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  #46   ^
Old Fri, May-29-09, 17:50
camaromom's Avatar
camaromom camaromom is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 5,280
 
Plan: Atkins/lowering cals
Stats: 187/143.6/135 Female 64
BF:35.2/ 20%/20%
Progress: 83%
Location: Lafayette, IN
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Enomarb
hi-
I've thought about this issue of social pressure, and I have to be honest. The worst social pressure is from ME. There are times I just want to be NORMAL- why can't I have the (fill in the blank)- why can't I be like other people. Sometimes I even want to prove I am normal- to myself or others. THis of course involves eating something.
What I have to do in these situations is talk to myself and just remind me that I am not normal- I cannot eat the SAD- it will make me sick. I remind myself how much healthier and happier I am eating LC- and that this is just the way it is and that I just can't go "there" anymore. Being prepared for these situations helps too- as they are predictable. Parties and restaurants are the worst- parties being number 1.
I find that making decisions before I go into those situations seems to help.
Like the post on being bored with the food choices, sometimes I think I am bored/tired/frustrated with just being me and being in my body. But them I remind myself how much much much better my body is since LC- and it does help me just move on.


I thought it was only me who had these Woe is Me moments! I think why can't I just eat______? But then I realize that I'm broken and that by eating this way I'm happy and healthy and there is no need for me to eat ________.

The other thing is that I look around at the office staff where I work. Believe it or not, but I'm the smallest person in the office. I often times get harrassed about not eating bread, chips, candy etc. I've pretty much put it down to jealousy and I try to ignore it, but there are a few people who almost make it personal. The thing is all of those ladies eat out every single day for lunch. Believe me they do not order small menu items either.
Barb
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  #47   ^
Old Sat, May-30-09, 21:29
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by camaromom
I thought it was only me who had these Woe is Me moments! I think why can't I just eat______? But then I realize that I'm broken and that by eating this way I'm happy and healthy and there is no need for me to eat ________.

The other thing is that I look around at the office staff where I work. Believe it or not, but I'm the smallest person in the office. I often times get harrassed about not eating bread, chips, candy etc. I've pretty much put it down to jealousy and I try to ignore it, but there are a few people who almost make it personal. The thing is all of those ladies eat out every single day for lunch. Believe me they do not order small menu items either.
Barb

I have decided that I won't think of myself as "broken", as you put it Barb. There are people who can eat all the processed grain and sugar that they want and not have a weight issue...I've got a friend like that. I see it as her genetic makeup is diffferent than mine..not that I'm broken.

Being harrassed be catty women who don't get it?....ugh...I'm sorry that they are so nasty to you and not supportive. Its not like you are preaching to them to not eat all that crap!! But on some level, they know that they shouldn't be eating it either and by you not eating it with them, points this out to them.....too bad for them!
Peer pressure, especially around women, can be very difficult to deal with.
They'll get sick when they get older and you'll be a healthy woman.
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  #48   ^
Old Sun, May-31-09, 22:47
SidC's Avatar
SidC SidC is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,960
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 160/103/115 Female 62 inches
BF:
Progress: 127%
Location: Edmonton, AB Canada
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Demi, great post on "Keys to Success." Learning how to say no. To others, to ourselves.

I still miss pizza. And samosas, and naan, and crusty french bread. That's where I say no to myself, and I do allow the occasional indulgence with tempura and the tiniest piece of naan with an Indian dinner. I miss not being "normal," too. I have a business lunch coming up this week, and I'll have to haul my own food, as usual, because it will be sandwiches and juice. You have to get over the "Why can't I just show up and eat like everyone else?" You can't. Just like a diabetic cannot casually have chocolate cake on their birthday. There you have it.

What I don't miss is being fat and all the problems that go along with that: poor self-image, difficulty doing things I love like hiking and skiing, knee and back problems, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and potential cardio problems, to name a few.

I'm still thinking about whether I regard myself as "broken." I am hypothyroid, so I know that my immune system is screwed up. And I don't seem to handle carbs (sugar, in particular) the way others do. I guess I do think I have a problem. But LC eating has been a good way to address it.
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  #49   ^
Old Tue, Jun-02-09, 06:24
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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From Refuse to Regain:

1 June, 2009

Quote:
Don’t Get Me Started

By Barbara Berkeley


For the past week or so, I’ve been reading David Kessler’s book called "The End of Overeating." Kessler is a doctor and the former director of the FDA. By his written admission, he is also a person who has had his own problems with food.

Most of the book exposes the endless effort and expense that industry devotes to creating food products that can’t be resisted. The brazen nature of this effort is pretty shocking, even to me. Kessler interviews a number of industry consultants who describe completely purposeful efforts to create “hyper-palatable” foods that will be addictive and irresistible. Doing this takes a whole lot of time, consultants, focus groups and so on. But success is worth it. Create a tastier, crunchier, fattier, sweeter food and it will be a money maker. The author himself can’t resist ordering some of these foods (just for scientific purposes of course) and describing their consumption with an almost lascivious attention to detail. There are points where this book approaches soft porn for food addicts.

