Hi Novak: Good to 'meet' you, this thread has been interesting...
I'm a 1 yr maintainer (there's a few of us posting on the maintainers threads here). One thing my clinic mentioned is the 1 yr 'tune-up' every year to get any up-pounds off. At first I was thinking a cash grab, lol, but it's likely a good idea to put into planning that way nothing gets too out of control. At my clinic if you phased off properly at goal, there are no extra charges for the coaching/weighing/measuring weekly. I'm not sure if the tune-up was ever talked about when you first started IP, but it seems that that's the thing now, at least at the good clinics that have coaches who keep up with the latest IP info from head office..
Since all of us maintainers on the threads have a 'scream weight' (that moment when you realize that you've gained 5 lbs or so and not temporarily from bloat either) we just reign things in at that point. Since the body is not a chemistry set in a closed system, there will be fluctuations, but we can't worry about those as it's normal biology. What we DO need to watch is the gradual creep and especially the mindset that 'just a little won't hurt/I'm only up a bit.'
As the Beck books encourage... best to get one's head in the right space for dealing with stresses, since we will always have some sort of stress, whether good or bad. Looks like you have figured this out
Hi Novak: Good to 'meet' you, this thread has been interesting...
I'm a 1 yr maintainer (there's a few of us posting on the maintainers threads here). One thing my clinic mentioned is the 1 yr 'tune-up' every year to get any up-pounds off. At first I was thinking a cash grab, lol, but it's likely a good idea to put into planning that way nothing gets too out of control. At my clinic if you phased off properly at goal, there are no extra charges for the coaching/weighing/measuring weekly. I'm not sure if the tune-up was ever talked about when you first started IP, but it seems that that's the thing now, at least at the good clinics that have coaches who keep up with the latest IP info from head office..
Since all of us maintainers on the threads have a 'scream weight' (that moment when you realize that you've gained 5 lbs or so and not temporarily from bloat either) we just reign things in at that point. Since the body is not a chemistry set in a closed system, there will be fluctuations, but we can't worry about those as it's normal biology. What we DO need to watch is the gradual creep and especially the mindset that 'just a little won't hurt/I'm only up a bit.'
As the Beck books encourage... best to get one's head in the right space for dealing with stresses, since we will always have some sort of stress, whether good or bad. Looks like you have figured this out
Liana
Good to meet you also. I have visited your maintainers thread.
On the annual tune-up as you refer to it, yes. My maintenance coach was Dr. Zumbado here in the DC area, with whom oneuh2 almost had a $75 workshop date before she and others were apparently "dis-invited" for coming from a clinic on the wrong side of the tracks. I think that's a shame, as she was an excellent coach (and free back in the old days), and her workshops inspired my Life After Phase 1 thread.
On the fluctuations, absolutely! I can be all over the map whether I'm on the diet or not. I know this because I am a chronic scale hopper, and have have seen how I can run my beloved Omron through its paces without even trying. So "beware the creep" is my mantra, whether in the bathroom or the crowded Metro.
Likewise with the stress. I have figured out it affects me, but I need to manage the really negative kind more effectively. By negative, I am referring to the kind that gets insidiously into my head as opposed to the external kind, such as serious family illness, death of a loved one, etc., which are obviously also negative.
Anyway, that's where I plan to go tomorrow. I'm about all posted out for today.
Novak: I read Life after Phase 1 several times. Thank you so much for coming back in and giving us a glimpse of our own futures. I am in my 3rd month of maintaining and these boards have been my source of inspiration. I look forward to reading your posts!
Novak: I read Life after Phase 1 several times. Thank you so much for coming back in and giving us a glimpse of our own futures. I am in my 3rd month of maintaining and these boards have been my source of inspiration. I look forward to reading your posts!
