Calling Maintainers - your views on how/if you are keeping the weight off

[MissNat]

Awww shucks, Koh and mcbell-- I am feeling the love!
And Koh, it does seem like I'm writing a book there doesn't it? Sometimes I feel a little embarrassed that my posts are so lengthy.
But I must confess, my motive for doing it started with selfish intentions- I realize that I might need to remind myself of these things in the future!! So my theory is to record it all while I'm doing well and feeling strong so that it's there to fall back on if I need it. The fact that anyone gets anything out of it thrills me to pieces!!!

[mcbell]

Originally Posted by MissNat

Awww shucks, Koh and mcbell-- I am feeling the love!
And Koh, it does seem like I'm writing a book there doesn't it? Sometimes I feel a little embarrassed that my posts are so lengthy.
But I must confess, my motive for doing it started with selfish intentions- I realize that I might need to remind myself of these things in the future!! So my theory is to record it all while I'm doing well and feeling strong so that it's there to fall back on if I need it. The fact that anyone gets anything out of it thrills me to pieces!!!

That is a great reason, and we are all grateful that you are generously sharing your experiences! Thanks so much.

[Marmaduke]

Righty O! So, I've been collating a few thoughts on eating and what works for me. Here is the first cut of my ruley rules, though to be honest the maintenance guideliens seem to provide plenty and I try to read them regularly while still in my early novice days. So here goes, a few thoughts on food and nutrition that works for me, in a world of plenty:
• Meditate on your meal – enjoy a meal, eat it with respect. It is lovely to have a meal full of nutrients. It is a pleasure to eat. Savour it. And pay attention to how it feels as you ingest and digest. There are flavours and textures to be savoured. And when you know you have had an amount sufficient to your needs, stop.
• Start the day with a warm drink – your digestion system needs time to wake up too. A bit of chromium in the water staves off sugar cravings.
• Vinegar, particularly apple cider vinegar, helps you feel fuller and aids digestion.
• If you are having a treat, savour it. If you give in to a craving, take a deep breath and give yourself permission to enjoy it. You aren’t a prisoner on the lam thieving food from a larder! You are an adult giving yourself permission to feel nourished and eat with pleasure. Just be honest.
• Listen to your body – what does it need?
• Home cooked is best cooked – I love dining out but that is also a treat to be savoured on occasion. Food is best cooked at home, with fresh ingredients and no food engineering other than what packaged food passes the keeper.
• If I’m not hungry enough to eat an apple, I’m not hungry.
• Don’t eat sugar for 2 hours after working out – sugar can inhibit the benefits of HGH released during a workout.
• No eating a couple of hours before going to bed. A full belly inhibits release of HGH during sleep.
• Leave a little bit of food on the plate in gratitude and without guilt. It is for the wormies in the compost!
• Stop eating when you begin to feel sated.
• Every time I put food in my mouth it matters.
• Listen to your body, what does it want to do?
• Begin eating by consciously choosing to eat. Deep breath, gratitude, make sure you are sitting down, eat with your mind, eyes and nose before you eat with your mouth.
• Don’t rely on food to have a good time (thanks for this one Collie).

[Dezzy]

Good post... And not just for the maintainers either. I need to take more time to "enjoy" the food and not just mindlessly eat!

[HisButterfly]

Love this thread. Would love others to add to it.

[tahli]

Hi everyone, I haven't been active on here for a long long time, but at the moment I'm trying to support and help friends on their weight loss journey (and still trying to convince them Cohens is the way to go!), which has got me thinking about Cohen's again, so I've been stalking the forum lately to see whats been happening and jog my memory about this fantastic program

I have been maintaining for quite awhile, so heres my input -

1. Your Cohens Goal - 65kg (from memory the range was up to 67)
2. How long ago did you reach it? - Nov 2011 (17 months ago)
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? - 8kg in January 2013 (73kg)
4. How far off goal are you now? - 69kg (4kg off lowest goal)
5. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? - working on it slowly, but aiming for 67kg not 65kg, I stayed at 66/67 for a long time and was very comfortable there, 65 seemed unhealthy to me
6. Your thoughts on maintaining...

