The Maintenance Club

There aren't many people who're active on the maintenance forum, but i'm convinced that maintenance is the affirmation that the project of weight loss/gain that we have gone through is not just a phase, but a commitment to a lifestyle.

some dietary habits of people who have lost weight and stayed slim:

1. Drink water before/during meals
2. Don't skip meals
3. Keep a food diary
   
4. Eat lots of vegetables and whole grain food
5. Exercise moderately and regularly
6. Weigh themselves consistently
   

we might not practice all of them... but we do at least have some things that keep us on the ball/on track! I'm hoping that this thread will help to keep those of us on this forum accountable and motivated. We could post our profile, and edit our post every week on friday to update one another as to how we've been doing, and to get motivated if we've been slipping off the wagon!

I'll start the ball rolling!

Name: doedoebird

Age: 21

Height: 5'6"

Starting Weight: 130lbs

Current Weight: 112lbs

Maintenance Range: 112~115lbs

*Now vs. Then: I'm definitely less sluggish, less easily fatigued, fitter (i can jog 6 miles at a shot!). Oh! and I've got better skin (and hair) too. :3
*i thought that this will help us remain motivated to stay on track subsequently whenever we feel tempted to slide off!

Aims: Regular and moderate exercise (3-5x a week of 30~60min moderate exercise), relatively clean and balanced (vegetarian) eating. Listening to my body (get better at eating when hungry and stopping when full).

Weaknesses: Boredom/emotional eating, a propensity to laziness and procrastination, a bottomless pit when it comes to certain foods (chocolates, cookies , ice cream and pastries....)

Strengths: I try to be self-aware. I am (or at least i try to be) kind to my body (in terms of both diet and exercise). I actually do like exercise (its after-effects especially). I'm a fidgety person. :3

**How I did this week, goals for next week: Last week was great, but a sleepover during which i didn't get any sleep has been leaving me dead tired for the past couple of days, exacerbated by the fact that i'm having my ToTM now (been feeling extremely weak and achy), and i'm also pretty stressed because i'll be going away from home for exchange in about a week. This week I'm just hoping to be able to hold on, stay calm, eat more (i've been having a terrible appetite) and do very light and relaxing exercises!

**I'm thinking that we should check in and update once a week, and the next week, we'll check in and when we do, clear away what we wrote down for the previous week. For me, this is symbolic. It's a pledge to move on, and refuse to be bogged down (or caught up) by what we did wrong in the past.

anyone with me?

So today my goal was to eat 1600 calories- the problem im running into is that I've gotten so used to eating low calorie, low fat foods that to get to 1600 I feel like I'll have to be eating all day long. 

I've already had Breakfast and Lunch and two snacks and I'm only at 900- not bad except for two issues

1. I usually eat the majority of my calories in the morning/afternoon - I don't like to eat a heavy dinner

and 2. Both snacks I've eaten today I only ate for the calories, I wasn't hungry. 

Has anyone else ran into that problem when bumping up their caloric intake to maintenance level? I feel really bloated now and its a feeling reminicent to my bingeing episodes- so I'm a little bit scared that I'm doing something wrong. Any advice is appreciated.

Another last thing- How long should I wait until I weigh myself? I was weighing in like 4-5 times a day, so now I'm trying to wean myself off of it because I know I won't stick to maintaining if I see the scale jumping up.

Sorry this is so long, I do plan on reaching a point where I can be GIVING advice instead of just looking for it... 

Liz~  First let me ask you a question:  you have had a rapid weight loss.  Were you eating much less than 1600 calories a day to achieve your current weight?

1600 sounds good, maybe too little.  I'm 5'2', maintaining at 102, on around 1800 calories a day, with quite a bit of exercise in my garden.

I try to eat more for breakfast and earlier in the day too.  I usually eat 2 helpings of cereal (mix Kashi Golean and mini shredded wheat, plus 2% skim milk, for a total of somewhere around 500 calories.  Lunch: a huge salad with hard cheese for protein, fruit or lofat yogurt.  Small dinner:  lean meat and vegs. 

I weigh once a day in the morning, or at least every other day, since I've been maintaining since May.

I know maintenance is scary, but you can do it!

For the most part I was eating around 900 - 1100 calories a day I think. Obviously unhealthy- but because I never got TOO thin, I wasn't worried. However after flirting with the line of being underweight I've allowed to gain a few pounds but now I'm struggling to get into the mindset of maintaining- because I KNOW I am close to going off the deep end. 

