Advice & Questions for Maintenance.

[shell]

Hi,
Thought I would start a thread for those who would like to help & share their experiences now they are on maintenance, for those going through maintenance.

I would like to know what & when some eat daily & what works for them?

Also if you go by the last days protein and veg weights, do you add the carbs & bread on top of these amounts?

Thanks
Shell

[shell]

Can you have stewed apple after your tea for a sweet without having carbs with your meal?

I know people now have apple after tea on the plan, just wondering if it was the same rules or not?
Thanks
Shell

[shell]

Well I am having a lovely conversation over here on my own!

I seem to be getting more and more confused as the days go by.
Not sure what to eat when I am hungry, and how much.

I have already had 5 crackers this morning, and wondering if I have any more will that be too much?
I think having more will be a better option than eating something else- which I love the crackers and am quite happy eating them.

It just seems I am worried about everything I am eating at the moment and wondering if I am picking the right options???
I think my weight would have been much easier to control if I hadn't drank so soon after finishing re feed- too late now!

I am quite happy not having the carbs as much as I started to, my plan is that they will have to be occasional food, not 2 days in a row??

I think the "obsessive compulsive" is coming out in me big time at the moment

I really enjoyed the last couple of months on the plan, now I feel "lost"

Sorry for rambling- anybody with any advice I would really appreciate it at the moment

Shell

[hexi2]

I feel the bit the same Shell - I guess this is what maintenance is all about...finding our way and yeh its confusing but like I said before if your body isn't putting on weight then go for it...

[Lonniecee]

Shell, it can be confusing. As to the crackers, as I'm not eating bread I might have four at lunch with turkey, cheese and avocado on them. I don't see why you can't have apple at dinner regardless of the carb content. I'm having stewed apple with my yoghurt every morning and 1/2 cup muesli with that. It's mainly the sugar and starch desserts that need to be within an hour of carbs at dinner or lunch time.

Lauren

[Annabelle Joy]

I've been reading, shell, just don't have anything to add here.

AJ

[ropemaha]

yeah hi shell....i havent been here yet cause i needed to focus on refeed but today is the last day.

i have questions also....my first reward is going to be avocado...does anyone know if this is a carb, or good/bad/ugly fruit or a veg or what???

i am having it on my crackers tomorrow ... cant wait

pen

[hexi2]

I believe in the food pyramid it is in with 'nuts/oils/marj/seeds' I don't think it is an 'anything' type of category just one that we should have in limited amounts. Of the top of my head it sits in the middle of the triangle not right at the top (where lollies, cakes, chocolate sits)

[Tuti]

Hi Penny,

I would just try it but not add anything else new that day and see how the scales go.

tuti

[flash12]

Hi Shell et.al. (gorgeous 'skinny' girls....am still tying to get a hold of being skinny too??)

This is a great idea for the forum. I reckon you need more support on 'maintenance' than on the programme or re-feed!

I think I'm settling down a little into a new Cohens based diet a month after finishing refeed. Excercise seems to be helping me. My body shape is still changing and toning up and I am still adjusting to it!

Questions to put forward - well there have been heaps of those...and if OK will just post them as they come to mind.

Thanks Shell!

Kylie

[bibabs]

Shame Shell.. you must have felt a bit lonely chatting all to yourself. You are so right with needing more support when on maintenance than before. I am so please that we have this little group who all seem to be moving along at a similiar pace.
I just find the discipline hard with maitenance, it will be so easy to let slip!!! So I am trying to keep to COHEN portions from 100% weightloss plan (but using the variety of refeed)during the week, and weekends I relax. But I am still very wary of carbs. I tend to go ape when I do have them. So it is almost like the alcoholic, safer for me not to have them outright, the hidden ones are bad enough. AND oh dear, I seem to have lost my taste for red wine!!! How cruel is that?

[shell]

Hi Bibas,
Sorry about the wine!

I have been having rough re feed weights of protein & veg and adding carbs not very often at the moment.
Still learning, as we all will be for a while

Carbs don't seem to make my hungry, just bloated and yuk.
Glad you are back
Shell

[shell]

Here is what my consultant e-mailed me about snacks:
Okay with Snacks your better choices are yoghurt (try and have just the natural one but you can now have flavoured if you want, just monitor yourself), chicken, carrot sticks, fruit, crispbreads with vegemite (or jam, peanut butter or honey once again just monitor yourself), popcorn.

Up your main meals a little so that you don't need to snack as much during the day. Because you should not have to have as many snacks if your meals are bigger as they will last you longer.
Are you still drinking your 2-2.5 litres of water each day? As our bodies do not know whether we are hungry or not the best thing to do is have a glass of water wait 20 mins and if you are still hungry then that was your body talking to you. If you are not hungry after the 20 mins then that was your body telling you that is was thirsty.

It is hard too mentally as you now know that you don't have to follow the program anymore that you know that you are now allowed to have other foods so your mind tricks you into thinking that you are hungry when you may not be so that is why the glass of water is a good test of measure to use.

Use your softdrink to fill you up also. Unfortunately it's just trial and error my dear.

Hope that is helpful
Shell

[Tuti]

Yep - just trial and error!

We will probably all make errors along the way but thats how we will learn what works for us and what doesn't.

I did the bigger meals today. I had two eggs & veggies for brekky, a chicken fillet and lots of vegies for lunch and didn't feel as hungry during meals.

tuti

[shell]

I did that too today Tuti & slowly trying to cut back on the snacks (it is only habit from the plan!) but after 8 months I am finding it a bit hard-but I will keep trying
Shell

[hexi2]

I should be able to answer this more tomorrow as I am seeing my clinic and will be quizzing her all about maintenance

[Tuti]

Yep that's what I found Shell. During refeed you seem to be eating something all the time and it does seem to become a habit.

Tuti

[hexi2]

Ok according to my clinic yes we need to reduce snacking - and limit to our crackers and/or fruit (max 1 - 2 per day) other than that by having larger portions of veg/meat for our 2 meals should keep the hunger at bay....and only having carbs (rice, pasta, etc) at lunch or dinner...

[AudreeS]

I thouge this a good thread to bring back.... It's true, maintainers need more support then perhaps on plan because there's so much room to venture off track and if we don't reign ourselves quick enough, we begi the downward spiral of putting weight back on... Which I'm not going to let happen... I love the way I feel much more than any food!!!