Hi Everyone - I posted some of this in another thread I’m on, but wanted to include it here also since we’ve been a little quiet on this thread….
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Maintenance continues to come along okay, some trial and error but continued success. I lost another lb in maintenance in the last few weeks so I think I am on track overall and feel very good about it.
I had to reduce my calories just slightly and spread about my food some, when I started exercising my body was very hungry, so I was doing a small snack every three hours, but my body couldn’t digest it fast enough and I started to retain a lot water and get some constipation…. I did a P1 day and changed it up and wait a little longer between food, and made my meals a little smaller, and that seemed to clear it up.

Just a continued process of learning my body better and its signals. I also think it’s adjusting to the increased calories and just needing a little time.

I saw my doctor and clinic today, my inches in the last month are down quite a bit, 3 inches in my waist, which is my personal “trouble” area - so the program continues to work!

I officially started maintenance this week after 1 day of P1 which was after I freaked out on my vacation that I had gained a ton, my stomach was bothering me and I was travelling on a plane and couldn't figure out how I could be P3 anyway so I just did P1. As it turns out I did not gain on my trip (yeah me!) but I was feeling bloated. Also on vacation, I tried as hard as possible not to cheat even with the Easter candy, BBQ, and Tex Mex (we were in Texas)...but I did have little cheats which were sensible (alittle cheese on my salad, some beans, and some BBQ sauce that sort of thing)...and yahoo no gain. Before I left on the trip I was up 4 pounds and now I'm up 3 probably water weight or the result of my P1 day...who knows! Anyway, for dinner tonight I didn't have a carb because I hadn't planned for it per se but I had a chickpea salad with carrots in it. Man, it was good! My kids goobled it up also. So, we have a new addition to our rotation and I need to go to the store to better plan out my new maintenance status.

Shasta: Welcome! It's still all about planning. I thought Maintenance would be a bit easier, but it's not. I find using My Fitness Pal invaluable. You got this!

I'm doing a little sort of reboot. I'm going to do P1 for a couple of days, P2 on Sat. and P3 on Sun. I have almost 5 up lbs from when I started Maint. and my inches have gone up around my waist and thighs. I just feel puffy. So.. here I go.

The carbs at dinner have been the hardest part about Maintenance so far for me. I am afraid of them! Tried brown rice one evening but have been afraid to try the sweet potato I bought, much less any bread or pasta. Had one piece of toast one morning. The rice and toast did not seem to impact the scale, but I'm still wary of carbs and, unfortunately, have been mostly avoiding them in the evenings. Is this bad?

Actually here's a dumb question for you all: how quickly after you eat something can you expect to see a possible effect on the scale? I know it should be the second you consume it, but, with grains/bread, etc., when does it settle into your body? It is as obvious as "right away?"

The fats at lunch seem much easier: nuts, cheese, avocado, evoo.

Don't be too afraid of the carbs, they are important in maintenance...
Commit to trying to have your carb regularly, then check in a week or two (not every day!) to see how the level of net carbs is affecting you. If there is no effect, then up your carbs by a bit and try for another week or two. Continue this, until you start to gain and your weight/measurements stay up for a couple weeks. Remember that you need a range for your weight, pick a scream weight (for most of us that 5ish or so lbs from your goal/happy weight) and if you get to that, drop the carbs back to the level where you were maintaining.
This is part of normal maintenance. 'Reboot time' is when you try this and then decide to ignore your scream weight and just keep eating more than your body needs. And yes, it is a decision (conscious or not). It may seem like people who have always been slim don't do this, but actually they do it subconsciously. Their minds tell them, "I think I've had enough *fill-in-the-blank* now, so I'll stop." and then they do. That's how it was for me before I got ill and started to use food for boredom or stress relief. The problem starts when the amygdala ignores the rational brain.

Liana

OK, I hear ya. Thanks, Liana. I will go back through the Maintainers What Are You Eating Today threads to find some new dinner carb ideas -- ones that aren't as scary as bread and pasta. If any of you has a go-to list of yummy ones that have worked for you, I'm all eyes! So far, I see these making frequent appearances on maintainers' menus: brown rice, quinoa, crackers, tortilla chips, the occasional tortilla. I guess things like a yogurt raita, hummus, and fruit would be OK. And, hey, speaking of fruit … how about wine?! That's a carb, right?!

Non bread things for carbs that I use: sweet potato, red potato, beets, kale, parsnips and brussel sprouts are very carby veggies. Most fruits, especially the tropical ones. Also beans. I do my best (not always) to stay away from processed ways to get carbs. I do have my whole wheat organic English muffins for my breakfast sandwiches, which I adore.

Red Beans 'n' Rice, a corn tortilla to wrap your meal or just crisped in the oven under the broiler like taco chips but no extra fat, definitely fruit, sweet potato, a small baked potato, corn and peas (really yummy thawed and added to a salad without cooking in the summer), fresh pea pods, squash like butternut, & yogourt raita is awesome with shredded carrot and garum masala, or with a few chickpeas instead of cuke. I like pickled beets too, or borscht with sauerkraut and a dollop of Greek yogourt.
Ever made a shredded carrot & raisin salad? A small portion is very yummy. Watch the hummous as it can be equal parts fat & carb and needs something to throw the balance in one direction or the other (especially for a snack).
I'd suggest Craisins in your turkey burgers but that might set me off for a snack attack lol, my issue these past few weeks.

Hope you have fun hunting in the Maintainers Menus...We are now proudly on part 3!

Love all these ideas, Andrea and Liana!!! Thank you! Had forgotten some veggies have carbs (kale, beets, brussels sprouts). And thanks for the reminder on the hummus -- forgot about oil in there). And if I tried putting craisins in the turkey burgers, I'd be the only one in the family eating them!

