My questions about maintaing...with my own answers :D - MiniMins.com

KD · 28th February, 2007

Thought I write down some things that come into my mind when I read maintaining diaries. Most of these questions have been things that have gone through my brain over time. Others are things I’ve read between the lines in diaries.
It’s not easy is it?

Nope. Okay, there are easy times, times when you think you can do this forever but there are times when it all seems overwhelming. There are also times when you couldn’t care less and just want to eat….lots!

I should be able to relax now?

No! Definitely not. Well, not for me anyway. That doesn’t mean you have to 100%, just that there is a price to be paid for everything. Being at goal doesn’t mean that you now have a passport for keeping your new weight. Relax, by all means, but you have to sort it out sooner rather than later.

I don’t want to diet again!

No…nor do I. Cutting down a little for a few days isn’t really dieting though. It’s what people do naturally. For us, it has to be a conscious effort, so it may feel like a diet. It’s not though, it’s just behaving normally.

Calorie counting is a diet!

No. I calorie count (not so much now…as I pretty much know what I’m doing). I calorie counted because I didn’t know how to eat normally. I didn’t know how to mend mistakes. I thought I knew, but I’ve learnt more since!

(Skip this in italics bit if rushed for time)
I tell my piano students that whenever they make a mistake on the piano, they have taught their brains to do it that way. They have given themselves an ‘x’ cell. When they do it right, they have grown a ‘y’ cell. Lots of mistakes gives them lots of ‘x’ cells.

So 5 times wrong gives them 5 x cells, once right and they have one b cell. When they come to play and don’t concentrate, which cell is the brain going to go for ‘x’ or ‘y’? There are so many x cells to chose from, the brain might happen to do find the y cell amongst it all, but the chances are, it will go for an ‘x’ as there are many more of them.

The same applies to maintenance. If you’ve spent many years doing it wrong, a few right things might just pop up without thinking, but you need to do the right thing most of the time, so that you get more ‘y’ cells.

KD · 28th February, 2007

So when can I relax for more than a moment?

Not until you’ve really changed your way of eating. Until it’s a habit that comes naturally without thinking. We are talking about years here. I counted calories and weighed food for about a year. Now I only calorie count and weigh occasionally to check I’m still doing it right, but I still can’t really relax.

What about the GI diet, SW, WW to maintain?

Great. When you are just trying to maintain, you’re not dieting but learning a new way of eating. All these plans are fine, as long as your calorie amounts add up. Anything that allows free foods can be a problem. If you can cope with free food, that’s fine.

Most people who have had a weight problem for a while, might find this difficult. At the end of the day, it’s the calories that matter when it comes to maintaining.

What if I put on a few pounds?

That’s okay too. That’s normal. Even the skinniest person does that at times. For us though, we have to be aware, not panic, but cut down consciously for a while to remedy the situation. You have to refocus….and quickly!

But I just want to be normal.

Please let me be normal Karion!

Hey! Don’t we all. Some people are more normal that others

But for the most of us…dream on….being a normal weight does not mean you are normal.

Physically yes…possibly. Psychologically, probably not. Not yet anyway.

Does this mean I can’t have any ‘bad’ foods at all…..EVER!!

I’m a great believer in having trigger food sometimes. I need to know how to control them. They are too nice to give up forever. Knowing your trigger foods is helpful. You can plan for them, and work out how you will deal with the demon. Bread was always my trigger food. Now I seem to be able to eat it without a problem. It’s taken time though, but I’m so glad I didn’t strike it off forever.

Since SSing, I have learnt so much. I know how to control my eating!! Can’t wait until I get to goal!

Huh. Dream on again buddy

You may think you’ve learnt it all, but you’ve just scratched the surface. Sorry.

Whoops, I’ve put on a stone since I got to goal, should I SS again?

In my opinion nope (but I can say that cos I’m not a counsellor

) Apart from the fact that you shouldn’t do a VLCD under a certain weight, just think about having to do those plans again! That doesn’t mean that having a pack or two to help with a calorie controlled type of diet, or even doing CD1000 is fine though, but it’s still advisable to work up to maintenance gradually..

I’m scared to get to goal now! Is it really worth it, and isn’t it going to be too hard?

Nothing to be scared about. It’s certainly worth it. Like a dream come true really. Keep your expectations realistic though. I decided that when I got up to the 1500 CD plan, I would continue to focus (be on a diet so to speak) for another year. At the end of that year, I realised that I needed at least another 4 years.

If I manage to maintain for 5 years, I think I’ll feel pretty confident that I’ve cracked it, but then I’ve had much longer than that with weight issues. 5 years of learning to do it right is nothing in comparison to all those years lost.

I hate you Karion!! I just want to get to goal and get on with my life!