The last couple of chapters of the book detail ways in which overeaters can brainwash themselves into food avoidance. After the stunning descriptions of engineered foods and their extremely attractive and addictive nature, these familiar techniques seem pretty weak. What power can our poor attempts at thought-control have over zillions of dollars spent to defeat us? Kessler advises that we plan all meals, that we limit portion sizes, eat foods that occur in nature, avoid sugars and starches, eat foods we like, mentally rehearse food situations, understand our food triggers, limit our exposure to food, disable cravings by “thought stopping” (I love this one! Have you ever figured out how to stop your thoughts???), and exercise. All of this is pretty standard stuff. Not one of us would disagree with any of it.

But what is missing from Dr. Kessler’s book is any significant outrage. Why is it that we consumers are the ones who wind up bearing the burden of control? A small section toward the end of the book suggests that “we” must learn to redefine food and the people who make it. If we change the way we look at bad foods, Kessler suggests, and start to look at them as we now look at tobacco, society can change. The problem with the comparison of food and cigarettes is that the tobacco industry has always been a miniscule force when compared to the behemoth food industry.

An article in one of this month’s medical journals echoed similar themes to those laid out in Kessler’s book. “Recently,” it states, “there has been growing support for the idea that we can train our appetites to match our energy expenditure, overcoming physiologic and environmental urges to eat.” The article then goes on to poll various obesity experts and asks, “Can human beings retrain their appetite? If so, how?”

Here are their answers:

Expert 1: We eat too much because food is pleasurable. To make something like broccoli pleasurable “you’re going to want to have broccoli in a pleasurable experience---maybe raw broccoli as you watch your favorite TV program, or when you are having dinner parties. You make small changes that, in time, can condition your appetite.”

Comment: Somehow, I don’t think that eating broccoli while watching American Idol will do much to armor someone against an entire world of hyperstimulating food.

Expert 2: “How do we prevent people from going to food? It’s quite simple: If people have no access to food, then that will retrain their appetite. But, of course, that’s not realistic. So, people have to find ways to get themselves away from food. One option is just to go to bed, if you can fall asleep. However, the best way….is to do exercise. Very strenuous exercise like jogging or running significantly cuts your appetite. I suggest that people introduce exercise at the time in their day that they think they are going to be hungry.”

Comment: Go to bed? At 11 am??? Exercise, yes. But contrary to what this expert says, exercise makes many people hungry. And how many times a day can you exercise? This solution presupposes that you’re only hungry once daily.

Expert 3: “Understand the difference between appetite and hunger. Appetite is primarily psychological; hunger, physical….Appetite can be retrained by recognizing the difference between appetite and true hunger and learning to manage our emotions in more healthful ways.”

Comment: This line of reasoning has always been completely lost on me. Hunger occurs when signals deploy in your brain which convey powerful messages to gut peptides and a variety of hormones. Your mouth waters, you get ready to eat. You feel hungry. Whether this chain is set off by food deprivation (you’re really, truly hungry) or a steaming bowl of pasta on TV (hunger stimulated by sight) it’s still hunger. For me, there is no true or false.

All of these suggestions, all of these tricks, tips and machinations are in the service of giving us strategies to battle a food giant run amok. Worse, they suggest that our own weaknesses are to blame for the problem. I am completely bewildered by the fact that the responsibility of the food industry continues to be ignored. Its role in creating our current environment is so huge, so all-encompassing, that its invisibility in this discussion is almost incomprehensible.

Articles and books (including mine) suggest myriad ways for you to do the hard work of kicking food. Clean all the food out of your house. Stay out of contact with food. Change your thoughts. Get hypnotized. Exercise until your knee cartilage falls to shreds. Get therapy. Change your stress level. Become a better person. Buy a journal and write, write, write. Record every shred of every morsel that passes your lips.

I’m not suggesting that these are bad strategies, but we need them mainly because those who produce our food have not asked to be responsible for its effects. Until society gets mad about that, nothing will change. Very few individuals (you being the exceptions, dear readers) are strong enough to oppose the mass behaviors of an entire culture.

Perhaps our little community is far more important than we believed. Like a snowball picking up size as it rolls, our tiny individual voices have the potential to become big and booming. Once we get the volume, I hope we can direct it outward. Time to stop yelling at ourselves and bemoaning our weaknesses. Time to fix our sights on those who are drowning us, our children and our nations’ health in a salty, fatty, sweet sea of food.

http://refusetoregain.com/my_weblog...me-started.html
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  #50   ^
Old Tue, Jun-02-09, 08:24
Zuleikaa Zuleikaa is offline
Finding the Pieces
Posts: 17,049
 
Plan: Mishmash
Stats: 365/308.0/185 Female 66
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Maryland, US
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Thanks for posting that, Demi.

I must say that I, too, found his book very disappointing.

I was looking for solutions...I felt he really didn't offer any.

The book was fascinating reading up until you looked for a solution.

I think the title was misleading...and offered false hope.
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  #51   ^
Old Tue, Jun-02-09, 09:44
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbara Berkely
All of these suggestions, all of these tricks, tips and machinations are in the service of giving us strategies to battle a food giant run amok. Worse, they suggest that our own weaknesses are to blame for the problem. I am completely bewildered by the fact that the responsibility of the food industry continues to be ignored. Its role in creating our current environment is so huge, so all-encompassing, that its invisibility in this discussion is almost incomprehensible.

