A re-post of my rules for maintenance for the new year.
I feel a need to repost these for the new year. Maybe you have already read them but it's never a bad idea to revisit the basics.
hope you are all having a wonderful Monday morning. I was thinking about my post about regain and I thought some hard and fast rules might reduce any confusion about being successful in maintenance. These rules were given to me by my doctor, and at least 90% of the time, I follow every single one of them.
1) Rule: Don't drink your calories. This means don't drink alcohol, whole milk, milkshakes, sodas, juice or anything else with calories.
When to break rule: If you can't get enough protein through eating, either in the early phase, or because you need more protein due to exercise, or malabsorption of protein. If you do choose to drink a protein shake, choose carefully--you want one that is low calories and carbs and high in protein. This does not describe every protein shake out there, compare based on more than just taste. I also break the "don't drink your calories" rule when I choose to have a drink. I always choose either a glass of red wine or a vodka based drink with few sugary additions. I don't drink often, alcohol is a common transfer addiction for WLS patients. Milk is also something I mostly avoid because of the calories and carbs. If I need to something similar, I use lite soy or almond or coconut milk.
2) Rule: Don't graze. These two first rules together are huge, really huge. In maintenance, I eat for about 30 min. maximum and only every three hours at most. I eat three main meals that consist of mostly protein and veggies. I do allow myself snacks, but they are mostly veggie based. I always keep at least three veggie salads like cucumber salad, broccoli and red onion salad, or Greek salad in my refrigerator. In the winter, I always make sure that I have veggie based soups to use for snacks. If I need to, I go back to eating by the clock. Remember, a little bit of hunger is not an emergency, you really can wait until your next scheduled meal. If you really can't wait, have some calorie free liquids to get you through for an hour or so. If you still can't wait, then this is emotional hunger. In other countries people don't snack all day, this is a very American behavior and doesn't help us at all.
When to break this rule: I know this sounds improbable, but sometimes, in maintenance, you actually need to gain a little weight. This happens to me from time to time. When it happens, I usually eat foods with more fat, like nuts and avocado in my salads, and I eat more often. Sometimes, on a special occasion, I will graze for a bit. That's how I was able to eat the 1200 calories in one evening on my birthday. It is really important to understand that if this becomes your way of eating, you WILL put your weight back on.
3) Rule: Eat lean, dense, homemade protein and low carb veggies. Most of the time, about 90%, that is what I am eating. Even in maintenance, most of my meals consist of these. I do not eat processed foods and my food has an ingredient list, I avoid it.
When to break this rule: Well, in truth, there is never a good time to break this rule, but I do once in a while. I will sometimes eat the 100 calorie skinny cow ice cream but I really do try to follow this. I try to eat fish as often as I can, especially fish that is high in omega 3's. I buy lean pieces of meat and prepare them at home. My favorite is game protein, like ostrich or elk. It has less fat and better quality protein.
4) Rule: Eat ostrich, do not become an ostrich. Weigh yourself regularly and keep track of where you are either through charting your weight or just keeping score. You would be surprised at how many people think they are at goal weight a few years out, but they have really put on 20-30 pounds. I weight myself every single day and I keep track of it. I am not obsessive over the number being the same every day. I have a goal range, usually that is about 5 pounds, and as long as I am in it, life is good. Well, in truth, my goal range is smaller than 5 pounds, it is more like 104-106, but I am OK with letting it go from 103-108, either extreme does make me go into action. I can't imagine hitting 108 and not pulling my food back or 103 and not increasing my calories. This was recently evidenced by many of you that follow me here when I hit 108.4 recently. That was my red line and I have a plan that I deployed as soon as I needed it. Have your red line and your plan ready, you will need it.
When to break this rule: Never. This is for life. If you don't track it, the weight will creep back up. I guarantee it.
Those are it my maintenance rules. I feel that as long as I follow them 90% of the time, I am golden. I would love to hear input. Do you agree, disagree, have some to add, I love reading your replies. I think there has been quite a bit of talk (mostly by me) about regain lately. Yes, regain is a very real possibility, but following these rather basic rules is all that is necessary to keep it from happening to you. When in doubt, just go back to what worked for you when you were losing, it will still work in maintenance. It might be harder to go back to being "hard core" but it still works if you work it. The one extra rule I would put here is exercise. Studies show that those people that incorporate regular exercise into their lives have a better change of maintaining their weight loss. I guess that wouldn't really surprise anyone, sort of like breathing helps you live longer. :) What else is new?
You will notice that there is no magic here, everything is simple but not easy. I wish I had fairy dust to sprinkle on all of us, but the rules are all I've got. :) Have a great day everyone and good luck with the weight loss or the maintenance, we are all stronger when we share our experiences, so please tell me what you think about all of this.