Okay. You have the right to hate me

Go to the back of the queue

**canireallydothis!!** · 28th February, 2007

Thanks hun, I guess you do have all the answers tho

KD · 28th February, 2007

No, not at all

Just my answers to those questions of mine

**flirty40greeneyes** · 28th February, 2007

That's brilliant Karion ..... well done for articulating what so many of us know so well, but choose to ignore or forget.

Thanks!

Karen · 28th February, 2007

LOL

trying to depress me again?? wouldnt just walking all the way to the back of the queue help me to lose anything i might gain during maintenace??

ok, im lying!!

brilliant post!

good to remember that SSing is the easy bit, even if i dont wanna hear it right now

i tend to try to focus on the task in hand as i just KNOW introducing real food into my life again is going to be a far far bigger battle than losing 10 stones!! i have already promised myself that every article of clothing that i will own at my target weight will fit just right and i wont own anything elasticated so that if my brain goes into denial (it does this quite a lot)...then i can rely on my waistband remind me and to keep me on track. well thats the plan anyways

xxxx

KD · 28th February, 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by flirty40greeneyes

That's brilliant Karion ..... well done for articulating what so many of us know so well, but choose to ignore or forget.

Thanks!

It was the last statement that I articulated so well wasn't it

I was thinking about it all on my walk this morning and thought I really need to write it down for my own benefit as much as anyone elses.

I've done the wrong thing so many times. Have to get it right this time. So far...so good....phew

The most I've put on is 5lbs, that was once during my holiday and once for Xmas 2006. Each time I've lost it again during the next couple of weeks, so I'm getting there. I'm in for the long haul though. Must never get complacent.

wannabeminime · 28th February, 2007

So refreshing to hear someone tell it like it REALLY is!!

Karen · 28th February, 2007

people are always waiting for you to put any weight u lose back on, arent they?? i cant tell u how many times i have heard people smirkingly say that someone who is working their tail off to lose weight will fail no matter what. i hate that!! human nature is evil at times.

its brill that u r here to remind us that isnt the case always and show us how its done. 2 fingers firmly up to all those smug people who urge us to fail, eh??

wannabeminime · 28th February, 2007

Whats your view on people who use the packs to maintain? ie 2 packs and a meal? It works, but is it the way to go, long term??

KD · 28th February, 2007

Ouch Bex. That's a difficult one for me, but only because I'm dead jealous of people that have them handy

Okay, not exactly true as I don't have a jealous streak in my body. I do think it makes the process a tad easier though....but anyway.

My honest views: I can't see anything wrong in it at all. It's packed full of vitamins etc, it keeps you going, and each pack is very low calorie compared to other bars or if you tried to make a healthy meal with equal sustaining power.

Perhaps a good alternative if you've had a bad day. Ideally, we would just eat normal healthy natural foods, but sometimes things don't go that way do they.

Expensive to do regularly though. Not expensive when you are replacing dinner, but lunch and breakfast it would work out costly.

Otherwise, can't see any problem with it and if I had easy access to them, would probably use them myself when the going got tough....but not regularly.

28th February, 2007	#1 (permalink)
KD Super Moderator KD's Profile Albums KD's Photo Gallery Typing Master Champion! Join Date: 22nd July, 2006 Posts: 11,607 Rep Power: 284	My questions about maintaing...with my own answers :D Thought I write down some things that come into my mind when I read maintaining diaries. Most of these questions have been things that have gone through my brain over time. Others are things I’ve read between the lines in diaries. It’s not easy is it? Nope. Okay, there are easy times, times when you think you can do this forever but there are times when it all seems overwhelming. There are also times when you couldn’t care less and just want to eat….lots! I should be able to relax now? No! Definitely not. Well, not for me anyway. That doesn’t mean you have to 100%, just that there is a price to be paid for everything. Being at goal doesn’t mean that you now have a passport for keeping your new weight. Relax, by all means, but you have to sort it out sooner rather than later. I don’t want to diet again! No…nor do I. Cutting down a little for a few days isn’t really dieting though. It’s what people do naturally. For us, it has to be a conscious effort, so it may feel like a diet. It’s not though, it’s just behaving normally. Calorie counting is a diet! No. I calorie count (not so much now…as I pretty much know what I’m doing). I calorie counted because I didn’t know how to eat normally. I didn’t know how to mend mistakes. I thought I knew, but I’ve learnt more since! (Skip this in italics bit if rushed for time) I tell my piano students that whenever they make a mistake on the piano, they have taught their brains to do it that way. They have given themselves an ‘x’ cell. When they do it right, they have grown a ‘y’ cell. Lots of mistakes gives them lots of ‘x’ cells. So 5 times wrong gives them 5 x cells, once right and they have one b cell. When they come to play and don’t concentrate, which cell is the brain going to go for ‘x’ or ‘y’? There are so many x cells to chose from, the brain might happen to do find the y cell amongst it all, but the chances are, it will go for an ‘x’ as there are many more of them. The same applies to maintenance. If you’ve spent many years doing it wrong, a few right things might just pop up without thinking, but you need to do the right thing most of the time, so that you get more ‘y’ cells. __________________ 8 Stone gone Cambridge Diet Counsellor (Bournemouth) August Wilson, "As my spirit grew bigger, my demons got smaller."

