Now What Do I Do???
 

For all of you in pre-maintenance and maintenance. The good news, I hit goal today for about 30 seconds:lol: But it has started to make me wonder...Now what do I do?? For the past 6 months I have been diligent with keeping track of my calories and carbohydrates--everyday MY PLAN, weighing my meat and dairy and veg etc. Now that I am so close do I continue business as usual or do I start eyeballing portions etc. I kinda freaks me out to start eyeballing stuff, so now what???? I have a feeling that I still need the structure and the numbers of weighing but I'd like to hear how you guys approached it.

Lisa

Congratulations, Lisa!

I reached my goal last May. I still count all my carbs and weigh unpackaged foods (like meat).

I don't think everyone has to do this, but I think it would be a good idea to continue counting stuff for a couple of months, at least. Now that you are maintaining, you will probably be trying new things, or eating more of some things, and it's good to keep a handle on what you are doing. Once you have maintained for a while, then consider just eyeballing stuff. That's my advice anyway!

For me, counting carbs is not that burdensome, since I am so used to doing it. If I don't count something, then I find myself spending MORE time (and stress) wondering - just what did I eat? It's easier to just write it down and forget it.

I have never counted calories, though, and I have never entered stuff on the computer. I just keep a daily running total of carbs in a notebook, so it's quick and easy.

Maintenance is weird - it's a different mindset, and it took me a while to get used to it. Before, the motivation was to hop on the scale and see how much I had lost. Now I hop on the scale and hope it just stays the same. Not as exciting!

:dazzle:Way to go Lisa!!:dazzle:

You must be feeling really good today. :D

I've been feeling my way through maintenance myself. I've never actually gotten to a goal weight before. I am eating very close to my weight loss mode and allowing myself some off plan treats on the weekends. I then spend the weekdays working at getting back to my low weight.

Would you like to join us in the weighin thread? Lots of good discussions over there and if you don't want to weighin, thats OK too. :idea: C'mon over!! :agree:

I still weigh certain foods ie:cheese, dreamfields pasta...mostly because I could really over do it there if I eyeball it. :rolleyes: I do eat lots of veggies each day and fruit every day but no more than 3 fruits per day, as my plan allows.

Thanks Judy--You busted me because I've kinda been lurking;)

Eventhough I weigh everyday, when I see losses, it like...lose 1/2-1 pound stay at that weight for a month...lose 2 pounds, stay at that weight for a month,...lose 1/2 pound, lose 3/4 pound, then stay at that weight for a month--you get my meaning.

I think what made me successful this time was I was OK with that number not changing because I new it had to eventually--go figure. Maybe I'll stop being a lurker and pipe up:wave: It's just so scary to be so close....

Lisa

Ahah!! I gotcha!! a confessed lurker.... :lol:

what the heck are you afraid of? being at goal? or being close to me? :p :lol:

This is one of the things that I did right on my way down to goal. I experimented with many foods and now know that I can and cannot eat.

I had chinese last Sunday night and knew that I'd pay for it all week and I was right...but as of this morning, I am back on track.

I was supposed to go for my monthly thin crust pizza fest tonight but I canceled because I weighin on Saturday mornings and don't want to spoil all my work this week. Ya think I'm obsessed? ;) I don't care if I am cause I am doing what I need to do for me!! ;)

So c'mon Lisa....join us!!! We need you!! :agree:

Congratulations!!

I think what you do to adapt to maintenance is highly dependent on what you were doing to lose weight. In Atkins lingo, if you really did climb the carb ladder, maintenance is a tweak, rather than a big change in your eating.

I paid a lot of attention to portion size vs. food weight when I was in pre-maintenance. I spot check with my food scale, to make sure my eyes are not deceiving me, and I spot check with FitDay as well. I don't weigh myself every day--more like a couple of times a month--but I was not a daily weigher during the active weight loss part of all of this.

I think it helps to set some maintenance goals around behaviour. Learning to eyeball food accurately was one of mine. Establishing an acceptable range was another (mine is 110-112.5), as well as developing a Plan B for those times you go over or under your range.

We talk about this being a WOL, but I think we don't really appreciate what that means until we get to this phase of the journey. People sometimes ask me why I haven't written a success story. My sense of this is that there is no end point, no place when I can say, "OK, I'm done, now I am a success."

Taming--I agree!

