Weight loss -- maintenance and reverse dieting

[SpringBoard]

Has anyone ever implemented a "reverse diet" in Fitbit?

I understand that during dieting, metabolic adaptation sets in.  So when you get to "maintenance mode" your body is primed to use food more efficiently thus gaining weight easily.

A way around it is to implement a "reverse diet" a common idea in the body building community.  Where you slowly reduce the deficit to maintenance -- instead of suddenly remove it.

But what is the right way to do this? 

What is the right "ramp rate" to reduce the deficit over what amount of time, etc.

[Ronniem]

Hi SpringBoard;  Not quite sure what you mean but we tried a plan called Food Lovers Fat Loss program.  Basically we amped up our protein and eat more often.  I eat a protein bar within 15 mins of waking in the morning and then try to eat between 2.5 to 3 hours.  Ensuring that I'm not eating empty calories, checking that each snack or meal has a good protein count.  The whole plan is to change our motabolism so we burn the excess fat and not store fat by not going into starvation mode.  We ensure we eat an hour before we go to bed.  My basic day is: Protein bar at 6:00 am; Smoothie at 8:30; morning snack of instant oats mixed with yogurt 10:15; Lunch at 12:30 which consists of fresh veggie salad and fresh fruit salad with yogurt added; 3:00 or so I have another snack of yogurt and 1/2 a protein bar; supper is at 6:00 and snack at about 8:00 which is usually a couple of yogurts.  I not only feel a lot better but have lost some of the excess weight.  This has now become my eating practice.  Protein bars satisfy my chocolate cravings.  My smoothies I use almond milk not juice.  Not sure if this is what you meant but changing your matabolism is the whole premise behind uping the protein and eating more often. 

[Navina]

Hi Ronniem,  My doctor just introduced me to that plan you described.  She recommended that I eat every 2-3 hours...a protein and a vegetable or a protein and a fruit.  I really started missing bread and would cave in at night with ice cream.  I hated doing that but it became a pattern.  Then my nutritionist recommended whole grains (in moderation) brown rice, beans, fruit 2X a day.  So my day has started immediately when I get up I have breakfast...an egg and whole grain toast...midmorning an apple...lunch with a salad and tuna or black beans on top...midafternoon snack of 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese with grapes...dinner fish, chicken, pork, or beef (4-5 oz) and a green veggie plus  a small starch like 1/2 of a small sweet potato or 1/2 cup of brown rice...mid evening a yogurt or laughing cow cheese on 16 rice crackers. I also try to eat something different every day and not fall into eating the same thing every day like I have in the past and getting bored.   I also walk 10,000-12,000 steps a day.  I log everything on fitbit log.  It took me a day to log all my most usual foods into my data bank of "favorites". I found the built in data bank didn't have many of my brands of food or listed everything in grams rather that cups or ounces.  So I developed my own list and included all the nutritional information.   Since I started walking about a month ago I have lost 7 pounds.  What amazes me most is that I am eating my favorite foods and not feeling hungry nor deprived.  My goal is to lose 20 pounds by January 15. Since having lost 7 already, I should say I want to lose 13 more pounds by Jan 15.   Also, I would like to get my A1C level down below 6.0.  I can't say enough about fitbit.  It is so motivating. 

[josephz2va]

First of which is to reset your your dieting parameters. To know what is not required during a diet and remove the obstacles. To trade what is bad for what is good. Donuts for Oatmeal. Popcorn and Nuts for Grapes and Berries. Changing bad snacks for good snacks. And thinking about other things as well like "Do I need that powerbar? Maybe not."

Then come up with meal plans for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. Some dieting books work good for recipes like south beach diet to make cooking recipes.

[divedragon]

A very interesting discussion.  I'll be doing a little thinking out loud here, so bare with me.

As we diet and loose weight out basic or basil metabolic rate will decrease.  It does take energy to maintain those fat stores we used to have.  If we were loosing weight when we reached the goal, we know our calories out exceed our calories in, so to come up to "Maintenance Mode" is going to be somewhere between what we currently eat and what we move up to.