28th February, 2007	#2 (permalink)
KD Super Moderator KD's Profile Albums KD's Photo Gallery Typing Master Champion! Join Date: 22nd July, 2006 Posts: 11,607 Rep Power: 284	So when can I relax for more than a moment? Not until you’ve really changed your way of eating. Until it’s a habit that comes naturally without thinking. We are talking about years here. I counted calories and weighed food for about a year. Now I only calorie count and weigh occasionally to check I’m still doing it right, but I still can’t really relax. What about the GI diet, SW, WW to maintain? Great. When you are just trying to maintain, you’re not dieting but learning a new way of eating. All these plans are fine, as long as your calorie amounts add up. Anything that allows free foods can be a problem. If you can cope with free food, that’s fine. Most people who have had a weight problem for a while, might find this difficult. At the end of the day, it’s the calories that matter when it comes to maintaining. What if I put on a few pounds? That’s okay too. That’s normal. Even the skinniest person does that at times. For us though, we have to be aware, not panic, but cut down consciously for a while to remedy the situation. You have to refocus….and quickly! But I just want to be normal. Please let me be normal Karion! Hey! Don’t we all. Some people are more normal that others But for the most of us…dream on….being a normal weight does not mean you are normal. Physically yes…possibly. Psychologically, probably not. Not yet anyway. Does this mean I can’t have any ‘bad’ foods at all…..EVER!! I’m a great believer in having trigger food sometimes. I need to know how to control them. They are too nice to give up forever. Knowing your trigger foods is helpful. You can plan for them, and work out how you will deal with the demon. Bread was always my trigger food. Now I seem to be able to eat it without a problem. It’s taken time though, but I’m so glad I didn’t strike it off forever. Since SSing, I have learnt so much. I know how to control my eating!! Can’t wait until I get to goal! Huh. Dream on again buddy You may think you’ve learnt it all, but you’ve just scratched the surface. Sorry. Whoops, I’ve put on a stone since I got to goal, should I SS again? In my opinion nope (but I can say that cos I’m not a counsellor ) Apart from the fact that you shouldn’t do a VLCD under a certain weight, just think about having to do those plans again! That doesn’t mean that having a pack or two to help with a calorie controlled type of diet, or even doing CD1000 is fine though, but it’s still advisable to work up to maintenance gradually.. I’m scared to get to goal now! Is it really worth it, and isn’t it going to be too hard? Nothing to be scared about. It’s certainly worth it. Like a dream come true really. Keep your expectations realistic though. I decided that when I got up to the 1500 CD plan, I would continue to focus (be on a diet so to speak) for another year. At the end of that year, I realised that I needed at least another 4 years. If I manage to maintain for 5 years, I think I’ll feel pretty confident that I’ve cracked it, but then I’ve had much longer than that with weight issues. 5 years of learning to do it right is nothing in comparison to all those years lost. I hate you Karion!! I just want to get to goal and get on with my life! Okay. You have the right to hate me Go to the back of the queue __________________ 8 Stone gone Cambridge Diet Counsellor (Bournemouth) August Wilson, "As my spirit grew bigger, my demons got smaller."

28th February, 2007	#3 (permalink)
canireallydothis!! Bouncing back to goal canireallydothis!!'s Profile Albums canireallydothis!!'s Photo Gallery Join Date: 22nd July, 2006 Location: Brighouse, West Yorkshire Posts: 5,499 My Mood: Rep Power: 105	Thanks hun, I guess you do have all the answers tho __________________ My ultimate goal was to wake up slim, I lived and dreamed about it. Yesterday I woke up slim Sometimes winners are dreamers that never give up. Tomorrow I will wake up slim again Week 1 -8lbs!! Please feel free to join my tiggers club here is the link http://www.minimins.com/cambridge-di...y-restart.html

28th February, 2007	#4 (permalink)
KD Super Moderator KD's Profile Albums KD's Photo Gallery Typing Master Champion! Join Date: 22nd July, 2006 Posts: 11,607 Rep Power: 284	No, not at all Just my answers to those questions of mine __________________ 8 Stone gone Cambridge Diet Counsellor (Bournemouth) August Wilson, "As my spirit grew bigger, my demons got smaller."

