Weightloss Maintenance

I've been at this maintenance thing for more than 7 years now.  Its not nearly as much fun as losing 120 lbs was but it has its merits...as in not ever having to lose 120 lbs again. phewwww!

In this time, I've learned many different things about food, exercise and what it takes to keep my weight in check and under control.  You'd think that my words of advice would be meaningful to people who need it...but they are not.   So I stop giving advice and revert into myself.

I am a low carber...I had to learn how to eat to control my carb intake.  I am not a zero carber or a very low carb high fat person.  I do a moderate low carb diet and keep my total fats down, not low but not high either.  I would guess that my total carbs a day are between 50 and 100 grams.  I eat lean proteins mostly and sometimes fatty and lean red meats.  I try to eat as much wild fish as I can afford...its very pricey here in NYC.  I eat veggies, cooked and raw, a little dairy and some cheese.  I eat whole eggs and use real butter!

I try very hard to avoid processed foods.  Food stuff in boxes is very bad, in my opinion. 
I made a lovely pot of veggie soup last night using bone broth I made from chicken feet and beef soup bones...gotten at our new Fairway...love that store!   Lots of asst veggies and spices went into it and its quite yummy.  It made 7 x 3 cup containers of soup...so I'm set for a couple of weeks.  I cook in volume and then freeze so I don't have to cook during the week when I'm tired from work.

I recently realized that my evening glass of wine was causing my body to not only gain but gain all in my tummy.  I cut out the wine last week and dropped down 4 lbs in a few days and my tummy is mostly flat again.  It wasn't only the wine though as it was the nibbling that goes along with the buzz as my boundaries around food lower with that lovely glass of Monkey Bay Sauvignon blanc.  So if you think that you can lose weight while drinking alcohol and its not working out for you, you too may want to look at dropping it.

I walk a lot.  I'm a dog walker and spend 5-7 hours daily hiking around my 'hood with dogs.  Its not fast or consistent...but I am on my feet all day long.  The days I'm not walking, I keep my food intake smallish....and not allow any starches as my body won't burn them and will store them...which is exactly what I don 't want! 
I believe in moderate amounts of exercise along with learning which carbs are good and avoid the bad ones.  Exercise alone will not give you weight loss.....its gotta be more about the food and a little bit of exercise.  But move you must...and work on building muscle so that you can maintain your losses.  1 hour a day on an elliptical is not the way to go!  and its a waste of time.  Do some weight lifting...I do machine Pilates and love it.

Do I eat bread?  Once in a while as a treat and NOT daily for sure!  That is what I mean about learning to control your carb intake...for life and not just while you want to lose weight.  Got it?

Thought or craving? How do you know which is which?

http://www.oprah.com/packages/women-food-and-god.html

Based on the videos of Geneen Roth at the above link, she is talking about something that I've been doing for the past 6 years now. Its the video called "Geneen Roth's eating guidelines" and she may help you more than I can with my clumsy words.

I have managed to become aware of food as mere thoughts and separate that from an actual craving. She talks about just this subject in the video. I know that when I'm sick to my stomach, I want oatmeal and a banana. It helps with nausea. To me, that is a craving.
But when I'm upset and or overwhelmed, and start thinking about eating a bagel, then to me, thats just a mere thought of a food that I do not have to chose to eat.

I had a bit of food poisoning last week. Got real sick with very bad intestinal cramps for several hours in the afternoon on Thursday. I was hungry for dinner but was afraid to eat as I had no idea what was wrong with me. I took a few bites of chicken and made myself some plain chicken broth and sipped on that for a while. I then cooked up a sweet potato later that night as that was all I wanted. Sweet potato doesn't require work by the colin to digest it so a good choice for when we have digestion issues.
To me, these were foods that I was craving to help me to heal and feel better.
But when I'm in an emotional state, my food choices can be pretty poor so I've got to be hyper aware at all times and not give into mere thoughts of highly processed foods like breads, pastas, etc.