advice please!

[veda]

Hi everybody,

I have a bit of a maintenance problem, and I'm hoping maybe you guys can help me out.

I've been maintaining for a long while now at about 144 pounds. I use the '5 pound' rule: if I slide 5 above 144 then I go back to around induction levels for a couple of weeks until I'm back where I should be. I get a lot of fluctuations during the month, but I haven't been above the 150 mark (or below 142) in the last 2 years.

My problem, though, is that even though I'm staying at roughly the right weight, my waistline has increased: I've expanded by about 1.5 inches since I first hit 144. This is measured about 1 inch below my bellybutton. This worries me because I've always gathered a lot of weight on my stomach, and even now at my lightest my stomach is disproportionately large compared to the rest of me. I'm aware that this an unhealthy way to carry weight - particularly as I have a family history of diabetes - and it's bothering me.

I've been trying to think why this might be happening. I think exercise would help - I do some, but I'm a bit sporadic, maybe consistency would help. Also, might it be that I haven't found the right level of carbs for me? I mean, not eating so much that I actually gain pounds, but enough to be causing a problem. I was also thinking that maybe there's something specific I'm eating that isn't good for me...? Like too much dairy, or crackers with wheat in...

Has anybody else seen this? All advice and suggestions would be appreciated :)

Thanks,
Veda

[Paleoanth]

My waist goes up right at TOM. And I have found that it goes up and down depending on how "good" I am that week. Exercise would certainly help-especially muscle building stuff.

Have you eaten anything recently that would cause water weight gain?

Has this happened before? If not, maybe something else is going on medical wise?

[RD64]

I also use the 5 pound rule. I have the same problem but I think if I did ab exersises more it would help especially elevated situps.

[Jonahsafta]

Exercise..its a miracle activity and its the only thing Ive found that has decreased my middle. I, however, hit menopause and the whole stomach area expanded like the Pillsbury dough boy!
With regular exercise its getting back too manageable.

[BKM]

I exercise regularly, yet my belly-area is my problem. My waist is relatively small (about 25") but then I have a very-rounded belly directly below. This area can get noticeably bigger whenever I "bloat" -- typically due to overindulgence in carbs...

I would love to have a flat belly, but the amount of exercise that apparently is needed isn't appealing, and keeping to strict induction is not what I want, either.

I wonder if, for both of us, there is some particular trigger food (i.e., wheat, dairy, nuts....) that increases this measurment?????

[Sona]

Veda, how many hours go by between your last food and your bedtime? And what, in general, does your last meal or snack consist of?

It's just a thought, but it may be worth considering--when I stopped eating close to bedtime, and when I ate the lightest meal of the day for my dinner (and made sure to have it at least 3 hours before I went to bed), I found that my stomach flattened out noticeably...without any other change in my general routine. It's just something that worked for me. It may not work for you, but if you are eating carbs or your heavier meal at night--and eating close to beddie-bye--you could experiment for two weeks and see if this helps.

Good luck!

Best, Sona

[veda]

Hi everybody!

thanks for the replies, they are much appreciated :)

Yes, I do bloat before TOM and my weight fluctuates a fair bit. The thing is, over the long term (about 6 mths) I seem to have a net increase in waist size. Right now, I am at my least-water-retentive time of the month but my waist measurement is still more than it has been in the past. So I'm ruling out TOM reasons for this.

To those of you that suggest exercise as the way to go: I agree it would definitely have an impact, I just have to get my act together and get myself into a routine... Easier said than done :) But I am determined to start now, for overall health rather than to solve this specific problem.

There might be a trigger food that maybe is not quite right for me. BKM, it's interesting that you list wheat, dairy and nuts: those are the things I would find hardest to give up, which is apparently a sign that they are problematic! Well, to be fair, I eat very little wheat, but the amount that I do eat - in fibre crackers like Ryvita - I would find tough to drop. And I eat lots of dairy and nuts. So maybe trying to these out one at a time would reveal something.

By the way, BKM, I think I am shaped very like you: my rounded belly comes out around an inch below my waist, which, comparatively speaking, is not that big - although it's not a nice 25" either!

I would find it difficult to switch the order of my meals hugely because I eat lunch in the canteen at work. As I eat dinner relatively late, I don't snack before bed. To give an idea of how I eat:

breakfast (8.30am): 1/2 cup plain yoghurt (sometimes with 1T flax meal mixed in), 1 cracker (approx 8g carbs ex fibre), 2 slices ham, 1oz cheese
lunch (2pm): wrap with mayo, chicken, cheese, tomato
snack (5pm): handful of mixed roast nuts
dinner (8pm): piece of salmon/chicken/turkey/beefburger with mixed salad and mayo, and also cheese and cracker sometimes
extra: about 4 cups of coffee, each with 1T regular milk, throughout the day

things I snack on, but not daily: lo-carb flaxmeal muffins or low-carb carrot and courgette cake (I make these things myself), high-fibre seed bread (not lc, about 20g per slice), cold meats, extra cheese, nuts, dark chocolate (70%)

I would say that I eat this well about 90-95% of the time and then eat regular stuff occasionally - ice-cream, chocolate muffins and flapjacks are weaknesses...! Also alcohol: I usually stick to either red wine or spirits with soda water. (Or, the odd time, sugar-free mixers. However, I suspect I have problems with artificial sweeteners because I tend to get very shaky after things like diet coke.) I drink alcohol about once a fortnight.

One thing that occurs to me as I write this is that my lapses into regular junk food are not very evenly spaced out. That is, I think I tend to eat them maybe a few times a week for one week, and then not have any again for maybe a month or so. TOM pattern?! This might be a problem: would they have less impact if I genuinely spaced them out properly? Like, say, one thing every three weeks instead? This is probably not very practical though! If I had that much control, I wouldn't eat these things at all! :) Now that I think about it, my alcohol intake follows a similar pattern: a few nights where I drink clustered together and then no alcohol at all for maybe a month...

Sorry, this post has ended up being very long! It's been good to think all this out though, it's made me take a more honest look at how I really eat. So thanks again for all your input, and more comments/suggestions would be welcome :) And also opinions on what my maintenance lifestyle looks like - does what/how I eat look appropriate for maintenance?

Veda

[veda]

I should add: I'm a very good water drinker, I get through at least 2 litres a day.

Veda