Thank you Heather!
I asked a question a little while ago about managing desserts without binging. I took your advice and have a treat every day. I go outside of the house and buy a single serving and binging has reduced drastically! These foods no longer have that special appeal now that I have them on a regular basis. I prioritize protein, take a fiber supplement and a multivitamin daily. I know my diet is not the healthiest but I will work on adding more vegetables as time goes on. Thank you for all that you do! Debra.
How to determine your weight goal
Hi Heather, Over the last year I’ve lost the most weight I’ve ever lost (50lbs) through gradual lifestyle and habit change. I am mindful of calories and track them at the end of the day, but I do not have a calorie goal that I work to. I have found that the more flexible I am with myself and less restrictive, the more ‘normal’ I eat naturally. I find if I have a specific calorie goal, I will focus on it all day and it flares up my lower brain and I will rebel. I will also ignore signs from my body and get frustrated if my body is not doing exactly what I think it should be doing (I.e. being more or less hungry than I think it should be). Instead, I focus on my food habits and remain interested at where the day has taken me calorie-wise. I am losing, on average, about 4 pounds a month and I am also quite active; I play netball once a week and run or do HIIT 5 times a week- not for weight loss but for the mental health benefits and energy it gives me. I would like to continue to eat and live my life in this way. As a side note, I’m also breastfeeding still but I do not count that in my calories as it fluctuates so much and I have no idea what it would convert to in calories. My question is that I often see people have a weight number goal in mind or know how much more they want to lose, but I feel a bit lost as to where I should be aiming for. I had a goal of a healthy BMI, which I am about 2lbs away from. Ideally, I would like to keep my way of eating/living that I’m doing now and my body naturally plateau where I can maintain that weight, or is that wishful thinking? Do I need to actively plan where I want to be or the range I want to be in? How do people know where in their weight loss journey it’s time to maintain going forward? Before this I’ve always been overweight most of my life, crash dieting, not being able to keep up with the restrictive program then gaining it back so I’ve never got to the point of knowing what weight I could live my life at. Hope this doesn’t sound silly! Thank you for all you do and all your content, it’s incredible. Dee
Cancer treatment and weight loss
I have been undergoing some cancer treatments, and those involve taking Letrozole, which has as a side effect “weight changes”, which seemingly can include either gain or loss. I’m trying hard to eat at a deficit because I know that excess fat increases estrogen, which can affect breast cancer cells. How can I structure a diet so that it doesn’t have to be super restrictive (because I will sabotage that) and yet is healthy and at the same time low calorie? My maintenance calories are probably about 1500. I am finding it hard to reconcile all the things I “should” be doing. Any suggestions as to how I might best approach this for the long term? Thanks.
"coach sarah" question about pre-planning but logging calories later
I think I missed something, or maybe I'm trying to understand something... Sarah is logging calories later (the next day) rather than in the moment because it's too triggering. I get that. But when she is doing her planning/paper pencil journal, is she also pre-logging those calories to try to plan her days at maintenance or below, and then logging changes to her planned calories later... or is she just planning with the paper/pencil journal, trying to collect stars, and seeing where the calories fall later?
Which food scale to use
Hi Heather! Thank you so much for your show. You give such sensible sustainable advice. You are truly an inspiration. I am having trouble with my good scale- it is digital and just does not seem to give reliable numbers. Which one do you use? What is your recommendation for making sure the weights are accurate? Thanks so much! Amy
Maintenance vs Losing Weight - Setting Calories
I lost about 15 lbs between January and early April (a little over 1 lb per week on average), then took a month maintenance break while I was travelling in April for almost 4 weeks straight which helped me figure out my maintenance calories (about 2100/2200 calories) and learn how to actually maintain my weight for the first time in.... forever? :) Thanks again for talking about the importance of maintenance and how important it is not to just either lose weight and then hope for the best or simply have a "free for all" period while gaining parts or all back again. Listening to your approach and attitude about weight loss and maintenance has been so, so useful for me!! Anyways, my question is about approach/mindset. In an ideal world, I would like to lose another 15 lbs or so, but much, much slower and in smaller chunks. So, when I restarted taking a deficit in May after the April maintenance break, I set my calorie target to losing about 1/4 lb a week in "Lose It". I tried sticking to it for 2 weeks, but because of many invitations out, visitors, etc., I kept going over by a bit and unintentionally maintained and got very, very frustrated. More important than losing more weight is maintaining what I lost. So, to avoid getting frustrated and quitting tracking etc altogether eventually, I took a step back, set my calorie goal back to maintenance, and.... was able to either stick to maintenance or take a small deficit every week since then. This led to another 1.5 lbs lost in 6 weeks. I know it's not a lot, but it makes me super happy as it's a pace I feel I can sustain even in the summer (with many, many trips, weekends away, visitors, evenings out, etc.). So, basically, my new goal is "maintain or lose a bit" from now through mid-September which is when summer officially ends and normalcy returns here in Italy (where I live). I'd love to hear your thoughts on the strategy of using your maintenance calories basically as a maximum ceiling per week, trying to take a deficit when it doesn't feel too restrictive and otherwise following my minimums (track everything in Lose It & some movement every day). I suspect it's just lower brain chatter, but I sort of wonder if setting maintenance calories and then trying to stay under when possible will somehow be harmful in the long-run.... like.... maybe I'll start seeing being at maintenance calories as not good enough and then get frustrated with that? I think it's just my lower brain looking for a "fault in the system" of how I'm progressing while actually feeling good about it, but maybe not? It's making me a bit nervous. Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks for all you do!
