Time for me to start thinking "maintenance"

I will probably have to add 300-500 calories a day to maintain my ideal weight.
That's an educated guess and I plan to do it gradually over the course of months but what kinds of foods do you add to your diet?

I can't see that rice, breads or pastas would be good because for me they would just lead down a road I would prefer not to travel...again.

 So what are some "good" food additions for maintenance?

thanks
donna

Healthy fats - nuts and nut butters, avacados. Whole fat mayo and cheese. Once I was at goal I also added in some fruit. I have added some whole grains as I was very low carb during loss and am now only low-moderate carb (still avoiding simple carbs).

For me, it has been a lot more calories added than I expected. Still losing a little bit at 1500 a day. But progress slowly!

 
Hey Donna.....

Maintenance is where we get to test tolerances....this is really where everyone is different to a certain extent.
You have the proper mind-set and schedule, It's not a light switch. 

For me....at first I did nothing.....my WL had pretty much stopped or was at a crawl......

I would say the very first thing to do would be to evaluate your activity. Is your exercise something you can maintain for the long haul. Some may want to pull it back some to find a comfort level that is sustainable. The other approach would be a bit harder to do but completely manageable and that's basically two eating plans. One for winter when we can be less active and one for warmer months when we are more active. And than there is the seasonal Athletic approach with many people taking on sporting events.

We must always adjust.....maintenance is a moving target and we must come up with strategies that are pro active.

Anticipate......learn to work ahead of situations instead of playing catch up all the time. Going into last Holiday Season I told myself I wasn't gonna be a  January poster saying they needed to lose 5lbs. of Holiday weight. I'm trying to put New Years WL resolutions in my past. So I went into the season on the light side and just cruised through the Holidays.....no harm done.

At first..... Maintenance did not mean "More Food" that was the last thing on my mind. The first thing I thought was to preserve my restriction by eating the same volume of foods as in WL. I could increase the number of feedings but I was not going to increase meal portions.

My other option was to rich en up my meals with more fats and carbs. Carbs coming from veggies and sauces. Sauces = Flavor .....Flavor = Freedom. When eating out.....I wasn't freaked out about the sauces... I knew they were gonna be basically fat and flour. and it was freedom to have some with limits. A couple bites of breaded fried foods every so often... no problem.

Some people end up eating a half a sandwich with the bread with no effect......not my road...but some can.

So basically you have to find your own from what is important to you..... Half and Half in your coffee....full fat mayo....,.bread crumbs in your cooking.....a little corn starch or flour here and there.

You can see just by doing some of those things how the calories come up really easy and fast !!!!

The other answer is adding nuts, nut butters, Avocados and even some fruits.

I've added frozen fruits to an occasional enjoyable Protein Shakes, I'm thinking of adding Steel Milled Oatmeal for an occasional breakfast. Sweet Potato is supposed to be some sort of supper food..... I'm gonna try it one of these days.

The key is to establish a baseline that you know works.... than add a food and see what happens.

I'm at a point where I can eat just about anything on occation. But I stick with a baseline that about 80% of my WL plan.

Hope this helps....

frisco

Frisco,
You are my go to guy when I need to learn something about this ride.

I will be tapping into this font of information quite often in the future I think.

What I really want to have is one piece of toast with my egg on Sat morning.
Thats it.
Never was a big desert eater so I don't miss or want them.
Gained most all of my weight just eating way too much meat/potatoes/chips./chips/chips.

I've learned a hell of a lot from you.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. (I was gonna say butt, however...it's non-existant right now)

donna

I'm obviously really new in the maintenance world.  I've added back some avocado (love it!) in small amounts.  It's slidery, though, so I have to be careful!  I usually eat it with meat so that helps me from overdoing it.

My weight loss was really slow at the end so I'll have to be careful how much I add in.  This is scary for me because I've lost weight in the past, but not kept it off.  So largely, I won't be changing much in maintenance vs weight loss.  Sitting at right around 1000 calories right now.  Still avoiding most carbs other than veggies.

I was eating the nonfat plain greek yogurt with a bit of sugar free preserves added... but I think I'll transition to the nonfat greek yogurt with fruit in it (blueberry, black cherry).  That'll be a few extra carbs, so I'll have to go slow and watch it.

By the way, love the new avi pic and your bandage dress!

OmG! That bandage dress was sooooo cool! I actually feel thin when I wear it. AND I bought the medium and it's too big in the arm holes. LOL

I just started thinking about maintenance and got scared cuz I eat till I'm full now. Is there going to be enough room for more food?
But like Frisco said, I can eat more often and add some higher cal foods....I hope.

It's kinda funny, one week I'm ******g and moaning about not losing and the next I'm worried I wont have enough room in my stomach to stop losing weight.

What a ride.

donna

As the others have said, healthy fats are helpful, because you can increase your calories, without adding bulk. In addition, they are good for you. I added in some berries to have with my Greek yogurt in the AM, as well as a small amount of a high fiber cereal. I have oats, maybe a couple of times/week, usually on a workout day. I love, love sweet potatoes and have perhaps 1/4-1/3 cup a couple of times/week. They are so healthy for you. I just bake them and add a bit of cinnamon. Yummy.

I have stayed away from breads, pasta, rice. Once in awhile, I have had a little bit of quinoa.

I think most of my extra calories have come from avocado, nuts, complex carbs, and a little fruit. I have to watch the nuts, because they can be a problem area.

Good luck. I have heard starting with adding a 100 cal/week is a good way to start.

Slightly off topic, but I just read about a great way to jazz up our salads. Roast a bunch of vegetables in the oven with olive oil, say rutabags, turnips, asparagus, sweet potato chunks, brussel sprouts, whatever, then put in large container and place in fridg. Put some cold roasted vegies in your salad and VOILA! I am a master salad maker already and make the "BIG SALAD" about every other day. I must already put about 12 things in each time: lettuce/spinach/nut blends/dried fruits (be careful, very high in carbs, so use only for subtle flavoring)/onions/avocados/tomatoes/chunks of vegies/water chestnuts/daikons/julienned red and green and hot peppers/etc etc. I was thrilled with the new idea of adding roasted vegetables. Should add a whole new dimension. Then I top it all off with full-fat homemade Hidden Valley Buttermilk dressing. Still, after 15 months, I am only able to eat about 1 cup of this "Big Salad" but my husband is addicted to them and will finish them off every time.  Cheers to everyone!  And long live our wonderful new lifestyle!

Sounds good but a cup is all I'm good for too.
My husband is sleeved as well so he won't be eating the rest.

Maybe I can figure out how to downsize the thing.
donna

Your intincts are good. don't go for pasta or other white carbs. a little more fruit plus a little peanut butter, almond butter or other nuts can be all you need or a little more cheese. just slowly up your calories. for a while it will be hard to find room for more but very slowly that will adjust. I eat a fair amount of veggies now but a year ago I couldn't do that. sleeve has sort of relaxed now that I am at a correct weight.

Its good to consider the amount of calories you think you will need and even get a resting metabolic test or calculate your resting metabolic rate on line to get an idea of baseline calorie needs. Then keep journaling well into maintenance so you know what your intake is and how its impacting weight. Good for you for thinking about maintenance now. Its the longest part of your journey.

Diane