I agree!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbara Berkely
Articles and books (including mine) suggest myriad ways for you to do the hard work of kicking food. Clean all the food out of your house. Stay out of contact with food. Change your thoughts. Get hypnotized. Exercise until your knee cartilage falls to shreds. Get therapy. Change your stress level. Become a better person. Buy a journal and write, write, write. Record every shred of every morsel that passes your lips.

I’m not suggesting that these are bad strategies, but we need them mainly because those who produce our food have not asked to be responsible for its effects. Until society gets mad about that, nothing will change. Very few individuals (you being the exceptions, dear readers) are strong enough to oppose the mass behaviors of an entire culture.

Sad, but true also. I think for me it was coming out of my fog about my own issues, was what helped me to stop my previously bad behaviors around food.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbara Berkley
Perhaps our little community is far more important than we believed. Like a snowball picking up size as it rolls, our tiny individual voices have the potential to become big and booming. Once we get the volume, I hope we can direct it outward. Time to stop yelling at ourselves and bemoaning our weaknesses. Time to fix our sights on those who are drowning us, our children and our nations’ health in a salty, fatty, sweet sea of food.

Yes...I think that as the successful maintenance community grows, as it is growing lately...I too see our voices as becoming "big and booming"...and right now I can only hope that we can have an impact on other's struggles.

WhileI haven't read the book itself, the concept of it draws me in. Yes, I can see how salt, fat and sugar, can drive me to overeat. I have experienced this when I cooked a soup that ended up being too salty as I smacked my lips together and found myself going for seconds.
My first spoken words were "mo' mo' ceem cheeze...peeez!" I was 2 yrs old!!

I am a huge proponent of managing our internal dialog. Our chatter can and does push us to make choices that our rational minds would not make. I do think that learning to separate the chatter from our true intentions is a skill set that can be learned. To think that we have no control over our minds, is to give into the mindless chatter... I will not do that to myself any longer as my chatter can be very negative and destructive.
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  #52   ^
Old Tue, Jun-02-09, 13:42
deirdra's Avatar
deirdra deirdra is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,324
 
Plan: vLC/GF,CF,SF
Stats: 197/136/150 Female 66 inches
BF:
Progress: 130%
Location: Alberta
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Kessler probably didn't express outrage because he was at the helm of the FDA when many of these foods were introduced. I believe Froot Loops got the Healthy Heart seal of approval at that time.
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  #53   ^
Old Fri, Jun-12-09, 02:21
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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From Refuse to Regain:

11 June, 2009


Quote:
Maintainers: The Wellness Experts

By Barbara Berkeley


There has been a lot of talk about prevention and wellness lately, but where do we go for information on how to be the healthiest we can be?

This morning I was surfing the Internet for maintenance insights as I often do. I love reading what you guys write. The insights, the inspiration, the fire-in-the-belly that drives you to succeed day after day; it’s just great. On one site I was looking at pictures of formerly heavy people in their running clothes. On another, I was reading about farmer’s markets and local produce. Still others were writing about their elimination of processed foods.

All of these maintenance sites pivoted around weight. Their creators had gotten on the Internet because they wanted to conquer obesity and saw an opportunity in public declaration. They remained staunchly focused on fat-avoidance. Yet, as I read on, I came to the realization that none of these bloggers was actually writing about weight. Perhaps without realizing it, each was writing about achieving perfect wellness. As it turns out, few Americans have done such a good job of focusing on health, nor have become as skilled at it, as weight maintainers.

I believe that significant excess poundage is a visible manifestation of something gone wrong in the body. Our bodies know what to do with extra calories, just as they know what to do with extra potassium (release it via kidneys), extra heat (release it via sweat) and extra carbon dioxide (release it via rapid breathing). Unlike fat, other metabolic malfunctions sneak up on us silently and destroy us quietly from the inside. High blood pressure can’t be felt, but it weakens and beats up our arteries. High blood sugar is physically quiet, yet it acts as a caustic irritant to the parts of us that are vascular…our kidneys, retinas and heart arteries. Elevated cholesterol and triglycerides don’t feel like much, but cause potentially fatal damage through clogs, heart attacks and strokes.

When people who suffer from these “silent” metabolic problems are given medication, they tend to have a false sense of security. The underlying problem hasn’t been fixed, it has simply been controlled by a chemical manipulation. There is a big difference between having blood pressure that reads normal because it is treated and blood pressure that is normal all on its own. But medication tends to lull us into the belief that all is well, even that the problem no longer exists. I can’t tell you how frequently I have had a new patient say that he has no medical problems whatsoever. Then, when I go through a detailed history, the same person tells me he is taking three medications. “But you said you didn’t have high blood pressure, cholesterol or sugar,” I say. “I don’t have them,” is the answer.” The medicine takes care of all that.” Well, sort of.

