Maintenance Club

Hi folks, I am going to count myself in maintenance & join you now, even though I am 2kgs above my upper limit. I seem to be a little stuck at the moment, but like you Omega, I am tweaking my diet & hopefully I will see a change soon. I am eating so healthily but my exercise has really increased in the last 3 months. I don't think that would account for much muscle weight though. I'm determined to drop another 5kgs & get to the bottom of my goal-weight range.
Di- hope you're better soon. Colds & flu make us feel so flat & miserable.
Catch up again soon. Cheers, cate.
 
Great to see you over here Cate. :party:

We are both in exactly the same boat having floated just above our zone.

Hopefully we will soon be back in our zones. I want to be in the bottom part of my zone too... In the past I have changed things around as soon as I was under (encouraged to do so by slimming group leaders) - but this time round I am going to ignore them... You got so very close a week or two ago before that weekend away... Such things tend to sabotage us all - although it is nice to enjoy such opportunities when they come along. Life would be dull if we felt that we could not enjoy ourselves in moderation when such special events come along.

Losing weight is something that we all know that we can do - and do well. We know exactly what to do. I am confident that those of us with a few pounds to lose will be able to get that job really efficiently.

With colds and flu - I tend to expand things to allow myself the odd drink of honey and lemon or hot orange juice. My previous doctor (who has just retired) was a firm believer in this approach combined with paracetemol if things could be managed that way. I therefore considered it as doctors orders and had it despite it all being calories and the fact that fruit juice isnt filling compared to the fruit so I dont normally have it.

Maybe such extra calories and maybe the odd extra irresistable treat will stop Di's weight going lower under her zone. :)
 
Hi Cate! Congrats on having reached your goal.

I'm the interloper here! :) I haven't reached my ultimate goal yet, but I have maintained my 70+ lb loss for the last nearly 2 years now, so I have some maintaining experience.

Hope you'll stick around - we need more maintainers here! :)
 
KaraCooks said:
I have maintained my 70+ lb loss for the last nearly 2 years now, so I have some maintaining experience.
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That is a very definite achievement.

My NHS primary care trust is very keen to know how long a person has been below BMI=27 for some arbitrary reason. I was really pleased when I worked out that I have been under that milestone since March 2008. I am considering that as some level of maintenance experience. It boosts my confidence as I have not won any prizes for my ability to maintain my final zone...
 
I was really pleased when I worked out that I have been under that milestone since March 2008. I am considering that as some level of maintenance experience.
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Definitely!

Right now my BMI is 28.9, which puts me in the overweight category - but I've been out of "obese" for over 2 years. Whoo. :)

I'm trying to focus on my body fat figures now ... rather than the scale so much. Although it's still nice to see those scale #s go down! :)
 
KaraCooks said:
Definitely!

Right now my BMI is 28.9, which puts me in the overweight category - but I've been out of "obese" for over 2 years. Whoo. :)

I'm trying to focus on my body fat figures now ... rather than the scale so much. Although it's still nice to see those scale #s go down! :)
Click to expand...

I havent been out of obesity for 2 years yet so you are ahead of me there... Over two years is a brilliant achievement.

I didnt hit that milestone until 30th December 2007 - not that we remember such milestones or anything.....

I am thinking about getting one of those body fat monitor devices because I really liked getting that read when I had the UK Biobank testing done...

I think that there is a lot to be said for seeing a nice low number in both places. It gives us confidence that it will not all happen again (weight gain, obesity........). It helps us to mentally redefine ourselves as a fit person and not as a fat person....

I almost live in jeans these days because I know that if I were gaining really - they just would not fasten. It is a good way of putting an upper limit on what we could possibly convince ourselves was just a day-to-day fluctuation.
 
I am thinking about getting one of those body fat monitor devices
Click to expand...
I like mine a lot. I'm sure it's not 100% accurate (not like calipers or whatever), but it's consistent, which I think is the most important thing.

