Do you find maintenance harder than LCing?

[shoer]

After being on Atkins since February I finally hit my goal and started maintenance about a month ago. I find that maintenance is harder to follow than induction! People complain about the limits of induction food, but it was easier for me to stay within the rules there than winging it here in maintenance. There's little info for maintenance--this forum is usually v-e-r-y slow--and if you post maintenance problems in other forums it gets moved.

Now that I'm in maintenance I find it much easier to cheat--oftentimes binge--my weight fluctuates more and I don't have the support of the forum like I used to. How do the rest of you maintainers feel--like me--that you're out here in left field by yourself?

[TarHeel]

Hello: I'm not quite on maintenance yet, but the idea of it worries me as well. I've been stuck in the same weight range (117-119) for several months now.

If you start a journal and develop a dialogue with other journalers, there continues to be a lot of support here. A lot of us who have been here for a while don't spend as much time here in the public threads as we used to when we first joined.

Just a thought,

Kay

[asalvato]

Maintenance is tricky. How many of us lost weight on other plans and then put it back on when we hit goal (or gave up)? Hopefully with LC it will be easier because Maintenance does still have rules. I cannot point them out in a book, they are just the continuation of the entire WOE.

First--white foods, refined foods are not OK. If you really do not have a carb addiction and can control yourself, then perhaps you can eat white foods in small amounts on rare occasions. For me (a carb addict)-- I cannot. One of my maintenance problems is that I like fried foods with breading. The flour does a real number on me. I don't crave from it but it makes me hold water and I think it even makes me gain real fat. When I first hit goal that is what I added to my diet--fried shrimp, fried chicken, onion rings and I gained back about 8 pounds really fast. I really don't want to give them up completely so I am still testing it out but I might have to.

No really high carb days. On OWL we were supposed to find the number of carbs we can eat per day without gaining--then go under that to lose. I never did that so I am at a loss as to how many is too many for me. But my second problem on maintenance is fruit. I like it and for some (like bing cherries, grapes, and blueberries) it is very easy for me to eat too many. I have decided that if I cannot buy these fruits in very small quantities, then I just will not buy them. It is soooo easy to eat too much. My DH doesn't like them and I end up eating them so they "don't go bad."

LC treats are still only acceptable in reasonable quantities. I like sweet foods and the LC candy, ice cream, cheesecake, custard, stuff a lot. My third problem not only on induction but anytime is overeating all these things.

Like it or not, in order to maintain our loss, we have to accept that:
some foods we cannot eat ever.
some foods we can only eat once a month (or year).
some foods we must always limit the quantity we eat.

For me these restrictions are acceptable. What I am still learning is how much and how often I can eat some things.

So to be safe, we need to treat maintenance like an extenstion of OWL. Try adding some foods to your WOEing and see what happens with your weight. Modify what and how much you eat based on your personal reaction to the new foods. Also we have to accept that Maintenance is not really going to be significantly different that OWL.

Another idea is "stockpiling carbs". If a special event (with food) is coming up, then what we need to do is cut way back on carbs for some days before the event so we can have a high carb day for the event. Then the next day back to regular level carbs.

All comments on these ideas gratefully accepted.

[shoer]

Yes--what we need are more discussions like Asalvato and the others just mentioned. There are as many questions with maintaining maintenance as there are with induction! It would be nice to see more of them addressed. A few discussions I would like to see are--

--What happens if YOU really go on a binge? (Have done this a few times--sometimes I gain weight--sometimes I lose--sometimes I'm sick the next day--sometimes it doesn't bother me at all. Really makes no sense and I'd like to hear other people's experiences)
--What about water? Are you still drinking as much? (Me--I'm not drinking as much mainly because I forget and I don't like having to go to the bathroom that often! But is it bad for me? Who knows????)
--How do you feel now that you're a "skinny" person? Different? The same? Still feel fat when you look in the mirror?
--Are you eating corn? Potatoes? Bread? Fruit? Milk? Real desserts? How often? How does it affect you?
--If you gained weight--why do you think it happened? Were you able to get back down again?
--What about low fat and calories versus high fat and low carbs? What kind of plan are you following now?

Anybody else have some topics they'd like to see addressed?

