REPAIR program and I have followed and respected and learned from Leigh Peele for 3-4 years now. After REPAIR, through years of dieting, I got 4 pounds from my goal weight and got scared and put on 15 lbs again. So I have answers and no answers.
Here is my REPAIR log:
http://forums.jpfitness.com/training-log/34294-etana-repairs.html
VACATION: There is a LOT I have to say, and I am all over the place not organized, since it is so much… HOWEVER, I am preparing to go away for the weekend to celebrate my 65th birthday!! So I'll jot down thoughts, and check in after the weekend.
SUMMARY, AFTER I WROTE: So this post is stream of consciousness, not edited, a bit all over the place. Ask me questions and I'll answer next week.
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BIGGER TIME FRAME:
I think you need to look at the bigger longer picture of your life. I know you will think this is ridiculous you want to lose weight NOW this month this year. But so then you lose and you gain and you lose and you gain and you have learned nothing and are back where you started with a more abused damaged body.
REPAIR:
What are you afraid of? If you are afraid not to exercise, then you are compulsive and need to heal that. If you are afraid you will gain, if you really follow the program you will not gain more than a few glycogen/water pounds.
I think you should start REPAIR after you finish your race, when you are really ready, and enjoy it while you are doing it, and feel the feelings that come up, and journal them, and learn with your eyes and mind open. You will learn things you do not expect to learn. I followed it quite closely. I counted the macros of fat/protein/carb ratios and adjusted the calories just as Leigh wrote. I learned about vitamins and the foam roller. I learned about the stress that exercise puts on your body. I learned that you sometimes can lose better by gentle walking and cause less stress on your body. I gained 3 pounds in the last 2 weeks. I was thrilled that that was all I gained. And the next month I dropped 9 pounds on Leigh's next diet. (when I had been losing 1 lb per month or less previously). Part of the program getting your body to be able to tolerate more food. I know you won't think this way, patient about yourself, but with your history it would be just a little time in the big picture if you did the REPAIR two times back to back.
I went down the path of thinking there was something medically wrong with me, but I just burn very little calories per day. Leigh actually called me a "Laze !" which made me stop and look at how little I move all the hours I am NOT exercising. The Fitbit and bodybugg are so great to show you how little really you move, that you are comatose most of the day at your laptop at your TV, studying... You'd burn more if you were sleeping, at least your body would be healing during sleep Leigh says, "it's better for you if there is nothing wrong with you," then you can control your recovery without medication.
What you're doing now is not working. And if you injure your body from exercise, you'll have to sit out from exercise for months, let alone what permanent damage. You are so young and have so much time. You could in a year, do 2 REPAIRS and still then lose the weight you want to lose, at 1 pound per week. And in a year from now be lean and eating and moving.
You are 20. I am a young 65, we both are ignorant about eating. I know how to diet and to binge. I am just so tired of dieting, and then gaining.
I still weigh my food. I tried intuitive but gained weight. I am now involved in another program, Program Yourself Thin by Jim Katsoulis, to learn now how to live as Thin Etana NOW. This is another story, which I will report on in the next week or so.
FITBIT:
Buy a Fitbit for $100. Or have someone give you one for a gift. It is not as accurate as the BodyMedia GoWearFit, but that is one ugly thing to wear on your arm, while I put the Fitbit on a camera leash (amazon.com), and clip it to my bra or panties, and have not lost it. It says I burn a bit lower than the GoWearFit/BodyBugg, and it doesn't show that I burn when I sleep. I just figure it is about 300 calories lower than the BodyMedia/GoWearFit/BodyBugg, but the Fitbit is consistent, I love seeing that on a lethargic day on the couch or at work at the computer, I burn 1450-1600 calories, and on a day with Zumba I burn 1900-2000 calories, but on a day I do housework all day and maybe go to the mall shopping for fun, and am on my feet for 6 or more hours during the day, I co.uld burn 2300 cal (I burn low even when active)... It has taught me so much about how little exercise hour contributes to my weight loss, and how much having fun and being active or doing house work, cooking, etc burns calories compared to sitting.
Join Leigh's forum. Listen to the podcasts and learn from her about how your body works. Get your dad to pay for 3 months.