Happy Scale Maintenance
Hi Heather, I can’t thank you enough for your very logical and practical approach to weight loss and maintenance. You are an extremely skilled coach and your clients and podcast listeners are so fortunate to have you in our lives. Here’s my question: My maintenance range is about 4 pounds since I have a small frame. When I look at the Happy Scale log sheet, it throws me off a bit to see that arrow pointing up AND pointing down. I have an emotional reaction - unhappy when it’s up, happy when the arrow is down. I know it’s not realistic to see the flat line everyday. How can I curb my emotional response to the arrows. Thank you Heather, Jena
Ice cream binge
Hi Heather My question is about ice cream! After listening to all of your podcasts it got me thinking about myself with ice cream…. I can’t seem to have a tub in the freezer without always thinking about it until I have some, I tried delaying the time to eat some but seems to not help. Then when I do eat some I just want more and could end up eating a huge portion even to the point of not feeling well but the next day I would still eat more. What should I do about this? Should I not buy it at all? Looking forward to hearing from you and thanks for all you do!
Conquering the weekends
Hi Heather, thank you for everything you do! My question is about conquering the weekends when you're trying to lose weight. I find that I do extremely well during the week, but tend to trip on the weekends, eating excessively, eating out of plan and adding in a glass or two of wine. Come Monday, the scale has moved up. It feels like taking one step further and two steps back. Although I still manage to stick to my workouts over the weekend, I still notice a sizeable gain. Any tips that can help me be more disciplined over the weekends and continue on the downward trajectory? Alternatively, any episode you can point me to for more help? Thanks again!
Food scarcity and in-laws
Hi Heather, I have been listening to your podcast since December 2022, and I have learned SO much! I finally feel equipped to tackle weight loss with sanity, taking small steps and focusing on habit change so that I can achieve my goals without angst or bingeing! I am so proud of all of my habit change thus far, and in general it feels easy and sustainable, because my weight loss plan is perfect for me and me alone. One of my big lower brain issues revolves around food scarcity, and the paper-pencil journal has been an absolute game-changer in helping my lower brain calm down and stay quiet all day long, because I have already looked in my pantry and fridge and I have a clear plan about how I will feed and nourish my body every day. However, this food scarcity issue has been triggered hard core in the past when I visit my in-laws. We live far away, so my family stays with them for a week or more at least once a year, and we usually time our visit to coincide with a family reunion, which involves a LOT of different opinions, preferences, and spontaneous outings. I have very little control of my family's schedule during our visits, which makes my lower brain freak out since I truly don't know when our next meal will be or what it will be. Packing lots of our own snacks from home helps me calm my lower brain down, but I would love to hear if you have any more tips for how to write my paper-pencil journal each morning in this situation as well as how to generally keep my lower brain relaxed so that I do not fall into bingeing as a result of *feeling* restricted while on our visit. I logically know that I will always have enough food, but my lower brain does not know this, and when we do eat meals or even when we get home from our visit, I end up way overdoing it to help soothe the panic and fear that arises from this childhood food scarcity issue. Thank you for your advice!!
A Day in the Life
Hi Heather, thank you so much for all the work you put into your podcasts, videos, newsletters, and more! All the resources you provide have allowed me to find some sanity with food - a huge win! Thank you! My question is - what is your daily routine like? What kinds of habits related to weight loss or those lower brain messages do you still struggle with? Which ones are so cemented you're not even thinking about them anymore? If I'm a fly on the wall, what am I seeing you do that will help me get my own habits more routine? Thanks! Sarah
Elevated ldl cholesterol?
I exercise and eat a healthy diet but had an elevated ldl cholesterol result at my physical. I have 15 more pounds to lose to enter a healthy BMI range. Id love your take on how to lower it. I am reading a lot about fiber and it’s importance that it can also help lower cholesterol.
