When easy becomes difficult…

That’s exactly what LCHF has become for me: more and more difficult.

The first 3 months of LCHF was such a breeze for me. I had only weightloss weeks with a couple of zero-weeks and no actual weightgain weeks. Weight kept melting off me and I wasn’t really hungry either. The perfect combination in a way.

But right after the 3 month mark things got more complicated. I started to have weightgain weeks here and there and summer came along with all the fruits and berries.

And now the last 6 months have been tough. Honestly, LCHF has gotten more difficult for me and I have had more cheat days. And therefore more gaining weeks. I used to not cheat at all. Now there has been Christmas holidays and my backpacking vacation… All cheating. And also some random cheats here and there.

"With moderation": strugglin' with that part…
“With moderation”: strugglin’ with that part…

I am human. I do make mistakes. I do sometimes crave carbs and give in to my cravings. Maybe I’m a failure considering I have a whole blog dedicated to LOW CARB and fitness but here it is: I do make mistakes. I am not perfect!

But what worries me more than cheating now and again is the fact that I don’t know when and how much to eat. This is horrible!

For almost a year I weighed my portions, counted macronutrients and calories and based my portions around numbers. Not my actual hunger or appetite. But that strategy got tiring and also didn’t work that great. It also made me stress and obsess about food. That was just not OK.

So from the beginning of 2014 I started to try to eat according to my hunger levels, like the original LCHF theory tells you to. And what is also normal for a human being. Eat when you are hungry and until your hunger has been satisfied. Simple, right?

It sounds simple and theoretically is. But in practice – I’m struggling!

I have lost my ability to really tell when I’m full and when I’m hungry. On some days I don’t feel hungry until dinnertime but when I start to eat, I feel like I’m unfillable. I could empty out my whole fridge and more. On other days I feel like snack eating all day long but don’t want a whole meal… I rarely feel like I’m done when I finish my plate of food. I have to snack on top of it, even if it’s just some cauliflower. That’s a problem.

Either way: I eat too much. That’s my main problem. One big meal, lots of small meals – all end up being too much. I don’t feel full. I can feel hungry (kind of) and then waaaaay too full. Nothing in between!

My eating is so messed up. Even if I’m low carb, my eating habits and patterns aren’t normal.

It’s really my big goal to starting acting like a normal person in the kitchen: eat when you’re hungry until you’re full. Not stuffed but full. Don’t snack all the time. Have your plate of food and leave the kitchen. Don’t make eating a way to pass time. Don’t eat out of boredom or emotions. Be normal!

When did easy (and normal and natural) things become so difficult?

Workout Week 27.01–2.02.2014

In Workout Week posts I will tell you everything about my last week’s workouts.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was still travelling.

My trip to Thailand ended on Thursday and I got home around 2 PM. I was in my local BodyPump class by 7 PM although I am still a bit ill with cough I got in Thailand. The equipment at the local fitness club sucks bad. They ran out of 1 kg weights and the locks of the bar are very weak, I had to worry about my weights falling all the time. I took it easier with the weights and actually didn’t die after 2,5 weeks of absolutely no working out.

On Friday I saw my best friend again and we did a little over an hour of Zumba together. Fun, fun, fun. A little bit sore from BodyPump.

Saturday was supposed to be a swimming day but the pool was closed. I thought about running but decided not to go out while it was blizzarding and I was ill. So I ended up doing 1 hour of different muscle exercises while still feeling sore. Saturday was also a weigh-in day. I was so scared to step on the scales but fortunately had gained only 1 kilogram during my almost 3 week vacation and eating whatever whenever and no workouts. Now it’s time to lose all the extra and some more.

Sunday was actually a swimming day. 500 m of breaststroke, 500 m of front crawl and 500 m of backstroke. The pool was crowded and my breathing was a little heavy so it wasn’t the best swim ever but still an OK workout.

 

In total:

2 hours of muscle workout

1 hour 30 minutes of walking

1 hour 10 minutes of Zumba

50 minutes of swimming
 

 

A good week considering I am still ill and just starting to get back on track after my vacation. Looking forward to feeling better soon and getting into my normal workout routine. Some running would also be nice, this week I didn’t do any because of the seriously cold weather and my cough. Maybe next week? 🙂