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Old 04-13-2006, 04:06 PM   #1  
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Default My maintanence! A little help, pretty please?

Hi guys!! Well, I've been maintaining a weight of between 160 and 164 for the past 6 months now. I was steady at 160 for quite a while, but for the past 2 weeks I've been at 164 which is not cool. I'm pretty sure it's because I haven't been eating reduced calorie yogurt though. But anyway, I wanted to ask you about my eating and how my food choices look to you.

Breakfast: Quaker Oatmeal with cinammon and apples

Mid-morning snack: Yogurt (which I'm now switching back to low-fat and low-calorie!!)

Lunch: Lean Cuisine

Mid-afternoon snack: Pink Lady Apple and some Quaker Caramel Corn Rice Cakes

Pre-Dinner: Giant salad with Romaine lettuce, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, snow-peas, sweet peppers, chick peas, a few croutons and fat-free ranch dressing.

Dinner: Whatever my husband makes, as long as it's not deep fried or drowned in a cream sauce!! I watch my portions and load up on the veggies!!

How does this sound? I don't want to get over 164 pounds. I have to admit, I have been a little lax on my eating. My DH and I have been going out to dinner once a week. I've been eating cheeseburgers and fries. We have been going out to breakfast as well and I get an omelet with veggies and cheese and hashbrowns. My weight hasn't budged at all, but now it is. I don't want to be complacent!!! But, I have been exercising more and at a higher intensity.
I'm just VERY, VERY, VERY scared that I'm going to gain it all back. Please, help me out!!
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Old 04-13-2006, 04:47 PM   #2  
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Relax! You're not going to gain it all back! You'd have to make a lot of really bad choices to gain it all back and it doesn't look like you're doing that at all. But you're very smart to nip any regain in the bud at four pounds and not let it get out of hand. Have you checked out the sticky in the Maintenance Library - TFL Key #5: Nip It In The Bud: Break The Relapse Cycle? It's got a lot of great info in it.

Let me ask you a few questions before we look at your menu -- first, do you count calories or track in Fitday? It's really hard to figure out exactly how much you're eating unless you can add it up. Did you count calories while you were losing?

Second, do you get hungry during the day eating what you have listed?

Third, have you changed your eating since you reached goal?

OK, my first take is that you are REALLY light on protein (that's why I asked about whether or not you get hungry). Your breakfast and three snacks are almost all carbs (there's a little protein in there, but not much). I would be chewing my arm off from hunger an hour after eating each of those meals!

If the oatmeal is the instant kind, it's highly processed and full of sugar. Better to substitute the real stuff and it cooks in only 2 minutes, 15 seconds in the microwave. Scramble some egg whites while it's cooking it and you have a real breakfast.

Yogurt: definitely opt for the SF, LF kind. You could add a protein serving to that also.

Lean Cuisine: highly processed, low in fiber, high in sodium, low in protein - but convenient . Could you pack a lunch instead with protein, some veggies, and complex carbs?

Apple and rice cakes: all carbs, though the apple is a good carb. The caramel rice cakes are loaded with sugar and have very little nutrition. They're basically diet junk food. How about string cheese with the apple instead? Or some other protein?

Salad: I can't knock a good salad , though you could throw some chicken or tuna on for protein.

Dinner: you're probably getting some protein there. Other than that, we don't have much to go on.

I'm all in favor of eating every three hours or so and frequent small meals, so I definitely think you're on the right track there. What works for me are five meals a day too, but I make sure to have some protein with each one. I put together a protein + good carb, which would be fruits, veggies, and complex starches like (real) oatmeal.

So why am I making such a fuss about protein? A few reasons - first, protein helps keep you full longer. Second, when you're working out, you need protein to build and repair your muscles. Third, there are some studies showing that eating a higher protein diet helps with weight loss: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3076969/ .

So please don't be scared! As long as you're consciously thinking about making good food choices, you'll be just fine. My suggestions are to track what you're eating to see what your daily calories are, add in some protein, get away from sugar, and beware eating out!
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Old 04-13-2006, 04:47 PM   #3  
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I don't think it's the yogurt It sounds more like burgers, fries and hashbrowns.