In an odd way, we are lucky that fat is not silent. In fact, it shouts at us every day in a most annoying and unsightly way. We can’t ignore it or take a pill to make us believe it’s gone. Since large fat accumulations are one of the manifestations of a web of metabolic disorder, the behaviors that control and vanquish fat turn out to be the same ones that create overall health. Maintainers, with their determined ferocity about preventing regain have discovered valuable secrets. They have learned how to be healthy by using the scale as a kind of thermometer that takes the temperature of their general well-being. When weight starts to rise, a return to cleaner eating, brisker physical activity, better relaxation, longer sleep, and increased mindfulness will lower not only pant size, but blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol as well.

I get the feeling that many of you have already crossed the line that divides those who are merely on a crusade against fat from those who recognize that they’ve entered a whole new world of healthfulness. This is the world I like roaming: fascinating in its opportunities, interesting to negotiate and fairly limitless. Once someone starts reframing the question, “How do I keep from regaining my weight?” to read “How to do I stay optimally healthy?” their chances of long-term success soar.

Recently, I have started to tell my patients that dieting is like “deflating the balloon.” The process of losing weight is actually quite a simple one. If we unplug ourselves from our external fuel source (the grocery store), we’ll be forced to use up our battery (our fat). The diet part of a permanent weight control journey has little, if anything, to do with what comes next. Again, this is because succeeding at maintenance involves figuring out the guidelines of general wellness; a bigger proposition than simply limiting calories.

For those of you readers who are still in the “deflation” stage, take heart in the knowledge that many successful maintainers precede you. All of them are gurus of healthy living. Their words of wisdom, techniques and vibrant health can lead you to a new place. Learn to be well and you will learn to be the right size for your body.

http://refusetoregain.com/my_weblog...ss-experts.html
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  #54   ^
Old Fri, Jun-12-09, 08:34
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
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I like that particular blog....sometimes their writings are weird to me, but this one is really good!!
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  #55   ^
Old Mon, Jun-15-09, 21:55
SidC's Avatar
SidC SidC is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,960
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 160/103/115 Female 62 inches
BF:
Progress: 127%
Location: Edmonton, AB Canada
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Quote:
Maintainers, with their determined ferocity about preventing regain have discovered valuable secrets. They have learned how to be healthy by using the scale as a kind of thermometer that takes the temperature of their general well-being. When weight starts to rise, a return to cleaner eating, brisker physical activity, better relaxation, longer sleep, and increased mindfulness will lower not only pant size, but blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol as well.
This is true, and it's the reason I've stuck with the weekly weigh-in. It tells me both when I can indulge a bit and when I need to be a bit more vigilant. And being more vigilant has meant not skipping exercise as well as taking more care with what I eat.

Because most of the medical establishment is so leery of Atkins, it also caused me to look closely at the nutrition value of my diet. I track that for a month once a year every year on Fitday and adjust accordingly.

I love the phrase "determined ferocity." That's true, too. I don't care anymore if my diet bothers people, or if I have to send the server back to the chef to find out if they put sugar or flour into a dish. Tough. My body, my rules.
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  #56   ^
Old Mon, Jul-06-09, 06:52
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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From Refuse to Regain:


Quote:
July 05, 2009

Bikinis and Maintenance and I Will Never Look Like That

By Lynn Haraldson-Bering

I’d like to welcome the newest resident in Maintenance World: my friend Shari!

I met Shari in 2006 at my former gym, and at first I knew her only as the brunette who monopolized my favorite elliptical. She knew me as the blond who monopolized her favorite elliptical. We were destined to be best friends.

Shari is who I blame and thank (depending on the day) for telling me the Oprah show was looking for weight-loss success stories – people who’d lost in excess of 100 pounds through diet and exercise. I wrote a letter to the show, forgot about it, and then six months later, we were on a plane to Chicago. No way was I doing that scary bit of TV without her.

Shari became a lifetime member of Weight Watchers at her meeting last week after losing weight for the final time. Shari’s been up and down the scale (sound familiar?) many times, but has embraced this time as her last time because…well…she “got” it. You all know what I mean.

Here’s what Shari had to say about the whole losing weight/maintenance thing:

Lynn: How much did you lose and how long did it take?

Shari: I started at 140.5 and weighed 113.5, as of this morning. I am 4'11" tall, so every pound shows. I have nowhere to hide extra weight.

My total loss so far is 27 pounds. I'd like to lose maybe 3-5 more. It has taken 22 weeks to get this far.

Lynn: What was “different” this time and how do you know this is your last time down the scale?

Shari: It feels different this time because I didn't give up the foods I love. I learned to eat them responsibly. I learned to control my portions. I lightened recipes by switching to whole grain and reduced fat versions of ingredients. But I didn't give up anything.

I've lost weight, only to regain it many times in the past. The difference is that none of those temporary successes was livable for me in the long term. I accomplished my previous losses by eating too few calories with too little variety to be sustainable. My stints of being super strict about what I was allowing myself to eat were eventually followed by binge eating with reckless abandon. Likewise, in my super strict mode, I would exercise like a maniac for a period of time and then burn out.

I know this is my last trip down the scale because I have finally learned that I don't need to be an all or nothing girl. I really can eat whatever I want...in moderation, and I have found a sensible level of exercise that keeps me feeling healthy and fit without being overwhelming.

