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  #46   ^
Old Tue, Jul-21-20, 14:39
curlybri curlybri is offline
New Member
Posts: 24
 
Plan: Paleoish Pescatarian
Stats: 179/157.4/127 Female 57
BF:
Progress: 42%
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Quote:
Originally Posted by barb712
There is nothing to fear. By the time you get to maintenance, all the good food choices, habits and routines you learned along the way are ingrained. I think the hardest part of maintenance, at least for me, is finding others to compare notes with. The maintainers don't post much. It's a lot less exciting to say "I'm eating the same old thing and weigh the same old amount" - kind of anticlimactic. But it gives me happy butterflies and great self-confidence and a sense of achievement to realize that since this same time last year, I have not only maintained but peeled off another 5-6 lb just doing the same-o same-o. After years of searching for the answer, I'm living it.


Thank you for this post! I am no where near maintenance, but I rebounded almost immediately during my last foray into LC, so I am also interested in how others maintain. I am currently eating now how I would like to eat forever for the most part. I do really miss fruit, particularly the tropical fruits I used to eat often as a South Florida resident, so I am hoping I can indulge a bit more freely in those in maintenance. Have you ever found yourself needing/wanting to add more carbs by way of fruits or other high-carb plant foods? Also, I've read about the negative impacts of long-term low LC on thyroid function, but I am hoping I can avoid that since I eat plenty of vegetables. Have you seen any other changes as a result of long-term LC that have required you to add in additional? These are also directed at anyone in maintenance (there isn't much activity in that section), including the lovely Bluesinger whose story was so inspirational to read!
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  #47   ^
Old Tue, Jul-21-20, 15:14
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
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I wish I could say that Maintenance is easy for me, but it isn't. Last Fall was really hard and I was off my plan often. Too often.

My downfall is dairy, even very high-fat dairy. I have very few chewing teeth so dairy is easier on my mouth than meat. I don't gain actual pounds, but I gain "puff" and it's always in the same places. I know it isn't good for me and I know that because I crave it. What I crave the most is my poison.

I just looked back over my online health records and see that over the past three years my weight in clothes at the doctor's office has fluctuated only 5 lbs. For somebody like me, that's miraculous. I have to eat VLC to maintain. But I'm old, and the alternative to eating this way is stark. Eat LCHF and be pain-free, able to walk and run or eat SAD and be a weak, old cripple ending up in assisted living.
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  #48   ^
Old Fri, Jul-24-20, 18:54
barb712's Avatar
barb712 barb712 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,435
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 240/188/185 Female 5'11"
BF:
Progress: 95%
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluesinger
... I'm old, and the alternative to eating this way is stark. Eat LCHF and be pain-free, able to walk and run or eat SAD and be a weak, old cripple ending up in assisted living.


Glenda, I couldn't have said it better! I have strayed from time to time, trying things like oatmeal or chick pea pasta. Not only are they gateway drugs for me, but they cause joint pain and sometimes reflux. There's no doubt that they're the culprits.

Curlybri, about fruit: If you're doing paleo, then by all means try a little fruit as long as it fits in your daily carb allowance and it agrees with you/doesn't cause any ill effect. My sweet spot is around 40-45 g NC daily, so I can very comfortably eat strawberries and raspberries on a fairly regular basis and also enjoy chunks of melon, wedges of citrus fruit or a small plum or nectarine once in a while. I live in a warm climate as well and find fruit so refreshing. If you want to count grape tomatoes as fruit, you can easily include them, too.

Last edited by barb712 : Fri, Jul-24-20 at 19:26.
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  #49   ^
Old Sun, Jul-26-20, 07:46
gzgirl's Avatar
gzgirl gzgirl is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 130
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR/ Candida
Stats: 300/195.2/172 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 82%
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Glenda and Barb -- love your comments.

Glenda - I so agree with the gateway drug thing. I did the Candida elimination diet to determin trigger foods and could feel the bloat happening as soon as they hit my stomach when it was a trigger. Waist could be 4 inches bigger by morning!

Barb - you and I have similar thresholds and tolerances with the fruit. I have even been able to eat an occasional half an apple, etc and still lose if I am watching the rest of the day;s carbs and not eating at the upper levels of the other gray area foods for me (like cheese)

Curly, I would try small quantities, every other day of a fruit you miss (One at a time) and see what effects they have on how you feel, your weight, and your cravings. If you try the food 3 times in a week and have no red flags, you can probably keep it in your permanent diet. If you do have a red flag, like weight gain, cravings or bloat, then you know you need to proceed with caution.
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  #50   ^
Old Sun, Jul-26-20, 07:48
gzgirl's Avatar
gzgirl gzgirl is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 130
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR/ Candida
Stats: 300/195.2/172 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 82%
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I am about 30 pounds from goal but am LOVING this thread because I want to be prepared both mentally and physically for maintenance.

I love Barbara Loots description as "relentless". Yes our sleeping dragon is there all the time! It will always be there so getting to goal doesn't mean I get to eat "Normally" again -- cuz normally will get me 20 pounds fast! I am continually amazed at the number of folks who do all the work to lose but don't get that part.

Glenda -- I definitely identify with the child thing of what can I get away with? I have had those moments of thinking well maybe in maintenance I can have this, or have that glass of wine with dinner. But the closer I get the more I realize that maybe I can have a glass of wine at Christmas dinner or a New Years toast, but it is not going to be a regular thing. Just can't because I am going to need to be an abstainer in a lot of things too. Question for you...how do you keep your Calcium intake at sufficient levels with the severe dairy restrictions. I am in the same boat on dairy so I need to figure this out. I do weight lift and walk so the exercise side is fine but was wondering if I need a Calcium supplement

Seeing the challenges and encouragement from those of you in maintenance is such a Godsend as I approach my goal. Thank you all for your insight and suggestions!

