Quote:
Originally Posted by mars735
Congratulations, kcdoe!
I've been on maintenance for 7 months, and still finding my way. fwiw..
I can't handle the big P3 breakfast. It makes me feel wired & then I crash and feel hungry all day. I have a whey protein shake and half an orange most days. I also have 4 cups of water first thing in the morning. If I do something different, I stick to high protein with a little carb: 1 egg/2eggwhite omelette & salsa, maybe some butternut squash.
Lunch and dinner are P2ish; basically protein with veggies and a little oil & a daily green salad. I prefer the low carb veggies, but have added back things like carrots. My meals are pretty small--I get full easily, so I have 4-5.
I am very carb sensitive. Too much is a roller coaster, too little and I feel lethargic. I have about 60 g of carb/day. I don't do a fun day other than social occasions, as they have triggered binges. I often have whole food treats like extra servings of my regular food, or an avocado or apple.
I would like to see IP offer more specific guidelines, but I imagine they stick to what they can truly back up. We are all so different. I wish you the best on this journey. It's a little scary at first, but then it can be really fun to explore how to maintain your healthy new body.
Mars..I am with you...!!!
VERY carb sensitive and the big breakfast did not sit well with me AT ALL...
I do better with
3 breakfasts I rotate during 6 days M-Sat...
(1) A 3-egg white and veggie omlettes,
(2) A protein shake diluted with 1C Almond milk and strong coffee made into a vanilla or mocha latte (split into 2 shakes actually...) with a hardboiled egg if I am hungry mid AM.
(3)Berries with cottage cheese or yogurt and an egg white or small (2) egg white omlette.
Do these each twice a week.
We do a "brunch" on Sundays:
For me- Usually 1 poached egg over a green salad (lemon and oil dressing) and a small pork cutlet, (rather than a cured meat...we avoid nitrates) a few avacado slices, or berries and 1/2 C cottage cheese or greek yogurt.
Lunch is usually a salad and 3-4 oz left over chicken/pork/steak/seafood etc . I plan dinner so there is something left over for my nxt day's lunch.
Dinner is pretty much 6-8 oz grilled meat or fish, a veggie and green salad.
Snacks are almost always almonds or a few pieces of some nice cheese...but I go way easy on the rice crackers...more often than not having none!! Occasional glass of wine when we are out.
Starch: Eliminate/substitute another veggie for potatoes or rice when ordering out...and usually ask for sauces on the side and do lemon and olive oil dressing myself. I eat all veggies now...beets, and sweet potaoes more sparingly though. Careful with fruit...if it's in an occasional salad or is a fresh fruit dessert...OK...but do not grab apples or bananas during the day...at close to 100 calories each piece...I have no room in my maintenance-diet day for those large numbers since BMR is based on height. And I am one of those people who truly feel better with protein than carbs. That is a blessing.
Have had chocolate a few times...that is something I try to only do the dark dark kind...and really rare...treat...and don't keep it in the house!!!
For me this diet was a lifestyle change and one I embraced. But NOT going back to foods that are high in carbs, sugars and have been processed was easy for me...being gluten free by necessity for 8 years now...helped.
Pizza and pastry were never on my radar...and I don't buy the GF equivalents, except for rice crackers. And that's only because my husband eats them and prefers them over regular....Better for me if they are NOT in abundance in this house...I also like them.. a lot!! I find this way of eating is very easy to handle with travel and socially. I'm known as being picky...and that is OK.. Picky people are usually thin. When I do have a glass of wine...it is a REALLY GOOD one...and I thoroughly enjoy it!! I also enjoy a Mojhito with
no sugar...and my son-in-law swears he is going to convert me to some vodka drink very low in carbs when we go to Mexico in a few weeks!
I've needed to kick up the exercise intensity to maintain...
Routine more intense now and do monitor my heart rate appropriate to my age to be sure I am working hard enough...and yes...I sweat more!!!
6 days a week..
3 days of circuit and either ride 5 miles on a stationary recumb bike that day...or walk outside weather permitting about 3 miles.
The other 3 days I don't do circuit, but do back and leg exercises and ride 10 miles at level 4 on the recumb bike...and am pleased to say my speed is now 10 MPH!!! Currently, am at the gym from 7- to about 8:20 every day except Sunday...Trying to relax that day. As the weather gets nicer now I may begin to take a longer outside walk....and am considering getting a bike for riding with my husband this summer.
Life is good...I can move easily...fit in nice clothes and no longer am fixated on ideas for losing weight.
I weigh every day....
It's so much better to fixate on maintaining...MUCH easier. (Although some consider maintenance hard...pick your hard....This is an easier mental ride...Really.) Which is why I have advocated getting an exercise routine established and making peace with the scale BEFORE you get to maintenance. Those pieces need to
not be challenging......it's time to just get on with your life. And it should be a good one, and well deserved after months of fighting to lose. Maintenance should all about what you won!