What does maintenance FEEL like?
 

Okay, this question is for those hyper-self-analytical types out there, and I know from the outset that it may be a tough one to answer.

I know what losing feels like: that kind of `squarish' crunching feeling in the abdomen (usually) that corresponds with a drop in scale weight--not hunger, but right next door to it, and often an I'm hungry-but-don't-want-to-eat feeling.

I know what gaining feels like--that bloating, itchy-legged, I'm-full-but-want-to-eat feeling.

What does maintenence feel like? Is it just a pendulum swing between those feelings, or is it different? Do you find a peace where you are no longer trying to lose, or is it an eternal-vigilance feeling?

I remember from many years ago, an immediacy to the sensation of hunger when I was at goal--that `I'm-hungry-and-you-better-feed-me-NOW' feeling (like living with a 2 year old . . . ) but I don't remember anything else about it . . .


Thanks for your thoughts on this. . . .

I am scared of maintenance!!!!!!!! I don't know if I can actually do it! I can lose...I've proven that a few times, but keeping it off terrifies me! I would love to see what folks who are living maintenance have to say!!!!! It might help my fears!

It feels like one long stall, but with more variety in foods. It's kinda weird at first. After loose mode you feel like there is nothing to look forward too. For example, loosing weight=emotional reward. That whole thing stops. What I have found is that I need to make new goals for myself. School grades, personal well being, activities. I just moved on with life following my LC template. It became just a PART of me. Not my whole life. This was a welcome change for me as for a time I was a bit obsessive. Sure there is the whole learning what works for me bit. I've made some mistakes. Live and learn, then move on. What I am trying to say is that the pressure to loose is gone, but learning is a contiunual process, just roll with it.

While I have not gotten to maintenance yet, I did just come off of a 6 week stall. It was very disconcerting to not see the scale moving down but just sitting at the same weight day after day and week after week.

I realized that I was a junkie for the high from losing weight! I also knew that I needed to learn to find joy in staying the same weight. I'm scared too but its a good kind of scared.....because I know that I will not eat starch the same way ever again!!

Setting new goals is a great idea!!

I've decided to go back to my tennis....I used to play competitively and would love to just play for fun and for the exercise. :idea:

Judynyc,

Exactley! That is the type of switch off I was talking about. Funny, When I hit goal, I was kinda lost. I walked around for a month or two thinking "so now what?". That took a while for me to shake. I think it would be good for you to start on some new goals now. Saves you the trouble of the "so now what" phase while takeing your mind off loosing of the last ten lbs. A watched pot never boils right??

Maintaining is different. The support is not there the same as when you are losing- look at this whole website as evidence. This is the most difficult part of the journey, and there is almost nothing written about it. Instead of focusing on the weight/scale/size, focus on how you feel and what is new/different/easier. I am very scared about gaining the weight back/being insulin resistant again/getting sick. So I have commited to this WOL for the long haul. I have also given myself permission to see what works for me and make this very personal and individualized. So far it is more than a year maintaining. Right now I am trying out the concept of having fun with my body and dressing it up and taking it out to play. I am also looking into learning new things- new languages, welding, golf. sort of what Bandito is talking about. One more thing- for me maintenance has evolved over time. It is not static. HTH-
E

My question was actually focused on the physical sensations of stabilizing, but I suspect from the various answers here that the greatest challenge lies in the direction of emotional/mental aspects of maintenance.

I read a book once about people who had escaped or been released from prison, often after several years inside, and they almost invariably ended up back behind bars in short order. This author, a repeat offender who had spent most of his adulthood in prison, including several `successful' escapes' finally was able to SEE and then to break that pattern. He realized he'd no plan, no skills, that he would need for living in the world outside of prison, and thus moved back to his comfort zone whenever things got tough outside. His solution? Support groups and transition processes.

I think our situation has parallels.


