Thread: The Road Less Travelled

So today I hit my target, and I am at a weight I am very happy with, and feel good at.

So this is my maintenance journey. Ive no idea where im going or how the hell im gonna get there. Never been down this road before.

I can do weight loss, been doing it years, but never have i been in a position before to say, ok thats its ive lost the weight, now lets see how im gonna stay here.

I guess the best place to start is to get to the bottom of why the weight always goes back on. Sweet stuff isnt my problem, im not saying i dont like it, ill eat a box of chocolates if im given one. But i dont crave sweet stuff. I do crave carbs though, and carbs are the issue. It was cutting out the carbs finally that got me to where i am now.

My danger foods
Burger King
Mcdonalds
Chinese Takeaway ( and im not even that keen on chinese food to be honest, but i sure used to eat a lot of it)
Indian food ( now we are talking)
Pasta, especially spaghetti bolognese. Did i ever tell you about my 'dry' bolognese? No? Lets not even go there, i could eat it till the cows come home, and often did.
Pizza, my personal belief is that pizza is the work of the devil.

Im not that keen on Mcdonalds burgers , the big problem was 8am on my way somewhere, no breakfast and hungry. How convenient to stop at Mcdonalds for Sausage and Egg muffin, potato cake thing and a coffee. Set me right up for the day that did, well at least till lunchtime anyway.

Burger King Whopper with Cheese. mmmmmmmmmmmm.......................... now those really are the work of the devil at about 800 cals a go. And i was never really satisified with just 1 either. Dont do chips though, dont like them. Pity really cos they would have filled me up and been half the calories of a second whopper. Oh dont forget the diet coke.............that has to be the biggest joke in the fast food industry, burger chips and ............wait for it............diet coke. My car was always full of empty Mcdonald and Burger King bags. I have to confess though, i still stop at Mcdonalds once or twice a week, but its for a black coffee and nothing else . I need it to keep me awake on the road.

Chinese Takeaway. Because i travel such a lot for work, by the time i get home i cant be assed with going to tesco, and then coming home and cooking the wretched stuff. The local chinese is on speeddial, and they recognise my voice when i ring them. Now thats a BAD sign. I dont even like chinese that much, much much prefer Indian. We used to get chinese about 3 times a week?

Indian food. lets face it, ill never give it up. This is the one thing that i have to make a concession to, somehow.

Pizza. Oh I love pizza, all those carbs and fat. uggg im not even gonna think about it.

Pasta. Now when it comes to spaghetti bolognese, even i can get off my (previously) fat behind to cook it. I make truely great spaghetti bolognese. My 'dry' bolognese is legendary. And how about my carbonara? Its pure heaven. But im so far off carbs now, its out of sight. I think i would be scared to eat it now, and quite honestly it should stay that way.

So these are my danger foods, and the reason the weight goes back on again. They are the reason I was 17st 5lb (actually have been heavier than that, i think i hit 18 and half stone at my heaviest ever) and giving them up (bar the Indian food) is the reason im now 11.8.5

I know that the day i order a chinese takeaway because i cant be bothered to cook, is the day I have lost it. So thats my number one indicator that ive lost the battle. Having a takeaway with friends is different, because thats an occasion, and we are all allowed occasions. Having a takeaway because im hungry but too lazy to shop and cook is a totally different scenario.

So, Rule Number 1, I will not order chinese takeaway in preference to cooking a meal. This means I have to go shopping and have food in the house that i can prepare and eat. You know, i dont even LIKE chinese that much, it was just pure lazyness. There can be no excuse to ever do that again.

Rule number 2, I will have breakfast every day, I will not skip breakfast. Then i wont have to stop at Mcdonalds or anywhere else to get food.

Rule number 3 has to deal with the fast food burgers, pizza, fish and chips, et al. Im not going to say I will never have them. But I cannot have them every time i pass a burger king ect. So i think this rule will be no more than maybe once or twice a month. And it has to be instead of a meal, not as an inbetween snack. The carb is an issue too that will limit it

Rule Number 4, Pasta. Hmmm, I dont know how to deal with this one. Carbs are not good for me, and the diabetes meds make it difficult to eat carbs anyway. I would have to miss an injection to have it. So im not saying never again, i think its just got to be something i indulge in for a special occasion.

