Quote:
Originally Posted by Cadu
(Post 4368272)
Ishbel how are you doing in maintenance? Is it hard to find the balance? I am very nervous about maintenance and being able to keep the weight off. Even though I have been eating the phase 1 way for 4 months I still look at it as a diet and that it will end and I will be able to eat again later. That thinking has kept me op this long. but now that I am nearing goal I feel I better change my attitude to keep this weight off in fear of going back to my old eating habits.
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Wow, how to respond to that (and this being only my fourth week)...hmmm...it's scarey, it's a rollercoaster of emotions getting used to NOT seeing the scale move down while knowing you're done and it's ok. It's a "HOLY SMACKERS" (ok I different words) when the scale goes up after your first cheat day (you're not suppose to weigh until after the Phase 1 day, I'm like a little kid with a hot stove). And then you see it go back down again...I'm feeling good, or at least I'm feeling a groove.
I used to think I'd float between 165-170...but I feel WAY more in control when I start the day between 159-163. This morning I'm 161. I don't dislike that I'm emotionally attached to my scale (some people are), I track what I eat 5 days of the week on 'my net diary' and I'm seeing a trend of calories between 1300 - 1800ish (depending on whether I excersise or not). I don't track cheat day (I pay attention to what I choose though) or Phase 1 day. I'm not eating the packets unless it's a PH1 day or a bar right after excersise. I do not have issues nor have I ever had issues with the bars so having two strawberry wafers in my cupboard is 'ok' to me, I get them when I run (that simple).
I like having snacks at night, I choose fruit....I could eat fruit all day but I only have it in the morning (still having Ph3 brekkies) and for a snack (with fat free greek yogurt) in the evening (almost like a dessert). Spending a year on a high protein diet, I prefer some protein at night so I don't go to bed hungry.
Maintenance has rules too and I'm finding comfort in those rules (keeping carbs and fats seperate, fun days, phase 1 days), it's just that what you can eat might not be what I can eat. So it's a self discovery. My first fun day was a little overboard :D, I refused to tell my coach what I ate...but lets just say I had such a sugar crash that I fell asleep on new carpet in the middle of a renovation LMAO. I felt like crap...BUT...I wouldn't change that day for the world cause it reminded me of what I used to feel like AND I hardly ate as much as I used to...and I had all these things I hadn't had for a YEAR. And, two days of Phase 1 took it off, apparently I didn't need to do Phase 1 for two days but it was ok if it made me feel better (lol). Now, I take it much slower, because if you eat everything in sight then you don't know what your body is complaining about.
Ie, two weekends ago I had a chilled out fun day little of this little of that, this past weekend, I was at my sister's 40th bday party. I had two shots and two drinks (with splenda ginger ale) and really I pooped out...and I remember thinking "yup, my drug of choice is food". I was never really a drinker but I was a party girl (when I partied, I partied hard)...and four drinks make me go to bed?? Needless to say the VIP said "it's not a bad thing you know" lol
I don't know if you pay attention to the maintainers thread, but I posted yesterday about dreading my Phase 1 day...I do, right now if I think about it I'm like "blech"...but then right after a fun day you're "THANK GAWD FOR PHASE 1"...cause your rings don't fit right, you feel gross, bloated etc etc and it's just nice to eat 'light'.
I just purchased tickets to Scotland end of August, two weeks full of Scottish treats and no scale :(...BUT I'm already mentally preparing myself for one to two weeks of Phase 1 when I get back to fix whatever happens, if I want to stay where I am, I must fix it.
Maintenance is a mental game just like Phase 1...so technically it's not much different. Your issues are managed in Phase 1, you just have to keep managing them (cause ultimately they never go away right?).
Wow, long post...sorry. Hope that helps?