MISCONCEPTIONS VS KNOWLEDGE
You really can learn so much from Leigh, from her books and podcasts and free articles.
www.leighpeele.com
You wrote:
> I could lose 6 pounds eating nothing for 2 days
Not possible. If your metabolism burned 1400 calories per day, the most calories you'd lose by fasting for 2 days is only 2800 cal or 2/3 of a pound. So the rest is glycogen and water.
Where is the log of your daily food that we can take a look at?
Are you consistent in weighing and writing or do you have 3 days occasionally where you blow it and not write and just guestimate?
You wrote:
> I don't lose on 1200 for a week
If you are burning 1400 cal and eating 1200 cal, your deficit for the day is 200 cal, for the week is 1400 cal, not even 1/2 a pound. So of course you will not lose weight. Then if you misjudge 100 cal or 150 cal, food is labeled not perfectly, all chicken breasts are not created equal 120 cal/4oz, the strawberries are sweeter or less sweet per 80gram, etc, and your deficit is gone. Or after 8 weeks where you only lose 1/4 lb per week, you are fed up and binge for a week, and then you gain. I am assuming a lot here, I don't know you. But you throw around eating 70 cal and eating 1200 cal and gaining 2 pounds per week every week for weeks. Have you really gained 2 pounds a week for the past 8 weeks eating 1200 calories per day? What and how are you tracking besides weighing food? Can we see it? Has it been consistent for 10+ weeks, with no cheats, and you are really gaining 2 lbs per week? If that is true, email Leigh until she takes you on. Don't wait. Pursue her and beg for her attention. NOTE: she has not been of great health and has had personal issues herself, so be kind and considerate. She is totally generous and compassionate and honest and knowledgeable.
I found that losing weight IS the math, and it is NOT the math. I seem to not lose on 1200 but on just under 1100 avg I think I do. Why would 100 cal/da make a difference? I have a lot that gets in the way of really being exactly in deficit every single day for 12 weeks lately, that I have shifted and am training myself to be thin now… We have such a mind set that we are bad and a failure and can't successfully lose weight and cheat, so we'll eat less and exercise more and eat even less. This is a sick picture. I want to substitute my bad habits for good habits. What do thin women do? How do they live? I need to interview a bunch of them really!!! I think they eat a little, until there is an occasion where they eat a lot. I think they move a lot more than I do. I notice them standing when i am sitting. They leave a lot over on their plate. They buy food, taste it and leave it over. I have much more to say about this, about changing my mind and being so it is no longer chubby Etana on a diet, she reaches almost goal weight, gets scared, doesn't know who she is or how to eat maintenance how to eat NOT DIET, and in a month she has gained 15 pounds back. STOP !! I want another story. I am now declaring that I am THIN ETANA NOW, and I am acting the way a thin person acts. Like a happy eater, but maybe a happy being, instead of so much focus on food. I digress.
R.E.P.A.I.R. is a good place to start. It is such a specific program that leaves nothing to guess and you just trust Leigh that she knows what she's written, and you will learn new things and you will not gain just a little water/glycogen a few pounds. Meanwhile your body will begin to repair from how much you have abused yourself. Doctors don't really know about health.
Our bodies do not want to be in defiict and we are in deficit for years and years and forever, more or less severe. With extreme punishing exericse that would be fine if we were eating to support the body stress. You are supposed to EAT when you do marathons, not diet. Did you know that?
> fast or slow metabolism
Comparing yourself to someone else will not help you. Getting to know yourself and what you need and what you can get away with is the point. I know that if I start eating carbs I am physically addicted and can't stop. I know that 6 small meals per day is too much food for me. I know that I don't mind fasting during the day once a week. I know that my body loses better with high/low calorie cycling: 5 low cal low carb, high protein healthy fat days, and 2 higher cal (high carb, low fat days) … 900 cal x 5 and 1800 cal x 2. And I enjoy having the weekend to eat a little more. I don't lose weight easily. I seem to need a 600-800 calorie deficit average per day to lose.
Take a few years to get to know yourself, to learn nutrition and how food and exercise work. Continue reading the forums and learn learn learn.
feel free to ask questions. It has been a few years since I've done REPAIR.
Etana, a young active 65 (Silver Spring, MD)
Etana, a young active 65 (Silver Spring, MD)
