I'm new to maintaining and I've added in a few higher carb foods (sprouted bread, some extra fruit) and I feel totally obsessed with calories.
I'm terrified of gaining the weight back! And I mean terrified!

Will the fear go away? How was it for you?

So far my calorie intake has been lower than my physical output every day except one (TOM one free day).

Will the obsession decrease? I'm afraid if it does I'll gain it all back! I want to healthy! Does weight maintenance require obsession?

I think a healthy fear of regaining our lost weight is healthy. Obsession with it is not. But, if I remember correctly, you are pretty new to maintenance. I think a little obsession in the beginning of maintenance is normal, like starting a diet, it takes a little obsession sometimes to find our groove and change our habits and make permanent changes.

I'd say watch yourself. Try to let go of the fear a bit, realize you lost the weight, you can keep it off. You'll probably be fine.

Val

No, I don't think it requires a fearful obsession. If it did, we'd all burn out and gain our weight back because obsession is just too hard to sustain. I do think it requires mindfullness. Mindfullness doesn't have to include fear or obsession- it just means you are paying attention. I think maintenance also requires a trust in your plan. The same way of eating that helped you lose weigth is what is going to help you to maintain the loss. So, if you weren't calorie obsessed before, why become that now? (And I don't think you should ever be "calorie obsessed" anyway! )

Debbie

I don't think there's a simple solution to your problem if you're going to include sweet fruit and bread on a regular basis. For some people (like yours truly), those foods as once-in-a-while foods, not staples.

I'm not sure what plan you were on, but did you follow through on the advice for adding back certain foods gradually? Did you notice how your body reacted to different foods, in terms of cravings, etc? Are the basic foods from induction (or whichever plan you used) still the foundation of your eating, or have you fallen into the trap of choosing too much of the "maintenance food", since you're "allowed" now?

IMO, obsession and calorie counting in maintenance is a bit oxymoronic. That's more like permanantly dieting (how depressing!) The idea is supposed to be that by the time you're in maintenance, you should be able to choose sensible LC foods on the fly that satisfy you, and just use fitday here and there to spot check yourself.

For the record, I've been in maintenance for a few years, and even now, at least half of my meals would qualify as induction-friendly. I happen to have a pretty low carb tolerance.

You need to be alert but not obsessed. It's a fine line some days but you'll learn to recognize it. I know. Here's my sad tale...

I started Atkins Oct 2003 at 190lbs. By the following year I was down to 135-- my goal. That's when I started thinking that I'd really like some bread and to eat "normal" (whatever that really is -- that's another post altogether). Mentally, to do this, I decided I needed to count calories. Enter my obsessive phase. Fitday was my constant guide. Contrary to what worked to lose the weight, I bought every "lite", "light", "reduced" and "low" ____ insert ingredient here out there. It worked for sure. I didn't gain any weight back. In fact, I lost all the way down to 111#. That's when I had my annual appt and my NP was scared for me. (with good reason) Oh, did I mention that I also lift weights about 4x/week? I was pale/ashen, skinny, couldn't sit in the tub to shave my legs because my butt bones hurt me so badly, was constantly cold/freezing, crabby (you thought the first week of induction was a b*tch fest? try this!! ), hair fell out, if I wasn't on bcp I don't think AF would have been on the radar, well the list goes on. After the appt, I started eating more calories, but not necessarily more protein or fats --which my body sorely needed. I look back at pictures and couldn't believe I didn't see that refugee like person in the mirror.

So what happened? I started a hard/heavy lifting program to try to grow some muscle. My arm gave out during a bench press and I ended up dropping the 45# (plus plates that were sliding) onto my head. A literal wake up call (once the stars cleared!) This workout program forced me to eat more calorically dense foods. I've since gained about 15-20lbs (since spring) of mainly muscle. About two months ago I started realizing I was getting a little squishy too so I started my way back to low carb. For the past week I've been strict and happy!

I'm not hungry. I have strength in the gym. My head doesn't hurt from counting anything (although I do have a general idea of where I'm at each day but not to the gram). I look good. In fact, except for some muscley parts, everything I could wear at 111 fits me at 125-130. I've leaned up by getting stricter so I look good. It's amazing!

Here's my "plan" for life. The "green veggies" (you know the list) are basically unlimited (within reason of course, but they're pretty light on both cals and carbs). 2 fruits max a day and try to stick to the lower sugar end of the scale. Protein foods are pretty unlimited -- eat until full (sound familiar?) Don't fear the fats but don't have bacon at every meal either. As far as starchy carbs -- 1 meal a day with 2 servings max. This lets you have your bread if you want it or oatmeal for breakfast or whatever. This is pretty easy for me to live with. I do work out hard, but I'm also a 39 year old woman so hormones apply to me too.

Anyway, don't kill yourself (literally or figuratively) with the calorie thing. It's not worth it.

There just comes a point where you realize that eating "like everybody else" is going to get you lined up for meds at the pharmacy like everybody else. Just like weight loss finally working, finding your life balance will click for you.

Thank-you Valerie, Ddaniels, Kritstine and Mom2w!

I think my newness to maintenance is a little frightening still, but I'm eating well, adding in some new foods, getting lots of exercise and for now using Fitday obsessively. Maybe as I progress in my maintenance journey I'll feel comfortable letting that go.

I am down another pound (now only 5 lbs from my ultimate goal), so I think my maintenance eating is going ok.