I'm going to try weighing myself once in the morning for a little while and hope to eventually cut back to weekly weigh ins. 

Thanks for the support shansen- its such a nice change to have somewhere to go to where people kind of understand what I'm going through and striving for.

Hey Liz and welcome!  Congrats on moving into the maintenance phase of your program.

Sue might be right, you might want to bump up your daily intake a little.  I'm 5'7.5" and try to maintain at about 124 and I have been eating 1700-2100 cals per day.  I know it can feel like you are absolutely stuffing your face and at the end of the day sometimes I am still a little under and I think, "ugh...don't want to eat anymore..."  So those days I am just a little under...better not to forcefeed yourself because I feel like any physical benefit I get from that is outweighed by mentally and emotionally feeling gross. 

So what I do is aim to eat more earlier in the day and one thing I have had to change is eating higher calorie stuff.  I am so used to "dieting" that I have tended to avoid high calorie foods like the plague, but once you get to maintenance, you have to work at incorporating them back in because it's hard to eat enough calories of "diet" food sometimes.  Here are some easy ways for me to up my calories but still eat the same stuff: 

-I love cereal, so for breakfast I have 2 cups of cereal instead of 1.  Cereal has a billion calories - a nice big bowl of shredded wheat with milk can get you up near 500 cals. 

-I use normal whole wheat bread instead of light bread sometimes.  Just one slice can have over 120 cals. 

-I eat peanut butter, which is like my favorite food ever.  Apples dipped in PB is one of my favourite snacks. 

- I sautee my veggies in olive oil instead of veggie broth.  It adds calories and healthy fats but doesn't add volume.

Anyway, just some ideas.  I know maintenance is really hard (harder than losing I think) and I know there is always that feeling of being in such a delicate balance...only inches away from gaining it all back or from going crazy and losing even more weight.  You can do it, though...it's just a process that takes a lot of dedication.

Liz~  I think it's good that you recognize and admit that your rapid weight loss wasn't healthy... you were essentially starving your body.  According to this site, a sedentarty (not active) adult female requires at least 1200 calories a day minimum (to feed your organs and stuff).  If you're active, you should be eating more than that, and this is only to lose weight. 

I am the same height as you, but I weigh more and I'm pretty active usually.  I'm maintaining on anywhere between 1800-2100 calories a day, depending how active I am that day.  You may want to try bumping up your calories a bit each day and see how it goes.  I wouldn't be too surprised if you start gaining a little back, especially if you lost the weight in a rapid and unhealthy manner it may not stay off.  Just be patient and hopefully your body will adjust. 

If you're looking for a way to add in more calories w/out feeling like you're eating so much, maybe try eating some nuts (high in calories), or making a protien shake.  I have some chocolate whey protien powder (about 100 calories) that I put in a blender with a medium banana (105 calories), 1 cup skim milk (90 calories), and 1 serving of PB2 (54 calories).  Blend it all together with a little ice and it's sooo good and it'll give you protien and some extra calories.  :)

As for weighing myself, I find that it gets stressful seeing my body fluctuate throughout the day and from day to day, so I try to only do it once a week.

Oops, Pumpkin I guess you beat me to it! LOL 

=)  Sorry, my post is a bit repetitive of what was said above.

Good suggestions and ideas, Karey and Pumpkin!

I too do the double cereal serving trick; keeps my satisfied all morning.

At first I thought maintenenace was easy, but it seems to be getting harder.  I'm especially concerned with cooler weather coming because I won't be as active in the garden and I tend to crave heartier foods:  beans (with a little sausage, please), rice, pasta.  Any ideas, suggestions?

Sue

Karey - I see you like PB2, too!  I am kind of obsessed with it and mix it in everything!  (My favourite is mixing it with maple syrup...or in my case sugar free maple "flavoured" syrup...I put it on waffles, on toast, dip fruit in it...) Your shake sounds really good.  I have never made a shake with PB2, but I have made chocolate peanut butter mousse.  YUM!  Maybe I'll pick up some bananas and try your shake.