Needing reassurance that I’m on the right path
Hi Heather, first off, you are amazing. Let me repeat that, not just amazing but A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Your approach is like no other, it’s filled with self love, support and personalized. Thank you so much for being real. Now, unto my question or moreover, me needing reassurance that I’m on the right path. Through the podcast premium and the Karolina coaching I learned to rid of binging and overeating. It’s been 8 months that I focused on that. Now, I feel so ready for weight loss and consequently unto Sara’s coaching calls. I started with your paper/pencil method and have now graduated to both paper/pencil and tracking on lose it. I am at ease with both. My question is as follows. I have lots of friends on Ozempic, all looking to lose 50-60 pounds and doing so quite quickly. I myself want to lose 20 pounds. I’m 5 feet 0 inches, 145 pounds, perimenopausal at 48 years old and I haven’t really struggled with weight my whole life, only after having my kids 17 years ago. I eat 3 meals , 1 snack and 1 treat daily. I do not feel deprived and I’m in a calorie deficit having lost 1 pound this week as per Happy Scale, this week is also week 1 of my weight loss phase but I can’t shake off the feeling that my friends are losing weight so quickly while eating multiple treats, albeit ridiculously small bites, and here I am slowly losing weight. My question is more of needing reassurance that I too will lose weight while still eating treats. My head is playing games with me saying that I’m not losing fast enough. I know I don’t want to go on the path of restriction, been there, done that and NEVER want to go back but I value your opinion so much and just want reassurance and to hear you say that “yes Nora, you are on the right path” and I too will lose weight if I keep going the way I am. I just need to hear it from you Heather because I know you have such a great, honest, loving heart and I want to know that I’m on the right path for me and Ozempic is just a quick fix solution for me. Sorry to be rambling on and on but this Ozempic and seeing people close to me lose weight so quickly is really making my lower brain chatter have a party in my head. Thank you again for all the time and knowledge to give to us. Like I said, you really are an AMAZING woman 💕
Wanting to binge
Hi Heather! Six years ago I lost 30 pounds bringing me to a healthy weight range, and have kept it off since then (except briefly during my pregnancies) eating approximately 1800 to 2000 calories daily. I have a very all or nothing mindset but am usually in the “all” category and find I can happily restrict “unhealthy” foods most of the time without a second thought. However I have occasionally over these years (maybe once every couple of months typically and up to once a week in more stressful times) found myself binging them. I’ve been listening to your podcast for awhile and have wanted to try bringing in “binge foods” once a day in normal portions to see if it reduces the urge. However when I think about just eating three Oreos or a single pop-tart or whatever it is I have no interest in it. It’s not the food I really want it’s the experience of a binge. There’s no particular food that triggers a binge for me. If anything, I am triggered by feeling like the day wasn’t perfect so I might as well just go crazy to make it worth the guilt I’m going to feel already that it wasn’t perfect 😅 (surprise, it’s never worth the guilt) an example might be if I grabbed a handful of my kids goldfish snacks I’ll feel like I might as well eat the whole bag since it didn’t fit my plan anyway and now todays shot so let’s just order pizza etc etc (or even if I just ate more of whatever food I always eat then I had planned it can lead to the same pattern). I’m a really disciplined person so this experience is on the rare side hence why my weight is probably unaffected for now, but I hate that it happens and don’t want to model that for my kids, and don’t want to see it increase On days when I talk myself out of going overboard after one “slip up” I still feel just as bad about the slip up the next day as I would have felt about a full binge, so it just reinforces that “might as well” feeling Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to help work on this mentality and behavior? Do you think bringing in a “less than perfect” food daily would still help with this problem? Thanks in advance! Your podcast is a gift!
Snacks
Hi Heather! I found you about a month ago and have been listening to your podcasts and watching your YouTube videos. I journaled my food for a month, found my maintenance calories and then I found my calorie deficit. I also walk almost every day. I’m so happy with these new habits, thank you so much for your common sense, easy to follow steps. To treat myself for my successes so far, I just became a podcast premium member! My question is about snacking, my weight loss calories are set at 2100. Typically, my 3 daily meals are around 350-400 calories. But my snacks end up being 700-800 daily and I’m still within my calorie goal. Is this bad? Is that messing with my metabolism? I just can’t eat high calorie meals, I love my snacks!
rewarding yourself and celebrating you achievements.... but how?
