Iโve been feeling really discouraged lately. There are two things going on here. One, Iโm bored with the low carb foods Iโve been eating for the last few weeks. And two, Iโm not losing weight โ or I should say the weight loss is very, very slow.
The boredom is totally my fault. Iโve been eating low carb fast food and take-out, or easy low carb snacks. I havenโt cooked at all. Cooking would definitely give me a lot more variety โ and healthy variety at that. Noted. ๐
As for the stall, that one had me stumped. Iโm drinking more water, working out almost every single day, and watching what I eat. Itโs not the whole โmuscle weighs more than fatโ thing, and itโs not โinches vs poundsโ โ Iโm just not losing weight. Period.
I had a hysterectomy in February. Honestly, I thought nothing of that. If anything I thought that would break my weight loss stall, and that once I recovered the weight would start coming off more easily.
Of course I never expected to be โdownโ for almost two straight months (most of that on bed rest) โ thanks to complications โ and it never occurred to me how that might affect my metabolism. I am now wondering how long it takes your โmetabolismโ to recover from something like that?
Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to look all this up on the interwebs earlier today. Like I said, I didnโt figure the hysterectomy an issue, because I only had a partial โ I kept my ovaries. So I didnโt expect to have any hormone issues or whatever. Speaking of, I also stopped a hormone therapy prescription the day of the surgery, so I imagine that could take some time to work itself out tooโฆ
Anyway, hereโs what I found:
Weight gain with a partial hysterectomy may be the result of restricted blood flow to the pelvic area after the removal of the uterus. Less blood translates into a drop in hormone production, which in turn affects the way your body burns fat and uses calories. โsource
Interesting. Also a newsflash to me, is that itโs common to gain 20-25 pounds the first year after a hysterectomy โ partial or full. ๐ฏ Geez. That was actually encouraging. At least I am NOT gaining weight, and this may be a legitimate reason why Iโm not losing weight like I should be.
I Refuse To Be A Statistic!
Iโm turning 40 in less than two weeks, and Iโm aiming to be โ40 and Fabulous!โ
I am NOT going to let my age be an excuse to โlook like a typical 40-something Americanโ (please donโt throw tomatoes!!). Reading that most women gain 20-25 pounds after a hysterectomy just made me even more determined, because I *refuse* to be a statistic.
I am anything but typical! I am not going to throw in the towel and allow myself to believe that I donโt have a choice. Just because Iโm hitting 40 and had a hysterectomy doesnโt mean I have to โlook the part.โ It would be a great excuse, mind you, and would get sympathetic nods of approval from society no doubtโฆ
But thatโs not me. In fact, I take it as a personal challenge.
From Discouragedโฆ To Determined!
That did the trick. It was a simple mindset shift, which went something like โI just want to stick my head in a box of donutsโ to โOhhh, the challenge is ON!!!โ
It made me realize that Iโm actually doing great. Iโm just a few short months out of recovery, my body is dealing with metabolism and hormone issues, and I am NOT gaining weight. I did put on a few pounds after my recovery, which seemed โmysteriousโ at the time, but Iโm not gaining now โ and thatโs a plus.
Sometimes it pays to have a reality check, or have a good talk with yourself over these things. Itโs so easy to get discouraged. Iโve seen people lose 40 pounds and look amazing, but be so down on themselves for seeing two pounds creep back up on the scale โ or go a week without losing a pound.
We really do have to look at the big picture and stay encouraged.
Itโs not just about the short term, or the number on the scales, itโs about our health as a whole. Every time we exercise, every time we eat healthy green vegetables, every time we skip the sweets and junk food or grab a bottled water instead of a diet soda โ weโre doing something great for our body.
On that note, Iโve decided to make some major changes to my low carb diet. Stay tuned, because weโll talk about it more in the next post. ๐
While I realize not everyone is in the same boat as me, and we all have our own unique history and health issues and ages and such, we are all victim to the occasional bout of discouragement.
Just look at me. Here I am drinking water daily (for the first time in my life), Iโve done a hard workout six days out of seven this past week, and Iโm eating healthier than I ever have in my life. Yet I let the scales make me second guess all of those smart choices.
It doesnโt make any sense. But neither does eating donuts because you feel fat โ yet people do that too. (<- said from experience, lol)
How do you deal with discouragement when it comes to the scales, or your own personal weight loss goals? Or perhaps when you get off track and go backwards? Weโre all human โ these things happen. I would love to hear how you get back on track, and get motivated againโฆ
I read YOUR comments and start again!!! Thanks for your encouraging posts!!!
Awesome, Linda! Today is a brand new day. ๐ It feels good to be encouraged again, and motivated to keep working toward my goals. *cheers*
I loved your analysis and conclusion! โTypicalโ does not necessarily mean good and I think that is the case with the typical weight gain after a hysterectomy that you are talking about.
I am just over 60, have been through menopause, and have been on thyroid meds for 30 years ( I had Graves Disease and they sort of killed my thyroid as treatment). I weigh about 5 lbs more than I should and I struggle, but itโs not because of my age, menopause or anything. Itโs because we just returned from a trip where I ate too much ( lots more carbs than usual) , drank too much wine and beer and exercised too little.
Low carb (sort of modified Atkins) is the only thing that works for me as I get too hungry on anything else. You do have more, and healthier, choices if you cook at home, but I realize that may be united by a lack of time.
Good luck to you and keep up the good work!
Thank you, Karen! I was reading some interesting research on โfood combiningโ and on how our bodies process foods different at different ages (phases of life) and in different situations. Quite enlightening!
One thing that really stuck out in my mind was that the more lean muscle you have, the more your body burns fat. So Iโm definitely sticking it out at the gym, and aim to mix up my workouts for more muscle-building.
Iโm with you on low carb / Atkins being the thing that works. I feel much better on much less food, which is SO nice. Itโs the only thing that feels like a healthy way of eating vs a โdiet.โ
Iโve been back into low carb about 3 weeks now since having my baby boy 4 months ago. The first week I dropped 8 pounds and the second not-a-one. ๐ I seriously felt like throwing in the towel already but Iโve kept going! I have 10 more pounds of baby weight to lose and thereโs no way iโm stopping now! You canโt beat the feeling of fitting into your pre-pregnancy clothing again. ๐