Rule number 5. Im never going to give up Indian food, but i think this also has to be about being a special occasion. Like the chinese, i wont have takeaway again. If I want Indian food then we have to go out to a restaurant and make an occasion of it. The same really with any eating out.

Going out for meals is not the reason i was fat, we go out about once a week or so, and theres no problem with that. I rarely eat dessert, I dont much like desserts. I might have a starter and a main meal, or just a main meal. I just need to make sensible choices when we eat out, which i do really. Eating out is a really nice thing to do, whether its just me and hubby, or out with friends. The cost of eating out is a natural limiter though , so it aint gonna happen more than once a week anyway and probably once a fortnight.

So those are my rules for limiting the damaging foods. If i never had sweets chocolates biscuits cake etc ever again, it woudnt bother me. Those things are not the problem, its the carb laden fat laden food that i was seriously addicted to that was the problem. Its a road i cannot go down again. Ever.

Finally Rule Number 6. I must never forget that I am not a thin person. I am a fat person trapped in a thin body. And that fat person is desperate to get out, I just have to keep her locked up.

Im having a clothes crisis! Despite the tons of clothes ive bought over the past few months, Ive actually got very little that fits me now.

Ive sorted through my wardrobe again this morning and moved all the stuff out that is now too big. My wardrobe was practically groaning with clothes not long ago, but now its looking a little bare. I have nothing that is too small now haha. Even my christmas party dresses that i bought 17 years ago fit. One of them i never even wore when i bought them, as it was slightly too small then lol.

My 'sins and secrets' wardrobe in the spare bedroom used to contain all the hopeful clothes i would buy, too small but with the thought of slimming into them. Gradually ive gone through it all, moved it into my wardrobe as ive slimmed into them, then moved it all back again as they have gotten too big.

At least now that im down to target, I can start planning a more long term wardrobe. So I guess its time to go shopping again!

Congratulations and well done on your weight loss.

I have just had a look at your before and after photos in the gallery

Message - MiniMins.com Photo Gallery

and you look amazing and completely transformed.

Good luck on your maintenance journey and thank you for this diary as I am sure besides being a huge help to yourself writing everything down it will also help others like myself who have not got this far as yet but live in hope of finally getting there one day.

Aww thank you Mini! thats a lovely message.

Maintaining a weight loss is the really difficult part of losing weight. Ive never done it before so im not sure whats going to happen, but having a diary is definately going to be a major part of keeping the weight off as it will help me focus day by day on what i need to do.

Went shopping today A diamond ring is looking like a strong possibility.......yayyy! I think its going to be my xmas present

Bought clothes..........of course! A knitted aran dress just above knee length, and some beige suede boots to go with it, a red long sleeve top and a gorgeous classic 'little black dress'. I had a vision in my mind of the black dress i wanted, straight calf length, three quarter length sleeves and a cowl neckline, and thats exactly what i found in Wallis, so was very pleased with that. Will look good dressed up or down.

Also had a look at some evening dresses. There were some really beautiful ones in Debenhams, but the one i really liked was in Wallis, floor length black dress with shiny beaded encrusted top. Was the cheapest one i saw as well at £60. I would need a shrug to go with it, as its strappy, but Wallis do a really nice one for £20. So, its payday next week, i might go back and have another look at it. I dont really need an evening dress, but now my old party dresses fit me im not so sure i want to wear them for the christmas party (typical lol). The Wallis one was a beautiful classic dress.

Havnt eaten much today, Saturdays tend to be like that though. Had exante shake this morning then a chicken breast a sausage and some veg for dinner. Was thinking of going out for a meal tonight, but i was pretty tired when i got back from town.

I bought myself 6 bottles of wine yesterday. Given that i rarely drink it seems like a strange thing to do lol, but when i went to my neighbours earlier this week i had a half glass of some red wine they had. It was just delicious! and on special offer in tesco at the moment. An australian red wine, Calloway Crossing Cabernet Shiraz. I really do love the australian reds, and this is wonderful and a bargain at less than a fiver a bottle at the moment. So im stocked up for christmas, for me anyway lol.

Lynn congratulations on getting to goal!!

Your photos are absolutely amazing

Spent the afternoon at Nirvana spa today, lovely to chill out. Didnt eat a lot again today, got up fairly late and had exante shake, went to the spa, then had dinner of homemade low cal low carb chicken curry when i got home.

