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