Thoughts: So here’s an interesting personal observation related to my post about BFL nutrition lowering your metabolic set point from the other day: I reached a comfortable weight and body fat (129-130 lbs/17%) at the end of my second challenge on Nov 21, 2004. Being the logical, well-read, math-minded gal that I am, I naturally figured that this was when I was supposed to raise my intake to the amount calculated as my maintenance level based on my BMR and activity level. This figure came out to 2000-2200 calories a day. The BFL book doesn’t go into this–the implication from the book is that you just stick with palm-fist portions until the end of time, even though the calorie total from a day of palm-fist portions only falls between 1200-1700 a day for most women, several hundred calories below what an active female working out 6 days a week should technically be eating.

Anyhow, what I observed in my own body was that “maintenance” calories caused me to gain 4 pounds in the first three weeks. Due to holiday eating and PMS, my scale weight has gone as high as 137 lbs in the past month (Happy hefty holidays, whee!), but I seem to have stabilized now at 134 lbs and have stopped gaining even though I’m slamming down 2000-2100 calories on average EVERY day. In fact, I am actually down to 133.8 this morning despite the higher intake and reduced exercise. (I was doing 360 minutes of cardio a week at one point to get to goal body fat. I’ve now scaled it back to 60-90 minutes a week with three 30-45 minute weight lifting sessions on alternating days.)

So my thoughts on this are that–in my limited experience anyhow–the metabolic slowdown from maintaining on BFL can be reversed, but you may experience some minor weight gain in the process. Your mileage may vary depending on how long you’ve been maintaining at 1300-1600 calories, your individual body chemistry, how much activity you include in your program, and how low your maintenance range on BFL has been.

On another note…maybe my mild lactose intolerance is kicking in a bit, but I don’t think that the CC and Kashi GoLean meal I had for breakfast agreed with my stomach. I am feeling just a wee bit nauseous at the moment. I guess I just need a few hours to adjust every day before my system can deal with dairy. It doesn’t help that I have to eat what averages out to three extra servings a day relative to a normal BFLer in fat loss mode. The sheer bulk of the food I have to consume sometimes overwhelms me when I’m not having a “hungry” day. I think I will start adding in small-volume, calorie-dense foods like nuts, sweet potatoes, and rice to help me get through this bulk without making me feel like an overstuffed sofa.

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Nutrition (2000-2100 calorie maintenance day)
1: 3/4 c. cottage cheese with 1/2 c. Kashi GoLean Crunch
2: 3×1 spinach and tomato omelette with 1/3 c. (dry) oatmeal (1/2 PB Banana shake)
3: Apricot cheesecake protein bar (1/2 PB Banana shake)
4: EFL Rosemary chicken with steamed broccoli and pine nut couscous (1/2 PB Banana shake)
5: Healthy options from catered meal at work (1/2 PB Banana shake)
6: Cottage cheese and strawberries

Supplements:
Multivitamin with iron
Calcium 500 + D
1 T. flax seed oil

Calories eaten / deficit for yesterday = 2190 / +142 (target 0)
Water: 16 cups
Ratios: 44% carb / 35% protein / 21% fat

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Workout:
8:00 am Tai chi
8:30 am HIIT 10 minutes treadmill (4.5, 6, 7, 8 mph) and 10 minutes rowing machine
10:00 pm 100 push-ups and Ab Boot Camp!

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The Awful Truth:
1. Had another cereal noshing episode last night after work following my planned chicken late dinner at 10. Probably chomped down 1 cup of Kashi GoLean Crunch with water.

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Brownie Points:
1. Finally caught up on sleep.
2. Skipped the key lime pie at dinner last night.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Finish the laundry tonight.
2. Vacuum the apartment.
3. Pay the utility bill.
4. Print out new workout sheets.