Back in June when i first started this weight loss game, I was in Tesco shopping with hubby and he said I should buy myself some chocolate as a treat. He eats a lot of sweets and chocolates, but i can take or leave them and that drives him nuts. If im going to buy chocolate it has to be good quality, not cheap cadburys rubbish that he loves. I can eat dark chocolate as a diabetic if i have a small amount as its a complex carb and generally doesnt do too much harm to my blood sugars. Its pretty useless to have plain chocolate to get out of a hypo, as it puts sugars up quite slowly. Anyway, I bought a box of Green & Blacks Organic chocolate bars, 12 small 15g bars in a box. Since June 6 of them have been eaten, and that wasnt all by me, hubby had a few as well, so there are 6 still left in the fridge. So im gonna treat myself to one tonight, if they havnt gone stale lol. 1 15g bar is 80 cals and 6.5 carbs, and as i havnt had lunch today then ill have 1.

Was thinking of opening a bottle of wine tonight, but i would only have 1 glass of it, so ill save it for next weekend when hubby and i can finish a bottle off over the weekend. I need to work out the cals and carbs in a glass of wine.

ohh i just found it, 0.5g carb and 80 cals in a glass of red wine. Sounds like a bargain! I must practice drinking more lol.

A couple weeks ago I had the bright idea of buying some kitkats, simply because i fancied one. Unfortunately they were on special offer in Tesco, 2 packs of 9 small kitkats for £2. What was i thinking buying 18 kitkats!! I had one and hated it anyway, way too sweet, but knowing the damn things were in the cupboard was haunting me. Hubby has finally eaten them all thank goodness, I dont even like them but just knowing they were there was murder. I must stop buying this crap that i dont like but would eat just cos its there.

"Finally Rule Number 6. I must never forget that I am not a thin person. I am a fat person trapped in a thin body. And that fat person is desperate to get out, I just have to keep her locked up".

Wise words from a lady who has walked the walked and can talk the talk. Well done

I wore my new aran knit dress with my beige suede boots to work today, how supercool am i lol!! I did feel good though

I was going to treat myself to a delicious dinner tonight, steak au poivre and celeriac chips, as i have some fillet steak in the freezer to use up. I even cut up the celeriac for chips, but i also wanted to make some soup as well. Miss Mango has a recipe for lentil soup in her diary, and it sounded good. So I ended up having soup for dinner, it was so delicious. I also made some quark lemon cheesecakes today, I made 3 from 1 pack of quark. The whole recipe is about 250 cals, so they worked out just over 80 each. I cant remember the carbs but its pretty low. So i have 2 more of those to treat myself with this week. Ill have my steak and celeriac chips tomorrow instead.

Food today
B. Exante shake
L. Ham salad sandwich
D. Lentil soup and lemon cheesecake

I might even treat myself to a glass of wine later! How wonderful to be in maintenance Lets hope the scales think so too lol.

Calorie wise, I think im pretty low today, 200 for exante, 250 for sandwich, maybe 150 for the soup? and 80 for the cheesecake. Thats 680, but feels like ive eaten much more than that. A glass of wine later will be another 80. I really need to be getting upto 1200 for a while and monitor what happens weight wise. I know that my metabolism is going to be lower than normal, maybe i will never have a 'normal' metabolism again. I think if i start going over 1200 to 1400 cals i will gain weight, but only time will tell. I just need to find out what my level is.

Does picking up the phone count as excercise? No? dammit......

I phoned up about a zumba class today, was on this evening at 6.30pm at the Nirvana spa gym. I could have gone, could have had a swim after.........

I do need to start doing some excercise, even if its just walking for 30 minutes a day. I need to get myself moving.

Maybe tomorrow...................

I went into town though and had a stroll around Debenhams. I took the 'little black dress' back. I decided it made me look like my grandmother. I liked it when i tried it on in the dressing room, i still liked it when i got home. But then i started to have my doubts about it, and tried it on again today, and decided it had to go back.

Food today
B. 2 poached eggs on 1 small hovis slice
L. Small bowl of lentil soup
D. Steak au poivre (made with a mini light philly) with oven baked celeriac chips and a glass of red wine.

About 880 cals. I feel absolutley stuffed though. I was going to have another quark cheesecake, but i think it would make me feel sick if i did, so ill pass on that today. I might take one to work with me tomorrow though.