It might be a good idea to use Fitday or some other calorie tracking tool for 1 week just to get an idea of what you are really eating. It's easy for me to get complacent and not count little nibbles here or there when I am feeling comfortable with my weight.

You're good to catch it at 4 lbs. You know exactly how to lose weight. Adjust calories for a couple of weeks until you at 160 again. I just had a great week of vacation where I ate what I wanted to. I was up 2 lbs when I got back, so I'm back to "diet mode" for a couple of weeks (eating 1700 calories, not 2000) until I get back to where I want to be.
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Old 04-26-2006, 03:19 PM   #4  
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Default Update report - cemetarysiren25?

Hi cemetarysiren25,

I was wondering how things are going now? Were the 4 pounds water weight, from your sore muscles retaining water & the salt from fries/cheeseburgers/hashbrowns adding to it? Or have they been harder to take off, has it been actual weight gained?

I just woke up from my complacency and realized that I was 3 pounds up, all added fat from dinner out/poor snack choices/skipping workouts over the past few months. Like Glory87 I'm going back to reduced calories for the next little while to whittle away at my gain. I've also stopped skipping my workouts & bought more veggies for snacking. Constant vigilance seems to be the key.

Here's hoping that everything is back to rights and you're back to 160lb. You didn't lose it in 2 weeks, and you can't put it on that quickly either. It's a good thing you're keeping on your toes, you'll keep your amazing 120 pounds off lady! Congrats on your amazing loss, and 6 months of maintenance and counting!

-Amy
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Old 05-09-2006, 03:00 PM   #5  
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I took it off right away!! LOL I also changed the way that I was eating. Meg's response to me was a big wake up call and a big motivator. I'm not eating anything (hardly) processed anymore. I'm drinking a lot more water and really limiting my diet soda intake (BIG addiction!!)
For breakfast, I've been scrambling one whole egg and one egg white. I put that on a Thomas' Light English Muffin with one serving of fat free cheddar cheese. My own Egg McMuffin and it's delicious!!
Mid morning, I eat fruit. Usually some strawberries and blackberries/rasberries with a little bit of Splenda.
I've been having a blast with finding new things to eat for lunch. One day it will be a giant salad with tuna. Another day it will be a wrap with 99% fat free turkey breast and red peppers, green peppers and onions. I also started making a banging chicken salad with canned chicken breast, onions and peppers.
For mid-afternoon snack I eat a LOW FAT/LOW CALORIE yogurt, carrots with hummus, string cheese, or celery sticks with low fat or fat free cream cheese.
I still love eating my "before dinner salad".
And my husband has been cooking these AWESOME healthy meals!! Fish with red beans and rice and veggies. Portobella mushrooms with balsamic vinegar and sweet potatoes. I even started making a delicious dish (I'm VERY new to cooking!!) with whole-wheat pasta, veggies and fat free Parmesan Italian salad dressing from Wegmans.
Yes, I'm loving my new eating habits!! So much more exciting than the same thing EVERY DAY! LOL
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Old 05-09-2006, 05:31 PM   #6  
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Yay!!! And doesn't it just make you feel soooo good? I CRAVE healthy food now!

(most of the time, that is )
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Old 05-09-2006, 09:18 PM   #7  
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Wow! You've made some great changes Enjoy your new foods.

Mel
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Old 05-10-2006, 10:09 AM   #8  
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Excellent!
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Old 05-10-2006, 03:21 PM   #9  
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Cematary -- Great ideas! Now, can your hubby come cook for moi? Sounds like he's got some great ideas there...
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Old 05-11-2006, 10:38 AM   #10  
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Oh, it feels fantastic!! I actually look forward to eating now instead of thinking..."Oh goody, Lean Cuisine....AGAIN." LOL I look forward to cooking, making my lunches, there are SOOO many options now that I've done some reasearch!!! Hooray for healthy food!!
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