Maintaining after CD.

[paul1978]

How do people plan to maintain their weight loss after finishing CD. I mean, its so easy to go back to how you were eating before. With some people just the thought of "If I go back to my old eating habits, I will go back to my old weight" just isnt a powerful-enough thing when food is staring you in the face. With me, it's 3 things.
1. I eat when I am bored in the evenings.
2. I eat just because it is there.
3. Cannot stop at just 1 biscuit, 1 sweet etc ...

What are your triggers and how do you combat them ? I think this is very important to keep in mind when finishing CD.
Are there any books that people can recommend on healthy eating and on this subject discussed here. Ive read about a book called
"Its not what you eat, its why you eat it" by Beechy Colclough. Unable to find it anywhere (including ebay) but does sound like what Ive mentioned in this message. As this is a very important subject for when people finish their diets, Id like to hear your view on it. How do you plan on maintaining your weight-loss ? And are there any good books on the subject of healthy eating that you would recommend ?

Paul.

 

[Nibbles]

Thanks for starting this thread, i shall be watching the answers from people with experience in anticipation of my own "maintenance battle".
I have bought various books and borrowed lots from my local library, but also looking for recommendations. My CDC promotes a low GL/GI lifestyle for herself, but not sure how i will continue in a few weeks time.

 

[Suesurrey]

Hi,

I'm not sure how I'm going to maintain, when the diet is finished.

Just to let you know, Amazon.co.uk have that book.

 

[KD]

"Its not what you eat, its why you eat it" by Beechy Colclough.

That's a great title, and exactly what maintenance is all about. It isn't about following any particular plan, just knowing what motivates you to eat inappropriately, and then making sure you don't

Easy eh

I don't follow any plan in particular, just eat to satisfaction, and know why I am eating...and making sure that why is for something logical (hungry etc).

I didn't read anything in particular. Picked up hints and tips of things to try from people dealing with other addictions. Decided whether they would work for me. Gave them a go, and sorted it out in the end

I did do a fantastic amount of reading even if it wasn't from a book. Google was my bestest of friends

 

[mandye]

I read just about every diet plan in the world (i jest not ) .Most are not about changing your habits for life just till you lose weight so avoid them (or nick the recipes then ignor them).
The book I found good was called change one thing which took you through a few weeks of changing your life and then into maintaning got loads of info from this .Think it is a readers digest book got mine from a charity shop but did notice it in the library .I also dont really follow any set plan a combo of a few is more like it .I eat more fresh fruit and veg ,avoid proceced foods \ready meals and chose my snacks and pud carfully so I can enjoy all.I use foodfocus which is free web site to track my cal intake but also my carbs and protien are there to make sure I get a good mix

 

[paul1978]

Hi,
Just to let you know, Amazon.co.uk have that book.

Thank you. Despite searching for the book a few times a couple days ago, I couldnt find it. Ive now realised that I was searching for the author "Beechy Colclough" but it isn't "Beechy." Ive now managed to order this book along with another from Amazon.co.uk. Thanks again.

 

[Lou1973]

hi paul

My triggers are similar to yours:

1) boredom
2) not being able to eat a little of something nice but just keeping eating until the packet/bag etc is finished
3) not having the time to plan/buy food/ cook so just going for the easy (usually fat heavy) option

I know how to eat healthily from the million diets I've tried before and instictively I know protein and veg good, sugar and choc bad so key for me is the triggers of why I eat (and the choices I make) rather than what I eat