I read on a different forum a post from a woman who had, at 280+, more or less given up on life, and was waiting for the end. Then came the diabetes diagnosis, and something in her galvinized for the fight. Now this was a primarily-LF group, so winners were rare, and their insights treasured. I have never forgotten her analogy--she said it's as if she had crossed an ocean in a small boat, and encountered storms and despair along the way, but by the time she hit her goal weight, about half her starting weight, she said it was just like hitting the dock with a gentle *bump*--and now she had to learn to live life in the harbor.

I was at 185 this a.m.--expecting a bounce-up, so haven't changed my stats, but am starting to plan ahead for the changes, because I am almost 70% of the way to my prelminary goal. And ladies, I really don't want to have to do this again. . .

Eno, loved what you said about `dressing up the body and taking it (her?) out to play.' I'm already enjoying having many more options for clothing at 16/18 than I did with 24's. I'm also taking the time to sort out the size 10's and 12's I saved from years ago--and am thrilled with the quality and style of many of them (there are others, though. . . remember shoulder pads?) So excited about being able to wear those clothes--and also realizing that there will be more to explore. As if I am, in my imagination, visiting the land of the slender before I arrive. . .

Atkins also addressed many of these issues with the last-ten-pounds chapter in his book--I remember a time when that chapter seemed so far away from having anything to do with me.

I also want maintenance to be a time of experimenting with new programs--maybe Somersizing, maybe CAD/CALP, South Beach? I look forward to being at goal because then I will have a set number that I won't go above (at this time I'm planning on that being at 150, but I'll know better when I'm closer.) That kind of ceiling becomes obscure when you're still losing--am I standing still because of the food, because I'm stalling? Also, that will be a time to explore the changes that happen as a result of exercise.



So. What are we going to do about that? There will be more of us, you know.

What worked before? Challenges? Regular posting? Journalling? New goals? Trying out new recipes? Being able to travel without having an extra 75 pounds of `luggage'?

I know that what I'm feeling like right now is *starting* to be the new normal. . . and the experience of being 252 is starting to be more abstract, a memory of a memory. . .

Hi Kathleen and everyone else-
very thought provoking posts. BTW- physically I feel "normal".

I don't know what the answer is. I love the metaphor of being in the harbour after crossing the ocean. Let's face it- being in the harbour is boring compared to the challenges of the ocean crossing, but that is where real life is. For me acceptance has been a key. First, accepting that I really had a physical problem that can be corrected by CALP and that I have to stay on this plan to continue in health. Second, accepting that I really do weigh 125lbs and really am a size 6/8 now and giving myself permission that this is okay. It was not my goal, I was very happy at 150 and my size 12, but this is where my body bumped into the dock. After 16 years of being a 16, and being fine with that, this has been really difficult. The first winter I was freezing, and my bones hurt when I sat or had my elbow on something. All my cushioning was gone, but that has gone away. I am getting more comfortable in my own skin.
I do like this site, and I do like posting: this has helped me stay on track. I never started a journal.
I am interested in what others have to say.
E

Maintenance, for me, is scary -- I'm so very, very afraid that I'll regain the weight. Once before I lost weight, got to my ideal weight, then thought I was "home free" -- but over the next ten years I managed to put on 30 pounds....

Right now it seems more of a "balancing" game -- I'll overeat, then get scared and back off for a week (typically I eat too much on weekends, then am super-strict on weekdays).

Low-carbing is a way of life for my husband and me -- but I can still overeat, and my choices aren't always good (e.g., sf ice cream, soy chips, almonds....); also, I tend to eat too much fruit. It's not so much of a "hunger" driven eating, rather it's a "the food looks appetizing and therefore I eat it" type of eating.

The other "downside" to maintenance -- when I first lost this weight, I felt like I looked really good -- now I'm looking a bit chubby again -- I'm reasonably sure that nothing much is changing, but that as I become comfortable with my weight, I begin to see other flaws.... Somehow I have to become comfortable with my weight and body shape -- although I exercise regularly, I doubt that anything much will change that drastically, and I really don't think anything lower would be healthy for me...

