Well, to be honest, what happened was that I gained some back. Mind you, it wasn't a lot. Nothing that would be noticeable, especially after such a large loss. But enough that I began to lose motivation and became frustrated with my lack of willpower to maintain the level of healthiness that I had adopted.
So why did this happen? I figure several things. After hitting that milestone, I felt like maybe I could relax for a little bit. It's damn hard having to constantly be thinking about what you are eating and trying to fit routine workouts into an already busy schedule. I wanted to let go, have some fun, and not have to constantly be worrying about making healthy choices. And jeez are those cheese fries tempting and yummy.
Two, I made some big life changes shortly thereafter. I left my job and moved down to Knoxville, TN to start a new job and to begin a new part of my life in a new city. And it's been wonderful. I absolutely love my new job, institution, and city. But being in a new place means that all of the routines and support factors that I had set up were no longer there. Trying to meet new people and make new friends meant that I was foregoing working out to go to happy hour after work with colleagues or not eating at home in order to go out to lunch or dinner with a new friend. In Indiana, I had a good work out plan and was able to schedule the rest of my life around that. Being in a new job and in a new city, I didn't have that same level of routine because I was spending more time at work trying to learn and build relationships with students and colleagues, I was spending more time being social because I was trying to make new friends and build new support systems. There were many days that I would plan on going to a class, but a meeting would go over, or someone would invite me out, and then all the sudden that plan of working out would go out the window. And the food and beer - don't even get me started. One of the things that I disliked most about living in Muncie was the lack of local restaurants and good craft beer. Here, it's the exact opposite. There are so many wonderful places and things to try, and I've loved pretty much everything that I've tried.
The biggest surprise was how quickly weight came back on. You'd think that if it takes a month to lose 3 pounds, it would take that same amount of time to put 3 pounds on. If only. I did a little research into why people who lose weight seem to so quickly gain it back and ran across some interesting information. As anyone who has done any research on weight loss will know, our bodies are conditioned to hold on to fat in order to protect and feed us when food may not be as readily accessible. When you alter your diet, like eating less, your body thinks that food may be scarce, so it starts holding onto fat which is why so many people may actually gain weight when they start eating healthier. Overtime, your body adjusts and it begins to let go of that extra fat, which is why it's important to continue eating differently even if you don't lose weight at first.
But what surprised me is that through my research and quest for answers as to why weight gain occurred so quickly, was that our bodies are naturally designed to work against us in this aspect. The New York Times wrote a great article about it here. By eating healthy and exercising, I've essentially significantly altered and reduced specific hormone levels and my metabolism. At my higher weight, my metabolism actually worked faster than it does now and I was actually less hungry. Go figure. No wonder we have such an issue with yo-yo dieting. But just like with anything, knowledge is power, so knowing that this is happening, I can be more intentional and aware of what I'm doing.
So until they find a miracle drug to help with this issue, for now I'll continue to fight the good fight. Trying to find a healthy and happy balance between eating at home and eating out, not always having that drink when I go out, and trying (and often failing) at passing up the chocolate chip cookies. I've also joined 2 gyms, the local YMCA as well as the fitness center on campus, to give me the most access to classes I'm interested in and I've also agreed to participate in 3 different 5K's over the next three months. I've also tried to be pretty open with people here about my journey. That hasn't been easy because I've had to be vulnerable about letting people know of my struggle, but so far I've only been been greeted with support and admiration. That support and understanding is oftentimes the only thing that keeps you going. That and the desire to want to wear cute clothes.
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| Top Left: Staff Picture 2011; Top Right: Staff Picture 2013 Bottom: Staff Picture 2014 |