With this as a primise, increasing slowly would probably make sense.  If my diet rate is say 1500 calories, I might start my first week after goal at 1800 and be sure to keep weighing myself at my usual time once a week.  I might also consider adding just a touch more exercise with the increase.  The rational for this would be to provide a method for the body to adjust with the added calories above what it has come to expect.  Depending on what the scales tell me, I would increase, decrease or settle in for another week.   

I've been guilty of once I reach goal to abandon all I did to get there, even if I don't return to the level of eating I once had, but I think its important that we keep the same vigalence afterwards as it took to get there.  Yes, you can probably eat more, but once a week weigh ins, continued exercise and tracking of our calories consumed needs to remain a priority.

It is going to be my intention of reaching my goal weight then trying to increase weight again, but this time as muscle and not fat.  I'll continue my IF protocol, bring my calories up, then add more intensity to my weight lifting in an effort to pack on some muscle.  As an aging male, I want to prepare while I still can for those days down the road.  This effort also to help keep the fat at bay.  Maybe add back the muscle I've lost in the last 10 years or so.  Also I want to keep my bones strong.

[Annie-NH]

When I did WW years ago, you went on maintenence when you reached your goal.  this meant adding back a little food each day for a week and then weigh in and see where you are, it is an experiment to find out what you can eat to stay at goal weight and not suddenly add 1000 calories a day.  if you lost eating 1400 per day and the charts say you can eat 2200 per day, increase your daily calories by 140 per day for a week, if you haven't gained, add another 150.  it may take you much longer than 6 weeks to find the sweet spot,  don't get discouraged, but make sure you add back about 10% each week and check to see how your body is handling it. if you have lost a lot of weight, don't be discouraged it takes 6 months of experimenting.

[SpringBoard · Accepted solution]

I created a feature request about it.

Please vote for it!

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/Prevent-Post-Diet-Weight-Gain-Reverse-diet-support-...

[Ronniem]

@Navina I really have to watch ingredients so we do a lot of packet reading.  I try not to eat processed foods and definitely items with nitrates and gluten, this can limit what I can eat.  For extra protein I use Whey Isolate in my smoothie and also add ground flax and chia seeds.  The majority of whole grain products are out, peanut butter I don't like the taste or smell so is not an option either.  Finding protein bars that were not full of grain was an issue, but things are changing and there are far more options that are gluten free.  Like you I am loosing the excess fat gradually.  Kale salad is a staple in our home at least two or three nights a week we have just a meat and Kale salad, I add about a cup to my noon salad. Lately we have been eating Salmon burgers with kimchee and kale salad, no bun, Lamb burgers with mint jelly and kale salad again no bun.  Rarely do we add potatoes or buns at supper time the only exception is shepherds pie which is a go to staple for me when dh is not feeling like cooking.

The change in diet, eating more often, eating fresh produce which increases my fibre intake and uping my protein intake has made a world of difference to my pain management, energy and I feel so much healthier.  I must admit I'm still tempted when they bring donuts to work but lately I've been able to say 'no thank you'.  To keep me focused I allow myself a treat on occasion but not often.  

If you need friends you can add me, I'm still not sure how to do this but eventually will get the hang of things here. 

[Navina]

