Do you feel you spend too much time on your maintenance goals?
Some days it seems that all I do is plan what to eat, prepare it, eat, shop for groceries, exercise, and think about my next meal. What do you ladies do to avoid this life-sucking trap? I don't want to spend my life obsessing about food and exercise!
I will spend a lot of time, usually on Sunday, making things easier for the rest of the week. I'll carve up the cauliflower and put it in single serve baggies. Same for grapes and the dry cereal I sometimes snack on. I do all my shopping on one day, figure out meals for the week, what fruit and other healthy snacks I need to buy. I buy a lot of stuff in single serving size--more expensive, but less time consuming. I also buy a lot of canned soups, frozen entrees, and stuff like that, easy and quick to make. Sometimes if I'm feeling ambitious, I cook a big batch of something and freeze it in those single-serve semi-disposable plastic containers. I have single serve everything lying around the house, and then it's no time at all.
I plan my exercise in batches. Figure out what I want to do for the week, schedule it in, write it down, and then I just do it. No thinking required after that.
I also try to get things done when I have more time available--packing my lunch the night before, instead of the morning when I'm rushed. Putting out my clothes for early morning exercise the night before, so I don't have to hunt them down when I'm tired and cranky.
Finally, I have a very supportive husband who does his share of the chores, and I have a decent job, so I can hire help when I need it, to make more time for the things that are important to me. I have the house cleaned every other week, for example. I figure that alone saves me about 4-6 hrs/week.
I haven't figured out how to stop obsessing yet.
It takes some time to keep it all together, but it's still less time than I used to spend watching crappy TV, and well, what are my other options? It becomes habit after a while, and just something I do. At its worst, I tend to view it as a life-enabling inconvenience, at its best, a set of comforting rituals.
Do you feel you spend too much time on your maintenance goals? Good question Laura...
I don't feel I spend too much time on my goals at all...I've actually learned to enjoy the process and the reap the rewards... Like Anne I buy single servings, make chicken in large batches for the week, make several tuna or salmon patties for a couple of days so I don't have to think too much about it... I actually like the planning in the long run it makes my life easier...
It gets easier MrsJim was right after all! ...
Plannig exercise? I don't plan I just do it! After 20 years I don't even question whether I should or should not, I just can't go more than 2-3 days without the gym or a jog...
I do my grocery shopping on Sundays without a list. I have a running tally in my head of the odd things that I need and I know how many of a certain food group that I'll normally eat so I just wing it. For instance, I know that I normally eat 3 servings of fruit a day so I just make sure that I have 20 or so servings of fruit in my cart. I buy a big selection of salad fixings and a few servings of veggies for steaming. I buy a few cuts of lean meat. Certain things I know I need every week like a large tub of plain yogurt, etc.
When I get home I invest some time in preparation: cutting up veggies, putting snacks into individual serving bags, etc. , packaging meat into individual servings and freezing it, etc.
Breakfast is some kind of hot cereal and a fruit. Mid morning snack is yogurt, usually with berries. Lunch is a veggie soup or salad, raw veggies, a piece of cheese and some fruit. Not much to think about there. Dinner is whatever I decide when I'm driving home, based on what caught my fancy that week at the grocery store. Every once in while, some wild craving will strike me (the other day it was steamed spinach) so I just stop at the store on the way home.
For me, planning ahead just doesn't seem to work out. Something will come up and I'll end up grabbing dinner out or I'll be too tired one night to prepare an elaborate dinner or I'll have planned something quick and simple and I'll be in the mood to cook.
For exercise, I hit the gym on the way home from work. My usual intention is to go on Monday, Wednesday and then again on Saturday morning but again, I keep my work out clothes in the car all the time, so I can decide on the way home. On days I don't go to the gym, I usually do something at home: hop on the treadmill, do some weights or squeeze in a yoga workout.
I guess I do plan a little, just not very far ahead. I don't really think of it as spending time thinking about maintenance or obsessing about food because I 'plan' the rest of my daily life this way too, so why not what I eat and when I exercise?
I really appreciate the input. I like to cook, and I like to try new things. I probably tend to become too ambitious in my meal preparation. It might help to have a couple of nights of standbys and limit the days that I try something new. As I settle into maintenance, I am hopeful that all of you are right and that it does get easier!
