Time to think about refeeding!

[GretaGrip]

Hello all!

A little bit about me. I'm 5 foot 4, 10 stone 3 lbs and have recently lost just over 2 stone on a VLCD. I've just switched from CD to SnS ( it's cheaper! ) and am thinking about how I'm going to maintain - something I've never bothered with in the past!

In February 2011 I was 15 stone 1 lb and a size 18- I'm currently a size 10 and desperate not to stack it all back on again.

Anyway - I'm currently 4lbs from goal so for the past week or so I have added in some food! Nothing too drastic - mainly cottage cheese, veg and quorn and a couple of yogurts and only every other day so far - taking me to around 700/800 calories a day when I do this. Am unsure how to proceed though ? I'm pretty sure that I want to try intermittent fasting as a maintenance tool- so an UP day of 1600 calories followed by a DOWN day of 380 and so on and so forth. I'm nervous about starting this however !

Anyway - thanks for reading so far. All comments and thoughts very welcome

 

[weasey]

Welcome and so pleased for you that you are almost at your goal weight! I think the important thing for me is investigating and deciding on the route forward. I found that my issue with maintaining was not having a structured plan for eating. It sounds like you almost have one defined which is great! Is it JUDD that you are talking about? If so then perhaps you could go onto the forum and ask any questions you have. Once you know exactly how you will be eating in maintenance you could follow the SnS refeed plan and then move on to your new eating approach. Initially I was intending to do a really long refeed but in retrospect I don't think it was particularly helpful for me.

 

[GretaGrip]

Hello Weasey - thanks for the comments!

Bloody hell - you have done well! Bet you feel amazing - what an achievement! Just a shame that 'maintenance' is so difficult and I am having to accept that I will always have to keep a close eye on what I eat.

Yes, JUDDD is currently what I am thinking of doing - although my UP days will not be as generous as other's UP days which is a slight blow to me : ) 160 odd calories a day is not super generous but in comparison to CD/S and S I suppose it's something!

I seem to be doing my own re feed right now! I am a strict vegetarian who hates eggs so it's always going to be slightly problematic! I am currently concentrating on low carbs and keeping under 700 odd calories a day which is resulting in weight loss still - I am hoping to be just under 10 by next Wednesday - that is my cut off point with this torture!

 

[weasey]

Hello Weasey - thanks for the comments!

Bloody hell - you have done well! Bet you feel amazing - what an achievement! Just a shame that 'maintenance' is so difficult and I am having to accept that I will always have to keep a close eye on what I eat.

Yes, JUDDD is currently what I am thinking of doing - although my UP days will not be as generous as other's UP days which is a slight blow to me : ) 160 odd calories a day is not super generous but in comparison to CD/S and S I suppose it's something!

I seem to be doing my own re feed right now! I am a strict vegetarian who hates eggs so it's always going to be slightly problematic! I am currently concentrating on low carbs and keeping under 700 odd calories a day which is resulting in weight loss still - I am hoping to be just under 10 by next Wednesday - that is my cut off point with this torture!

I do feel amazing thank you! I have always been obese or morbidly obese in my adult life so to be slim at the grand old age of 43 is a really wierd sensation!

Maintenance will always be difficult for me I think - I have such a long running disfunctional relationship with food. The difference is that I've realised now that I need the structure. I find it easy to refuse things when they don't fit in with the plan I'm following - it feels easy because the decision has already been made. When I have no structure I have to make the decision every time and I don't always make the most helpful one... It's strange because at the start of the diet I was very resistant to the thought that I'd have to eat differently at the end, then I got used to that idea but I didn't want to have to be on a diet, now I realise that structure is exactly what I do need - but if you'd told me at the start that I would lose the weight and then go on another plan for 2 years and then have a plan to follow for the rest of my life I would have run in the other direction! Funny how things change.

I assume you mean 1600 calories as 160 doesn't sound like much of an UP day!!! I haven't ever really looked at JUDDD - once I'm a bit more settled with the Dukan Transition phase I might take a detailed look at JUDDD and see what I think.

