Staying the course....or learning how to maintain??

[SherriPie]

I am so thankful to Doug for many reasons, but today it's for this forum. There are so many of us that are now living the FTS lifestyle, have hit our goal and now are learning about maintaining. I was hoping we could learn from some of the masters like Katary and ShihtzuMom, and of course Doug and Umpa what their secrets for maintaining are. I am great at losing but this staying the same is difficult. I am learning, adding a few more carbs in and taking some out here.

Any suggestions guys? I have given myself 5 pounds to play with so I can lose and gain and not get upset. But when the scale goes up it freaks me out, even still!

[umpa]

I really never added anything back in.I love the way we eat.If my pants get tight I go back to under 20.But on most days I don't get over 30 carbs. You will stop losing weight sherripie when your body is ready.If you don't add excess sugars back in you won't gain.I will have doug answer this I don't think I did a very good job

[Doug Varrieur]

You did a fine job answering Umpa. Sheeripie, Umpa is right, just keep eating the way you eat and let your body find it's balance. Follow the baseline advice from above and recognize that when you gain you've crossed it.

Don't freak out, I promise you you'll NEVER be a fat chick again 

[Alex Cruz]

I think that I will be able to maintain just eating the same.. Im sure there will be a special occasion where I may stray just a little, but really stay on the same road that I am now...

Sherrie, I wish you the best and that you find your baseline.. Dont stress yourself out.. Maybe one thing that can help is keeping a journal and actually weighing in daily for a month just to see what triggers your scale to go up and down.. Im thinking for me anyways, this will show me the foods that I am most sensitive too...

[SherriPie]

My whole maintaining problem was still being in a "I need to lose" mindset. I had been doing that for so long it just took me a bit to allow myself to just maintain. I almost felt like I was failing not losing each day. It's just so weird not to be in that mode of "needing to lose" that I didn't know exactly how to go into the "need to stay the same". So now that I have come to terms with that, I feel much better. I am allowing myself not to lose each day and telling myself it's okay, I am choosing to be this size and losing and losing isn't a good thing.

The actual maintaining part is a breeze. It's like one of those days you eat a little too much and don't lose, but you do it everyday. I do have to say, I forget to eat at times but make it up at dinner or with a fun low carb dessert. All in all, it's working out great.

[mouseissue]

My whole maintaining problem was still being in a "I need to lose" mindset. I had been doing that for so long it just took me a bit to allow myself to just maintain. I almost felt like I was failing not losing each day. It's just so weird not to be in that mode of "needing to lose" that I didn't know exactly how to go into the "need to stay the same". So now that I have come to terms with that, I feel much better. I am allowing myself not to lose each day and telling myself it's okay, I am choosing to be this size and losing and losing isn't a good thing.

The actual maintaining part is a breeze. It's like one of those days you eat a little too much and don't lose, but you do it everyday. I do have to say, I forget to eat at times but make it up at dinner or with a fun low carb dessert. All in all, it's working out great.

Hi Sherri!

The "maintaining part" is how we will live the rest of our lives after we reach our goals.

I can fully understand how that mental paradigm shift can be tough to adjust to.
But keeping just a little of it will be helpful in staying skinny.

You are a real encouragement!
I am so looking forward to living as you are now!

[umpa]

You are doing a great job sherripie

[ShihTzuMom1]

By the looks of your pictures SherriPie you are doing wonderful with maintenance.  I basically do what Umpas does and eat up to 30 net carbs per day, but stay under 20 just as often.  I did learn the hard way that  you do have to keep track of your carbs.  I don't write them down but do keep a mental note now.  I tried eating low carb and not paying attention to how much I was consuming and my portions kept creeping up and so did the pounds.  I also started to eat an evening snack while watching TV and realized this is a bad idea also.

I stumbled and ate a praline dessert square (fully loaded with real sugar) when I was at work and didn't have the stomach issues that a lot of you have but it set off that craving switch that took me quite a while to shut off.  I just went back to basics for a while and sure enough those nagging craves went away.  

So everything is going smoothly now.  I have been maintaining my weight for about 9 months now.  I did give myself a 5 pound buffer so if you see that I have 5 pounds left to lose, I am bouncing around between there and my goal weight.  

I have my daughter's wedding coming up in June and it is so nice to know that my main focus isn't about losing weight before the wedding, I just have to find something fabulous to wear.

Attached photo was taken Sept. 24/11, 6 or 7 months of maintenance.

[shawn116]

Congrats ShihTzuMom1!!   You look fabulous!! 

[joagain]

Congrats ShihTzuMom1!!   If I could whistle I would you look like a teenager . It looks like Doug needs to be taking you on the show with him !!!!!

[umpa]

You look great!! Very Happy!!

[mouseissue]

Congratulations ShihTzuMom1!!

You loook mavelous dahling!... Simply mahvelous!

Isn't nice to know that if you mess up, just go back to the basics and your body will know what to do?

[suzlyn454]

Congrats ShihTzuMom1!!   What a great picture.  You definitely are another great example of the FTS lifestyle and you look great!

[SherriPie]

ShihTzuMom1 you rock. Maintaining is hard and you are doing an amazing job. You look fantastic too!