Last edited by gzgirl : Sun, Jul-26-20 at 08:02.
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  #51   ^
Old Tue, Jul-28-20, 15:55
barb712's Avatar
barb712 barb712 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,435
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 240/188/185 Female 5'11"
BF:
Progress: 95%
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gzgirl
... Question for you...how do you keep your Calcium intake at sufficient levels w ith the severe dairy restrictions. I am in the same boat on dairy so I need to figure this out. I do weight lift and walk so the exercise side is fine but was wondering if I need a Calcium supplement

Seeing the challenges and encouragement from those of you in maintenance is such a Godsend as I approach my goal. Thank you all for your insight and suggestions!


Canned wild caught pink Alaskan salmon (including the skin and bones) is a great staple food and a very good source of calcium. Same with canned sardines and mackerel. They are also wonderful omega-3 foods. You can also get your calcium from many different fortified nondairy milks like coconut and almond. Check the nutrition labels.

Last edited by barb712 : Tue, Jul-28-20 at 16:01.
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  #52   ^
Old Tue, Jul-28-20, 16:06
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
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We have all been victims of advertising over the decades. They make things up, throw them at us over media and eventually, we end up believing what they made up as fact.

Truth is that none of us is on the verge of malnutrition and most of us don't need supplements at all. External, non-food calcium when not needed can be damaging. I gave up calcium supplements years ago and my lumbar spine is stronger today (according to my Dexascan) than it was in 2012. Our bodies are marvelous machines and as long as we don't abuse them, they do the right thing to keep us healthy.
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  #53   ^
Old Thu, Jul-30-20, 19:44
gzgirl's Avatar
gzgirl gzgirl is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 130
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR/ Candida
Stats: 300/195.2/172 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 82%
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Thank you both for the replies! I do weight training and try to eat a lot of broccoli and other veggie sources for calcium. Barb, I havent had the danned salmon since I was a kid, Going to have to try it again. I also pulverized some egg shells into a fine powder and mixed then with water. EVen after the heavier particles sink there are some suspended in the water. I use that in stocks. Not sure how much calcium it gives me but if they are cleaned organic shells, cant hurt I guess
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  #54   ^
Old Sat, Oct-24-20, 09:08
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
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It has been noted on another forum thread that we have become quiet here. The trend comes about because people are giving themselves permission to give up. We do that, you know. Inside our heads, we have sneaky little back corners where these permissions lurk. This is the time of year for eating extra everything.

There's all that Halloween candy from the store that we get, even though this year there should be little to no Halloween celebration. We buy it, ostensibly to give away, but lots of it goes down the gullet.

My own latests permission was not because of Halloween, but becase of the World Series. I bought chips. Turns out I only ate a few because they didn't taste good. Go figger. I threw the packs into shopping bags, tied the bags into knots and put them in the garbage can, deep down under lots of other stuff so I wouldn't be tempted to retrieve them.

I can always find an excuse to eat off plan because of that elusive space at the back of my brain. With a bit of luck I'll avoid another slip until other people return here to the forum January 1, 2021,
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  #55   ^
Old Sun, Oct-25-20, 08:40
barb712's Avatar
barb712 barb712 is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 1,435
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 240/188/185 Female 5'11"
BF:
Progress: 95%
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Hey, Glenda! Your comment about the return of people after the New Year made me laugh. You don't have to wait. We're here.

As the cool weather approaches, I fend off my cravings for starchy comfort foods with things like a good mound of seasoned and buttered cauliflower rice under my meat and vegetables. I'm astounded that it works as well as it does. Pulling out my little book of tricks works for me as long as I stay focused - and stocked with the right foods. Every once in a blue moon I have grabbed a handful of tortilla chips or a few M&Ms or, yes, a "fun size" Halloween Kit Kat or Almond Joy and I'm still here to tell about it, but if I have raw vegetables or walnuts or olives or pickles or grape tomatoes on hand ready to grab, it makes it less likely that I will stray off course.

Last edited by barb712 : Sun, Oct-25-20 at 08:46.
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  #56   ^
Old Wed, Dec-30-20, 07:04
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
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In 1972 I lost from my all-time high weight to my weight today. During the intervening years I've mostly kept away from that top weight, but kept re-gaining, re-losing the bottom 20 lbs.

Today I looked back over my Fitbit weight logs which date back to 05/13/14 and found the same pattern. This is why the forum here is so important for me personally. Being accountable where others can see my failures and note my successes helps keep me from the edge, from returning to the place my body feels I belong.

Gaining weight is easy. Losing weight, even ounces, at 75 is harder. Maintenance is the hardest job I've ever had.
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  #57   ^
Old Wed, Jan-06-21, 12:38
chicachyna chicachyna is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 234
 
Plan: my own LC
Stats: 179/141/145 Female 67 inches
BF:
Progress: 112%
Location: Tucson
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When I reached my goal weight I didn't know how to do maintenance. It took me 11 months to lose 31 pounds and during that time I weighed myself every morning, and measured, weighed, and tracked every bite. I fasted 16-20 hours most days. When I got to goal I was so used to doing those things that I just kept on. When I got down to 126 lbs I knew I didn't want to lose more weight, so I thought, well, maybe I can have a bagel. Or, it's been so long since I've had ice cream. And the carb creep began! In a short time I had given up intermittent fasting and I was eating potatoes and popcorn, and very quickly gained 10 pounds. Now I know that maintenance, for me anyway, has to be as structured and controlled as my weight loss regime. And I'm still trying to figure out what that looks like, but I'm getting there!
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  #58   ^
Old Wed, Jan-06-21, 12:45
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
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Congratulations on getting to where you are. Each of us has a different path and only we can find it

We must never give up the fight for our health.
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