These boards were my coach, except for maintenance, when I was coached by Dr. Z. since there was nothing in the forum at that time. During the first 3 phases, my own chiropractor's coaching was marginal - I could weigh and measure myself more accurately at home, so that's what I did, and the forum filled in the rest of the blanks. I plan to do a hit and run here at the 5 year mark, so I hope it adds to the knowledge base for people on maintenance. Dr. Z said she only hands out a Phase 4 protocol if people insist on it. I chose instead to follow the path she described verbally, and tried to adapt in a way that would best ensure success, based on my lifestyle and challenges. The point is, it doesn't have to be laborious. You don't need to count and record and fill your busy day with additional tasks to succeed. For me, if I had to do that, I could never keep it up, and never be successful.
I feel a need to state once again that these are my experiences and coping strategies, which may or may not work for you. We are all different, and juggle our lives in a stressful, complicated world.
I happen to be a single, independent, professional woman who is up at 3:30AM and commutes into Washington D.C. every day from the Virginia suburbs. My older sister (and diet partner) lives in the New Hampshire countryside with her husband of 40+ years and our younger sister (formerly a travel agent in Alaska) who suffered a tragic cardiac arrest 10 years ago that left her with virtually no short term memory. The day to day stresses my older sister faces as a full-time caregiver working part time as an EMT coordinator for the state and caring for a couple of retired show jumpers, are very different from mine. I manage an organization of 30+ analysts, trying to negotiate the US human space program through a fast-paced and sometimes hostile Washington political environment. We’re best friends, but our lives are kind of night and day, except that she is an early riser also.
Though we were able to follow the Phase 1-3 protocols (pretty much a no-brainer) together, maintaining within our day-to-day worlds differs a great deal. What works for one doesn’t always work for the other, or at least the timing doesn’t always sync up. I am currently in the mode of get it all off, do Phase 3, and head back to my 2011-2012 maintenance plan. She is in repeated false start mode, and we decided this morning that the timing just isn’t right, so she’s going to eat smart and hold at her current weight.
I say all this because, while I was a rigid, model dieter through the program in 2010, I am still feeling my own way 5 years later, and have not mastered a life-long maintenance approach. I can support my sister and provide advice, but she has to make things work her own way. We all do.
I live alone and have absolute control over the food that comes into my house, and how it is prepared. When I get home at the end of the day, there are no demands on me from other humans (just a couple of “starving” felines.) These are advantages many people do not have. I would not presume to advise anyone to change their lifestyle; more times than not, I believe people will ultimately fail if their maintenance plan does not fit seamlessly into their life circumstances.
So I am figuring out that I need to pause and decide how to revise my current plan. Having perused my reboot data yesterday, I know that I want to regain the metabolism I had in place for the 2 years after my weight loss. I want to say goodbye to weight “creep” and the seemingly perpetual reboots. More on this to come.
COACHING
This topic has come up, so I am going to address it head on. I am not an IP coach. I am not qualified to be an IP coach. Part of the game is supposed to be that a qualified health care or weight loss professional monitor your progress. As I have stated, I worked with my own chiropractor weekly and Dr. Z via workshop, but stopped going in to be weighed and measured by staff. To be honest, I was able to get more accurate, consistent data at home, which I wanted to become more physically self-aware. I was still seeing my doc for regular adjustments and he had just completed the diet, so he was keeping track of me. Otherwise, I depended on the forum and my own research.
I coached my sister because she had no IP provider nearby, and I had been on the program a few months when she started. I had demonstrated impressive results, and we were able to confer on a daily basis. I then coached a friend/colleague of 20+ years, and we also had regular contact. Note that he had met with a physician at the outset some distance away from his home, and she agreed to provide his IP products and be available for visits as necessary.
I do not and cannot coach others, though these days there are many people out there who can. So please, anyone who is coming into the program without medical supervision, I strongly encourage you to seek out someone who is trained to advise you and knows your medical status from the outset. The protocol is chemically sensitive, and it is important to do carefully, particularly if you have any health considerations and/or medications going in. I don’t know anyone who did not transition properly and kept the weight off.