I'm nervous about maintenance only because I recognize it as my weak area. This time, however, I have better tools, I have a support system, and I have the knowledge necessary to eat responsibly. And you can bet there will be a bikini picture of me hanging on the fridge to motivate me through the winter!

Speaking of that bikini photo…here it is. When I asked her for an “after” photo and she sent this, she wrote, and I quote, “OMG, I can’t believe I’m doing this!”

I’m pretty sure the baby blue jay I photographed in our lilac bush last week was thinking the same thing: “What am I doing?” He sat there for at least an hour looking nervously at all the other birds and bees and wildlife as his parents brought him food. His fuzzy grey down was molting over his lovely blue feathers. I took this photo through my bathroom window, so it’s not the best shot ever, but hopefully you can see the “new” him emerging underneath.

None of us can really know why lies underneath as we shed pounds. I was thin a few times when I was younger, but I was just that: younger. My skin was younger, my muscles were younger, my breasts and thighs and tummy were younger. Then they were introduced to gravity and cellulite, and as I got bigger and smaller and bigger again, my body got confused, and the things that bounced back before didn’t this time, and so I am who I am…nowhere near bikini presentable, but still presentable.

This is why Shari’s photo is so powerful to me. We’re both at goal, but we look so different. Shari has the body type I will never have without years of surgery, if that’s even possible. I’d love a few curves, but I’m not built that way. That’s a fact I can accept and move on from. It’s the excess skin thing that still bothers me, like a gnat flying around my head. Years of such extreme weights has caused me to have such sad, flappy skin. But before you think this is a “poor me” post, it’s not. I just sometimes need to mourn the loss of elasticity that could have been mine if I’d taken better care of myself in the past. I just wish there was a way to get that message across to young women today. Alas, so many more people are obese now than ever.

I smiled when I got Shari’s reaction when I told her my perspective: “About the body type thing,” she wrote, “I would love to have long legs like yours, so I guess we're even. I will never have them. Could never have them. Surgery does not exist that would make it possible.”

This leads me to ask you: Is anyone reading this truly and completely satisfied with their body type? I am once I talk my way through it, but it sometimes takes a lot of talking over the course of a lot of days. While I’m much more comfortable with my body than I was when I first got to goal two years ago, and especially more than I ever was when I was overweight – not because I was overweight, but because I over-analyzed every one of my faults, including the physical ones – I still compare and contrast myself with other women.

So tell me. Do you do this? Not do this? Also, do you have maintenance advice for our newest resident? If there’s one thing I’ve learned writing this blog for more than a year is that we have a lot more in common than not, so as always, I look forward to your responses.

http://refusetoregain.com/my_weblog...-like-that.html
Click on the blog article link to be able to see the photos she refers to.


Quote:
Shari’s been up and down the scale (sound familiar?) many times, but has embraced this time as her last time because…well…she “got” it. You all know what I mean.
This sounded very familiar to me, and yes, I know exactly what she means, because I think that I have 'FINALLY GOT IT' too!
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  #57   ^
Old Mon, Jul-13-09, 08:57
Judynyc's Avatar
Judynyc Judynyc is offline
Attitude is a Choice
Posts: 30,111
 
Plan: No sugar, flour, wheat
Stats: 228.4/209.0/170 Female 5'6"
BF:stl/too/mch
Progress: 33%
Location: NYC
Default Somebody Call Maintenance!

SOMEBODY CALL MAINTENANCE!
Quote:
Recently I got an email from Tamara, who has lost fifty pounds in the past year and reached her goal weight. Yaaay, Tamara! She writes:

"Now that I've gotten to my goal (although I still don't like the way my body looks!) I'm having such trouble with my eating. Without the motivation of seeing the numbers go down on the scale I feel like my calories keep creeping up and up. Do you have any thoughts on how to approach maintenance mentally? I'm so scared of regaining all this weight!"

Boy, I can identify with that fear. When you engage in longterm major weight loss, in order for it to be successful, you really must change your lifestyle and your relationship to food. You must change them forever. And while there are programs and books and schemes galore to help you do this, very few of them really prepare you for or guide you through maintenance.

Let's examine that word, maintenance. When we're speaking of weight loss, we use that word to mean keeping the weight off. But we should also think of maintenance as keeping up with the new, good habits we've established, the ones that allowed us to lose in the first place. If we do not maintain those habits, we will not maintain the weight loss.

And that is why, IMHO, it's critical to success that we have habits that are sustainable for us, personally. I know that I will never, ever stick with counting calories. I simply will not do it. I will not confess my gastronomic sins in a food journal to keep myself "accountable" for what I eat. I will never, ever give up gelato. However, I will continue to educate myself about nutrition and portion size so I can judge the right amount of food to go on my plate; I will continue to keep a food plan outlining what I intend to eat on any given day; and I will refrain from eating gelato for breakfast every single day (I will, I will, I will). I have spent time to figure out what I am willing to do in order to lose weight and keep it off, and I will do these things for the rest of my life because that, and nothing less, is what it takes.

I am fairly close to my own self-imposed goal weight --- so close, and yet so far. The last pounds are really a struggle, as any longterm dieter knows. In fact, I am currently hopeful that I am easing off a plateau of some months and into the final phases of weight loss; and to that end, I have been trying to mentally prepare myself for maintenance. I suspect that one of the reasons for the plateau was maintenance eating rather than weight loss eating. If you're going up and down the same five or so pounds over and over again, that isn't yo-yoing --- that's normal. You're maintaining. Don't sweat it.