I got this one:

I don't know if it's available where you are ... but if you can find the same brand, it's easy to use. :)
 
Thanks for the recommendation. I will most definitely check it out.

I always like to get things recommended to me as it gives confidence in products living up to the description. :)
 
Welcome, Cate! Good to have another maintainer among us!

My weight was 116.0 pounds this AM...up one pound, which I expected. Not being able to work out and feeling like crap...been eating and drinking lots of things trying to make my throat feel better! Now I am losing my voice, which hubby likes! Sure am ready for the long weekend coming up! Hopefully I will feel like getting things done around my house and getting some exercise as well.

Margaret and Cate...you are both working so hard that I just know you will soon be back in the zone!

Take care all,
Di
 
Hi Di & thanks for your welcome. I feel a bit of a fraud as I'm really 5kgs more than I would like to be (2kgs over the top of my GW range.) I feel that a lot of it is fluid but I keep trying different foods & finding that my body cannot tolerate them. Bean sprouts I just didn't think of as a starchy vegetable, even though I know that beans & peas are. Doh! I have been eating them instead of having pasta or rice when I may as well have eaten the pasta or rice. Always learning & always will be. I keep an eye out around a few forums just to read lots of info. I sometimes think I soak up too much info & can't process it all properly. From now on I'm trusting my instincts & see how that goes.
I'm not having a very good day & have dressed up in a new outfit that makes me feel pretty good as we're visiting friends tonight. I am wearing funky striped pants & I think they look good. Well...I hope they do! I'm not too sure of anything today. We have to have these days occasionally I guess! Cheers for now, cate.
 
Di - I really hope that you are feeling better really soon. We all know how miserable it is to feel ill. You are doing the right thing to treat your throat to those soothing things. It is a great demonstration too of the joys of being at the bottom of your zone. Even with your weight up a pound you have a lot of gaining before you float out of the top...

Cate - If you are a fraud - then so am I... I really like the notion of being nearer the bottom of my zone too - and I havent been there in over 20 years...

I would never have thought of bean sprouts as being starchy vegetables either. Fortunately they do not really appeal to me. One of my highly unsuccessful weight loss campaigns from about 20 years ago involved me eating them every day. They are low in calorie so they were basically there as a rice / pasta alternative. Anyway the whole thing a/ didnt work for me and b/ managed to pretty much put me off eating bean sprouts for life. I have not gone so far as picking them out of my food if eating out and they are given to me - but I have never bought them in order to use in my own cooking.

What other fruit or vegetables does Cohen's suggest that you leave well alone? I must admit that there are aspects of Cohen's that intrigue me since the little bit of research that I have done into it indicates that it was derived from a study of people who sound very much like myself (e.g. hormonal disorder which causes both weight gain and infertility issues).

The great thing about being pretty much at our goal weight (give or take a few pounds) is that we can wear all those great outfits that we used to want to wear but think of as "only for the slim". It is so nice to look in the mirror and see ourselves wearing those things. I am sure that you will look fantastic in your new outfit.
 
Hi Omega, fellow maintainers & anyone else reading this thread.
It is hard to be specific as I don't want to upset anyone re copyright laws. I will just say what I did successfully for 2 years. I did not avoid any particular food, but limited starchy carbs & experimented to see what I could eat without gaining weight. I avoid eating any processed food.
I find cherries, bananas, watermelon, strawberries & passionfruit, which I think are all high in sugar, are inclined to put weight on me & I think I'll leave them out of my diet. I try not to eat fruit on an empty stomach (sends insulin levels high) & to always have fruit with protein so I usually have mine with yoghurt. Mango & yoghurt....mm mmmm! Heaven! Yoghurt with stewed apple is my usual breakfast or egg with tomato & mushroom,sometimes in an omelette with spinach & fresh herbs.
Bread bloats me & I retain fluid & feel dreadful afterward.
I'm going to go back to basics & lose the 5kgs then re-introduce foods gradually to re-assess whether I can eat them without gaining weight. Going to see a nutritionist threw me off track & I started eating different things(avocado, bananas, bread- I ate an avocado almost every day for goodness sake!) & ignoring the Cohen's maintenance guidelines. I think I have learned what is ok for me but I will find out for sure when I am back to maintaining at the lower end of my GW range. I just need to get there.
Re the outfit. I was told that I looked great but I felt the pants were too tight. I felt uncomfortable in them as I bought them when I was 5kg lighter. (Grrr!) Silly I know!
I don't know why we expect ourselves to be perfect when we get to goal. Of course we will make mistakes. we are mere mortals. The thought of being obese again freaks me out still, even 2 years down the track. Hopefully that will hold me in good stead but I need to get obsession back into balance & back to just "being careful." I'll stop now before I drive myself crazy. I'm in a good mood today, even though it's raining & cold (this is Spring?)
Bye for now, almost maintaining, Cate



