Back to Phase 1

Well, I finally reached my limit AGAIN.

I thought I was doing really well on maintenance.  I fully expected to gain 5 lbs or so getting my glycogen back in my body. Well, after seeing 146-147 on my scale and then jumping back to 152 for some reason my coach thought it best to phase me off. She thought my body was resisting and needed a change. Well, I stayed around 151-152 as I shifted into phase 2 and 3. I was okay with that actually. My clothes felt great although emotionally I wanted to weigh 143. I kept telling myself to get over it and take a rest and come back to phase 1 after 6 months or so.

Well..... I hit phase 4 and was doing great. I rarely cheated with sugar and I truly enjoyed bread in the mornings only. I ate fruit in the morning and added nuts, dairy and some other healthy options back in. Sure, I had some dessert now and then but I have yet to eat a full plate of pasta, rice or potatoes since phasing off. I thought that was a great thing since those foods tend to make me feel heavy, bloated, etc. I was super proud of myself.

So I got weighed twice at the clinic over the last month and I topped out at 162. WTF?  How the heck did I gain 10 lbs in 7 weeks? Like I said, I expected 3-5 lbs for glycogen and 1-2 lbs of muscle from exercise but I thought I'd continue burning more fat off. I actually gained almost 6 lbs of fat. I was so ticked off! My coach kept telling me at my last appointment that I had a 1.8 lb loss of fat and I was carrying about 4 lbs of water that morning but guess what? I felt awful and my clothes are choking me in the waist and my upper torso has gained about inch everywhere. I don't think that's what's supposed to happen when you're eating relatively healthy and exercising 3-4 times a week. I rarely eat refined/processed foods or sugars and I eat lots of veggies, protein and some complex grains.

I know when you look at the overall picture 10 lbs makes sense. That 5-7 lbs is glycogen. The 3 lbs is probably muscle and water and waste. But guess what? I feel heavy, bloated and uncomfortable. Something isn't feeling right.

My coach says that my body is more efficient and burning almost 1500 at rest. At rest means doing nothing but lie down and don't move. So technically, I'm supposed to have a minimum of 1700-1800 calories a day. Then when I exercise it's 2100. What the..... that seems like an insane amount of food! I'm trying to really figure that one out. It seems way off.  She said I was in starvation mode so my body was holding on to everything. I don't see how I was in starvation though. I was eating well and feeling good until about 2 weeks ago. I had finally hit 160 and felt like a huge whale. Seriously.... I feel heavy.

So..... what's next? Phase 1 for a minimum of a week and probably as long as . I am going to get back into ketosis and see what happens over the next few days. According to everyone that's done IP, when you flip back into phase 1 after being on maintenance your body remembers this and reacts very well. It jumps right into ketosis, even quicker than the first time (sometimes within 1-2 days rather than the 3-5 days it normally takes). The weight loss is supposedly immediate and quick. Not like 10 lbs of fat in a week but you will burn off the glycogen storage, excess water and lose maybe a lb or so of fat initially. Some people have larger glycogen tanks and I'm wondering if I may be one of those people. If that is the case, I really want to lose 20 lbs so I will be around 135-138 when I phase off and then I'll gain the 5-10 in glycogen. I would be happy to weigh 145-148 normally.

Yee gads..... the strict phase of this diet is easy BUT maintenance is really bothersome. I don't know what I'm doing wrong so I am trying to analyze my food journals (yes, I still keep a daily food journal!) and judge my caloric intake. I know I eat more on my exercise days so I am going to scrutinize everything and see if there were any hidden calories I was forgetting.

I really want to go low carb in the future so fats should not be a big deal. I keep wondering if there is something about my body that is resisting because of the fats I was ingesting. I'll experiment this week and hopefully figure it out.  In the meantime, I feel like I'm taking control over this and that is a good thing. I'm not obsessive but I want to just feel good again.