I hope this thread stays active, I thought I was weird for thinking maintenence was a scary thing. I play with my goal weight (at one time it was 140-145)...I lower it bit by bit so I can prolong the inevitable. Is that sick, or what? Now I have it set at 135, which at 5'7" and being of slight frame is a pretty good weight for me.

So, is a healthy way of looking at maintaning a weight is, say, stay within a 5 pound field, like 135-140, because since I do weigh every day, there is going to be ups and downs. I mean, it would be unrealistic to see the same number e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y, right?

I know all this seems obvious and possibly elementary, but I feel there are two things I do really well...take off weight...and gain it right back. I've done it a few times, so I got that part down pretty good. It's going beyond that I just can't do for different reasons (emotional/binge eater/addictive personallity). Hey, now there's a thougt...I could get addicted to maintenence!





:lol:

lisabond

I'm also 5'7", and I keep my weight at 130 -- I expect a +- of 3 pounds (i.e., weight between 127 - 133) as normal variation -- though if I hit the upper limit for a couple of days, I start watching my food intake again.

Salt can drive my weight up, as can nuts (haven't figured that one out, but too many almonds -- one of my addictions -- can add a couple of pounds overnight) -- haven't found an "instant" downsizer, though.

I am so afraid that I will become careless and not worry about 2-3 pounds -- and then another 2-3 pounds....

I'm right there with you Lisa!! :lol:

As a yo-yoer from way back, I too, have great fears about maintaining....I just want to be at peace with my body and food!! :agree:

Yeah, that would be nice, wouldn't it!!! And it would have to taste as good as almonds ! ;)


I know...I am the same way. It's amazing how fast weight can go on until we are forced to acknowledge it.

A wonderful thread - hope you all don't mind me popping in - I am 6-11 pounds away from goal...

I guess the way I imagine maintenance to feel like (at firrst at least) is a little anxiety trip, especially the fear that adding more carbs/calories will make me gain back the weight. About 10 years ago I got to 116 and what killed me was simply not taking maintenance seriously. I did it through Jenny Craig which relies on packaged foods (at least it did then) and doesn't teach you how to maintain on "real" food, so of course once I was off the packaged food, I gained. But the difference is that this time I'm a low carber for life and I know keeping my carbs to a reasonable amount (though I have no idea what that will be yet) and keeping certain foods out of my diet (like dairy and processed salty meats and caffiene) will help me not only keep the weight off but be healthier overall.

I had a similar question for maintainers - do you still feel the same benefits you did while losing on low carb (i.e., the extra energy, clear-headedness, control over food)? Or once you add "good carbs" you found that those things went away a little (but not enough to regain, obviously!)

Tam

Tam -- I feel absolutely great -- I don't get headaches (used to suffer with them almost all the time), rarely get a cold, never get the flu....

I consider my health quite good, go to the doctor's only for checkups (at my age, they really push that). And I attribute this state of health to good genes and healthy diet....

I also still have lots of energy -- regular exercising and eating correctly contribute to that (IMO).

I haven't had a "sweet" (such as cake, cookies) for many years (other than a bite of each of my daughter's wedding cakes -- tasted terrible) -- I think I have lost my taste for sugar. However, I still enjoy bread and whole grains, eat them in moderation. The only times I feel "out of control" with eating is with almonds (could they be a trigger food for me?), or occasionally after eating out (wonder what I really ate????).

Feel great here as well. I feel like I did a couple months into LC (took my body a while to adjust). My bs has been stable and I don't need to take naps. I dont know what else to say, except I feel great. I still have my trigger foods. If I fall off the deep end once and a while, I will feel like garbage until it wears off. During maintenance you will find the foods that you react poorly to. It's ok to mess up here and again. Thats how you learn what is right for you. This part takes time, but with your advanced knowlege of what YOU can handle, your repertiore of foods will develope. After you have gained this knowlege (but still always learning) you just kinda settle into your life. At this point you eat for your future health while paying some attention to weight so as to not re-gain.