What I've discovered, though, is that maintenance does not mean total relaxation. You're not off the hook. Weight management is the journey that never ends; there is no final destination, it's all about the trip. Sure, you can probably eat a little more than you did when you were battling the scale down. You can have a few more indulgences, but you must eat properly on a day-to-day basis. I think a good rule of thumb is to keep temptations out of the house, but allow yourself a small daily treat. Mine is dark chocolate. If I had cookies or ice cream in the house, I would eat it until it was gone; but for some reason I can hang on to bars of really high quality dark chocolate and make them last. So, after lunch and sometimes even after dinner, I have a square or two. If we go out or I have a bigger meal, I skip the treat.

It helps me to have a sort of food routine, to plan meals a few days in advance and shop just for what I'm going to cook (saves money, too). When I am at home, I know approximately when we are going to eat each day. When I travel, I carry protein bars and sometimes fruit or homemade trail mix so I don't get stuck eating crap. And if I have a protein bar for lunch, that IS my lunch --- no "making up for it" later. It's been a long journey, but I'm okay with that now. Heck, I am secretly proud of it. Look at me, I am now the sort of girl who can have a protein bar for lunch and IT'S OKAY. I don't have to gorge myself on pasta later to prove to myself that I'm not going to starve to death! Yep, it's a badge of honor.

Another thing that is helping me is ... and this sounds really self-centered, but let's face it, the weight loss is highly personal and extremely self-centered; it's self-care, after all ... constantly finding things to crow over. Dr. Beck would call it giving yourself credit. It's usually little things, like noting that I no longer need to wear bike shorts under my skirts in the summer to prevent tub rub, not having to ask for a seatbelt extension on the airplane, being able to walk into any store (well, except for those fancy-schmancy boutiques where an 8 is considered plus size) and find something that fits. I make it a point to notice and enjoy that brisk walks up hills while carrying bags of groceries do not deter me; I like how strong my legs feel and imagine ze toning of ze butt as I march on up. I get all excited when my husband refers to any part of me as tiny (yeah, it's gonna be a while before I let that one go. Sorry. Deal). And when all else fails, I remind myself of what the skinny people do.

I've also come to several conclusions, based on what's working for me and what isn't. I've realized that allowing myself to go completely off-program simply isn't worth it. I may enjoy the taste of the food at the time, but if I eat too much, I quickly become uncomfortable, and the fallout is unpleasant, too. I prefer to have a small indulgence and remind myself that it's just food, there will be more, I can have some another time.

Also, I've realized that I really must weigh every day and keep my weight loss graph. It's too easy to slip into fooling myself if I don't.

A recent big struggle is exercise --- it's so hot, and I have so much work to do, that it's very hard to make the time to get out of the house. But I must, simply must. When I do actually reach maintenance, I will probably be able to do a little less; but right now, I am still trying to lose, so I have to keep the heat on, so to speak. I look forward to the day I can work with my trainer again. I really miss our sessions, which were fun and motivating; but somehow I can't seem to make myself do strength training on my own. I can, however, do cardio. So I do that, every single day.

I am not maintaining yet, but these are the things that I think will work. Tamara, you said you have a hard time finding motivation without seeing the scale go down. But you don't need the scale to go down any more --- now you need to replace that positive motivation with a different kind. And I don't mean fear of the scale going back up. I suggest you try weighing once a week, not every day, to avoid becoming obsessed (or, if it's less intimidating, DO weigh every day, so you can see whether you need to ease up on a particular day). But work on finding lots of little reminders of why you chose to lose weight and how good it feels. Notice the differences in your body. Notice how movement is easier, how clothes fit better, how you fit into places where you didn't before. Enjoy that. Try to find 10 things a day that are better for you than when you had that extra fifty pounds.

Also, you mentioned that you're not happy with your body yet. I started strength training because I did not want to be a "skinny fat person" --- someone who didn't weigh that much but was flabby. And I already have fitness goals beyond weight loss. I want to be able to do P90X one day. I want to work on sculpting my body and making it as good as it can be without surgery (which I can't afford, anyway). Eventually, I want to be a tough old lady who could kick your ass.

So, my second piece of advice to you is, find a fitness goal. It needn't be extreme --- but for example, you could train to run a marathon or hike a challenging trail at your local state park; or just tone up so your arms look great in sleeveless tops, or be able to do yoga. Find something that interests and challenges you, and apply the same determination you did to weight loss. It will keep you focused on health and fitness, and the maintenance will come more naturally.