I need to know exactly what I'm eating - I avoid packaged foods/sauces/snacks as much as possible, and read the pack religiously before I touch something

I eat unprocessed foods, and enjoy cooking. I have even recently gone off diet softdrinks because I can taste the chemicals - basic coffee (still black), herbal teas, and water for me.

I have food intolerances - dairy has been tested and proven, but I know I feel better avoiding gluten and processed sugar so I treat them as intolerances as well.

I have experimented with what carbs work for me and when - and its not much (but I don't care )

There is no going back to the 'normal' we used to eat as obese people, and our bodies adapt and learn to love the fresh good food for life.

I still often cook a separate meal for myself than my family - a good example would be a lasagne (I can't have the pasta or the cheese), but often its just because I like to eat light meals in the evening

I have a 'cut-off time' for eating, nothing for at least 2 hours before bed.

I still believe weight is controlled 90% diet and 10% exercise.

I am happy and I love food!!

[ej_nz]

Great post there Tahli! Very sound advice...thanks!

[Busy Mum]

1. Your Cohens Goal 59-62kg
2. How long ago did you reach it? April 2013
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? currently at 62.6kg woudl like to be at 60
4. How far off goal are you now? 2.6 kg
5. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? I will let you know.
6. Your thoughts on maintaining

I had two weekends in a row of parties and family get togethers so that has added a kilo each week, I have been success in losing 500 grams in the week by sticking to cohens during the week. I don't miss bread but I do miss home baking which has been my down fall. Sleep has been a bit of an issue for the last three weeks but I have been keeping my water content up.

I am still finding my feet but I am determined to get back down to 60kg and keep maintaining that. Thanks a lot for this thread, it was just the motivation that I needed! Was feeling a bit depressed about it, which seems weird as I am still the lightest I have been since I was a kid, but still I don't want to fall in to that trap.

Best thing I did was to buy a pair of jeans that fit perfectly, that way any blow outs can be quickly noticed by the tight feeling around the waist. I haven't bought many new clothes yet and still want to get some of my favs taken in. My goal pants which are a size 10 and are now too baggy for me, but I want to keep them.

Will keep coming back here for inspiration!

[Dennyhorse]

Bumping this.... Hopefully there might be some Maintainers about to share their experience

[Gay'zin]

What a wonderful post thank's for reviving it

1. Your Cohens Goal: 65 kg's Higher range I was 64.8 for 1 weigh in
2. How long ago did you reach it? November 2013
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? 2 kg's (over Xmas for 2 days)
4. How far off goal are you now? + 600g
5. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? yes because I never really got to goal weight I was advised to refeed 1kg above and 65.5 seams to be my magic number
6. Your thoughts on maintaining... I am still experimenting after reaching maintenance, I never really got to my goal weight 63 - 65 kg's. I am currently trying to loose what I can into goal range but I don't hold my breath for it.

The only food I weigh is yoghurt but I add nuts and coconut into it with fruit.

I can't eat: bread 2 days in a row, sausages (clean my stomach out within hours of eating them) flour product in 2 meals in 1 day (like wrap for lunch and Turkish pie base for tea or hot cross bun)

I can eat: wraps every day for lunch (6 inch fits 3/4 of my allowance in it) or Turkish pies, the pie base is like wrap size either meat in it with side salad or spinach and feta with smaller salad. When I'm peckish my best option is fruit or nuts "usually Almonds" are a huge filler upper, eat 6 and it feels like you have had a 3 course meal (raw not roasted, roasting nuts bring out their oil and they don't have the same food value). I find I can eat baking etc up too about 2pm. I can have a "taste" of someone else's desert, I will not order my own!! 3 wedges of pizza and salad for tea (was amazed got caught out at someone's house and "gorged" 3 pieces of domino pizza with no weight gain!!) "Ha next time I will gain a kg lol" I do have 3 wedges now with home made pizza but they are cohen friendly.

If I don't want to loose (100 to 200grams) I can have porridge for breakfast, 1/4 cup whole rolled oats 1/2 cup water, when cooked add 6-8 chopped up Almonds, 3 chopped dried apricots, coconut shavings, cinnamon and a diced fruit of choice (I like orange or soft pear or something stewed) and yoghurt instead of milk. If I want to loose very slowly I have the same but with yoghurt not porridge.