I've decided to do the following to overcome these triggers

1) being bored - it's usually on a weekend as during the week I'm so busy I don't stop. My plan is to always have a plan for the weekend - it may be as simple as reading that book I've just bought. It will often be cooking healthy food to put in the freezer to eat for the rest of the week.
2) not knowing when to stop - I believe you can teach your body this. for example when i gave up smoking I stopped having my post meal cig which meant it never triggered in my brain that my meal had stopped so i kept eating all evening. The long term plan is to introduce a yoghurt as the end of meal trigger - and i don't eat after it. My theory is my brain will soon learn that yoghurt equals end of meal and no more picking. The other part of this is when I get myself a treat - say a biscuit. Previously I would take the packet into the lounge and almost sub conciously find myself reaching for the next and the next until my hand came away empty coz i'd finished the pack. In my new world I will go into the kitchen get the one biscuit (ok maybe 2 ;-)) put it on a plate, put the biscuits back in the cupboard and take the plate into the lounge - it then has to be a concious decision to go and get more which I hope to be able to control.
3) being time poor and not planning - well hopefully some of this will be fixed by point 1 - ie preparing meals on a weekend and putting them in the freezer - then all i have to do is grab the food from the freezer defrost it and way hey i'm eating healthily. The other part of this is i've found a company that delivers healthy food (packaged but it's soo good it tastes fresh) which just needs heating up for 2 and a half mins in the microwave and again i'm eating healthily. I figure if I always eat healthily at home when I'm out I can afford to choose the maybe not so healthy option.

 

[Dogtanion]

I am on my way to maintainance - I intend to do ww ish - plus one cd bar as a snack plus 18 -19 points - a the moment I am having 12 points plus two cd packs - roughly following the 1200 plan - have pretty much maintained this week - will be watching this thread avidly.
In the past I have maintained at bmi 29 with ww successfully - so not too worried about that but easier said than done I guess xx

 

[abz]

i have recently bought paul mckenna's i can make you thin with maintenance in mind. even though it's a while ahead for me. he makes a lot of sense and a lot of it is obvious, but you didn't think about it too much before. it also comes with a cd and listening to it really does help motivate you and help you think about what you are putting into your mouth. i am actually a rather large sceptic when it comes to things like this. but i heard good things about it and thought i'd give it a read. and i love it now. have listened to the cd a couple of times so far and it relaxes you a lot, but you do feel rejuvinated afterwards...

failing that, once i get to my goal size i REFUSE to buy anything in the next size up!! if my clothes get tight, i will shrink.

abz xx

 

[Dogtanion]

hear hear Abz!!

 

[Dogtanion]

failing that, once i get to my goal size i REFUSE to buy anything in the next size up!! if my clothes get tight, i will shrink.

abz xx

sorry wasn't too clear about what I was agreeing with!!!

 

[wannabeskinny]

im about a stone from thinking about maintenance and done a lot of sole searching whilst losing this weight ie, how am i going to keep it off etc... all i can come up with is that i have gone without bread, potatoes, sugars etc for 12 weeks so that must mean my body does not need them so therefore will not need them, hopefully my will power will be good enough at the end but plan to go up the stages correctly and do everything i can to maintain i dont want to have to do this again approach x

 

[izmirka]

maintaining the weight really freaks me out to be honest. i don't want to become a sort of person who counts every single calorie and avoids all the bad foods. it would be a sad, sad life. i think i would literally go crazy and develop some eating disorder if i did that.
that is why i have a question- does anybody here know if CD slows down metabolism?? that is, if i eat 2000 calories a day after the diet, do i gain weight after eating less than 1000 calories for more than 6 months now?
i know i can't go back to eating like i was before (that is, forgetting about food for most of the day and realising i haven't eaten anything at 1am at night and ordering a huge pizza) but how much is too much?

 

[KD]

maintaining the weight really freaks me out to be honest. i don't want to become a sort of person who counts every single calorie and avoids all the bad foods. it would be a sad, sad life.

It would, which is why I decided to go 'diet free'. Maintaining isn't about dieting anyway...it's about maintaining A whole new approach and mindset.

does anybody here know if CD slows down metabolism??

While you're on Cambridge your metabolism will slow. But then it does that on every weight reduction diet, be it WW, SW or any others.