Those of us who are inclined to overeating will always have to watch it. That part just isn't going to go away. Accepting that is a great comfort to me; because I know now that I can manage it. If I do get out of control (see past several months) I can recover lost ground. The work is never wasted. So get out there and figure out what motivates you, what helps you stay on track, what helps you stay accountable to yourself --- because ultimately, that is the only thing that will continue to work for you.


http://100lbs.typepad.com/the_next_...aintenance.html

I know that this isn't from the Refuse to Regain blog but felt it was worth posting here to read.
I see it happen here over and over again, and it does make me sad. Way too many get close to their goal and revert to little or no carbs to get the rest of their weight off I do not agree with this approach at all.....when that only sets them up for a series of yo-yo-ing.
I was re-reading the Supercharged SBD book as I sat in the sun yesterday. Dr Agatson does point out that the SB pan does not really want us to stay at phase I forever....the plan is designed so that we make an eating plan for life as we move closer to our goal weight by actually moving foreard to phase II and learn how and which carbs to add into our own unique plan. Its key to my long term success that I did follow his words....
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  #58   ^
Old Thu, Jul-23-09, 03:51
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
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Location: UK
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From Refuse to Regain:

Quote:
July 22, 2009

The Thin Doc’s Dilemma

By Barbara Berkeley

As a diet doc, it is my job to make people thin. It’s strange then that one of the most persistent obstacles I face in that task is being thin myself.

New patients will often sit through a 1-hour initial evaluation in seemingly rapt attention. We will discuss their ancient genetics, their struggling insulin systems, the importance of making changes that they can commit to permanently. Then, just as they get up from their chair and turn toward the door, they pause.

“But how can you understand any of this,” they say, “You’re thin.”

Of course I launch into a practiced and much-repeated speech. I am maintaining a 20-pound weight loss myself and would be vastly heavier if I had not reversed the process and put a permanent end to it. I live exactly the life and follow exactly the recommendations I make to my patients. In fact, you could even say I am the living lab for the program I preach.

Nevertheless, overweight people don’t trust thin people to “get” it. You may even find this to be true as a maintainer of larger amounts of weight, someone who was quite heavy for most of your life. Once you become thin, you seem to cross an invisible line. Like the rich, the thin are different.

In fact, there may be more of a parallel here than one might think. America is the land of opportunity and it is our fondest dream to accumulate wealth. But once we become wealthy in America, we’ve crossed a barrier. Politicians rail against “the rich” and talk about them as if they are some sort of enemy class.

Those who are still struggling to make it may see the rich as wasteful and uncaring. Achieving the success that we all crave leaves us open to envy and to a desire to tear us down. For people who are overweight, the thin tend to be viewed with similar suspicion.

My own weight and its stability prompts a lot of patient comments. “I’ll bet you never cheat.” “You really don’t have a problem with your weight do you?” “I can’t be like you.” I am a foreigner because I fall on the other side of the thin line.

But there is another facet to this issue. In this week’s NY Times, pediatrician Perri Klass writes about the dilemma she faces as an overweight doc. How does she help kids and their parents when she does not seem to have her own weight under control? She describes her discomfort in being asked by a family to deliver diet advice to their child, advice that she herself can’t follow.

Perhaps there is one positive in her situation: patients may be better able to identify with doctors who share their struggle. That said, it doesn’t instill confidence when the very person who is advising you is unable to follow the suggested guidelines. I have experienced this issue in my own practice. A number of years ago, I hired another doctor to share my workload. Although overweight, she was bright, kind, and seriously interested in working with our patients. Within a few weeks, our clients began to complain. They felt that they could not take this doctor’s advice; that she could not possibly help them. Ultimately, we had to let her go.

Awhile back, I wrote about the “pretzel phenomenon.” I had noticed that when I occasionally bought some pretzels while paying for my gas, the cashier always smiled and made conversation. This did not happen unless I was buying junk food. Being part of the overwhelming mass of America that eats mindlessly confers a certain feeling of guilty membership. When I bought the pretzels, I was a member. It’s not a club that I am part of most of the time, and when I experience one of those moments of welcome, I’m always struck by it.

Where does all of this leave us? Being thin puts us on the outside. Weight loss advice from thin people is suspect. The thin don’t understand and aren’t part of the club. On the other hand, overweight people can’t advise other overweight people because their answers can’t be trusted.

Clearly, in terms of giving weight loss support and guidance, it is maintainers who have the answers. But how to get the message across? I am left with the interesting thought that we need to de-stigmatize thinness. This is rather radical isn’t it? Who would think that the thin are stigmatized! We are always talking about taking the stigma out of being overweight. That’s a good idea. But there is a growing separation, a kind of weight-class warfare, between the fat and the lean. As successful maintainers, we see clearly what needs to be done to stay on the thin side of the line. We can be of enormous help to those who want to cross over. To do this, though, they have to be willing to abandon the club and enter an uncertain new fraternity. Hopefully, a greater emphasis on maintainers and on the joy of the lives they lead will make us less mysterious and more accessible. After all, it turns out that the thin are just like you and me.

http://refusetoregain.com/my_weblog...cs-dilemma.html



There is a thread in the Media forum here on Perri Klass's article from the NYTimes: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=399066

Last edited by Demi : Thu, Jul-23-09 at 03:58.
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  #59   ^
Old Thu, Jul-23-09, 17:00
Enomarb Enomarb is offline
MAINTAINING ON CALP
Posts: 4,838
 
Plan: CALP/CAHHP
Stats: 180/125/150 Female 65 in
BF:
Progress: 183%
Location: usa
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wow-
these last 2 posts are amazing.
Judy- I agree 100% with you- if the whole purpose of weight loss is to MAINTAIN than your eating plan has to be MAINTAINABLE.