Im still undecided about what im going to wear for the works xmas bash. I tried on the old, never worn before black velvet dress again today and i do quite like it, im just worried about my arms as its off the shoulder and i wont be able to wear a shrug with it. Maybe the lights will be dim enough for noone to notice. I did order a dress yesterday from Marisota that should arrive tomorrow. But im having my doubts about that now too, and i havnt even seen it yet. Wallis had a beautiful full length dress, and im still tempted to go back and look at that again. Ill see how i feel about the Marisota dress when it turns up.

Lynn, I loved your first post. I (and many of us, I belive) can relate with your words.

We really have to be mindfull with eating forever.

I'm sure you'll succed on the maintenance road

Just found your maintenance diary. good luck

Originally Posted by 86alpzzyj

Love your diary, its so honest and so many tips there. Rule number 6 rocks and is soooo true.

Is the plan to slowly ease up to 1200kcal? x

Ill be honest with you, im a bit scared to launch straight into 1200 cals a day. Ive no idea how much I can eat and not gain weight, and im not prepared to experiment too much just yet. I think i really need to get christmas and new year out of the way, because so much could go wrong over the next few weeks, so I want to limit any potential damage that this time of year can do with all the eating opportunities that will come along.

I know that I do have to eat more, I know i dont eat enough really. But I try to make good choices with what I do eat to get the best nutrition for the amount of cals and carbs I have. Also, I think my body is going through a period of adjustment and weight gain could just be too easy right now.

Although im still well under 1000 cals a day, my weight had been pretty static since I hit the 11.8.5 (i always seem to stick on the half pound, why cant i just get a nice round number to stick on) but it went up this morning to 11.10. I know im eating a little more carb since hitting target so i think thats just a fluid adjustment that could just as easily dissapear tomorrow. Its a bit scary though going up 1.5lb for no apparent reason. Im not worried about this 1.5lb though, im worried then next 1.5lb and the one after that.

I would love to be confident that 1200 cals a day wont make me gain weight, but right now im not so sure about it, i think it would, so im looking to get there slowly.

If my weight goes down below the 11.8 then ill know i can eat a bit more, and I think thats going to be my guide for the immediate future. I think whats vital now is that I record my daily calorie intake so that I have a record of how much im eating and what effect that is having on me, then i will be better informed to how i should make adjustments to it.

Although i do weigh myself everyday, im just gonna record my actual weight once a week on my weigh in days on Saturdays as that will give a better overall picture of what my weight is doing, as the ups and downs of daily weighing wont show the true picture of whats going on.

I know i probably sound obsessive but Im desperate to keep this weight off. There has never been a time in my life when my weight has really been static, its either going up when im not dieting or going down when i am. Staying the same has never really happened for me before, unless its a damn plateau when its supposed to be going down lol. I dont know how to do 'staying the same'. Im just not confident or familiar with it.

Hey Lynn!!!!


New diary loving it! Fresh start for you, after your massive achievement of getting to your goal. I'm pleased you're sharing your maintenance journey with us, as I think we will all learn from it.

I completely understand your worries about upping the cals and I dont think that it's obsessive. To get to where you have, you've had to be completely focused and whilst you get used to what you can have to maintain your new weight it makes sense to keep a tight control on things.

I really think Jillian Michaels book master your metabolism would be an interesting read got you. Basically it says that low cal diets reduce your muscle mass, as muscle burns cals faster and the body rids itself of the highest consumer of cals, however this then slows your metabolism. So when you've get to your target weight and want to get your metabolism back to how it was before dieting and be able to build cals back up is to increase your muscle mass. To go this it suggests, certain exercises but also high protein foods as they build lean muscle mass and the more muscle the more cals your body will naturally burn.

You prob know all of this, as I'm forever behind in these kinds of things. But thought id mention it, in case it's of use.

Did your new dress arrive? Is it a winner?
How exciting the new you, new dress and a work Xmas party!

Xxxx

Hun, just take your time while you're upping your daily calories. Step by step you'll reach the 1200cals without distress your body, wich is used to little calories anyway.

About the 1.5lbs gain it's absolutelly normal Before my period I tend to bloat and I "gain" 3-4 pounds that I "loose" after 3 three days. When I eat salty things I also "gain" 2 pounds that I "loose" after one or two days.
I'm pretty sure that's just normal fluctuations. Drink plenty of water to flush the bloat weight

x