I also like the attitude of looking at the planning and execution as a comforting ritual. Sometimes a mental shift makes a huge difference.
As far as obsessing about food -- maybe when my brain and body become convinced that I am going to eat every 5 hours or so, my brain will start thinking about other things! Anyone out there experienced decreased thoughts about eating as maintenance progressed?
By the way, I'm ordering Thin for Life today. It's pretty inexpensive from the amazon merchants and sounds like a terrific resource.
maybe when my brain and body become convinced that I am going to eat every 5 hours or so, my brain will start thinking about other things!
Oh boy! I think if I were waiting 5 hours to eat I'd really be obsessing all the time about food. One of the biggest advantages I've found to eating 5-6 mini-meals a day is that I'm never starving. If I had 5 hours between meals, I'd be gnawing my limbs off and certainly obsessing.
I don't do a whole lot of short term planning anymore, either. I keep my house well stocked with the kinds of foods I eat regularly, and cook up big batches of them (chicken breasts, protein banana-walnut muffins, ground turkey chili). I always have lots of eggs (yolks go down the drain 98% of the time), oatmeal, tuna, fresh and frozen vegies and berries, lean beef and salmon, cottage cheese, and tubs of protein powder. I also gave up on gourmet cooking years ago, so cooking is a no-brainer. My family eats whatever I do, with a few additions.
Exercise is the easy part for me- I work at a gym. I realize it's a real luxury to be able to fit in a workout everyday whenever.
I'm basically like Barb - when I go to the grocery store, unless I have a specific recipe in mind or Jim has reminded me for the 39th time that we're on our last roll of toilet paper I just go by my 'brain list' and wing it.
As far as "maintenance goals" go - check out my siggie - Webster's Dictionary defines 'maintenance' as living. So I don't really have any goals at this point - I've been doing this for long enough now that proper nutrition and daily exercise is just part of my everyday life, and I don't spend a WHOLE lotta time thinking about it or planning it. But I suppose it's like learning a new skill - like learning how to read music and play piano - you spend lots of time practicing and studying the same sheet music over and over again and one day it just becomes ingrained, ya know? Afterwards, it's a snap!
Like I keep sayin'...and the NWCR has confirmed in their studies...Maintenance - LIVING - DOES get EASIER...so take heart and keep a positive outlook - you're getting there...
It's taken me nearly 18 years of marriage to convince DH to put things on the shopping list so there's no way I'm not going to have that puppy on the frig door for all the world to see. That said, I, too, usually fill my cart with the same ol' things week after week: eggs, cottage cheese, chicken breasts, brown rice, yogurt, fruit and frozen stuff that I can nuke in the microwave on those days I don't have time to cook. DH often prepares dinner, and he usually buys fish, fresh veggies and salad greens. Lately, I've been looking for single-serving "snacks" that I can cart around with me for those times when regular meals just aren't possible. I find this is most challenging when I have to rely on non-refrigerated foods. Apples travel well, as do boxes of raisins. Sometimes, I resort to protein bars, but I try to avoid them most of the time. I found some small pieces of wax-wrapped cheese the other day, and I thought I'd try those at this week's board meeting. I suppose they'll be a little mushy at room temperature, but anything's better than donuts. I'll also pack some Kashi crackers, which I find quite filling. In any event, my goal is to always have lots of good things to eat at eye level whenever I open a cupboard or the frig.
When I was learning maintenance, I, too, obsessed over every detail until one day I woke up and was unable to do that anymore. Although I'm the first to admit that I have my struggles with maintenance, I agree with Mrs. Jim: it gets easier as things become routine. I don't think about brushing my teeth; I just do it. Likewise, I don't think about the majority of my meals; I just prepare and eat them. What I DO have to think about is exercise, because I'm not getting enough of it.
I had real problems obesessing over food and when my next meal was when i first started maintaining. I had a few issues realising that I wasnt going to balloon out again just because i'd stopped losing and reached my goal weight. I actually kept losing weight (at a slower rate) for a few months afterward.
I have to say i was at my most miserable about the whole thing about 3 or 4 months into maintaining and i remember sitting there one evening just thinking to myself...this sucks...i'm completely miserable and ALWAYS thinking about food whether planning it or figuring out fat contents/calories and this just is NO way to live.