Sue - I know what you mean about finding it harder in cooler weather.  I find myself craving heartier foods, too - not to mention hot foods!  I am hoping to make a lot of soup this winter.  I always find soup satisfying and it can be very nutritious.  I imagine it will be a struggle for you to remain as active, too, since your exercise largely comes from your garden.  I don't know how productive gardening is in the winter in FL, but I bet it would be fun to have a winter vegetable garden.  Also, have you tried indoor exercises?  I don't know if you have ever considered joining a gym, but I really like group fitness classes.  They are fun, they are a good way to make friends, and they change up often enough to keep the workouts from getting boring.  My mom also does a weekly pilates class at a studio (she doesn't have a gym membership) and she really likes it.  She says it also helps her maintain flexibility.

Pumpkin -

I've been thinking more about soup and want to get into making more of it.  I just fear that it won't fill me up enough.  Would you mind sharing one of you favorite recipes?

I am doing some winter gardening - late tomatoes, lima beans, shallots, mustard greens, kale, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.  This is the first time I have tried it, so we'll see how it goes.  Right now we are having a bad drought and have to water every day.  Also asparagus for the first time - I'm so excited!  But that will take a couple of years before we can pick any.

Right now I'm a little discouraged; 103 again this morning, after what I thought was a good day yesterday, diet and exercise-wise.  On good days I average about 500-600 calories each for breakfast and lunch, then try to keep dinner small.  But I like my 3 glasses of wine, and a lo fat yogurt or pudding or 100-calorie serving of Orville Redenbacher lo fat popcorn.  And I'm not real motivated to work up a sweat in the yard, AND on Wed. I have to go to my daughter's to help out while her husband is away.  Diet-wise the trip shouldn't be too much of a problem - my daughter is very health-conscious, and I can get lots of exercise working with granddaughter with special needs.  We'll see.....

Sue~  I really like the mixing two kinds of cereal trick, I just tried it for lunch.  =)  In the winter time can you switch your garden over to growing something else?  Or, maybe you could take up walking around the neighborhood... it's so nice around here in the winter.  Mmmm pasta... I love pasta.  Have you tried having the whole wheat kind?

Pumpkin~  Yes, I LOVE PB2!  It's so good in the shakes and I love to dip apple slices in it and put it on a warm toasted honey wheat english muffin.  Have you tried the chocolate version yet?  It's yummy.

Thanks for all the tips and replies! Each time I come on here I'm surprised and moved by the ammount you guys seem to really care.

Today I woke up feeling horrid- I think I'm getting sick, and it didn't help to see the scale jump to 117 this morning either- but after a weekend of bumping my calories up I expected it, but it still wasn't pleasant.

However, I've been really good about scheduling out my meals and snacks in a way that I'll  get the calories I need and not feel sick (the recommendations from Pumpkin, Sue, and Karey really helped!) so I'm feeling pretty positive that today will be a giant step in the right direction for me. (Besides getting sick- that part still sucks! ;))

One last note- Sue and Pumpkin - cold weather ALWAYS makes me crave warm, hearty foods. My biggest weakness is pumpkin. Its basically a given come September/October I'll be eating pumpkin in some form at least once a day.

Weekly update time :D

How I did this week, goals for next week:

Did great during the weekdays, had a weird weekend, partied a lot, drank a lot but it was fun.  My goals for this week are to focus on doing positive things for myself and my life in general and being healthy and getting back running (I took 3 days off).

Liz~  You're welcome!  =)  Glad to hear you're finding a way to get your needed calories in, good for you.  It definitely sounds like you are going in the right direction.  Sorry to hear you're getting sick, that sucks!  I also LOVE pumpkin!  It's so good in everything.... Butter Pecan cake mix and a can of pumpkin make really yummy muffins.  My husband loves when I make those.

Rachel~  Glad you had some good weekdays and you have positive goals.  I too, need to get back into my running.

How I did this week/goals for next week:

I definitely slipped up this week and didn't do as well as normal... I'm disappointed in myself that I had a couple of bad days (ice cream, mexican food, potluck at work, more ice cream) and can't seem to stop craving sugary foods.  I hurt my upper back/shoulders/neck from running (not loose enough & I must squeeze my shoulders) so I haven't really run much in a couple of days and I feel crappy.  My goals for this week: curb the sugar cravings and try not to "treat" myself so much, get back into my running routine & fix the shoulder problem.  =)

Karey - the only positive I can find to having really bad food days, is that I feel better when I get back on track for a couple days and realize that I still have the discipline to do best for myself!  Hope the muscles feel better, good excuse to soak in some epsom salts :)

Wow!  This thread is getting more active and interesting by the day!  So much to respond to that I have to take notes!

