Metabolism Test

Today I had my metabolism test at Kaiser. The results were expected (by me anyway) but still disappointing.

First, my metabolism was 18% below normal. That can be due to dieting/low calorie intake but there are many other factors including just having a family history of being slugs. ;-) And, I pretty much have NO muscles, LOL. Very squishy. My granddaughters love it for cuddling. Just like a marshmallow...

So for the actual test, you breathe through a tube for 10 minutes and it measures oxygen and carbon dioxide as you inhale and exhale. From that it can determine metabolism, and calories burned under different circumstances.

So if I never moved all day I would burn 1037 calories to maintain my current weight. Normal daily movement takes me up to 1336. And adding real exercise allows more calories to be eaten while without gaining- so for example 30 minutes of exercise takes the calorie figure up to 1454.

I'm actually not tracking calories right now, but it would be interesting to test this by coming up with maybe two weeks of meals at right about 1300 calories and see what the scale does.

So of course it would be nice to have these numbers be higher (a faster - or more normal- metabolism), but I was told they've seen lower! Age, hormones, lack of sleep, and stress are also factors that impact metabolism.

The paper they gave me with my results also said that my BMI was 25, which according to the chart I looked at was just over the edge from normal into overweight, but waaaay below obese, where I used to be.

Weight and Blood Pressure - End of Week 16

Well the charts speak for themselves with good news - blood pressure tonight was 104! And lost five pounds over the last two weeks, now teetering at the bottom of 150 pounds (already into the high 140's on my home scale). Woo hoo!

Change in Weight

Change in Blood Pressure

Lost Forty Pounds on Optifast in Three Months

Both on the Kaiser scale and my home scale I've now lost over 40 pounds since starting in early January. It may be three months and one week but still, it's pretty amazing. Can't argue with those results! And I bet others in the program have lost more. The doctor last week said that you lose more if:

• You have more to lose
• You start out further from your goal (which is saying the same thing)
• And you were eating a lot more before the program 

So for that last bullet, if you were eating 3000 calories a day before going on Optifast, obviously that's a much bigger difference than if you were eating 1600. A difference in thousands rather than hundreds, in terms of calories.

So I'm in the category of having less to lose in that I didn't start out at 250 or more pounds, and wasn't (at least in my opinion) eating a huge amount before. So my forty pound loss, thrilled as I am with it, may be below the average for our group!

But if you read about Optifast no one really argues about results. After all, wasn't Oprah the posture child for dramatic weight loss on Optifast? But its reputation - and it isn't alone in this by any means - is that the weight comes back. So as I mentioned before, the real challenge ahead is transition, and then maintenance. But I feel SO much better at this weight. The money and effort have been worth it. I can keep from going back. Yes!

Optifast Newbies - Just Starting Out

So right before our Kaiser "cohort" meeting on Monday night is a new group/cohort just starting out. This week will be their first week on product, so they left the room just as we were moving in, carrying their bags of shakes/bars/soups and lining up for the photo op that the leader does, so there's a  "before" pic. I know there are others out there who have started this week as well.

Though I didn't speak to the "newbies" leaving for their first week of the program, I wondered to myself what advice I had to give to these people just starting out. Is there anything I could have been told at the beginning that would have helped? Some of them looked pretty apprehensive.

Here's what I might have said:

1) It's normal to be nervous, even panicky. I had to fight panic attacks over the small pile of food for each day. I imagined eating it all by 1 or 2 and starving the rest of the day. But for me at least, that never happened. In fact, sometimes I skipped (against orders) the last product!

2) Some groups or group members are going to be much more athletic than others. If you're a couch potato don't panic. Any movement is good, you don't have to go to a spin class. As you lose weight moving will get easier. Don't give up because you aren't doing as much exercise as the leader might want. Baby steps.

3) Sixteen weeks (of product-only) sounds like forever. Like impossible to get through. But here I am at week 13, practically on the home stretch, and it's gone really fast. Which is what they said would happen. But it's hard to believe starting out.

4) Losing weight, getting smaller, feeling better, is all so good that it's worth the inconvenience and stress of skipping parties, passing on treats offered, saying no to alcohol, avoiding restaurants in general, and eating weird when the rest of the world seems to eat whatever they want. The reward is how you will look and feel, and the sense of accomplishment in getting the number on the scale to go down, whether it's fast, or as in my case, slow and steady.

To those just starting out on this program (or any regime to improve your body and develop healthy habits to take better care of yourself), stick with it, good luck, blessings and best wishes!

Blood Pressure

There are other measures of success when dieting besides the scale. One is how your body feels  - lighter, more agile (for lack of a better word). One is the way clothes fit - looser, less binding, too big. Another is more directly related to health. Some members of our program hope to go off or reduce their prescribed medication for blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. I don't take any medication, but my blood pressure is typically right up there at the edge of OK, like 139. Sometimes they have to take it twice to get it to dip under 140.

During the Optifast diet, it's mainly been in the high 130's, occasionally being higher on a particular week (in the 140's or 150's). Blood pressure is taken every week at the weigh-in. I'm happy to report that on Monday, mine was in the 120's for the first time in quite some time. I'd love to get it - and keep it - under 120 (the ideal blood pressure) but I'm happy for 128 and the downward trend. Yay!

Latest Stats

So at weigh-in tonight, I'd lost 3.7 pounds last week. That's a total of 27.6 pounds during the seven weeks on product. We are starting our eighth week.

Saw the doc again tonight (once a month). Lab results all good, no problems.

Everyone in my group seems VERY happy with their weight loss, they feel good, not hungry, lots of energy. Hard to knock this program, at least in the weight loss phase!