Very interesting thread. :thup:



For me, it's a little bit of everything. You go through phases. Sometimes maintenance is as easy as pie. Other times, it's right out the window. Then comes that itchy-leg/bloated feeling you described. Successful maintenance means that your new lifestyle is so engrained in you, that going back to how you used to be not only feels physically uncomfortable, but wrong on a moral and emotional level.



I'm in the 'eternal-vigilance' camp. I have an addictive personality, and that will never disappear. As well, I'm disorganized and impulsive by nature, and if I'm not paying attention to things going on in my life, they just disappear off my radar. Without my "to-do" lists, I'd be lost and my work would never get done. :daze:

But that's not to say you don't have peace, also. The food obsession, the all-or-nothing, perfectionist attitude; the noise in my head; it's softened from a roar to a dull whisper. It's a voluntary paying of attention, not the negative voice in your head screaming at you. There is a specific kind of peace you feel when you know you're feeding your body properly, not abusing it.

I'm in a situation in which I have maintained my weight loss over 5 years. It's something you gradually learn. It's hard to say because it's different for each person. You just learn what to eat, the amount, etc the same way each day. You eat a variety of foods, learn which ones not to eat too much of. (the reason most people get heavy...too much of a good thing). You also learn not to fear what you eat. I limit my pasta and starch to once a week. I have stayed in my zone (never below 110, never above 113lbs since then. Again, each person is different, but you will learn to do it.

Speaking personally,

In maintenance I don't feel much different than I did when losing. I can't relate to your descriptions of loss and gain, although I do remember the feeling of being stuffed yet still hungry when I was fat.

When I was losing,
I remember being more careful and afraid of what I was eating. The fear was highest when I first started, it changed focused a little, and slowly tapered away. It's still there but now it's like background noise. When you maintain you learn something you didn't know about "normal weight" people: weight fluxes. It's totally normal to eat a bit for a few days because, say, celebrations or fruit season or bbq. It's totally normal to put on a bit of weight. Then you lose it again by going back to more strict eating, and that's that. No fuss no muss.
This helps you get over the fears that were fresh when starting the diet, because you are learning that you DON"T need to be perfect and you're not supposed to be. If you eat something bad, if you gain a pound, it will be fixed as long as you stay committed to thinness. The fears of everything weight & food related gradually goes away when reality interjects the closed bubble of weight loss dieting.

I also remember being hungrier. Since my goal was to lose weight as fast as possible while still being healthy, I under ate fats as well as carbs to really create an energy deficit. It wasn't so much the physical hunger that bothered me, because my blood sugar was tightly controlled it was very managable. It was more the physical effects of a body low on energy & conserving it. I was tired often, cold often (the winter was like a nightmare, oh my god), occasionally dizzy and weak. I take for granted now that I don't feel dizziness and weakness like I used to, I forget that used to be common. So I feel healthier and stronger. Ironically in maintenance I actually can feel hungrier, since less rules means more poor choices, which translates into less stable blood sugar. The difference is though that on maintenance when I'm hungry I allow myself to eat since weight loss is not a goal (unless of course I have gained weight after a series of indulgences).


The biggest difference is in perception, mental perception.
You kinda have to let go of food in maintenance. In maintenance you're not allowed to be extreme anymore. Many people who are food addicts temporarily deal with abstaining from food by becoming hyper obsessive with losing weight. I see it all the time. By a food addict going on a diet, you're kinda trading heroin for morphine. It can end up a couple ways. You can actually use it (food purity/restriction obsession) as true morphine, using it as a crutch to fill the void on the way to being eating normal. You can eventually find yourself adverse to it and just go back to food. OR, you can be triggered by it, grow dependent on it to replace the void of eating food, and develop a restrictive/compensatory eating disorder. To my estimations it is an unfortunate truth very few people have the "happy outcome", instead they become more dysfunctional in eating one way or other from attempting to reduce weight.

