Vindication!

As everyone knows I have been working really hard in the last year to improve my health and lifestyle. I have done all kinds of things from various diet changes, to all kinds of work outs. My success has included losing 90 lbs, lifting crazy amounts of weight and feeling lots more energetic.

I have also struggled a great deal. Going from no activity (or little) to very vigorous and regular activity is taxing. I push really hard. I have struggled a great deal lately.

I have been at a relative stand still in the last few months. I have lost a few pounds, gained a few pounds. Not moving much at all. It has been a very emotional time. I have struggled with a constant hunger. I eat my normal meals, well balanced and regular. I eat snacks regularly. And I have a gnawing hunger after an hour or so. It is frustrating to feel hunger all the time and very taxing emotionally when you are trying to limit your caloric intake and you are starving. I had more than a few very emotional days where I was in tears because I was so hungry and so afraid to eat as much as my body seemed to want for fear it would not only derail my progress but become my biggest fear, a binge. I talked it out with many friends at the gym from multiple trainers and people trained in the wellness industry. Many, if not all, have said that it may be in my head that I am so hungry. An emotional reaction to the changes. I wanted to agree, but it was not in my head that I was hungry which was even more emotionally frustrating for me. I just couldn't get anyone to understand.

So, after consulting with my trainers, dietitians and friends I ran some tests. I did an RMR. A Resting Metabolic Rate test. It shows how much your body burns each day by just sitting, how much you spend by doing everyday activities and then about how much you would burn with a 1/2 hr work out a day. The results were shocking.

At rest I burn 2319 calories a day. Everyday bits and pieces burns another 693 calories and with a moderate 1/2 workout I burn another 289 calories. So I burn about 3300 calories a day. The test results also say I have a very fast burning metabolism. So what does that mean for me? I was not exaggerating, I was starving myself. In order to maintain my current weight I would have to consume about 2500 calories a day and to be losing I should be consuming 1800. And I had been on a diet that allowed me 1300 a day! I was starving!

I share this not only to let some of the emotional stress about it go, but to share how important it is to regularly make sure you paying attention to what your body is telling you. Even if others try to tell you it is in your head or an emotional reaction, do what you feel you need to. It is worth it.

Today is the first day in a month I have not been hungry. The first day I have cried tears of relief instead of frustration. Today is the first day to being back on track and it feels so good.