When you start eating again, it will rise again. The best way to get that rise in the metabolism without the gain of the excess food, is to follow the CD plans up.

but how much is too much?

At the beginning, after doing the plans, I would really recommend calorie counting just for a while. Just until you know about what you are putting into your body and how it effects you. Learning new habits, yet still being free to try all sorts of foods to find what works best for you.

There are a number of reasons I preferred that approach compared to other ways of eating.

For one, most other 'diets' (umm...but it's not a diet..though I hope you know what I mean), tend to be lower fat than you should be having.

Good for dieting, but not for life.

Another reason is that pretty much all foods have calories written on the packet, so no need to extra luggage, and you can check it's suitability whether you have brought your handbag or just standing in your bikini.

Whether you gain or lose weight will depend on your calories in vs calories out, and little else, so having a good idea of how many calories you are consuming feels logical to me.

Don't be scared of maintenance. It's fab. But you do need to remember that you are on a journey, just a different one. Eyes open, be aware, weigh regularly and enjoy

 

[izmirka]

i am going to do 3 weeks of stabilisation, 1 week of 1000kcal, 1 week of 1200 and 1 week of 1500, so i will be done with CD just before christmas. on the one hand i am really glad because i refuse to be on cd during christmas, but on the other i am freaking out that i will gain weight again. but i guess everybody gains weight during christmas
hopefully i'll survive maintenance and not gain the weight back, but the thing i am scared of is that if i go back to conventional food, that no matter what i'll eat, i'm gonna get fat again... i mean, there are a lot more people having to repeat the diet than people who actually maintain the weight. it just seems like it's going to be a constant battle, and i really don't want that.

 

[abz]

if your waistband gets tight then cut back a bit this really is going to be my main indicator, other than the scales. also, every thin person gains weight over christmas. so i wouldn't worry about it too much

abz xx

 

[KD]

if your waistband gets tight then cut back a bit this really is going to be my main indicator, other than the scales. also, every thin person gains weight over christmas. so i wouldn't worry about it too much

abz xx

I found the waistband thing just wouldn't work for me. Sometimes I was bloated and the trousers felt tighter. It depends where you put the weight on, and if your trousers aren't close fitting, you could put on quite a few pounds before you felt the need to cut back.

also, the Christmas thing...yes, some skinny people do overeat at Christmas, but naturally slim people don't diet to get rid of it as they are more intune with their bodies and often can't wait to eat less.

I also found that 'naturally slim' people didn't overeat in the way that I would overeat. They went mad by having 2 mince pies instead of one for a couple of days in a row

My idea of overeating would be to have the pack of six, for pudding, everday thoughout December, and until the new year celebrations were over, ready for the diet again :break_diet:

No more now though. I put on 2 lbs this Christmas. I lost it again pretty quick without doing anything more than being just a little more conscious of what I was eating.

I could never get those results before I worked on the ol' head stuff.

 

[Dogtanion]

my plan is to ss+ for a month if I need to in Jan - hoping I won't need to x

 

[Porgeous]

Initially I went for calorie counting and planned all my meals, didn't restrict any foods just did the maths and made sure it didn't go over my ideal maintaining amount. Now I have become more relaxed and am better able to guage how much I can eat. I eat alot of fruit, chicken and fish but nothing is forbidden as I too didn't want to feel like I was constantly dieting.

I was also worried about old habits returning but strangely they haven't, I enjoy who I am and somehow that makes maintaining it that bit easier.

xx

 

[AllyKat]

Hi, I think a lot of us who have gained weight afterwards did go back to old habits. I have gained some back (I never went all the way to target) and I think the bit about weighing yourself regularly is essential. If you do gain pound or two over Christmas then you can lower your calories for a couple of weeks afterwards. I wonder if one of the keys to maintenance is catching any weight gain earlyish. I know LL recommend having a 5lb range and you diet when you hit the top of it - this allows for normal fluctuations in your weight but you still catch gains early.