Anyway. When I had to learn to just be moderate and NORMAL and not focus on food so much, it was a big blow. I totally didn't realize the extent that I was replacing compulsive eating with dieting. The transition was difficult to say the least. Maintenance made me realize I WAS an emotional dependent on food, and it forced me to deal with my compulsive tendencies. It is simply no longer an OPTION to be "all or nothing" like it was before, because this would result in undesired outcomes.

This is definitely premature on my part since I have a long way to go, but I feel more eating normal than I have ever in my life. Experimenting, in spite of fears, learning to actually eat food in moderation and on occasion, challenging my long held residual perceptions of being "deprived" and "yearning" for food (remnants of the carbohydrate sensitivity, the seeds for compulsive eating/restriction)... it's like I parted the fog and can see clearly for the first time. Of course this is only true if I also control blood sugar. I shouldn't understate how crucial this factor is, because becoming "eating normal" is only possible if one is no longer being triggered by the physical problems that lay the foundation for food addiction in the first place.

I've really went on waaay too long here so I"m just going to end it now.

Bumping an old thread
 

I just spotted this thread today, and read everything with great interest. I've been officially in maintenance since April 2005, with one excursion back to induction to counteract a vacation weight gain. The sneaky 5 lbs.

To all the other comments, I want to add: rereading my program book (Dr. Atkins) brought to light a lot of information I hadn't paid much attention to while I was in Loss Mode. Dr. A has a breezy style (okay--hyper at times.) He tends to insert sentences here and there like asides--but that are really important. Example: most people can't eat a high-fat diet.

Hey--what happened to my "low-carb advantage"? As it turns out, I DO have to pay careful attention to what I eat. I use Fitday periodically to recheck my eating habits. I step on the scales often to remind myself where I want to STAY. I mind my carbs. It's the mindfulness I learned every step of the way on my low-carb journey to GOAL that serves me now.

I tend to admire myself in the mirror a lot, because most people in my life now don't remember me as a "fat person." It's been almost ten years since I first lost the 50 lbs (on a low-fat diet). Atkins has been my key to continuing success. Still--yesterday, when I wore my skinny jeans and black turtleneck, someone stopped me in the hallway at work and said, "Wow. I don't know how you do it!" Evidently, she's one of those people who's been watching me...watching for me to get fat again? I swear it's not going to happen. Ever.

You're all so great, so individual, having personal tips I secretly :) learn from.

I work in a fashion industry, guess I don't need to tell what pressure is there about being the right size, even if you're not the model.
As I began to open up and tell my slim secrets - I was told being a sect.
And you know I think woman who told that was right; as I need to come here and see that I'm not alone.
To steal some tips and try to fit them to my life, see if they work.
So stay vigilant, low-carbers!

I'm glad I seen some action in this thread, I missed this the last time I was through here.

I think it does come down to the daily habits that makes maintenence an "auto-pilot" kind of thing. After all, it was the daily habits that had me obese in the first place...eating out of the box o' carbs (does it matter what is actually was? The important thing was it was all carbs), lack of structure, lack of planning, lack of caring. Now I have a new set of daily habits. Call it a routine, call it a rut, call it mild ocd, but if I stick to the new daily habits, they will become as comfortable as all the other maintenence type things I do in my life, like balace a checkbook, brush my teeth, take my kids to school, it's just another part of life. And when the holidays roll around and if I deviate from the "routine" one day, I tell myself that "Christmas comes but once a year" (or insert holiday of choice), and the day after is right back to the real world. No, I'm not talking about total pig out on Christmas, it's more like, "hey, plum pudding with hard sauce comes into my life once a year. I'm having a serving."

With that said, I still struggle with image issues, some white-knuckle moments, those last few pesky pounds. But I am learning it's the days I string together like beads on a string that show how things really are. Just make sure there are far more regular days strung together than those "once a year" days! And no making up holidays, either! ;)

What a powerful image! And now that I've read it the gentle *bump* is exactly what I am experiencing coming into pre-maintenance and, thus, what I now expect maintenance will be.

