So I go on stabilization party next Thursday night and am really looking forward to a change in program. Is it a big difference or a small difference? What should I expect. How did you feel when you got there?

Congratulations on getting the job done! I am pretty close myself, but not close enough I guess. I have like 7 lbs to go and no stabilization for me until I get rid of more body fat. I guess my weight is not the issue.. I have heard they just keep adding food back to you and then you figure out what amount of calories you can do a day. It is all a big dark secret! LOL. Good luck to you.. When they tell you, then you can pass the info on to us..

Cheers!

Ronnie

This was from Reuselady in January's thread. (Jan. 6, 2010)
I don't know if you asked them if they would tell you, but I won't keep the secret from you.

When you start stabilization, they introduce a new food each week for 5 weeks - you add a new starch to lunch 3 days first week - things like bagel, or rice, sweet or white potato. Second week add new fruit for breakfast 3 days. Very important to keep track of what you eat when - you are checking how your body reacts as these foods are reintroduced. Third week you add a dairy serving each day, fourth week, you increase the new starch serving at lunch to every day and add a new vegetable to dinner 2 times in the 4th week - veggies like winter squashes, colored peppers, sweet onions, carrots and corn. Week five you add one fat serving every day, a second dairy every day and increase the fruit serving at breakfast to every day.
Week six you continue to do this same new routine with all the new foods servings added in.

Maintenance is a menu of suggested servings of the different food categories and how many per day you should eat - it is either for 1200 or 1500 calories and you adjust it for your particular needs. Much easier to follow the green menu, in my opinion. Hope that answers your question.

Yup, this is pretty accurate. I'm in week 3 of stabilization now. I was a little scared at first to start, because I had experienced the success of staying OP, but adding the foods just freaked me out. I was afraid that I would start gaining again. But, and they'll tell you this, they expect that you will still continue to lose on stab, just not as much/at the rate as you have been. My experience has been that I've continued to lose at almost the same rate, but then I'm only in week 3. Next week is the week I add a starch every day to lunch.

Now, I can tell you I'm not exactly following it to a T; I can't seem to get in all of my breakfast, especially on the days that I am supposed to have a fruit. To me, a HNS, protien, fruit, dairy, AND a bread is a lot of food. I am STUFFED and don't even want to have lunch 5 hours later. So I've skipped a few of the added things, but have not strayed from the regular menu that I've come to know and love (HNS, protein, bread). Luckily, they said there are no more additions to breakfast now. We'll see how it goes weeks 4-6 and beyond.

Wishing everyone a happy OP day!
Carla B.

i lost weight on stabilization until they added dairy back....thats when it stopped

My advice for people on Stabilization.....DO IT, DO IT, DO IT! Back in 2008 I lost 46lbs...I went from wearing size 16 to size 6/8. When I started stabilization I started to add what I wanted back in and ended up back in a size 16, 1 1/2 years later! So, please.....you've gone this far to get it right..make sure you continue the journey. The disappointment of gaining it all back is aweful! Learn from my mistake!

OMG that is sooo much my big fear. I can't let myself undo what good work I've just done, and I'm soo afraid that adding food back will do just that. But I'm working on getting over that fear and at least being brave enough to follow the plan as it is given to me. So far stabilization has been good. I just worry about the maintenance phase...

I would agree with the earlier post to do stabilization and then maintenance. I did a similar thing, I went from a size 12-14 to a size 4 and lost 30 pounds and something like 36 inches, I was tiny, I had never been that small in my adult life, maybe back in High School. I then was excited and started week one of stabilization and I didn't follow it to a tee. I then just started eating whatever I wanted, nothing crazy like fast food, but sushi and saki, breakfast burritos with green chili, etc. I didn't gain weight for about 2-3 months, then it seemed like once I started gaining it piled on quickly and I have gained back 23 pounds, I am still in smaller clothes like size 8. It was a wake up call because I had gotten rid of all my "fat" close and I refuse to buy a larger size, I cannot fit into a size 6 not even close to my size 4's. So it was a wake up call that I need to go back through this program because it works and I find the food easy and enjoyable and I need to go ALL the way through stabilization and hopefully it will stick.