[Enomarb]

Hi-
I agree that the maintaining thread is slow. I also think part of the reason it's slow: it is boring to maintain- your goal is to stay the same.We just do it, everyday.
Unlike others, I don't have a journal but use PMs (private messages) and the threads to get/give support. For me,
maintaining is scary because it feels like I'm on my own. I am also still developing the trust in myself that i really can keep to this WOL. This is it- for the rest of my life. CALP is a lifetime WOE and WOL for me. Feel free to PM me anytime-
Eno
maintaining for a year

[pocobarb]

I hit my goal weight about 6 weeks ago and ditto pretty well everything posted here so far.

I was really apprehensive of reaching my goal because I thought that without the focus on getting to a certain weight I would slide into my old bad habits. I once lost weight on WW and couldn't wait to be done so that I could go back to eating 'normally' again, and didn't want that mentality to take over this time.

Happily so far is doesn't seem to have. In a discussion on this very topic with one of my LC buddies, she said to her, maintenance was like stalling for life. Somehow that really clicked with me (my "Aha moment" as Oprah would say). It suddenly made sense. I was feeling like I wanted to keep this up as a WOL rather than a diet but obviously one can't keep losing weight forever, so I was looking for a mindset that would help me to continue the LC WOE without losing weight. To me, weight loss, and especially maintenance, is ultimately a mental battle.

I didn't follow the transition to maintenance by the book (DANDR) but I seem to have been able to up my carbs to a maintenance level (roughly 50-70 g carbs a day) and stay put at my goal weight. There is some variability in how I eat - some times it is basically induction for a few days at a time, other times it is more carby foods, most of the time it is middle of the road, though I have never relinquished the LC concept entirely, even for a day or a meal. I am hoping that as long as I keep the indulgences to a minimum, a once in a while event, they wont really do any harm. I have never found that one meal makes a difference - I believe it's the long term habits that make you gain (or lose for that matter). Also, I am really afraid of gaining back the weight and looking like a failure too all of my friends, family and colleagues. This is enough to keep me in line and when I see my weight go up a pound I don't let it get any further and make sure it comes right back off.

I would really love to keep this discussion going, and make some new LC buddies at the same time, who are going through the same things. Please visit my journal if you want and I will check back in to this thread.

Cheers, and have a great weekend,
Barb

[Enomarb]

WOW-
all these posts at once! Amazing!
I am not as strict as I was at first. I have not gained weight, but continued to lose. I never had a goal of weight to lose, so this was all like a gift. My focus has been on my health, which has made maintaining easier.
I feel like I am the same person, but people react to me different. I was in Loehmanns, and trying on and two women next to me said "it must be nice...what are you, a 6?" and I said "It is nice- you could do this too as I lost 50 pounds last year". Later I was kind of freaked out about it. At size 16 no one ever talked to me in a dressing room.
I feel "normal", not "thin".
The "carb creep" issue has come up with other people on this forum who regained their weight. They told me that having more and more carbs kind of just creeped up on them, and they gained. Alcohol is included in that, not only re the carbs but if you are a bit high you lose your inhibitions. We have inhibitions about our eating carbs. so...
Love to talk about this more, too.
Eno

[pocobarb]

Amazing how similar our experiences are! I also am managing to stick to the LC WOE in part, I believe, because for me there have been some very distinct health benefits. And I have noticed people treating me differently too. Although I think this is also partly because I believe I carry myself differently, and project a different person now than when I was 30 pounds heavier (more confidence, etc.).

I love that phrase "carb creep" - that's exactly it. I don't know why, because it's not that I don't have the occasional indulgence whether its a few too many or frequent binges on nuts or LC candy bars, but so far I have managed to consciously avoid the creep. In other words, I might take one step out of line but it never turns into two steps.

Barb

P.S. I love shoer's signature - maintenance is responsible decadence (to paraphrase)!!

[asalvato]

I am truly a carb addict so my position is that I can never relax about carbs. I never realized that it was a problem until induction eliminated the cravings. But then I stopped and thought about my old eating habits and how I would eat (and overeat) the same foods day after day and I made a list of food that I would give up forever:

Sugar (particularly ice cream and candy)
Potatoes
Chips
Popcorn
Yogurt with sugar

I refuse to get readdicted. Now I find that although fruit and flour do not seem to cause cravings, they do lead to weight gain. So I have to watch them very carefully.