I am sooo glad I found this thread!!! Thanks, y'all!

Donna

The analogy is perfect.

I've been in maintenance for 2+ years and know what?
 

Sometimes, I gain weight. (jeez...that collective gasp I could hear even out here in the middle of nowhere!) Not a LOT of weight, I hasten to add, but 3-5 pounds. USUALLY, it's 'cause I eat too many P3 carbs (we're permitted up to 4 "legal" carbs per day in Fat Flush Plan) - dang, the blue corn chips are just too tasty! Anyhoo, I don't panic. I don't despair. I don't go completely off plan and binge.

What I do is a quarterly detox (either 2 weeks of P1 or the lovely Fast Track). Abracadabra, presto change-o! Pounds vanish and I'm back to my low weight.

Why am I telling you this?
Well, I suppose so you know that maintenance/P3 isn't a "free pass" to eat whatever you want. You still have to pay attention and just because the rules say you can have "X" doesn't mean YOU can have "X" (if you catch my drift).
Also, so you know that a return to induction/P1 now and then is good not only from a detox standpoint, but to help shave off pound creep. Life happens. It's good to know that the phases of the FFP - or returning to Atkins induction - can help deal with the aftermath. ;)

As it happens, I started my routine quarterly detox today and will be following the Phase 1 Fat Flush Plan eating guidelines for the next two weeks. Pass the water, please!

I've not been at goal for very long now but I do agree with csoar.....I'm finding myself adhering to the rules of my plan as if I'm still doing it.

I know that if I eat as much as my phase III allows, that I'd be gaining weight. I'm not going back to where I was!! I am going to be eating this way for the rest of my life!!

I do, however, have a feeling of freedom that is quite nice. Also, the feeling of having given myself this wonderful gift, keeps me wanting to stay where I am.

My eating is becoming more second nature to me now and for this I'm very grateful!! :D

The weight maintenance part of this has not (yet) been difficult for me. That being said, coming to terms with a thinner me has not always been as easy to deal with. People treat me differently; I am more focused on things like clothing and makeup; and I am re-introducing non-weight related activities back into my life--trying to move the food issues more into the background of my day-to-day existence.

When I was actively losing weight, I didn't think much about it--I charged on, doing what I had learned was likely to be most effective. Now, at goal, I am making sense of what being fat has meant to me--the good and the bad. It's more challenging to me than weight loss was.

Read this post, and thought, "I can totally relate to this!"
And then I noticed who wrote it . . . :lol:

'Read this post, and thought, "I can totally relate to this!"
And then I noticed who wrote it . . . :lol:'

:lol: Well, you bumped the thread for the rest of us. It's a fascinating read and I am surprised it has been dormant so long.

I have been in maintenance for over 3 years: maintenance as an activity, not maintenance as an outcome - I have been gaining just about 1.3 lbs a year. I have simply carried on with the WOE that I lost with, primarily OMAD with low carb dishes. My occasional deviation is fish and chips, maybe once a quarter. My OMAD tribe does not weigh or measure food, but we eat to satiety. I will not countenance imposing any portion control unless clothes get tight. As an Abstainer I am happy to live by my simple rules and make zero food decisions most hours of a day.

Agree with Ambulo this is a vey interesting thread, glad you bumped it. How funny that you still think that way kathleen24 after 12 years.
I reckon as maintenance is such a stumbling block for many of us the more help and suggestions the better. Emotional reward from a drop in the scale is very encouraging. Personally the goal of weight loss is a fight worth fighting. When I get to my goal I think I will have to set new goals. A few on here set their target a little lower I will be considering that. Keeping the mind and body busy will also be useful. Just Jo is a powerhouse of a knitter. I hope as we reach goal we will continue to come on here. The journey will continue.