to those on maintenance

[tumbleweed]

Hello all! I would love to hear from some of you out there who have been on maintenance for awhile now. I am curious to hear about your struggles with keeping your weight down and how you keep it off. Loseing the weight is only half the battle and I know it is going to be hard to maintain my loss once I get there but I am determined. I got so much encouragement reading posts from Sylvia and hawaiiwhatnot and others when I first started coming to this forum, it was fun reading how they hit goal, it motivated me to get thru my first few days, and then into weeks of staying on plan. I would love to hear some long time sucess stories. That would help motivate myself and others. If I had a dollar for everytime I have heard.... your just going to gain it all back after you get off this fad diet your on..... that does not really bother me all that much it just makes me more motivated to see this thru and make it work.

[Nancy]

Hello Tumbleweed ~

There are interesting thought patterns that happen to all of us as we go thru the process of weight loss to weight management.

Before I began the weight loss phase using the soy-based protein shakes by Medifast, I read all about the weekly weight loss averages for men and women by the Johns Hopkins studies.

I was really impressed by them and also by the numbers of people who had successfully lost weight with Medifast products. I understood that it worked for others but worried about whether or not it would prove to be useful for me.

After the first week I knew it would work for me, I felt great and I was determined to see it through to the end.

As I got closer to goal – about 25 pounds away, I began to earnestly search for the answers for maintenance. I decided that I would gradually increase my caloric intake over a period of time because I wanted to chart my progress – to see what would work for my body.

In the past, I got into trouble weight-wise when I stopped weighing every day. Some of you do not need to weigh daily – just weekly, monthly or use a pair of jeans to be your gauge but I know me best and I need to weigh and write it down.

I also decided that I needed to be “planned out” for the day in advance – I needed to have it in my mind what I would eat and when I would eat. I came to the “duh” moment when I realized that no longer could I eat the way I used to eat before Medifast. I would incorporate eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day and I would be a drinker (water) all the days of my life.

About the time that I reached my goal weight, Take Shape for Life was born.

TSFL is the program. Dr. Andersen, the Medical Director for Medifast Diet and Take Shape for Life came up with his BE SLIM® philosophy – it provided a perfect guide for me plus I continue to use some Medifast every day – it is a fast and healthy way to get the nutrients I need, it is low cal/low fat (so I can eat something else during the day that is higher in calories!) and it makes me feel great – I don’t see very well without my glasses so I wear them and I don’t feel very well without my Medifast and so I eat it!

I avoid processed foods as much as possible, don’t eat a lot of sugar, and eat low fat most every day.

I am wildly human – I LOVE Marionberry pie ala mode, oatmeal cookies, caramels and truffles but I try to not eat them very often.

Usually Sunday is Pie Day for me.

I eat Lean n’ Green dinners nearly always.

Don’t eat popcorn (it used to be my favorite food drenched I butter – it would be a trigger food so it is totally off-limits for me.

I do not eat pizza – too cheesy & too fatty – if melted cheese has to be chipped off a cardboard disc and vigorously scraped using soapy hot running water to get it off of a dinner plate, it must be doin’ a real cholesterol-plaque job to my arteries and veins so no-thank-you-none-for-me.

I can eat about 1500 calories a day and not get fluffy.

Age, activity level, health issues, medications, etc. all contribute to a person’s caloric limits. You will have to gradually increase your caloric intake over a period of time to see how you do.

When a person has been on a weight loss program, especially if it is over a long period of time, it is important to gradually increase calories – you cannot go from eating lean and low around 800-1K calories to 2K or 3K in a short time or you will re-gain the weight you worked so hard to release.

Dr. Andersen’s weight management plan is an easy acronym: Be Slim.

B = Breakfast - Fully 1/3 of Americans don’t eat breakfast. Successful losers and weight managers eat within an hour of awakening to fire up their metabolism and get their brain and body functioning on good nutrition.

E = Exercise – exercise most every day.

S = Support - We are here to help you to lose weight, to reach an optimal weight and to manage your weight for a lifetime.

Engage your family, your friends and the MakeMeThinner Forum to hold you accountable. Check with your health care provider several times a year for weight and blood pressure monitoring. After I reached my goal weight, I went back at 3 month intervals for a while to see my doctor, then when I felt confident at 6 months and now annually.

L = Low fat, low calorie five-six meals a day.

According to the National Weight Loss Registry, the average American diet consists of approximately 38% fat, the average Asian diet is less than 10% fat.