As far as Phase 4 goes, I am probably even less qualified to coach anyone – as I hope I have clearly expressed. I decided to put my story out there, and let folks do with it what they will. Maybe it resonates, maybe not. I have had periods of “doing it right” and “doing it wrong.” I’m quite sure some people on the forum are mortified when they read about my loosey-goosey approach. So even if someone picks up a tip on how NOT to do it, that’s more maintenance help than I got from the forum back in 2010. But I take heart in one thing as I struggle through this on my own: I have not gained back all the weight, as so many others have. Not even close. And I don’t intend to.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
This was a bit of a side trip, but I still plan to post a couple more times today. I want to talk about addictive behavior and managing the triggers that get me into trouble. I also have notes on the forum, so I’ll do that also. Then I’m done. I dedicated the weekend to doing this because, as a research/information junkie, I feel knowledge sharing is important, and this place helped me change my life.
I have to say, if anyone is put-off by any of your posts, I assume it can only be based on jealousy, because you go out of your way to be self-effacing, straightforward, honest and "non-preachy" - which is a very difficult thing to do, as sometimes sharing personal experience can be worded such that one can come off sounding like a 'know-it-all'. You do not. I am not as eloquent as you, so I am sure I sometimes unintentionally do!
The insight and information you are sharing is priceless! I wish I could convince you to continue your contributions on a regular basis! I think when you have decided you have shared everything you want to share, and this thread is closed, it should definitely be added as a sticky - along with your original Life After Phase I. How is that done? Do you message one of the moderators?
As I said before, I am devouring your posts! They resonate so much with me on so many levels - even having close sister ties like you do THANK YOU for opening up and sharing so much with us, both personal and IP informational. You have helped so many in immeasurable ways!
The insight and information you are sharing is priceless! I wish I could convince you to continue your contributions on a regular basis! I think when you have decided you have shared everything you want to share, and this thread is closed, it should definitely be added as a sticky - along with your original Life After Phase I. How is that done? Do you message one of the moderators?
As I said before, I am devouring your posts! They resonate so much with me on so many levels - even having close sister ties like you do THANK YOU for opening up and sharing so much with us, both personal and IP informational. You have helped so many in immeasurable ways!
PS - as you see below, I have adopted your motto
I don't know the answer to your sticky question, but I suspect contacting a moderator is correct. Someone more forum savvy than I will have to confirm.
Let’s face it – most of us who find ourselves in a serious weight mess have some sort of addiction, usually to food. It is a reward, a comfort, whatever… but it’s something we develop dependence on, particularly when we face certain triggers. I call myself an emotional eater, since the events in my life that led to my initial weight gain were sudden, family medical emergencies that required my older sister and me to drop everything and take on life and death, months of recovery, and the great unknown of outcomes. When that happens, you just have to do – you can’t wallow or grieve, really – and over what added up to years, we both went on anti-depressants and packed on the pounds. So yes, that was the how we got to be what my nephew used to call “heavy duty girls”.
On top of that, I know that I have addictive tendencies. When I was running marathons, I got addicted to that. I don’t always manage stress well – an indicator. Periods of depression, compulsive shopping, general anxiety, computer use (including this forum) – more indicators. I sound like a complete basket case, but these are just tendencies, and I think it’s smart to recognize that they exist, since they are generally triggered by stress. I could be wrong, but I actually think I’m pretty normal.
Anyway, that’s one reason why I plan to hit and run this weekend… it would be too easy to get pulled into the drama of the forum! When I was on the program, I couldn’t use food as my crutch, so I got myself addicted to the weight loss and the forum. At the time, it really worked out perfectly for me, because I was so motivated to see the numbers on the scale go down. But we did have drama, and while it was relevant to me then, I have plenty in my own life right now.
So keeping these tendencies in mind, I am in the process of implementing a new routine for my life, which I am only able to do because I am independent and I have made some decisions that are going to change my modus operandi anyway. Once that happened, I began to change my perspective, and have consequently been able to let go of some lingering anger and resentment that have had negative effects on my health, both physical and mental. (I know I am being oblique here… sorry.)