Ronniem,
It sounds like a very solid plan that you have developed and that is working for you. The two keys for me has been the increase in exercise and logging food. I have been committed to 10,000 steps a day. We just came back from Italy and the next day I had a doctors appt. I hated getting on that scale after all the pasta, pizza and gelato that we ate. Then I heard the doctor say you have lost 3 pounds! I didn't want to lose the fitness and strength that my dh and I had achieved with all the walking we did in Italy and trying to keep up with the young people we were with. So I got a Fitbit. That was THE best decision ever. I log everything I eat as well. So tonight my neighbor came over rather late to watch our favorite program together and she brought her Fudge birthday cake so we could all enjoy it while we watched the show. I had used up all my calories but I was still hungry so I had a small piece of her cake. When she left I logged it. To my dismay I was nearly 300 calories over for the day. So I hit the elliptical machine, then walked as fast as I could in the house (Got kinda dizzy going in circles. Finally it was nearing midnight and it looked like I was going to narrowly miss reaching goal for today. So I began running and I was so surprised how easy it was. I haven't run for years so this was a great discovery that I could now run. When midnight arrived, I logged in and had just run/walked nearly 19,000 steps which is over nine miles for the day. Who would have thought it possible? Not me. I'm a couch potato. I love to read, study, sew or watch TV. I hate exercising. But now that I have some stamina I'm finding it not so bad. And now I LOVE getting on the scale. Exercise makes such a difference and being careful to count my calories. It is a sure fire way to lose. The best part of exercise is that now I can eat many of my favorite things that I haven't eaten in years...like avocado, sweet potatoes, rice, (brown of course). I am really enjoying Steel cut oatmeal. And all the yummy pretty fruit that is in season now. My favorite new treat that is not all that healthy but doesn't cause damage is the sugar free vanilla pudding with a few fresh raspberries on top of it. I have to do sugar free as I'm pre-diabe tic. So the exercise is essential as well as logging the food. My nutritionist says that exercise helps with blood glucose levels even better than losing weight. But together they really help manage blood sugar levels. Do you count steps daily? Do you log your food?

[SpringBoard]

To all: Thank you for all the comments posted to this topic.

Again, please vote my Fitbit feature request.  Let's see if we can get it added!

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/Prevent-Post-Diet-Weight-Gain-Reverse-diet-support-...

[tammi83]

I am unsure how to log my morning smoothie.  I freeze all my fruit and use Greek yogurt and Almond Milk or skim milk, however, should I be logging that down separately to get an accurate nutrition intake?

[tammi83]

i failed to mention I also use Chia seeds or flax seeds in my smoothies just not sure how this can all be logged or if it is relevant.

[Ronniem]

@tammi83 I set my smoothies as a meal in the meal and tweak them if I make any changes, like changing fruit.  The majority of the time I don't need to do anything to them.  I just click on the smoothie under my meals and enter breakfast.

---

@tammi83 wrote:

I am unsure how to log my morning smoothie.  I freeze all my fruit and use Greek yogurt and Almond Milk or skim milk, however, should I be logging that down separately to get an accurate nutrition intake?

---

[Ronniem]

@Navinayes I log everything, even when I cheat, I still log.  yesterday (Oct 8th) I went about 300 cal. over for the day and was so angry.  Basically it was a case of trying not to be too much later for work than 9:00 a.m. so I didn't do my Veggie salad only my fruit one and took a clif bar to replace the chicken salad.  Then in the evening dh cooked perogies and we had low fat sour cream on them.  I'm still learning how to log activity and realised that I logged my treadmill times wrong, I should have logged them just as an activity and then write the details on the space provided.  Instead I was logging them putting in my cal.burn from my Polar system and the distance from the treadmill, Now I do that correctly my green lines stay green showing the effort I put into the exercise.  I've sat at a weight for several months now and although since I began this journey to loose the extra post amputation 30 lbs I'm still struggling with the last 5 - 10 lb that I want to loose and hopefully have a toned body with it.  My calories in are usually over the 1750 deficit I should be at in order to actually loose that weight.  But with the struggle to exercise at the moment isn't helping. 

[Ronniem]

@tammi83 Sorry didn't see your next post.  I also use whole chia seed and ground flax in my smoothie's.  I add 2 tsps of each into my smoothies each morning.  That is 6 4/5 grams for the chia seed and 3 1/5 grams for the flax.  Hope this helps.

---

@tammi83 wrote:

i failed to mention I also use Chia seeds or flax seeds in my smoothies just not sure how this can all be logged or if it is relevant.

---

[tammi83]

@Ronniem Thanks for the info