I was sick for a couple of weeks and went back to my old way of dieting which is calorie counting. I didn't go too badly off plan and kept at around 1200-1300 calories and still lost weight. My understanding from reading some of the maintainer threads is that once you lose the weight MRC switches you to calorie counting, either 1200 or 1500 calories. So my question to anyone familiar with the maintainer plan is - What is the breakdown of calories for protein, starch, vegetables, fruit and fats.

I am asking now as I am thinking of sticking to the calorie counting but would like to stick as closely as possible to the MRC plan. When I have been in MRC waiting to see a counselor the maintainers who came in were still losing weight on maintenance! I did figure my calories on the green menu and they seemed to be around 1300.

I don't know the specific answer to your question but am on mainteance now--1200 calories. I don't know breakdown per food group but it's 2 servings dairy, 2 servings vegetables on green menu and 3 x week some "extra" veggies from another list, 2 fruit servings, 3 starch, 9 oz protein, 1 serving fat (low fat when possible)....they give you a specific list of choices to choose from. Pretty similar to stabilization but a bit easier.

Is the maintenance menu the "menu for the rest of your life" or something to follow for up to a year as your body gets back into the swing of things?

Maintenance is definitely for life, so I'm wondering if it's a guide or a true menu?

Thankyou PorchMom,
You have given me a lot of valuable info since I joined and I really appreciate it.