Hi Heather! First of all, thanks so much for all that you do. I am so grateful I found your podcast earlier this year. I started my latest weight loss journey in January and lost about 15 pounds by the end of March (just over a pound a week – just like I had hoped). I knew April was going to be difficult because I would be travelling for almost 4 weeks straight. It really made me nervous. I was afraid to gain weight and I was afraid to not enjoy my trip because of eating and weight worries. Thanks to your podcast I found the courage to take a maintenance break rather than “quit” for a month and just hope for the best. It made my trip so much better!! I simply changed my app settings in “Lose It” to “Maintenance” and tried to estimate my way through 4 weeks of restaurant meals without measuring anything. I was able to enjoy the trip that much more because I knew I was still following my plan (tracking my food and walking lots every day and having a daily calorie allotment). It really gave me the confidence to enjoy lots of indulgent meals and treats and hold back on just some meals and treats as needed to stay within my calories. I didn’t feel I like I was holding back much as the calorie allowance was so much higher than the previous 3 months anyways (about 600 calories more a day). Long story short, here is the amazing result…. I weighed myself this morning and am up only about half a pound after 3 weeks of maintenance and taking a deficit of about 1200 calories in the 4th week. I really almost can’t believe it worked! I feel like I now know my current maintenance calories (2200 a day) and more importantly, I now for the first time in a long time, believe I can actually lose weight and keep it off. Now here’s my question….. I feel like I never figured out how to reward myself for making progress on my goals and celebrate my achievements. I know this is something you talked about in a newsletter as being important a few month back. I just honestly don’t quite know how. I know this is so silly, but any suggestions? I feel like in order to keep motivated (to keep losing weight and to maintain in the long run) I have to build better habits around celebrating achieving what I set out to do. But how? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Best, Sabrina
Should I make any changes going into Menopause?
I have about 10 lbs left to lose and I am entering menopause (I was on birth control until a few months ago and I think that masked the signs of peri-menopause). I am wondering if some cravings and weight fluctuations I have are due to hormonal changes. Are there any changes I should make in my weight loss program due to menopause (currently using the Lose-it app and have lost 25 lbs in the past year, I attribute much of that to finding your podcast 9 months ago). Thank you so much for all you do. I am a therapist and I am recommending your podcast to all clients trying to lose weight. Best, Jess
Define binge?
Hello, Heather! I LOVE your podcasts and your seemingly infinite wisdom surrounding eating and weight loss (and weight maintenance!). Can you define bingeing? Sometimes I overeat (maybe 300 calories or 400 in a day) but I've often wondered if that is considered a binge? Is the definition different for different people? I'm nearly 60 years old, 5 feet and one half inch tall and weigh (as of today) 159.1 pounds. I'm staying around 1300 calories and am losing about 2-3 pounds per month. I would say I'm lightly active (walk about 1.5 miles per day most days). I haven't overeaten (binged?) as much since I've followed your paper pencil plan!
Should I still do the maintenance challenge?
Dear Heather, thank you as always for being one of the wisest, most sensible voices in the weight loss wilderness. All the materials you've made available through the Halfsizeme community have helped me so much over the past few years. My Mom passed away at the end of November and I put on 25 lbs, which brought me very close to my highest-ever weight again, 385 lbs. By the beginning of March, I had reined in the binge and dropped 13 lbs. I rejoined the Halfsizeme community and decided to join your May maintenance challenge. If I had stayed on track, I would have been somewhere in the 350s for the challenge, which is the most weight I can carry and still be truly mobile, feel clean after showering, fit comfortably in the car, etc. My problem is that a family conflict related to Mom's death derailed me again in March and I regained everything. Now I'm back on good habits and have relost 8 lbs. But that means by the time the challenge starts, I will still be in the 370s. I feel like the priority, now that I am back on track again with healthy habits, should be to get down to the 350s (probably by July) and then try to maintain for a month--but I will miss out on the challenge then. :( What is your advice? Could I audit the challenge so I know what to do when I'm ready? Or is it worth the risk and discomfort of staying at this weight so I don't miss out on this experience of learning to maintain with the group? Thanks in advance for your advice, Heather! Very much appreciated.
Muscle vs Fat loss
Hi Heather!! I am working to lose weight. While reducing calories, I look to maintain daily protein intake of 130g of protein. I’m 5’5 and eating average 1800 calories. I use a body scanner at my gym (InBody brand) and while my weight is dropping the analysis shows I’m losing muscle mass and percent body fat is going up. Do you think those scanners are just too inaccurate to give much consideration? I’m walking and working out and feel like my calories and protein are ok. I have only been at this for about 6wks. What do you think?
Loose Skin
Hi Heather. I am wondering if you have any suggestions or mindset, affirmations on how to come to terms with loose skin. How do you accept it? Have you had skin removal? I know that losing the weight and feeling healthier is worth more loose skin, but I am finding it hard to accept my body and skin removal surgery is not an option due to the cost. Thank you!