I can eat HC veggies, nuts, peanut butter, whole grains, and legumes without problems. I am not a fan of floury sweets like cake and cookies so they are no problem. Dairy sweets with Splenda are fine.

I have times when I can eat smaller amounts and very sensibly and other times when I don't do so good. But I don't binge and I rarely eat really HC foods.

I try to find LC alternatives for my favorite foods and have had good success. I just bought Carbquick and made biscuits which were quite good. I want to try making fried chicken and onion rings with it. Unfortunately neither one is a food I ever made HC so I am going to have to experiement. I am trying to decide if buying a small deep fryer is worthwhile.

Another issue is exercise. I am generally a regularly exerciser but this year has been problematic. I had surgery in March and again in May. When I was finally feeling up to vigorous exercise and had gotten back in the groove, I broke my wrist in early August. I am now well again and have just gotten back to exercising regularly the past two weeks. It really helps.

I have been considering starting a Journal. It may be a good time to do that.

[TarHeel]

When I first hit goal that is what I added to my diet--fried shrimp, fried chicken, onion rings and I gained back about 8 pounds really fast. I really don't want to give them up completely so I am still testing it out but I might have to.

Those are the things that worry me the most. They were my downfall, and the reason that my weight kept creeping up every year. They don't cause cravings for me....or at least they haven't yet because I've only been eating fried clams once a month for the past year or so, but I'm afraid to start being less strict about that. And potato chips. My husband needs to gain or maintain his weight, and I have no problems with serving him any sort of carb laden side dish for supper during the week, but reaching into that bag of UTZ chips for his Saturday lunch is really hard!

Will I ever be able to eat those chips again? And stop before the bag is empty? Wish I knew.

Kay

[lizwhip]

I've hit my goal as well, and it's confusing. Maintain? Make a new goal? I find myself more obsessed with the scale than ever, in fear of gaining!

Kay, I hear you on the potato chips. They are my #1 bugaboo. Haven't eaten any since I started Atkins, and actually find myself afraid of the things. I've dreamt of eating them - sort of a low-level nightmare.

Liz

[Galadriell]

There's little info for maintenance--this forum is usually v-e-r-y slow--and if you post maintenance problems in other forums it gets moved.
May I recommend a thread - giving many possible explanation of this "slowness"?

Keen for more maintenance support ! AND Where do all the maintainers go? (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=122621)


Here is one post as an example:


I have been on maintenance since the end of April, and I think there are a number of reasons that the "maintainers" tend to disappear:



1. Maintenance is not very exciting. The "Cinderella" part of the story is over and now it is the "happily ever after" part. Tolstoy said "All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Unfortunately, the unhappy ones are also the more interesting.



2. Maintenance tends to be rather individualized. After low carbing since December, I have found what works for me, but I tend to have less and less faith that my personal experience is helpful to anyone else. My diet is affected by my own food preferences, metabolism, exercise level, lifestyle, age, etc.



3. Burnout. After you hang around these boards for a while, you feel like you are reading the same posts over and over: "I am soooo excited to start this diet.....", "I lost 8 pounds during Induction but since then I haven't lost anything.....", "I haven't read the book yet -- are Cheerios allowed on Induction?", "Last night I intended to have just a few potato chips, but then before I knew it....", "I lost 50 pounds on Atkins 2 years ago, but then I went back to my old way of eating and gained it all back, plus 30 pounds more..." It all gets rather discouraging.



4. And that last example brings up another unfortunate possiblity -- that the "maintainers" disappear because they are failing to "maintain."


My own answer would be the 2. While I have a day by day gym log (exercise + foods), with a self-selected visitor group (runners, walkers), but I do not think that a wider audience would be interested in my maintenance culinary adventures. (If anybody interested I am ready to provide the first draft of my upcoming "Restaurant guide for LC connoisseurs" book. :D )

[mem2]

I actually reached my goal about 5 years ago, before I started doing Atkins. I started it because I was having trouble maintaining. I did Atkins for about a year and a half and finally went on my own low carb plan because I am vegetarian and I wanted lots of non starchy vegetables and some fruits. What is working for me now is a low carb form of the WW points system. I still have my sweet tooth, but almost always avoid sugar. I do eat some sugar alcohol sweetened and splenda sweetened stuff. I have 1/2 cup servings of starchy vegetables once a day. Grains are minumal and always whole rather than refined. I am very happy with the fact that I can have unlimited nonstarchy vegetables.