28th February, 2007	#5 (permalink)
flirty40greeneyes Moderator flirty40greeneyes's Profile Albums flirty40greeneyes's Photo Gallery Join Date: 25th August, 2006 Location: Middlewich Cheshire Posts: 12,003 My Mood: Rep Power: 289 Diet: CD SS .... sometimes!!!	That's brilliant Karion ..... well done for articulating what so many of us know so well, but choose to ignore or forget. Thanks! __________________ CDC Start weight Oct 05 - 15.03 1 Jan 08 - 14.06 1 Nov - 14.02 12 Nov - 13.7 -9

28th February, 2007	#6 (permalink)
Karen Herbalife Queen! Karen's Profile Albums Karen's Photo Gallery Quick Words Champion! Join Date: 6th December, 2006 Location: Plymouth, Devon Posts: 3,501 My Mood: Rep Power: 71 Diet: Herbalife Shapeworks	LOL trying to depress me again?? wouldnt just walking all the way to the back of the queue help me to lose anything i might gain during maintenace?? ok, im lying!! brilliant post! good to remember that SSing is the easy bit, even if i dont wanna hear it right now i tend to try to focus on the task in hand as i just KNOW introducing real food into my life again is going to be a far far bigger battle than losing 10 stones!! i have already promised myself that every article of clothing that i will own at my target weight will fit just right and i wont own anything elasticated so that if my brain goes into denial (it does this quite a lot)...then i can rely on my waistband remind me and to keep me on track. well thats the plan anyways xxxx __________________ Karen xx Herbalife Distributor 'love many, honour few and always paddle your own canoe'

28th February, 2007	#8 (permalink)
wannabeminime needs to do this... wannabeminime's Profile Albums wannabeminime's Photo Gallery 5 In A Row Champion! Card Toss Champion! Froggit Champion! Othello Champion! Tournaments Won: 38 Join Date: 29th August, 2006 Posts: 2,654 My Mood: Rep Power: 80	So refreshing to hear someone tell it like it REALLY is!! __________________ Started SW 29/10/08 Week 1- 4lb Week 2- 2lb Week 3- 1.5lb http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...23&ref=profile Feel free to add me! x

28th February, 2007	#9 (permalink)
Karen Herbalife Queen! Karen's Profile Albums Karen's Photo Gallery Quick Words Champion! Join Date: 6th December, 2006 Location: Plymouth, Devon Posts: 3,501 My Mood: Rep Power: 71 Diet: Herbalife Shapeworks	people are always waiting for you to put any weight u lose back on, arent they?? i cant tell u how many times i have heard people smirkingly say that someone who is working their tail off to lose weight will fail no matter what. i hate that!! human nature is evil at times. its brill that u r here to remind us that isnt the case always and show us how its done. 2 fingers firmly up to all those smug people who urge us to fail, eh?? __________________ Karen xx Herbalife Distributor 'love many, honour few and always paddle your own canoe'

28th February, 2007	#10 (permalink)
wannabeminime needs to do this... wannabeminime's Profile Albums wannabeminime's Photo Gallery 5 In A Row Champion! Card Toss Champion! Froggit Champion! Othello Champion! Tournaments Won: 38 Join Date: 29th August, 2006 Posts: 2,654 My Mood: Rep Power: 80	Whats your view on people who use the packs to maintain? ie 2 packs and a meal? It works, but is it the way to go, long term?? __________________ Started SW 29/10/08 Week 1- 4lb Week 2- 2lb Week 3- 1.5lb http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...23&ref=profile Feel free to add me! x

28th February, 2007	#11 (permalink)
KD Super Moderator KD's Profile Albums KD's Photo Gallery Typing Master Champion! Join Date: 22nd July, 2006 Posts: 11,607 Rep Power: 284	Ouch Bex. That's a difficult one for me, but only because I'm dead jealous of people that have them handy Okay, not exactly true as I don't have a jealous streak in my body. I do think it makes the process a tad easier though....but anyway. My honest views: I can't see anything wrong in it at all. It's packed full of vitamins etc, it keeps you going, and each pack is very low calorie compared to other bars or if you tried to make a healthy meal with equal sustaining power. Perhaps a good alternative if you've had a bad day. Ideally, we would just eat normal healthy natural foods, but sometimes things don't go that way do they. Expensive to do regularly though. Not expensive when you are replacing dinner, but lunch and breakfast it would work out costly. Otherwise, can't see any problem with it and if I had easy access to them, would probably use them myself when the going got tough....but not regularly. __________________ 8 Stone gone Cambridge Diet Counsellor (Bournemouth) August Wilson, "As my spirit grew bigger, my demons got smaller."