Back onto the old program after 15 mths of maintenance

[Lindy79]

Happy new year to everyone!

I thought I'd share my (not so successful) maintenance experience in part as therapy to get all my thoughts down and also to help anyone else out there who is struggling.

I finished refeed in Nov 09 after losing a total of 14.5kg. 15 mths later I have put on half of that, so 7 kg. What I have found is that it is easy to maintain ie. if you eat well for the week (90% of the time) and have a couple of blowouts say on the weekend you can get off the 1 kg or so straight away (which is probably water retention) if you watch your carb intake for the next 2 days after the blowout ie. carb reset for 48 hours as per the maintenance guidelines.

Where I have come unstuck is that if I have a 3-7 day period eg. holidays etc, where I don't watch what I eat, I have found it impossible afterwards to lose the 1-2kg I put on.

So here's how it happened:
Xmas 09/10 -1.5kg over a 3 wk holiday away
Easter - 1kg (too much chocolate!)
August Weekend away - 1.5kg
October Weekend away - 1kg
Lead up to Xmas - 1kg (too many parties & alcohol)
This Xmas holidays - 1kg over 3 wk holiday away

So whilst the kg crept up slowly over 15mths, if you can't take it off...it all adds up!

So I am now on day 5 of the original programme and 3.3kg down. I know the guidelines say I should buy a new programme if you put on 3-4+ kg from goal weight but I am going to give this a go first. I have worked out (based on results from the first time I did the diet) that it should take me 4 wks to get to goal, then 17 days of refeed.

Leading up to deciding to go back on Cohen's again I found it hard as 2nd time round you know what you're in for ie. first few days of hunger, no drinking, preparing every meal etc. for the time you're on it. When I first did it I was so excited as I knew it would be a new beginning but second time round it's like punishment for not following the maintenance guidelines so it has taken much more motivation to get started.

Having said that though, I am not beating myself up too badly. The 7kg gain means that I can't fit into 2 or 3 outfits I used to 6 mths ago (which isn't too bad). The main thing is that I have used the last 15 mths to work out what I "can" and "can't" do food-wise for the rest of my life. I kept a food diary everyday so I know exactly when and how I have put on the weight.

In future I will also have to be vigilant in watching my portion sizes. Whilst I eat well 90% of the time (only some carbs for snacks and 1 meal, usually lunch) I have found that I got back into my old habit of eating way too much in one meal, usually for dinner. Even though most dinners are meat/fish/chicken and veg/salad I need to remember my last day refeed portions. It's easy to get back into the mindset of "well it's good food so I can eat heaps of it". Not so!

Anyway, sorry to ramble. Just hoping that my experience may be insightful for some of you out there.

Feeling positive about getting back to goal and staying there.