I POSTED THIS IN MAINTAINERS AND GOT NO RESPONCE SO I AM TRYING HERE. IF IT IS A DOUBLE POST FOR YOU PLEASE EXCUSE IT.

Hello,
I know I am not officially there yet, (36 lbs to go)but as I have a 5 week holiday planned to FL this summer and I expect to be about 20 lbs to goal by then I was thinking that as I would be in hotels and things, I would not have the ability to prepare alot of my own foods.

Now, I assure you that I dont intend on cheating, but being exact without access to my fitday will be hard.

So, I bought Dr. A. book "the next level" and still feel that his explanation of maintenence details are sketchy. Of course, I know that he says, when you up your carbs you lower your fat intake, but what are the levels. What is the ratio. Now, I try for 65-70 fat/3-5 carb/rest protien.

I need specifics.
I mean do you just lower fats or portien too? I know this is entirely individual but would appreciate to read your ideas for my trying just to maintain in the holiday. I would not knowingly eat obvious sugar, but assume that resturant meals may contain hidden carbs, etc.

I would like to go, enjoy the holiday and come back the same weight and then continue losing.

Is this idea ridiculous since I am still doing very strict 20-25 carbs? I mean I want to continue losing until then, so I am forsaking OWL which would normally be required before going to maintainence. I dont want to start owl now when I can definitely be a size smaller in the next 12 weeks.

Maybe I am just overworried for nothing. I did do a week in Germany skiing at spring break and I carefully watched everything and know I must have eaten more carbs than 20 but still lost during that time. Maybe this is just a fear I have of not being able to get here in this forum or sign in to fitday which has become like a religion for me. l am going to be lost without a computer! UUUGGGHHHH

If you could post your ratios and any concerns here, I sure would appreciate it.
Thank you

I don't know if my situation would apply but when I found out I was pregnant I had to jump from owl straight to maint. My carbs were already pretty high but I came close to doubling my carb intake all at once. I realized that for myself it comes down to the calories (and of course eating the right carbs) I would think that it would be easy to maintain as long as you are eating the right foods. As for holding off on the OWL to drop a size... I actually lost a lot of weight in OWL. You might give it a try and see if you can drop a size while doing it. Maybe buy yourself a carb guide so you can get a rough daily figure if you feel that is what you need to do while you are on vacation.

Since I only have 12 weeks to go before I leave, I am so reluctant to lose even one day of potential weight loss. I know alot of people do continue to lose on OWL, but I love my 2lbs a week loss and am afraid to have a stall when I can count on at least that much weight loss gone by then. So far I am soooooooo grateful not to have had a "zero" loss week. (HALLELEJAH)

Yes, I am obsessed. If you only knew my 2 wicked sisters and the comments that I always suffer, I am so desperate to look smaller and not have to deal with the put downs. Yes, they are tiny. I wont be tiny, but I can be less.

Thank you anyway.

How terrible that your sisters don't support you. I'm sure you'll be cinderella soon.
As I remember from DANDR, the idea I got was that when you start adding in more carbs (and as your weight is decreasing) you have to make portion sizes smaller. It makes sense to me because we can't eat as much carbohydrate and still lose weight. I don't know ratios, but it would seem that since your fat is going down; your carb is going up, then the balance is in protein?
good luck

I know that as you increase the carbs you are suppose to lower your fat intake. But I don't know the formula for this. The way I handle maintance it to stick with my normal eating style, which is still between 20 to 30 carbs a day. But I allow something "extra" ro a cheat meal (sometimes more ) once or twice a month.

That along with allowing myself not to worry about eating those stalling foods, like low carb Ice Cream. To some point this eating style is different for everyone. And I also think the way you handle maintance is also different for each individual. I know if I were to allow myself more and more carbs, I would soon lose control of myself. So this is the best way for me to handle it. Also any of those "extra" treats come from out of my house.

Is there really no one who knows the appropriate fat ratio for maintaining?

I don't think there IS an appropriate standard nutrient ratio for maintaining. The reason why is that everyone's ACE (Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium) is different at maintenance. Some people can go up to 150g net carbs (mostly active young men who exercise a lot), while some people need to stay at 30g to maintain. Obviously the difference in those carbs is going to affect one's percentages.

I do think that what IS important at maintenance is to have most of your additional carbs coming from more vegetables and fresh fruits. Breads, pasta, rice and legumes need to be more carefully controlled. Sweet treats, even LC ones, need to be consumed in moderation, if ever.

I think you will be just fine - it seems like a great idea, and as long as you balance it out by making sure you have both carbs and protein at every meal, and stay away from sugars and white flour you should not have a problem - chances are if you are on holiday you will be moving a lot and getting your excersize anyway, so enjoy it and relax is the only advice I have for you.

I have heard maintanance is very close to the zone with 30% fat

I think the ratio is going to vary widely from person to person due to the different CCLM's.