I also relate to the last post- I am 6 years into this now, and there are people who have never met me pre-CALP. It is strange when they dismiss me as "skinny and could not understand." hummmm.
E
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  #60   ^
Old Sun, Jul-26-09, 03:11
Demi's Avatar
Demi Demi is offline
Posts: 26,664
 
Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160 Female 5'10"
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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From Refuse to Regain:

Quote:
July 25, 2009

The Problem with Eating Clean

Barbara Berkeley


Virtually all maintainers practice some form of “clean” eating. Whether they are Primarian, Vegetarian, Vegan, Mediterranean or just careful omnivores, POWs have found that they need to keep “modern” foods to a minimum and eat closer to their original human nutritional needs. Here’s the rub. The edible substances which pass for food these days are a far cry from the complex plant matter and healthful animal sources we once knew. Eating closer to the original human diet is easy in theory, but devilishly difficult in practice.

I haven’t had a chance to see the new documentary Food, Inc.”, but I’ve been reading its companion book for the past week. (Food, Inc.,” Karl Weber, Ed, Public Affairs Press) I recommend it. The book is essentially a series of essays, each one written by an expert who deals with food related issues. Most of Food, Inc. revolves around agribusiness and our modern methods of food production. Topics include discussions of the corporate forces behind our food, the production of organic foods, the problems created by turning corn into ethanol, the dangers of pesticides, the mistreatment of animals grown for slaughter and many others. There is also a hefty section on the effect of our American food production on world hunger.

Reading this book has given me another kind of food: food for thought. There are so many possible contributors to our modern disease and obesity epidemic. How do the hormones and antibiotics given to animals figure in? What about the growth hormones given to cows to increase milk production? And how’s this for a thought: We may think we are avoiding “fake” foods by passing up the processed stuff, but the food we grow is so uniform, has so little diversity and is grown under such unnatural conditions, that even our fresh food is pretty unrelated to what humans once ate.

Here are some interesting factoids from the book

• About 2/3 of all cattle raised for slaughter in the U.S. is injected with growth hormones. You might think that this practice has been proven safe, but the European Union would not agree. These hormones have been banned by the EU since the 1980s. In fact, the EU will not import any U.S. beef because of its hormonal content.

• Over 50% of large dairy cow herd farmers in the U.S. use recombinant bovine growth hormone to stimulate increased milk production. Safe? Not according to Canada, Australia, Japan and the European Union, all of whom have prohibited its use.

• Most of our food production has been concentrated in the hands of a few very large companies. Powerful lobbyists for these entities have prevented them from being regulated at adequate levels. To quote the book, “ … corporations subject to few external controls are experimenting with our food supply, using chemical additives, hormone treatments, pesticides and fertilizers, and mechanized production methods that represent a revolutionary break with almost 10,000 years of agricultural history.”

• According to the FDA, half of our produce tests positive for some measurable level of pesticides.

In addition, most of our crops are grown in soil that is fertilized with man-made chemicals instead of through a natural process of soil enrichment. Our animal foods come mostly from huge feedlots or poultry operations or fish farms. None of these animals is eating what it would naturally consume and all are raised in highly stressful environments which undoubtedly change the nature of the hormones they produce. An enormous proportion of our fields are devoted to growing corn and soy and the fruits and vegetables which we do grow tend to represent the same varieties over and over. The average produce in your grocery store travels about 1500 miles to get there. Apart from the enormous energy usage this entails, the produce passes through the hands of multiple shippers—each of whom treats the product differently.

Recently, our hospital system decided to sponsor a local farmer’s market on its grounds. While I have been involved in developing this idea, my thoughts about it have mostly revolved around the benefit to local growers. “Food Inc.” has made me think a lot harder about the benefits of eating a wider variety of foods grown in a sustainable way. I also like the idea of being able to talk with the farmers and see exactly how and under what conditions their food is grown. Local produce markets (which also sell animal products like grass-fed beef) are one excellent way of taking back the power over what you consume. The book contains an excellent section called “Questions for a Farmer.” Additional info on this topic can be found at www.sustainabletable.org.

Don and I have also expanded our own vegetable garden this year. There is nary a pesticide in sight, even though the leaves of some of the plants might be a little moth eaten. I am also working on promoting a community garden on our hospital property so that those who want to grow-their-own but lack space can participate.

“Food Inc.” contains a number of useful addresses for getting more information and/or becoming more involved in the movement to improve your food. [www.foodandwaterwatch.org will link you to a nonprofit organization dedicated to clean water and safe food. [www.localharvest.org gives you access to information on small farms and farmer’s markets in your area. www.organicconsumers.org is the website of the Organic Consumer’s Association, an organization that represents those who buy organic foods and support sustainable farming.

It all comes down to what Food and Water Watch calls “Food Sovereignty.” There is no doubt in my mind that those of us who have remade our diets to include fewer calories, more whole foods and more healthful choices have another step to take. We can go the extra mile toward health for ourselves and our families if we give up the notion that all “healthy” foods are equal. Unfortunately, the difficult work or finding clean food must fall to each of us.
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