If I have a heavy lunch or go out for lunch 9 times out of 10 I will have lettuce salad for tea and small tin tuna or chicken, an egg and little grated cheese and breakfast would have been more on plan food.

I like gruyere cheese, it is very strong so you don't need much "like a sniff" and the fine print is good too.
Alcohol I am lucky I can take it or leave it, (I should try a rum with coke zero and see how that is) beer I will never touch again and red wine I don't have enough to cause any concerns at all.

[Nomoreexcuses]

What a seriously great post.

1. Your Cohens Goal: 54-57kg
2. How long ago did you reach it? September 2013 @54.4kg
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? 3.6kgs (post silly season)
4. How far off goal are you now? + 3kg
5. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? Not as of yet. I maintained around 56kg -57kg for a few months and it is just the last few weeks I have been around 57-58 due to holidays and some unfortunate bingeing incidents. I am absolutely determined to get back to 54. I have not really stopped trying but after reading this post I realise i just have to suck it up and do it and get it over with!
6. Your thoughts on maintaining...

I have definitely struggled considerably with maintenance…much more than I had anticipated. I had trouble with binge eating for the past 3 years which resulted in me putting on 8kg (heaviest at 67kg) then found cohens and got to 54.4.kg and felt so good but also wanted to lose more slowly as was very sick of cohens.

I find that I have a lot of trouble eating moderately. I tend to dread social situations instead of look forward to them as I get worried about the food and danger of over-doing it on food or being embarrassed because I refrain from food. I am trying to be kind to myself and know that this is a journey and not view weight gain as a failure but a chance to make myself stronger. I still struggle with very black and white thinking.
I am going back on plan for a bit to lose the few kgs I have gained and then I am going to tip toe my way into maintenance by staying careful and cautious and weighing myself daily. I am also trying to learn to enjoy my indulgences when I am out so eat healthy at home and then out for dinner then you can eat what you want. I am sick of always feeling guilty and I want to heal my relationship with my body and food but I also cannot stand these extra kgs on me I feel heavier than I used to at my normal weight of 60kg.

It is a hard road but if I have learnt anything it is that moderation is key and careful monitoring of weight is essential as 2kg is so manageable whereas 10kg is so daunting.

I have also realised that Cohens works so much better than anything I have EVER tried. even now 1200 cals and exercise a day does not do what Cohens does for me.

[AudreeS]

Bump... Great thread

[AudreeS]

Originally Posted by hope_ful

1. Your Cohens Goal - 59 - 62
2. How long ago did you reach it? 4 months
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? 2.8kg above top goal weight
4. What was your refeed starting weight? 61.6kg
5. What was your maintenance start weight? 61.4kg
6. How far off goal are you now? 1.5kg away from top goal
7. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? yes but not for more than a few days at a time, i seem to easily maintain at about the 63kg mark.. still aiming to get down to about 60kg
8. Your thoughts on maintaining... weigh in almost everyday! write down how u feel. keep up exercise. dont feel guilty. guilt is the starting emotion for a downfall. pick yourself up and start again. if u have to start again every single day its better than continuing to fall off the wagon and never picking yourself up. love yourself and do what is best for you, even if it means being "selfish" or anti social in other's eyes. this is your body and your life and you need to be happy!!

Bump

[BellaandMeg]

1. Your Cohens Goal 52-55kg
2. How long ago did you reach it? July 2012
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? 5Kg
4. How far off goal are you now? 500 grams
5. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? Yes
6. Your thoughts on maintaining

I am a wee bit proud at feeling qualified to answer this!! It's been a couple of years of maintaining. Here are my musings ...

1. Be good 80% of the time. For me this means eating fruit, meat, vegetables and yoghurt during the week, and whatever I want during the weekend and at social events. Find what works for you and stick with it.

2. Use the 2 Day reset - I think this is the key to the whole thing. If you have a day where you overeat, make sure you do the reset. If you have more than a day of overeating, stay on the reset until your weight is back to normal. Be vigilant - it is SO much harder to lose weight than it is to maintain, so don't get to a position where you need to lose.

3. Find the weight where your body is happy. I am 1-2kg over my top "goal" weight, my BMI is around 22. I never made it to Cohens weight range (I lied to get my refeed 2kg early). My body likes it here, it couldn't make it down to Cohens 55kg, I felt terrible, so the lowest I got to was 56.5. My body likes to be 57-58. I listen to that.