At any rate, I have initiated steps to manage the critical stress component of my weight gain equation. A key to this is my addictive tendencies, which I have sometimes been able to shift from one “addiction” to another, as described above. Back in my earlier days, I was a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM). My sisters and mother were, as well. This was not some sort of hippy/flower child sort of move – even then it was a more of a stress and health issue. (My mom had been widowed with 4 kids when she was 38, and it was a rough road for her at times.) I was the closest thing the family had to a hippy, but if TM was in any way about a search for enlightenment then, it’s now about a search for low blood pressure and less fatigue. I pulled the old switcheroo during my long Metro commute last week, giving up some Candy Crush addiction time for the new meditating addiction. Boy, did that make a difference!
My sister and I are also planning to do another half marathon next January, in a show of solidarity with our brother, who is coming down the home stretch to 50 lifetime full marathons – including one next January. These will be at WDW, as was once our tradition. So you don’t go thinking we are some sort of fitness family, you can see the pre and post diet photos of my sister and me on my public profile (I’m the taller one). And suffice it to say that over the years, my brother’s running routine has consisted largely of “hash clubs,” which are social organizations dedicated to running and drinking beer. The Tokyo Marathon just put him at 45, where he barely beat out the “sweeper bus.” Nevertheless, I have dusted off my “EZ half marathon training plan” and will put that into motion when the weather gets more jogging-friendly.
I have been trying to conjure up the times I’ve been happiest over recent years, and get them back into my life. I was happy being in marathon shape. Having lost the weight also made me happy. Writing was another, though I dropped that when my sister got sick, and it’s been hard to get it back. I do quite a bit of writing at work, but not the creative, imaginative story-telling kind. At one point I was juggling 3 novels, taking fiction classes, etc. I was in the middle of one when I dropped everything and raced to Alaska having learned that my sister was in the ICU as Amy Doe. My instructor, a novelist, told me I needed to write about it when I could, but I still haven’t been able to. Oddly, this little writing exercise on the forum has started to get me back in the groove, so it’s actually done more for me than I ever expected.
I don’t know if all of this will work, but I think I can make it happen, and there is no better time than now to do it. I need more happiness in my life, and I’ve only been getting in my own way. So as you get off the diet, I think it’s important to face and deal with the triggers in your life. Do what you can to be happy inside. You’ll already be happy when you reach your goal, but be prepared for what life will throw at you as time goes by. Find things besides food that bring you happiness and comfort. The problem is that it’s so easy to open the fridge and get instant gratification. Establishing other routines before the stress hits will make it easier to choose an alternative when you really need it.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
I think I have one last post in me for later today. One part is about the forum, and the other is some useful information about the products I now use during my reboots, since another thing about multiple reboots is that they can get pricey!
I think when you have decided you have shared everything you want to share, and this thread is closed, it should definitely be added as a sticky - along with your original Life After Phase I.
Links to this and other "Life After..." threads have been added to the sticky.
Hi Novak, I found your Life After Phase 1 very helpful when I was transitioning to the other Phases. I read both your thread and Maintainers. Even tried to start your thread subject up again last June, because there did not seem to be any threads that specifically address this period of the IP journey. And... this can be a nerve wracking time.
I have really enjoyed reading about your journey and the realities of long term maintenance. Thank you for sharing and adding another chapter.
Novak, you're a very, very good writer. Your pacing and phrasing are fantastic. I hope that you do manage to make writing a regular part of your life!
!
moment when you realize that you've gained 5 lbs or so and not temporarily from bloat either) we just reign things in at that point. Since the body is not a chemistry set in a closed system, there will be fluctuations, but we can't worry about those as it's normal biology. What we DO need to watch is the gradual creep and especially the mindset that 'just a little won't hurt/I'm only up a bit.'