I think for now it has to be business as usual. Measuring, weighing, logging. Luckily I moved up the ladder and have incorporated the things that I thought I couldn't live without--yougurt, wine, and Lindt 85%-so I'm good on that front and not afraid of the carb ladder. We'll see 3 months from now if I need to continue the weighing, logging and measuring--it just seems to give me the security that I think I need for the next few months.

I see CALP in your signature- I've been on CALP for almost 3 years, and I have been maintaining for over a year. I find that adjusting the balance of my RM is a key for me. More carbs to not lose, less carbs (and only complex carbs) to adjust down. But I stay on CALP everyday.
HTH

I agree with the other ladies. How you maintain depends highly on your personality and thought patterns, too. I'm very impulsive and disorganized by nature. Whether it's my p/t job, the housework, or my eating... if I'm not paying attention to it, making to-do lists and what not, it falls apart. So at least half the time, I'm still using fitday. In particular, I use it on those yogurt/wine/Lindor days. ;) I'll skip it when I'm in a phase of no-brainer basic LC foods and no "problem" foods.

So are you going to get a new spring wardrobe or what? :cool: :dazzle:

No, I have tons of clothes and a goddess seamstress. I need clothes like a hole in my head. I've had my tousers taken in, blouses taken in and darted. I have my blue jeans altered because I have a fairly smaller waist than butt so I have to fit the biggest part which is my butt and have the waist taken in. The seamstress is definitely my best friend. She's really funny--I've been taking clothes to her every week since the beginning of January and she says that over the past 3 months she can see me getting smaller before her eyes.



Enomarb---actually it is 98% atkins. I use the rules of CAD/CALP either when I'm traveling or going out. I find it works really well. In fact, I took a trip to Atlanta back in October for a week and used CAD/CALP--didn't gain, stayed in ketosis, no cravings, came back home without a blip on the radar.


I have made the decision to carry on business as usual for at least 3-6 months. I would like to drop down to 145--not for the fat loss but to give me some wiggle room. I'm still trying to see if that 150 is going to stick for a week--so far it hasn't but no biggie--if not this week, then a month from now. I'm in this for the long haul and 2-3 fricken pounds is not going to put me into a tailspin.

Lisa

Congrats Lisa!

Where on the Oregon Coast are you located? I am in Eugene. We Oregonian LC'ers have to stick together! ;)

Robin

Look to the west for 60 miles--FLORENCE!!!!

Wow Lisa!! So close :D My husband and I are renting a little beach house near Lincoln City for our anniversary this year. We get over to Florence a lot during the summer. Maybe one of these days you and I will have to meet up for an LC lunch :)

Robin

I think that would be really fun!!! I go into Eugene at least once a month and sometimes twice--just to get out of town;) We could have a rondevous (sp) at Trader Joe's!!!

I posted this in another thread and thought I'd also post it here........


....and on to my musings for the past few days. I get like this when I get overly tired and my crabby pants are giving me a wedgie:eek: :wiggle: (that's me trying to get them unstuck). Looking at the scale the other day, I realized 2 things...first, that I really have almost done it. This is an amazing feat in itself because I am the worst "dieter" in creation--I have no will power and I like my food. A leathal combination. The second thing that is even a more profound realization, is that if I want to stay where I am weight wise, I will have to be ever vigilent for the rest of my life. WOW! I'm going to have to think about what I put in my mouth for the rest of my LIFE! THE REST OF MY LIFE???!!! Then I think I started to grieve because I'll have to have this mentality for the REST OF MY LIFE (can you see a theme here??) and am I grieving because no more rice krispie treats or am I grieving because I can no longer think of myself as "normal" (normal being the other world of carbs)?. Am I losing all sense of reality?? Am I losing my mind?? Do I need a sit down with the therapist?? (well, maybe). So I wake up this morning and see a number that I have not seen in over 15 years--I bounced down to the 140s--could that be true??? Could that even be possible?? I went back to bed and napped on it. When I got up an hour and half later I just had to see--yes, today for 30 seconds I was 149 1/2. AMAZING!! Maybe I need another 7 months to wrap my head around the notion that I will need to be ever vigilent. Maybe I need the next 7 months to internalize that this is the rest of my life.

So here I am slowly and carefully making my way thru this way of life, hoping that I can continue the vigilence that's needed to continue.

Lisa