hmm trying not to feel despondent today. Have STS (well, up by 0.2 lb but that is not significant enough to be a definite move upwards). It seems that eating the right things isn't enough to make a difference with me. I think I must be eating too much! I definitely felt more hungry than usual last week and I thought it might have been TOTM related but it wasn't. In fact I think it was exercise related (and not because of the muscle weighing more than fat!)
One of the books I'm reading to try to maximise my understanding and chances of losing weight is Fast Exercise by Dr Michael Mosley. I have gleaned the following bits of info which i wanted to share:
From Fast Exercise by Dr Michael Mosley (pg 79) - Hunger hormones. Ghrelin is a hunger hormone produced by cells in the stomach & seems to increase appetite while the hormones leptin and peptide YY (PYY) reduce it. Lots of studies have shown the ghrelin levels go up before a meal and fall after you have eaten. When you lose weight, average ghrelin levels tend to rise encouraging you to eat more and put the weight back on. Apparently a bout of insomnia will also make ghrelin levels rise - one reason why chronic sleep shortage can lead to weight gain.
Also from the same book, "Set Point Theory" (pg 48) - there are studies which suggest that your body will unconsciously try to sabotage your attempts to lose fat! Basically your body will do what it can to try to maintain your weight as it is, so as you lose weight your metabolism will slow down & your body becomes more efficient at storing and using calories. Seems to me that this is probably where the increased ghrelin levels come in too - as your body tries to keep your weight as is!
In addition, some other key points:
- traditional low intensity exercise is not a time-efficient way of burning fat
- we are also more likely to reduce the amount of activity we do after exercising (so not only do we do compensatory eating but we do compensatory slacking too!)
Dr Briffa's book Escape the Diet Trap seems to support these ideas.
The answer here does seem to be High Intensity Training - which suppresses appetite (at least in the short term). Other forms of exercise are obviously good for us in other ways - enhancing mood, general health etc - but they are not guaranteed to help us lose weight.
For me personally, I also have binge eating tendencies which I need to work on - previously I binged on carbs but I have definitely eaten past hunger on low carb food too. Thanks to Romey for some pointers she has given me to enable me to start addressing this with professional help.
Sorry for the long post but I hope that perhaps someone else might benefit from my discoveries! If anyone has any thoughts on the above let me know.