Fat is important for proper growth and development for infants and children and beneficial when eaten in moderation for maintenance of good health but most folks over-do it BIG TIME. Both plant-derived and animal-derived food products contain fat and while unsaturated fats (mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats) eaten in moderation are beneficial, saturated and trans fats are not good for us.

Trans fats are present in ALL processed foods and saturated fats raise the LDL levels in the blood. Cholesterol contributes to heart disease – that’s not good, Folks!

In the two and a half years of weight maintenance that I have enjoyed, I’ve had French fries less than half a dozen times and they weren’t from Mickey D’s or Burglar King!

I = Individual Plan - During weight loss and transition, we learn how often to eat and how much to eat. Our portion controlled meals help us to maintain our weight and health because when we are unable to prepare and eat healthily, we have the convenience of eating an ever-ready Medifast meal.

I decide what I am gonna eat for the day BEFORE the day begins. Structure makes me feel safe.

M = Monitor your weight - Weight maintenance is easier than ever before IF you keep tabs on it. Monitor your weight whatever works best for you – daily, weekly or by periodically checking the fit of a body-hugging pair of jeans.

Transient weight fluctuations are NORMAL and when you eat processed foods EXPECT the scales to go up - they contain way too much sodium and not enough nutrients and antioxidants.

When things get snug, eat a few more Medifast products.

To maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime, we must make healthy food choices nearly every time we eat.

BE SLIM

You can use Medifast for a month or two to lose weight and go back to your former foody ways, pork out and bulge out again and go on and off diets all your life, messing with your metabolism to the point of becoming metabolism resistant or you can Take Shape for Life by following our program and using Medifast products as part of your new lifestyle!

You don’t HAVE to use Medifast all the time if you have the time or the inclination to figure out the calories/nutritional content of regular foods then plan the meals, shop for the foods, prepare and eat them.

I just like not having to think about it, I just grab a couple of packets and a bar and be off for the day of life, enjoyment and freedom from flabdom!

[tumbleweed]

Thank you Nancy! I think I will print out what you wrote and tape it inside my journal.

[Nancy]

You're welcome, Little darlin'

Others will chime in here later, I'm sure.

Keep accountable! When people go away they stray!

[fatBgone]

WOW - Thanks for the wealth of information. I know ALL of us are concerned with maintaining our new figures once we have reached our goals....all this makes good sense and sounds VERY do-able!!!

And, tumbleweed, what a good idea to print it for future reference!! I'll copy that one!

[LilMsTexas]

Thanks for making it a sticky Nancy. That way when I'm at goal I'll be able to jump right to it. Of course I cut/paste that into MSWord and have it on my hard drive now too This maintenance stuff is scary business. I hope Rae and Dean and everyone else on Maintenance will start chiming in again soon. I know Dean is out and about marrying off his lovely daughter and I sure do miss him around here. And Rae is incredibly busy these days too. I just hope in a while they will both chime back in and let us know how they are doing.

And all you oldie goldies out there who are maintaining and living the GOOD LIFE I hope you will stop just reading and will start posting. For all the people who are considering MF, it is the question about maintaining that stops alot of people. We need to provide the public with proof positive that this TRULY IS the LAST "DIET" they will EVER go on!! And I know myself that talking with Nancy and my HA Sue encourages me everyday, so the more people that convince me that it's possible the more I will convince the FOOD DEMONS in my head that I will be victorious over them

Thanks again Nancy......that was a great post and I'm looking forward to more from all the MF HEROES!

[Triskets]

Nancy - I had a "light bulb moment" with your comment of

"I decide what I am gonna eat for the day BEFORE the day begins. Structure makes me feel safe."

Well that was a big "DUH" for me! Why didn't I see that as one of my food problems before? I usually come home from work and throw together whatever is around and it usually included pasta.

I plan what I am going to wear to work the night before - I make sure it is clean and ready to go. Why not do the same thing with food?

Thanks Nancy - You're the best!

[Nancy]

Thanks, Trish - it is really important to plan ahead - whether a person is on the weight loss phase or the maintenance phase, planning is vital.

We took off about 9:30 this morning for church and we had a few stops to make before and afterwards so Terry took a bar and I took a RTD with me. I have a few extra RTDs in the car and a couple of bars as a rule but we ate them while we were CHRISTmas shopping the other day. It would have been too easy to succumb to the smell of Cinnabon wafting through the mall and the Food Court. We figure we not only saved calories but we also saved quite a few bucks.

This time of the year foodies are looking for excuses to scarf...if we are really serious about getting healthier and feeling better about ourselves, then we must set ourselves us for success - plan ahead - don't leave home without your Medifast. Good things come to those who delay tastebud gratification!