And we are discussing long term strategies, including monitoring. Large Kaiser study said those who monitored (whether on paper or apps like My Fitness Pal) lost twice as much weight...

Rundown of the Products

So the shakes, first. They come in either pre-made, or DIY powdered. Apparently the powdered has milk and the pre-made doesn't (it has soy). We sampled both at the first meeting. I preferred the pre-made. Both types come in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. The only one I can drink is the chocolate, and only over ice, so cooled and diluted/thinned a bit. But I'm not a milkshake person. Supposedly our leader had one person in another cohort who lived only on shakes (no bars or soups) and only strawberry, the whole time! Wow.

The shakes are my least favorite. But you're supposed to have (at least) three a day. The bars come in more flavors. There's a chocolate mint, a chocolate peanut, a berry, a cinnamon, and a chocolate fudge. I think that's all. Again, I only like one - the chocolate fudge. I don't like mint, and the "white chocolate" (or yogurt) coating on the berry and cinnamon bars is just too sweet. The peanut one is OK but the chocolate one is so much better to ME that I don't waste my time on the others. But members of my cohort have strong and different responses - some love just the cinnamon, or the peanut. Whatever, as long as I like one. (My granddaughters like it too.)

Last is the (powdered) soup. It comes in tomato and chicken. People rave about the chicken but I didn't care for it. But the tomato one works fine, and I add lots of spices so it almost feels like cooking! ;-) I add garlic powder, onion powder, curry, turmeric, and sometimes cayenne. I spice it up! I add extra water to make more. The secret I think is to get it hot, and also to whisk the heck out of it so there's no lumps. High point of the day because it's the only thing we get to eat that isn't sweet! My cravings are for salty and spicy, not sweet.

So there's only one of each product I'm willing to eat or drink - but I only need one of each, thank goodness, so no problem. BTW, the products run from about $2 to $2.50 each, so at 42 products a week (6 a day), that's approximately $95 for food for a week.

Woo Hoo Nice Weigh-In!

So scale at official weigh-in at Kaiser Monday night showed 24 total pounds lost in the six weeks that I've been on Optifast product only. Nice! Down seven pounds since the weigh-in two weeks ago. That suffering at the buffet was worth it!

Weigh-In Monday - Early

Tonight is our weekly "cohort" meeting at Kaiser where we weigh in. I was hoping my home scale would be at 180 by now but it's 184 point something. Darn it. Given what I'm eating it seems to me the weight should be flying off. Won't be as exciting as last Monday for sure. Maybe two, at most three pounds? Puny results. Trying to be patient and hang in there.

I'll have my last bar after the weigh-in, and my soup when I get home. Already had my breakfast shake. So a Diet Coke and Bar for snack, then two more shakes between now and weigh-in at 6:45 pm! And I'm babysitting the three grand-kids beginning at noon, so could be a long day...

Food Temptations & Expectations

So I went to one pre-paid dinner this weekend with two granddaughters, and the hamburgers and hotdogs were pretty easy to pass up but I did crave some of the chips that were given to us with our meal tickets. (Also looked covetously at the wine bar but at least it wasn't free, which made it easier.)

Then on Sunday I went to visit my son and daughter-in-law's new townhouse and she had made scones just for me. And I haven't told them I'm this diet and didn't choose to mention it today. I should have - I'm a big chicken. But I was only going to be there half an hour and didn't think food would come up. And they live in a different town so thought I'd wait until there was actually something to SHOW for my effort. It's easier to mention a diet when someone says the magic words, "Have you lost weight?" So, I took one bite (against my better judgment), shoved some in my purse and buried the rest in the napkin. [Queue sound of chicken squawking...]

Telling Others About Your Diet

Ahead of time I told no one. This first week I've told my sister, and then my (33 year old) daughter. My sister was supportive though worried about the low calorie intake. I told her because she invited me out to dinner. I tried to reassure her by saying (truthfully) that it was medically managed through Kaiser.

I told my daughter for various reasons, and her first statements were, "But what about when we go out for my birthday? You're not going to eat and drink with me?" Um, sadly, no can do. Then she began cooking for her kids and waving the pans and plates under my nose. So I guess she would go under the category of LESS than supportive.

I still haven't told my husband. We cook separately and he's incredibly oblivious of anything I do, or for example that I have no food in the kitchen. If he ever notices my weight loss I'll mention it then. ;-)

As far as friends, I think it will be on a need to know basis...

The "Scale hasn't Moved" Blues

So I woke up early feeling absolutely empty. Like my stomach was the Grand Canyon. If you dropped a rock in it, it would fall forever. Not really a great feeling, but I thought, time to get on the scale. I must have lost a lot since I feel so empty. But sadly, no change from yesterday!

The Kaiser program leader said first week weight loss was double digits! It's day five and not seeing that. But maybe that's for men, and not "older short women" like me!

Tired........

Not too surprising on less than 1000 calories! Feeling wiped out. Glad I'm retired (as of September)  so I don't have to be getting up at oh dark thirty and then working eight hours. Wonder how the others in my "cohort" are doing this week...

Day Two - Shakes Getting a Little Old Already!

So I'm on day two - survived day one! Three shakes a day, two bars, one tomato soup.Plus two small servings of Diet Coke. And water. As much as possible. (I've had some with lemon and splenda, and also the crystal light add-in.) And sugarless gum. That's about it!

Yesterday I was definitely NOT hungry - had to force myself to drink the last shake around 10 pm. But I'm sure I was still living on fumes from real food from the day before.

I had a slight headache this morning, but probably due to cutback on caffeine. (I don't drink coffee, but pretty much drink Diet Coke morning to night - or at least I did.)

I forget to weigh myself this morning. So hopefully the scale will have good news for me tomorrow when I wake up! I can do this...