I think that I have my program figured out. However, there are some things that aren't quite adding up that confuse me just a little bit and I was wondering if ya'll could help me out.

1. According to my tip cards, I can have candy, birthday cake, eat at fast food places, etc. However, when I enter that in my journal, the counselor(s) have always stopped and given me a little mini lecture (with the exception of my one sweetie pie counselor) on sugar or fast food eating or whatever. I don't understand the scolding since it is allowable. I am in the process of learning moderation, I thought, not a good foods/bad foods thing. What's the deal here?

2. Cooking - I love to cook! I am a really good one, too. While I have the LA Lite Cookbook, I haven't really seen anything in it that "grabs" me. I have quite a few WW cookbooks with tremendous recipes. What I am wondering is this - will they ever teach me how to "crack the code" so to speak so that I can cook things that I like and make it work on my program?

3. Will I ever get more fat and starch???? I can deal with this "famine" for a period of time while I am losing weight, but when I go through stabilization and maintenance - will this increase or is it 3 starches for life! Not going to like that if that is the case!

4. What is maintenance like? Is it the Emerald City in the land of Oz?

Andi

As far as cooking goes, I made a lot of recipes out of the cookbooks I already had. For me, it was mostly a matter of measuring more carefully and adjusting portion sizes. I think WW recipes would be fairly easy to adapt, because they are already lower in fat. Recipes that are based on proteins and veggies are the easiest--avoid those pasta and rice recipes! I'm not sure that you'll get a lot of help from the counselors on this--just do the best that you can. And feel free to post specific questions here; I'm sure someone will have advice for you!

I just started maintenance, so I'm not an expert by any means, but during stabilization I got to add 1 starch to my diet. I was only allowed 2 starches on my plan, so I'm only up to 3. I am also supposed to do 2-3 fat servings a day now. There is some kind of "special occasion" option that allows you to do some exchanging of food groups, but that's not allowed at the beginning of maintenance so they haven't explained it to me yet.

Andi, I feel your pain - at this time of year, I'm looking at stews, etc., and I'm missing more vegetarian options! I have no idea what's going to be available on maintainence. (There are times I'm tired of meat!)

About the sweet treats -Our center has never given out the free-to-live kit, so I don't do those things. . . It seems that you are pretty good at being clear about questions about 'why is this', are there any guidelines about how often the substitutions are recommended to keep within the 2 pound a week goal? My own experience has been that the lectures do stop over time, when the counselor and I get used to each other.

I do use concepts from recipes in LAWL cooking - I end up adjusting portions of starch and meat, and come up with something that's OP. (for example, using 1/3 cup of spaghetti with eggs for a frittata, along with whatever veg that I want)

Julie

Julie

Answers to Andi’s questions…

1) The foods on the tip cards are to be used in extreme moderation if you want to lose that is why they try to discourage it. The new “Free to Live” plan has given more flexibility than the old plan, but I felt that the new flexibility was halting my weight loss the closer that I got to goal. I didn’t start the new plan until I had already lost over 80lbs, and I had a real hard time with the last few pounds. I wonder if I had followed the old plan the entire time if I would have lost faster. But, who knows? Remember, fast food is evil regardless of what you get. Fast food restaurants use low quality, high-fatty foods.

2) I bought the cookbook too when I first started. I really didn’t find anything that “grabbed” me either. They have a turkey chili recipe that isn’t in the cookbook; you may want to ask for it. One of the counselors pushed it on me so I finally tried it and loved it. As long as you use the correct portions and correct foods, you can come up with a lot of things on your own. I’m not really a casserole person, but you can make alterations to current recipes and make them work. I’m an extremely picky eater, and I have managed fine. Not to say that it wasn’t extremely difficult in the beginning. Practice makes perfect, you will get the hang of it. Eventually, you will only need to reference your food list when you eat something out of the ordinary.

3) In stabilization they start adding more portions and new foods. Most likely, you will actually be on purple before you reach your goal, which is less food than the red plan that you are on (I think). In the first week of stabilization all they do is double your dairy intake and some portion sizes change; for example, an entire diet bun is 1 starch and an entire banana is 1 fruit. Each week they add an additional portion and new food choices to your plan until week 5. In maintenance I think you end up with 2 ½ P, 4F, 5V, 3-4S, and 2-3 Fats (mine is modified so I’m not positive).

4) Maintenance is still work, you can’t just eat whatever you want. You still follow the plan with more portions and more food choices. It actually took me awhile to even get used to the extra food, and sometimes I still miss foods. I have used up all of my maintenance weeks at the center so I just weigh myself at home to make sure I’m not gaining. So far so good…

I hope this helps keep your motivation up...

Thank you everyone!

Karen, it does help - a little!

I realize that what I have been doing has been akin to having a little tantrum over what I can't have anymore. I have truly found this to be a huge adjustment and at times, I'm not sure that I want to make this adjustment.

Whiney baby that I am, I told my mom that I didn't think I could decorate my Christmas tree on this diet! Now, that raised some eyebrows! I mean, why can't I put ornaments on a tree without food. It's just that our family tradition revolves around a special "tree trimming meal" plus homemade fudge and a movie. I still can't imagine what I am going to do that night.

If I know that this will get easier, then I can coach myself "one day at a time."

I have made a pact with myself to do LAWL as close to perfect as I can for 21 days since I read that it takes 21 days to begin to form a habit.

Thank ya'll - I'm giving it my best shot and ya'll are a true help!

Andi

Andi,
I think that one thing that may help is to not think of things, like your tree trimming meal, as something that you can't do anymore. If you plan for it, maybe make some dishes that are from the cookbook or that you know would be OP, it will help you out alot. Then figure what the homemade fudge might count for, then add that in to your daily intake. I believe that if you start denying yourself of things, you'll be miserable. Everything in moderation.

Hi Andi,



I TOTALLY understand the tree-trimming thing - only our thing is spiked egg nog - I actually don't even like egg nog that much, but with a little rum or bourbon in it during the holidays, it's awesome - I think it just gets me through all the stress with the kids and all! Come to think of it, how WILL I get through the holidays? Hmmmmmmmmm - well, if I don't eat another starch from Thanksgiving through NEwYear's do you suppose I can drink all those starches???

McDonald's would hang you for that one, if they heard you

But i have been doing ok with fastfood these day, subway is my only culprit.

Andi, just remember that it is working for you and keep with it. i am sooo disappointed in myslef for the damage i have done this week, and I now officially know that there are no shortcuts to this plan.

But I don't know if i canhandle eating more foods in maintenance, I still can't get all of this down!