Rachel ~ glad to hear back from you.  Stick with it.  the irony is, when you "treat" yourself, you are not really treating yourself.

Karey ~ I do walk more in the winter when it's cooler.  I'm just getting a little bored with my routes, but listening to music helps.  And about pasta - I try always to eat the whole wheat kind; bread too.  I only eat bread for breakfast, toasted.  Sorry about your shoulder - boy, do I know shoulder pain!  I made myself sick taking Ibuprofin (mistakenly at night - the pain was keeping me awake) during an Alaskan cruise.  Yoga is good; also stretching exercises.

You all talk about enjoying sweets.  I am so afraid of trying them, for fear I will lose my discipline and want to overindulge.  My solution is to just say no. Even when I go to our neighborhood monthly cooking party, I avoid the sweets.  There are a couple of exceptions:  on special occasions I will make a rich, dark chocolate dessert, like mousse, or Chocolate torte with raspberry topping, and only have a taste.  The other exception is key lime pie or lemon cheese cake.  Over the past several years, when the weight was coming off, I would indulge, say, eat the pie for breakfast, while still keeping track of the calories.

I don't know if it's age, or what, that has enabled me to no longer have the sweet cravings.  Whatever caused it, I am thankful for it, and wish it for all of you.

How I did this week/goals for next week: 

Yesterday, back up to 103.  So last night my dinner was 2 bags lite popcorn (110 cal. each) and 2 cups of grapes, plus 3 glasses of wine.   This morning, back down to 101.5

Sue- congrats on being back on 101.5, I too am back down after an initial spike up to 117.5 (I'm now nestled nicely at 116)

My main victory so far this week (yes I'm aware that its only Tuesday ;)) is that I've been reaching my caloric goals! I've been hitting a mental block at increasing  my calories but I'm finding sneaky ways to do it without feeling like I'll burst from food. So I'm pretty proud of myself, for now at least.

Congrats, Liz, you should be proud of yourself!

I'm working on not eating too many calories.  A friend fixed me a wonderful lunch: salad with avocado, craisins, feta cheese.  Dinner:  4 bean salad and 110-cal. popcorn, and wine.  Now I can enjoy 1-2 glasses of wine while I watch the debate.

Rachel~  Good point!  I do feel better now that I'm back on track.  =)

Glad you guys are all back down again!  =)  Congrats!

I weighed in this morning at 137... up a tiny bit.  :(  Had no time to exercise today... worked all day, went to the grocery store and then made dinner.  Now I'm multitasking... talking on the phone to my sister, typing, and watching the debate.  :)  Still sore today, so hopefully tomorrow before work I WILL run!

Hey all -

I'm glad to see this thread revived.  Yay!

Great job meeting your calorie goals, Liz!  I'm actually having trouble with that today.  I had a major workout and I never know how much to "eat back."  Maintaining is hard. :/

Karey - I didn't even know there was such a thing as chocolate PB2!  I must find it!

And for Sue:  My soups are often kind of haphazard (usually just made of whatever veggies I have lying around), but here is one that I made the other day that turned out really good: 

-chop up a sweet potato and boil it in 2 cups of vegetable stock

-before it starts to get soft, throw in 1/2 a chopped onion and a peeled, chopped apple.  Let that cook until the potato is done.

-turn off the heat and add a little seasoning (I used a pinch or two of salt and a liberal shake of spicy curry powder - I love curry!)

-let it cool just a bit, then puree in a blender or food processor - put it back in the pan and heat it back up to piping hot!  You don't have to blend it, of course, but I like pureed soups.  You can also add some veggies after it's pureed when you heat it back up - for example, add the apples after you blend it so you get a nice, chunky soup.

I thought I would have this for dinner one night, but it turned out to be so filling I actually only ate half and saved the rest for work the next day.  That's pretty impressive considering that I am usually a bottomless pit!

I hope you all are having a great night!  I'm gonna reward myself and go to bed early.  So what if it's only 9:30?!

Pumpkin~  Get your Chocolate PB2 - http://www.bellplantation.com ;
I think they just came out with the chocolate one last month... this time I got the 4 pack, 2 chocolate & 2 regular.  =)    Your soup recipe sounds yummy, and going to sleep now sounds like a good idea... think I may do that too.