Maintainance is a real challenge. I am very glad to see this thread. I need your input and support.

[shoer]

Sounds like from what everybody has said--we maintainers may disappear but we still enjoy and need the support of a forum of like-minded individuals!

And--thanks for the comment about my sig line. This WOE has to be my lifestyle, but darned if I'm going to give up everything ALL the time!

[Kristine]

--this forum is usually v-e-r-y slow--

I was going to ask you, "are you on dial-up? It's nice and quick from my ISP" :lol: Then I realized what you meant by 'slow'.

You're right, it is quiet. I'm not sure what happens to the folks in maintenance. I guess they don't really need help, so they're not here.

I personally find maintenance easy. The natural consequences of eating higher carb stuff never fail to bite me in the butt, and thus keeps me in line. I've learned what I can and can't get away with. I know that if I have a little ch/treat at Dairy Queen, then I better darn well walk the whole three miles home, uphill, to burn off the sugar. (I did that twice over the entire summer.)

Bottom line is that 95% of my meals are very LC, like virtually induction friendly - and I love the food. I really think that's key. Find the legal stuff you love, and potatoes and rice become irrelevant.

(edit) I just noticed your sig, Shoer, and I totally agree! :thup: :thup:

[MaryToU]

I have found maintenance very easy. Why? Because I really haven't added a lot of items back into my diet. I still stay if I were to guess around 30 to 35 carbs a day. This is now just normal for me. I will allow, or at least I tell myself I will, a special day or meal once or twice a month. But really if doesn't happen to often.

I think one reason I do this is because I still have a lot of binge instincts in me. And once I let the "forbidden" food into my mouth I have a hard time bring things under control.. It is better to keep a firm hand on it. I have be holding my own for a year now come Thanksgiving. Which this year will be on of my off days ;) .

I also have taken up going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week. Which I hate, but still force myself to do it. Getting there is more than half the battle. But I am also happy when I get it in. This pretty much allows me not to worry about how many calories I eat, as long as I watch my carbs. And I thank God for that.

[dodg4kat]

While I am not anywhere near maintenance (this time) I do want to comment on some of what I have seen here. I have found for me that my maint. level of carbs are between 75-100. Here are some tips I used have successfully before:
* continue to track carbs and cals on fitday.com or some other program
* continue to stay away from "white" foods, but add in substitutions when you can
* continue to exercise and drink water
* when I need to eat socially or have a particularly bad craving, following CAD for a day or two is OK (might gain water weight tho depending on carbs)
* stay away from "trigger" foods
* use LC products minimally..instead focus on whole foods (I keep LC bread and tortillas in the fridge always)
* continue to try different recipes
These worked for me to stay at goal (within a few pounds at least--once on maintenence weight does fluxuate more than during loss) for almost a year, then pregnancy put it all back on...grrrr. On a mission to lose it all again and keep it off this time
Katie
Enjoy!

[jamian]

I'ts great to see this section of the forum active. It was really slow when I really needed it last year. I got to my goal then, but I've fallen off the waggon and gained it all back and more (though I'm young and it was only about 20lbs.)

My downfall was sweets of any kind. I added in LC candy and LC junk food, which has multiplied exponentially in the past year, and basically couldn't stop thinking about sweets. I started giving in to real baked goods (my ultimate weakness) when I was out with friends. For the past year I've been trying to do induction/OWL interspersed with giving in to carbs every few days. Now I'm ready to loose this weight again for real and come back to maintenance the right way.

I agree that there are some things that we can just never eat. For me that incluldes a lot of the LC junk food that has come out recently.

Everyones' thoughts and comments here are so appreciated, even though I'm not on maintenance yet. I will keep watching this thread to see how you guys do it. You're an inspiration.

[pocobarb]

Just checking in again - this thread seems to resonate with a lot of people. at the same time, there seems to be a really wide range of approaches to facing the challenges of maintenance. I would love to see this continue - everyone's tactic is going to be personal (like Galadriell said) but once in a while someone's ideas will strike a chord and end up being a really useful part of your arsenal.

