Book: Refuse to Regain?

I just finished reading Refuse to Regain by Barbara Berkeley, which I purchased after I saw numerous people on OH recommend it.  I have already put some of the concepts in play (ex: posted my "scream" weight by my scale and have a plan of action when I hit it).  I'm curious as to how others *****ad this book use the 12 rules?  Do you follow them religiously or have you adapted them somewhat?  If adapted, how?   I'd appreciate the insight.

I did not read the book...I had to Google it...

Basically here is what I found:

1. Be Tough, Not Moderate - half-measures aren't good enough
2. Commit Yourself to a 3 month opt-out period - give this plan the "old college try"
3. Weigh Yourself every day - really keep tabs on it
4. Reverse Small Regains Immediately - no fudging or procrastination!
5. Eat Primarian 90% of the time - basically Paleo with tweaks
6. Eat One Major Meal Per Day - with mini-meals and snacks
7. Perform a Daily "Scan & Plan" - look ahead to what might subterfuge your food plan
8. Stop eating after 8 PM
9. Eat from a limited menu - too many choices or too much variety is intoxicating
10. Have one acceptable treat per day
11. Have a love affair with exercise
12. Maintain with support and support others

Yea...  A few of those are cool.. The rest ... Just test it for yourself ...if it works - follow it. 

The exercise part is kind of funny.  I am at goal and I started working out (more walking) so I can Get more appetite and eat more... That what exercise does to me - makes me hungry.. I eat more. 

Getting stronger - building muscles is cool.. I started exercises so I could stop losing. It works for me. And I get better muscle definition. 

I hadn't heard of the book. But this is pretty much what I do.

I would make one major alteration. In addition to weighing myself, I weigh my food. Logging has been critical to my success. 

It'seems a good plan. Some of the 12 I agree with emphatically. Others, like exercise, less so.

• Weigh Yourself every day - really keep tabs on it
• Reverse Small Regains Immediately - no fudging or procrastination!

These are a must for me. Do not live in denial. I am shocked by the number of people who post how "shocked" they are that they have gained 50 pounds. No, they are not. They stopped weighing themselves and taking responsibility. My limit is 3 pounds above my goal. I have only gotten above that line 3 times in the past 7 years of maintenance (all three times were during the holiday season- November through January). I did get back down to my goal weight each time and still maintain today.

Be Tough, Not Moderate - I don't think I agree on about this in some areas.  I think food, situations, and people can all change over time.  If you are super unwilling to bend on occasion then you sometimes will give up the opportunity for growth and important changes.  I do think planning is key and making hard tough choices is good though.  You have to get real with yourself and stick to a plan, no backing out just because you want a cookie.  If it's part of a plan such as I will have 1 cookie that my aunt makes at Xmas and then that's it, I'm not taking a box home with me, then I consider that to be reasonable. 

Commit Yourself to a 3 month opt-out period - I did this but for 1year.  I said no more of these "demon" foods for 1 year, the list included things that for me were very hard to stop eating or were just plain junk food.  I can do anything for X period of time and at the end of that time allowing for reevaluating was important to me. Forever felt too far and terminal. 

Weigh Yourself every day - Very important that you get on the scale at least every few days.  Set a range goal of 5lbs and then stay within it.  

Reverse Small Regains Immediately - No sneak up weight regains if your on the scale several times a week.  Remove unwanted weight asap.

Eat Primarian 90% of the time - Eat what works for you and your medical report.  If your happy with all meat then eat all meat, if your ok with some junk and it's working then work that plan.

Eat One Major Meal Per Day - I don't like this one.  I think you should eat 3 squares that are on plan and evenly distributed.  We don't have normal size stomachs, so I like to be sure and eat my protein over the day because if I tried to hit 60-80 grams at 1 major meal it'd not work out. 

Perform a Daily "Scan & Plan" - Plan and plan and then do it some more especially up front.  Think about people you'll be eating with, where you'll be, and what temptations might cause you issues.  I don't do this daily because once you've ran through the plan a few times it become routine.

Stop eating after 8 PM- I eat when I'm hungry.  Yesterday I went for a long bike ride early in the day but ended up needing "second dinner" at 8:30pm.  I had my normal 3-5oz of meat and went on with my evening.  

Eat from a limited menu - I did this the first 5 months.  There was an extremely limited amount of items I could choose from.  I now have more options but sometimes is surprised me when see something and am... I've not had that for 8 months.

Have one acceptable treat per day- no treats IMO, I have plans and acceptable items that work in that plan 

Have a love affair with exercise- I just started bike riding and enjoy it, however exercise will not make me loose weight.  Sometimes it makes me want to eat more.  Right now I am willing to eat more in order to become healthier though and because I'm just happy to be able to do the exercise in the first place right now.  

Maintain with support and support others- Being on OH has been an important part of keeping me on plan.  While answering things like this post I'm thinking and reaffirming my plan and goals while weighting it.  I'm also thinking of advice others have given me and how it plays a part in this whole thing.  

I had not heard of the book either. Ditto to what everyone has shared here and here is my back to basics list I used  

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker.  Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Thank you all for the feedback!  I'll incorporate what you recommend into my maintenance program.  I find OH to be more helpful than my in-person support groups.  Because I live a bit out of the way (Cape Cod), the local group for my surgeons office is very small and I am often the one furthest along (not much advice to be gained).  Interestingly (and scarily), at the last meeting I attended, the leader (a nurse who previously had WLS), was recommending 1700 calories during the weight loss phase!  A. I couldn't have eaten that much for months,  B. I'm not sure I would have lost much, and C. I'd gain on that now. Our leader probably is significantly over a 40 BMI, BTW, but apparently used to be close to 500 though.  Perhaps her perspective is a little different.  Anyway, thank goodness for all of you on OH!