When I started the diet I was vegetarian too, although I did eat eggs. It's hard to get protein as a vegetarian without getting other things too, such as carbs or fat. I didn't eat fish so that wasn't a possibility for me either. I made the hard decision during the diet that I would start to eat meat. This was a really hard decision for me as I had been vegetarian for over 20 years and the reasons are deeply moral and part of my core values. One of my issues is that I have never viewed my body as important. I wouldn't eat unless I was starving (and then I'd eat everything!), I wouldn't moisturise my body, I didn't want spa treatments - my body was irrelevant to me. I have now made a new commitment to my body and making it important in my life. Part of that commitment is being met by having purer proteins to help me in maintaining the weight loss. It was a really hard decision for me, as I felt like I was choosing myself and my health over the lives of other animals. I try to have free range and I eat mainly fish but I am still a little uncomfortable with my decision.

 

[GretaGrip]

Yes! 1600 calories! I'd fail to exist on 160 I'm sure.

Being - and feeling - slim is quite something isn't it? I have been fortunate enough to not have been overweight all my life but certainly have been for the past 6 and a half years and that was long enough! I have been 15 stone at my heaviest and I don't want to return to that. I have always been a complete beauty junkie though and love doing my nails, hair, £££ of make up etc.. I love all that. It just used to seem pointless sometimes when I was a lot bigger. It's all part of it - looking after yourself and realising that you ARE worth it and you will look and feel loads better when you're taking care of yourself.

Maintenance is definitely the key. It is easy to pull back a 3 or 4lb gain and can be done in a week. It's when you ignore that 10 or 11lb gain that you run into trouble. I'm attracted to JUDDD as a maintenance tool as the health benefits appeal plus I want to relax my eating sometimes. Psychologically though, I have accepted that , for me, I will ALWAYS be on a diet. I will always have to watch what I eat. There will be no more stuffing Waitrose cakes, kettle chips and trifle on a daily basis. No more scarfing down packets of cashew nuts etc... It's about vigilance at all times. I am not an 'emotional' eater but I am a compulsive one.

 

[weasey]

Yes - I'm a compulsive eater too. I think that's why having some form of structure suits me - the decision is already made. I'll be really inyerested to see how you get on with JUDDD - I like to have contingency plans in case my main ones don't work well and although I only know the basics about JUDDD it does sound interesting. Especially with the recent Horizon programme about the health benefits of fasting.

Keep us posted with how you get on!

 

[GretaGrip]

Structure is definitely the way to go! As is accepting that I'm always going to be very prone to weight gain and I will always have to make the right choices food wise - accepting that , yes, I will quite often feel deprived!

Juddd appeals because the weight loss/maintenance is all in the 'swing' of the calories - and when you are on a down day , you hang on because in the morning you can eat.

Gotta be worth a try!

 

[and]

Wow Weasey - I just read your veggie bit.
I've been a veggie for 28 years now and would never go back to eating meat!

I've actually just read an article in new scientist about fasting/ calorie restriction and health benefits. It mentions that protein is actually not good for you in high quantities in the long run and is linked to cancers and other such nasties...

I understand your desire to stay thin but I am wowed at your choice. (no judgement, just shocked).

Also it's kinda weird that the S&S diet is 100% suitable for veggies if you need meat to stay thin isn't it?

 

[weasey]

I don't think you need meat to stay thin at all! It was helpful for me. I have never over eaten on meat and fish so I don't have that association in my mind. For the first 6 months I was on the diet I ate only 4 packs a day - no veg no milk and no other food at all. That worked for me because it gave me a complete break from food. For the last 4 months I ate 3 packs and a protein meal (still no milk though). That is when I started to eat meat and fish. Now it is like eating is a completely different activity to me. I gave up eating and now I do someing different. That is due to the break from conventional food and the fact I am eating different food now. This worked for me. I would never say that you can't be vegetarian and slim/healthy. I just don't think that I can be vegetarian and slim/healthy.

 

[GretaGrip]

Well it's a choice isn't it ? I'm a long term vegetarian and truly believe that when done properly its the healthiest way to eat . Others believe that a diet rich in lean meat and fish is the way to go. No rights or wrongs really. Whatever works, works

How are you getting on weasey

 

[weasey]

I'm getting on really well thanks. How about you?

 

[GretaGrip]

I'm good thanks. Managed to reach 9 stone 1 and just been maintaining that over the past 4 weeks.

It's almost as hard as the dieting!

 

[weasey]

Harder I think! Well done!