Cheers and thanks for the support!
sandy

Hi-
glad you are maintaining. Instead of focusing on NOT gaining the weight back, how about learning what you need to do to stay healthy and maintain your loss. I know it sounds like splitting hairs, but it makes a difference for me. I know I have to stay OP and this is my WOL. I really believe that the only way I would gain the weight back is if I 'forgot' that I cannot eat the way I used to and went back to my high carb/very low fat diet. It is a slippery slope from eating the wrong foods to being off plan. There are lots of people on this forum who will tellyou that.Try and figure out how to stay true to you and your way of eating.
E

Cheers Eno!! I agree with you that I have to get my mind right to maintain. I don't think it's splittling hairs.

Like mom2w & others above, I basically figured out what works for me - how much else besides induction foods I can eat per day - and stick with that. If I am out of town the only things I limit are the extras; induction foods are still my staples. After a couple of months it became second nature to choose healthy amounts of foods that work for me without really thinking about it. I still record what I eat in DietPower (but don't really "control" it) and what is interesting is that when I enter what I've eaten after I've been out of town for a week, it falls within the range of what I eat when I am weighing & measuring foods and entering the data more frequently. I finally feel like a "normal" person who just eats what I need & like (but what I need and like now is not the same as when I was eating unhealthily).

Recently someone I had just met mistook me for one of those lucky skinny people who can eat anything without gaining weight - I had a huge steak with asparagus slathered in butter along with a huge salad with blue cheese dressing on the side. I ask for it on the side so I can see what is in it and how much there is. There was 1/4 cup of dressing, which I completely emptied onto my salad - that is what prompted the lucky skinny person comment (she was using lemon + a measly teaspoon of olive oil on her salad). She didn't notice that I skipped the bread. And of course I had cream in my coffee (not her ghastly skim milk) but was too full for desert. I can eat a ton of food, but it depends on what the food is. Another thing I notice is after a day of big meals like that, I naturally eat less the next day without thinking about it and my daily average for the week is eerily the same week after week (often within 10-50 calories). Yikes - this is how "normal" people's metabolisms work and mine hasn't been normal since junior high.

I was unsuccessful in the past and each time it was an obsession with keeping calories low and the same each day that led me to feel deprived & then crack and binge a couple of weeks into maintenance. I now realize that I am extremely sensitive to carbs and going back to carby foods won't work for me (although the occasional bite away from home is OK), so I make sure I always have plenty of LC foods I love around. And I now listen to and trust my body - if I'm still hungry, I eat and my body compensates by being less hungry later in the week. I never go to bed hungry.

I pretty much ignore calories. I still watch everything I eat. I try to limit starch amd bread (what got me into this mess in the first place) to once or twice a week. I eat a lot of true veggies, one green salad everyday without fail instead of potato or corn, eat plenty of dairy, etc. ...and I STILL don't eat cereal I guess I could eat...I just don't eat it.

I keep fit by walking to work. 4 mile round trip 5 days a week. And people still marvel that I have been thin for so long!! Duh! I'm not in to rocket science, but I know how to maintain my weight loss. I will never be fat again. That's a fact.

I think obsession is the result of fear.
Fear gradually turns into acceptance with time.

When we accept that we always have to watch weight, we aren't afraid of the "day we wake up 400 pounds" as if it happened like that. Because, we then logically understand every day is about living right and what we weigh is the result of the sum of those previous days.

In the begining fear is natural because during the weight rehabilitative stages we aren't really focusing on eating normally. So it's like, you wake up in a new body and you are terrified of losing it... but you don't know how you got it (I mean you do know, but it's not SECOND NATURE).
When you just accept things are how they are you can relax and then the obsession will decrease a little.

I went through a loooot of obsession, and I still am a little obsessed, but mostly now I've just accepted it is what it is. There will be days like today where I eat 2200 cals of turkey and then there will be days where I easily don't. I might not be 115 pounds in a year... I might be, say, 125... and in a few years, I might be even 150.

But whether or not I let myself lose control totally and become extremely obese is a CHOICE. It is a choice to stay healthy, and to prioritize self care. I mean, the little details - 5, 10, 20, 30 pounds - nuances of metabolism... not really in my control.

But the difference between unhealthy weight and healthy weight is something we all can control. No body wants to be obese; obese bodies happen when we feed ourselves crap.

Just always remember you have a choice in what you put in your body, as long as you don't put in crap, you won't ever be an unhealthy szie again.

Just re-reading everyone's responses.
I needed that.
Thanks for the input guys and gals.

Hi,
I am pretty new to maintenance and I find that I am really scared to walk in this foreign land It is much harder that I thought it would be but I think too that with time and persistence things will be okay and it will just be another accomplishment under my belt. I guess it is such a scary place to be because you certainly don't want to end up where you were. Which I guess should be all the more motivating but I am finding right now that I want sweet treats so badly. There were a few days where I thought I wouldn't make it through but I had to keep telling myself that this struggle IS worth it and I will benefit from it.

It's nice to meet you all. I look forward to maintenance land.

Hi Redrose and welcome!

Maintenance is much different and comes with it's own set of challenges. We just take things one day at a time, just as we did when we were in weight-loss mode.

Congrats on meeting your goal!!

Thank you leslie!

I WILL look forward to maintenance and stop being such a scaredy cat gotta try new things at some point, right?