 
Hi!
Just checking in to see how everyone is doing so far this week. I am finally starting to feel a little better...still stuffed up nose and throat...but I feel like it's improving. My son now is sick...same stuff..but he is running a fever with it, so he stayed home from school today. Hope he gets over it faster than I have!

My weight is still hangin' in there at around 115. So happy I did not put on several pounds despite being ill! I took a nice long walk outside yesterday, even though it was rather cool. By the time I got home, I had worked up a pretty good sweat!
My schedule is crazy today, so prob. won't have time to exercise for real. Will try to walk as much as possible here at school today. Funny how now I just feel better when I am very active. A year ago that sure wasn't the case! I still sometimes find it hard to believe that I have lost the 40 pounds and am so far keeping it all off successfully. I feel so much better!

Margaret, Kara, and Cate....hope you are doing well. Check in when you have the time. Have a great week, everyone!
Di
 
Hi Di & fellow maintainers. Glad to hear that you are starting to feel better Di!
I am feeling better about my maintenance the last couple of days since I started saying to myself that I am doing really well by not putting any weight on, instead of berating myself for not continuing to lose. So much of what we do is down to attitude. I have been stuck on the same weight for 2 weeks & today it dropped .5kg. That .5kg to me is a really positive thing. It inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing & that is eating healthily all of the time & having an occasional glass of wine. Mentally it makes me feel so much better doing that.
I hope everyone is enjoying life & being slim. It sure beats the hell out of struggling to do anything & everything! Life is good! Cheers, cate.
 
Cate - Thanks for the information about what works for you. I also avoid a lot of starchy things and a lot of processed foods. In fact I think that is pretty much limited to one brand of baked beans (low salt, low sugar) that I really like and seem to do me no harm. I actually seem to get away with eating quite a lot of baked beans - which had its origins in me encouraging Rod to eat them to try to reduce his cholesterol levels... I love fruit and yoghurt too. Since starting my new food plan at the start of last week I have regularly had an omelette at lunchtime too (mushroom and garlic is yummy). Well done on the 0.5kg drop. That is a good weight loss because we have to remember that we are not big people so the fabled 1% is not much more than that.

Di - I am pleased to hear that you are feeling a bit better. I just hope that your son does not re-infect you. Normally germs get passed back and forth between my husband and myself and hang around this house for ages... Well done for continuing to get your walking done - that should be plenty of exercise to keep things ticking over nicely until you are feeling a bit better. It is great that your weight has held firm. You have clearly been very restrained regarding the whole temptation to comfort eat that can come with illness.

===

My new food plan appears to be working quite nicely. I am enjoying the extra protein. My weight (which went up out of zone when I ate out on 19th September) has been coming down. It is hovering on the edge of my zone. My zone runs from 8st11 to 9st3 and when I weighed yesterday it wavered between 9st2.8 and 9st3.0 - today it wavered between 9st3.0 and 9st3.2. I am quite comfortable with that sort of day to day fluctuation (even if it does take me back out of zone)... I am hoping to get back down to my 19th Sept weight maybe in the next week...

