I found these forums this week. I have been reading every chance I get. I am excited to find such a knowledgeable group of people! I am seeking to learn, and this seems like just the place to do that!
Background:
I'd been overweight nearly all my life (43 yo). I did diets through the years, including starvation, only to gain it all back, plus some (of course), because I had it all wrong. (I was a skinny fat person when I was thin. I am sure I had very little muscle left after those stupid diets.) So I had resigned myself to being fat. I truly believed "I" was meant to be that way. (I had it ALL wrong, I now know)
A year ago, I thought I was having a heart attack, only to find out it was GERD. It scared me enough to change my eating habits. I went from eating one large meal a day, in the evening, to eating 6 tiny meals a day.
I had NO CLUE at that time, this is THE KEY to weight loss, blood sugar stabilization, and energy: as I have since learned.
I woke up 6 months later to find 25 lbs melted off me, painlessly and with no effort, no hunger. Talk about shock and delight!
I have been reading everything I can on WHY this happened, because I don't EVER want to go back to that weight, and hope to get even leaner. I have held the same weight for 6 months. I am not lean, but my
body fat percentage is just within the ideal range on the charts.
In January, I began exercising to build muscle, so that I WILL never gain fat again, and to help fill out sagging skin. I am working HARD! (and I love it) I want to be leaner!
I had no clue how much I actually ate, so I went to FITDAY and began keeping track. I realized I am not getting ENOUGH calories. So I have tried to eat more nutrient dense food. I find it hard, because I have learned to live on small portions, often. And I did change my eating to stop gastric pain. Eating more and feeling over full isn't comfortable. But I know I can't expect my body to live in a 'starvation' mode, which is what I have been doing for several months.
I do eat wholesomely now. Nothing goes into my body that doesn't have a high
nutritional value. I eat a diet of about 40% carbs (mainly complex), 40% protein, 20% GOOD fats, and see I have protein every meal.
For my weight/activity level, I should be getting 1700 calories a day. I realized since about November, I was only eating about 1100. Since finding this out, I have managed to up that to about 1300- 1400 without too much discomfort. I'm trying to go higher.
My question:
during my weight loss, and then for another 4 months after my weight stabilized, I had a flat stomach.
But since the first of the year, my waist has GROWN by two inches.
I haven't done a lot of ab or lower back work, so I don't think I have muscle under the bit of stomach flab pushing it out. Since I have really been working my legs, butt, arms and upper back, and though I have built muscle, they haven't grown by 2", I can't think the little work I have done on abs has given me bulk under my flab to give me 2".
But I have no clue WHY my stomach would be growing again. I have not gained an ounce. My weight is steady. In theory, my body fat SHOULD BE a little less, because I have built some muscle in the arms, butt, legs and back. (I only last week got a caliper and was able to measure my LBM. But I SHOULD have a little less fat than I did when my stomach was flat, because of my steady weight, and my newly growing muscle)
I have searched high and low, and cannot find the reason behind this. You have to know, my largest delight in this weight loss, was having a flat stomach. Yes, its not ripped, but looked nice for me!
Is my existing fat rearranging itself? Was this once on my toes or something? Where did it come from? Why is it resting on my tummy?
From what I have learned from this site and other sources I have read, the best guess I can come up with is that by living in such a calorie deficit for my body size, that I shoved my body into starvation mode, causing it to begin STORING fat again, instead of burning it. And on me, the FIRST place fat builds up, is my stomach.
I know only losing more fat will slim it down. That there is no magic thing to lose fat in one spot. I am working on reducing my fat percentage, and increasing my LBM.
But unless I KNOW why this happened, I can't keep it from happening to me again.
Any ideas? Please?
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