Am keeping track of this list, but just so you know, I did heed your advice and actually had a tiny bit of whole wheat spaghetti under the shrimp scampi I made for the family. Yeah, it was good

Thank you Andrea and Liana. It is so great to get good ideas like this.

Liana, can you tell me a sentence or two more about what you mean when you say "Watch the hummous as it can be equal parts fat & carb and needs something to throw the balance in one direction or the other (especially for a snack)”.

I haven’t ventured into the hummus category yet but it’s something I have liked in the past. I am not quite ready to add beans in yet…. I’m only about 4 weeks in to P4 and I am trying to add things a little more slowly so I can see how they are affecting me. A few things I’ve noticed don’t quite work, esp. later in the day, or if I don’t give myself a good four hours to digest. Also my body doesn’t seem quite ready to mix too many things at once - it gets a little sluggish.

Did any of you notice this? If so does it get a little better after a while? I noticed this week my body seems to be digesting better, not so much bloating or water retention, BMs finally starting to get better after a year on IP of not so great.
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Mimi, I am having a similar experience. At first I was nervous about the carbs at night (by the way I noticed if I ate a small potato several nights in a row in seemed to cause some gain, but every few days worked ok…. I was just so excited for a potato at first…now I’m not so afraid of them, but interestingly not that attracted to them this week after the initial “newness” wore off. I have been doing quinoa, which I tolerate fine, but often skip it at dinner and just add a little fruit instead on a salad.

Like you, I think the lunch time fats rock loving a bit of avocado, a bit of cheese. I saw my awesome physical therapist today who just rocks at body functioning, and he said that after weight loss and reduction in fat intake, the body/organs/etc. will really want, crave, and need the fat, so it’s great I’m having measured amounts of good healthy fats.

p.s. Also any thoughts about nuts and nut butter? I am careful with the quantities because of the calories, and try to just do one or the other, but it’s starting to become a daily part of my diet. My body seems to do fine with them and they aren’t causing weight gain. I usually do some nuts or nut butter in the morning, and then also sometimes as a snack with apple/celery or yogurt. I know they are also a mixture of fat/protein and I think carbs? so wasn’t sure if you have helpful experience or thoughts….

re: Hummous... You want your meal to be at least close to 3:1 ratio, so if you are using a bit of hummous you could go either way - up the accompanying fats by toasting walnuts to mix into the hummous and topping lower carb veggies (makes an awesome 'sauce') OR you could slather it on cheese (but that's just me, heheh, I love the tanginess with the cheese). Up the carbs by dipping baby carrots in it or having it with a few baked tortilla chips OR spreading it on your piece of toast if the hummous is fairly thick (like peanut butter).

Nuts are very useful! And tasty. Higher ratio fat to carb nuts are Macadamia, Walnut, and Pecan. The others have a few more carbs in them. So if you want to add something for correct proportions for your fat meal but don't want too much more volume nuts are perfect. Andrea & I both like blue cheese & nuts in a salad. Nut butter is good with celery, but watch the apple because you are combining a higher fat with a higher carb at the same time. It may not affect you as a snack, but then again it might... just something to try out and keep an eye on. It's the combination of fats & sugars & salt that create cravings in the brain: Michael Moss' Pulitzer Prize winner book is worth reading if you haven't yet. http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Sugar-Fat.../dp/0812982193

Liana

I also rarely eat potatoes (and my dad grows some awesome tasting ones) but I just don't really feel like them more than a couple times a month. I do like quinoa though.

I really quinoa a lot. But I usually make it with chicken broth and no matter how low sodium it is I usually see a weight increase the next day. I know it's from water retention, but still don't like seeing the scale go up. It has very little flavor on it's own so I have to doctor it up a bit. I don't see the same thing happen with brown rice, but I cook that in water. But Bragg's Liquid Aminos also gets me every time and it's way lower in sodium than even lite soy sauce. I'm just very sensitive to sodium I guess.

As far as the nuts go, I agree with Liana. I have the blue cheese/walnut/chicken salad a couple of times a week for lunch. Macadamia nuts make a great snack. I like putting slivered almonds on my salad as well if I need more fats.

Nut butter gets me into trouble I have found. If I put it on celery I do ok. It's when I put it on dark chocolate squares to make my own version of a Reese's peanut butter cup that I get into trouble!

Hence the reboot that I am doing. I was disappointed this morning when I got on the scale after my P1 day yesterday and nothing was lost. That's the first time since I started Maintenance that I've done a P1 day and not lost the next. But I'm on day 2 of P1 so we'll see where that gets me. If nothing is lost tomorrow, maybe I'll just stay on P1 till I get where I want to be. And now back to my broccoli soup with broccoli for lunch. Yummo!!

I went to the store and bought quinoa, chickpeas, black beans, sweet potato, and butternut squash which was what I was going to add in for the carbs at dinner and see how it goes. I forgot about peas! I also bought avocado, feta cheese, and some nuts to add to my lunch salads.

It's fun to have more options and I can see how you can go off the rails!!
But for now like others have said, I'm trying to do it a little at a time. For example, today with my kale salad I added pistachio nuts but stuck with just olive oil and salt instead of the dressing that came with the mix. I remember that dressing and it is really good (plus the craisins!). I'm happy to say that I was down another pound from my original up 3 pounds so I realize that I probably should stop weighing every day and go to once a week. Is that what others do?

Shasta I still weigh every day, as I like the data, but I have worked over the years not to have an emotional reaction to it, and really only evaluate the "data" so to speak once a week and esp. once a month, so for me it works.
I see my clinic once a month still, I likely will for another few months, so I put the most attention on that pattern - the monthly one.

I have a tendency to disassociate from my body and get in denial when I know weight is creeping on, so the daily check in forces me to confront that if/whenever it happens and not let it get out of hand.