Rod is full of cold and feeling pretty sorry for himself. I just hope that I dont get it. To make matters worse - he had toothache and had to have a tooth extracted yesterday. He went back in to work after the dentist yesterday - but could not face going in to work today...

I had a particularly busy day yesterday - between treadmill, Weight Watchers, supermarket, dentist to give moral support and nordic walking class... My pedometer (which I wear for every step of the day) ended up at over 13 miles...

Thankfully today is a little less busy...

I hope that everyone else is having a good day.
 
Cate and Margaret...it sounds like you are both getting some results now on the scale...that is super! I am thinking it will continue to show losses now! You both seem to have so much more discipline than myself...so proud of you! And, like you pointed out, Margaret...even a small loss is a BIG loss when you are small to begin with like us!
Margaret...I sure hope you can keep your husband's germs at bay! You do not need to be getting sick just when the scale is starting to move!

My son ended up getting an antibiotic from his allergy doctor for a sinus/respiratory infection. He is still recovering at home on the couch today. I called a while ago to check on him and his temp was only 99.7 this AM, which is certainly an improvement. We are hoping he can return to school tomorrow...he is missing so much work! I don't want him to get too far behind in his classes.
I am planning to go right home after school today and get in a good workout on the treadmill...since is is once again raining here!

Take care everyone!
Di
 
Di - I am pleased to hear that your son is a bit better. Not only do we want him to not reinfect you - but we know that you will worry about him until he is fighting fit again.

Thank goodness for treadmills when it rains!
 
Hi fellow maintainers,
It feels good to type that! I thought I would share my maintenance with you. I aim to average 60 mins of exercise per day, eat minimal processed food, have 3 moderate-sized well-balanced meals(lean protein, fresh vegies & fruit) every day, not eat after 9pm, get at least 8 hours sleep per night, drink btn 2-3 litres of water every day, never to eat junk food(this part is very easy as I hate it!), no deep-fried food, minimal milk in the occasional cappuccino only, chocolate only once a week & only dark chocolate (Sun night,)3 alcohol-free days per week, (no spirits or liqueurs.)That will do for the moment I think until I think of some more. They are my new rules.
Hope all are well & happy. I'm "maintaining"(LOL) downward slowly until I am back in my range. I feel confident about it & really in a good head-space. Cheers, cate
 
Following Cate's lead - I will share my maintenance plan too...

I endeavour to do the following:
- walk 6.5 miles per day (if on the treadmill mainly at 4.3mph with occasional short bursts at 5.5mph to set my heart racing....) plus other forms of exercise scattered through the week.
- not have alcohol (5 drink units over the past 3 years hardly counts as having any).
- only have chocolate on very special occasions (but I do indulge in sugar free sweets pretty much daily).
- I also eat minimal processed food - the main thing that I have regularly in this area is a brand of low sugar low salt baked beans that seem to suit me ok.
- I certainly get in my 5-a-day.
- I avoid bread, rice, pasta, cheese because I know that they do not suit me.
- I limit my cereal to weetabix which is not a sweetened cereal and is pre-measured.
- Milk is always skimmed.
- No junk food.
- eat a reasonably balanced diet - keeping my calories at an appropriate level for my zone situation (since I am currently high I am eating between 1400 and 1700 calories a day).
- main nutritional targets that I aim to hit are
protein 63g (RDA) - but currently shooting for over 100g
calcium 1000mg
fibre 30g
sodium under 2400mg
2L water (currently 2.5L since weight high in case any is water retention).

I ensure that I have some healthy fats each day - but cannot fully balance my diet in the traditional sense because my doctor has advised me to eat a low fat diet because I have gallstones. I do eat fish very regularly (maybe 4 or 5 meals a week), use olive spread when baking fish and take various oil based capsules every day.
 
I havent weighed for today (Friday) yet - but am happy to report that my Thursday's weight was 9st2.8 (actually hovering between 9st2.6 and 9st2.8) so nicely back slightly within my upper zone limit.
 
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