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Old Thu, Sep-14-17, 07:26
khrussva's Avatar
khrussva khrussva is offline
Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
 
Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210 Male 5' 11"
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
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Yes - thanks for reviving this thread. Timely for me as I struggle to get a handle on maintenance. I can relate to what many of the 'maintainers' posted here. To me it boils down to a few simple truths:

1) I have to remain low carb to have any hope of maintaining the loss. Low carb healed my broken metabolism and so much more. It was eating too many carbs that broke it in the first place. But as healthy and active as I am now - I am still carb sensitive. If I exceed my carb limits on a regular basis I will gain. If I return to my old WOE I will get fat and sick again.

2) Within my LC WOE, I still have to pay attention to what works and doesn't work for me. We have different bodies, tendencies, habits, food triggers, stress factors, and food environments. And these things can change over time. So perhaps there are things that I could have gotten away with in maintenance while I was in my 20's that no longer work when I am in my 50's. I try not to be 'boo hoo - it's not fair that they can have XXX and stay skinny, but when I have XXX I gain.' I try to see it as simple truth about myself. It is what it is. If I recognize that, then I can make the right choices and make maintenance work.

An example of my own current maintenance issues: I can eat extra dark chocolate on occasion. It is best if I don't have it everyday, otherwise the anticipation of having the daily treat becomes an expectation. If no dark chocolate is around, then I'm looking for something else to fulfill that want feeling. That is when bad choices can be made. The same is true for me and all natural peanut butter. I can have it. I consider it an on plan food. But it is calorie dense and it has more carbs than most foods that I eat. It can easily be overdone and will lead to a slow but sure gain over time if I don't stay on top of it. It is best if I don't have PB everyday. Now if I smear some PB on some dark chocolate, then I have a new problem on my hands. Those two things together form a trigger food for me, maybe because one of my old carby favs was peanut butter cups. What ever the cause, PB + chocolate fires off those 'more, more, more' cravings again and it is too easy to go overboard. These cravings are not overly intense. I still have the ability to cut it off if I have a mind to do so. I'm not always in that mindset, though. If I choose not to fight this desire for more, I will overeat that day. String days like that together and the gain is on.

I still eat PB on dark chocolate every once in a while. I probably shouldn't. Maintenance over the past year has included some undesired weight creep. I'm finding that maintenance is easier when I get satiety from what I eat. I get that with good, 'real food', low carb eating. I have a short list of gray area OP foods that don't fit that bill. I know what they are and more than likely this list is specific to me and my situation. If I want to be a successful maintainer, then I need to stay alert to the foods that cause me problems and change my diet accordantly.

So what does maintenance "feel" like? Work. As I've said before, maintenance is a job - not a picnic. Successful maintenance requires continued diligence, dedication and work. There is no coasting in maintenance. Living in a true maintenance mode is less work than bouncing back and forth between low carb "dieting" and what I used to consider "normal" eating. Getting back on track after getting fully derailed from low carb is very hard to do. Staying in the low carb zone consistently makes the job of maintenance tolerable. I'd prefer using terms like 'easy', 'automatic', or 'a piece of cake.' But that is not what maintenance is for me. It is, however, a job worth doing. I like being small again. I want to stay here.
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