The first thing i did at that point was to chuck away the food diary. No more counting calories because that was a very large focus for obsession. I knew what I was eating every day was good for me, and i also knew that i wasnt eating huge portions. I was fine with eating until i was full and not over-eating just because it was there and in all honesty a piece of watermelon gets my juices going a lot more than a piece of chocolate or cake does. Once all these thoughts fell into place i just lapsed back into a more natural go with the flow kind of eating pattern.
I eat when i am hungry and maybe have the occasional treat/snack with my mum over our afternoon cup of tea. My weights stayed stable...actually it's dipped down a little more, I'm happy, food is no longer my centre focus, i don't worry about planning meals i just make for dinner what I feel like or I ask my parents what they feel like (I'm living with my parents for the summer while Uni is out). I guess i am lucky in that my dad is currently trying to lose weight and mums reached her goal weight and is just happy to have someone to cook instead of her :P
Exercise was an obsession as well. I'd have to go to the gym everyday or else i'd get twitchy...another wake up call and I cut right back. I do enough now to keep my cardio fitness up since my everyday incidental exercise it quite high. I go to the gym maybe 3 times a week, I go walking with my mum in the evenings usually about 5 times a week and I still dance daily. Some days i do more than others, but i just take it as it comes now. I also realised missing a day of exercise is not going to kill me. For me it's a matter of most of the time equals a happy healthy Livi rather than ALL the time equaling a miserable, obsessed, unhappy, driven, mentally unhealthy Livi.
I'm still obsessing and entering food into fitday, but that's because I am working out different calorie maintenance levels. I think if my weight stays the same for a few more weeks I'll try not logging for a bit and see what happens. I'd rather skip the log and be less nutty, but I don't want to fall back into old habits. The log keeps me honest.
As for other stuff, I make food on the weekends for at least a few workdays, place it in tupperwares and I'm ready to go. :P
I also eat every 2.5-3 hours. 5 hours would drive me bonkers!
Thank you so much for your thoughtful responses. It occurs to me that we all deal with the fear of regaining, but that as successful maintenance stretches from months into years, those nagging fears will subside. I think the fear factor and the newness of some of my habits is contributing to my feeling that maintaining my weight has taken over my life! For now I'm going to keep doing what I am doing -- planning my meals, reading a few health books, and exercising moderately on a daily basis. Hopefully my habits will become more routine as I learn what healthy foods I really like and what menus work. I can always reassess after the holidays! After all there is plenty of time.
As far as the frequency of my meals. I am eating far more frequently than I did during the weight loss. I have a 300-400 cal breakfast (6:30), 300-400 cal lunch (12:00), a 100 cal. snack when I get home (5:00), a 300-400 cal dinner (7:00), and another 100 cal snack before bed if dinner was more than 2 hours before bedtime. Sometimes I add a 100 cal snack about an hour before lunch.
I love this site and I have already learned so much.
Hi Lauraleigh, earlier you mentioned ordering Thin for Life from amazon. Make sure you get the new revised edition. I just got my revised copy today from them, and its about 50-60 pages longer than the original. Most, if not all, of the used ones on amazon appear to be the older version.
Do you feel you spend too much time on your maintenance goals?
Good morning! 
... 
I just go by my 'brain list' and wing it.
That said, I, too, usually fill my cart with the same ol' things week after week: eggs, cottage cheese, chicken breasts, brown rice, yogurt, fruit and frozen stuff that I can nuke in the microwave on those days I don't have time to cook. DH often prepares dinner, and he usually buys fish, fresh veggies and salad greens. Lately, I've been looking for single-serving "snacks" that I can cart around with me for those times when regular meals just aren't possible. I find this is most challenging when I have to rely on non-refrigerated foods. Apples travel well, as do boxes of raisins. Sometimes, I resort to protein bars, but I try to avoid them most of the time. I found some small pieces of wax-wrapped cheese the other day, and I thought I'd try those at this week's board meeting. I suppose they'll be a little mushy at room temperature, but anything's better than donuts. I'll also pack some Kashi crackers, which I find quite filling. In any event, my goal is to always have lots of good things to eat at eye level whenever I open a cupboard or the frig. 