I have found it really hard the last few days to keep my LC WOE in line - I can sense the carb creep sneaking up on me. I am hoping my lifelong management strategy would be like Shoer's sig - responsible decadence (I love that!) but am thinking that I may have to be a bit more black and white. Like absolutely no jellybeans. Part of my challenge is that I have not banished sweets or HC foods from my house (husband and kids still partaking and I don't feel the need to ban this stuff from them); however, this does make it particularly hard to keep from tucking into some of my old favourites on occasion.

Also, the thought of being left, flapping in the wind, without a goal now that I am on maintenance is a little disconcerting. It occurred to me recently that perhaps the goal just had to change form. I like working toward a goal - it gives me a focus. Instead of losing weight, my goal is just now to be at the same weight next week, next month and next year.

Hope everyone has a great LC week.

Barb

[4beans4me]

I've hit my goal as well, and it's confusing. Maintain? Make a new goal? I find myself more obsessed with the scale than ever, in fear of gaining!

:thup: Here too. I've been maintaining since December of last year, and have struggled the whole time to find my *happy medium* I tried EVERYTHING. LCing during the week, weekends off. LCing during the week, one weekend day off. Other LC plans. Allowing small indulgences when I wanted them, or limited to holidays, or special events, one thing after another. Everything I tried turned into a free-for-all. I am a TOTAL carb addict. I fluffed up with a few pounds this past summer, and have finally come to the decision that I am one of the people who needs to stay close to induction level carbs to maintain, and weekly high carb treats don't work... sigh. Enough rambling, I just wanted to let you know that I'm in your guys' boat as well...

[shoer]

I find it's the "one little treat won't hurt me because today is special" mentality that gets me in trouble. On Thursday it was because my girls were home and we had a special meal for them...then over the weekend we ate out at one of those huge buffet places (a good place to LC but not if you are sucked into the dessert bar!)...last night we had company over and my mom brought a cake...today I caught myself thinking that because the weather is so cold and yucky I ought to make some of my good old-fashioned bread pudding tonight "for the family" (yeah right)...anyway, you get my drift. There's always a "good" excuse. I'm discovering that I can treat myself with something sinful every once in a while, but not on a regular basis like I did this past week. I'm up 2 lbs this morning. Not a good thing. It's back to salad and chicken for me!

[horty]

I find it easier to maintain and continue progressing than it was to initialy loose the weight. i have come to the conclusion that weight trainning is now part of my life. I am now addicted to the gym and if I do not workout I feel like poop. Even the days i just do cardio I feel as though I am cheating. I do allow my self a free day like described in body for life. (Once i got to my desired body weight i switched from Atkins to a modified lower carb, low fat version of body for life).

[GabrielleG]

Hello everyone, I have been squinting at pre maintenance and this forum for sometime now and since this thread is so active I thought it was time I said hello. I find all of your insights very interesting because I wonder If I will have the same issues with maintenance. Snacking. My plan is to shift to a new addiction. Sculpting of some sort. I am seriously considering BFL or some other plan to throw myself into while continuing to do Atkins Maintenance.

Gabrielle

[ree4987]

I am so glad I checked here today. I have been maintaining since Last October, but recently upped my exercise and lost a little more. I would love the support of other maintainers. I don't go above 30 either if that on some days. I hate the taste of real sugar now (taste funny), i've not had any real bread since I started last Jan. I do keep LaTortilla factory and Mama Lupes in my fridge all the time. My favorite snack is a tortilla with some cream cheese (that I've mixed with some DaVinci syrup). I do find that the bars tirigger my cravings, and boy what LC ice cream does ot me, so I try to keep it off limits in my diet. I don't really like fruit, so that is not my problem. I love veggies and salads!!!! I could eat salad all day long.

I hope this thread is kept alive, it is so wonderful to see other's making it work.

[besoge]

I'm in owl just because i want to see how high i can get my carb level. My family doesn't really support my low carb ways anymore so it's hard for me. I don't have bread cravings, dont snack really, dont really have any cravings at all really. I'm adicted to the gym (go 6 days a week), and so i'm introducing fruit and stuff back into my diet. Basically i know i'll return to eating bread like pumperknickle and whole wheat, nvr white and will limit my self to one of those types of items a day once i get to maintanenece. Assuming that i can get my carb count up into the 75+ range. I'm at 30 now comming up from probably a 10 carb average. So i'm just gonna keep on keepin on! I'm also not looking to lose weight, just maintain.