4. Don't eat prepackaged food, except at social events where it would be rude not to.

5. Focus on nutrients, not on calories. This is the best advice I was ever given - empty calories are the bad guys, not the volume of food. I eat heaps, but it's all vegetables, fruit, meat etc. My focus is on ensuring I meet my bodies vitamin and mineral requirements and I never worry about counting calories. I am only ever hungry at mealtimes, when it's normal to be hungry.

6. Don't feel guilty, it's a wasted emotion. Just get on with the rest of the day/week.

7. One I am still learning about - managing stress. I maintained well with 1-2kg changes, until a stressful time was experienced by myself and my family, and then I put on 5kg in just a few weeks. It happened so fast, and it amazed me how I turned to food while I was grieving. Getting that 5kg off was HARD. Losing weight really is so difficult and frustrating, I don't ever want to have to diet again. Remembering this has given me the determination not to allow it the weight to go beyond that 2kg.

8. Realise that everyone is different and find what works for you. It's not a simple "food in, energy out" equation for me. If I combine diet and exercise, I don't lose weight. For years I hammered and starved my body, still didn't lose weight, and became pretty damn frustrated in the process. Even now, if I do a lot of exercise, I will gain weight. And no I don't "lose inches", that's just a load of bullocks your personal trainer will rave on about. I gain weight, and I get fatter if I combine diet and exercise. For me, I need to lose weight via diet first, and exercise/tone up once the weight has gone. It is the only thing that works for me, and I am very grateful that doing Cohens helped me figure this out.

That's all I can think of for now. I will always need to be vigilant with my food intake, and have found a comfortable routine which works for me. Hopefully I will never go back to being overweight.

[Winterboots]

A gentle push from Koh had me looking at this thread

1. Your Cohens Goal - mid 50's - memory is fading
2. How long ago did you reach it? - May 2012
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? - didn't weigh myself - I tend to wait for a few days back on plan before I weigh
4. How far off goal are you now? - 4kg
5. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? Not really, did once but only for a short period but with exercising I don't expect to get back to goal.
6. Your thoughts on maintaining...

So that makes 5 years in maintenance gosh time flies, seems a long time ago yet I am still amazed that those size 8 jeans on the line belong to me and how on earth do I fit into them.

I don't recall my actual numbers and while I did think I should look back to see what my goal was, I realized that goal and weight shown on the scales are just numbers. Yes important numbers when on plan but now I do believe scales weigh your self esteem only. I know when I am heavier than I would like to be - I don't need scales to tell me. Yes, sometimes i will get on just to see how much I do weigh and normally it means that I need to lose a few kgs and then I get all possessed again and weigh morning noon and night until I get back to my happy weight which is where I am now.

However in saying that and I have said it before - I will always be wanting to lose another kg. I don't think I will ever be at the stage where I am think - this is it!! I love to cook, have full biscuit jars, cake in the pantry, entertain, love a wine or two or three .

I do have dresses that don't look as good as when I first brought them so they are my inspiration - to get back into them. I am now sitting closer to a 10 where at goal I did have some 6's but mainly 8's - so much better than the 18's that I was wearing when I first started.

My biggest struggle with maintenance is incorporating exercise. While I never was an exercise bunny or ever ran for enjoyment, maintenance has seen me running two half marathons, climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, trekked in India and Peru and next year I plan to climb over 6000mts. Having these goals has helped me to fit exercise into my life but I do find that if I don't eat enough carbs - then I will binge eat. With having goals also meant going back onto plan wasn't possible as I needed to keep the fitness up - this is still trial and error - even after 5+ years.

I still eat my cohens style breakfast and eat unprocessed foods for lunch and dinner, nibble on the crackers for snacks however I don't my food unless I am eating to plan which isn't very often. I tend to keep things fairly simple through the week but venture out in the weekends. Haven't had KFC since, McDonalds once as it was the only option when travelling but couldn't eat it. Last year we started having F&C's a bit but now find that they don't taste as good as they used to so sub conscientiously I am mindful of what I do eat but I am no saint.

Cohens's is fantastic. I am so thankful that I came across it as it has changed my life. I am more confident and loving life. Don't give up, the time on programme is so short compared to the rest of your life.

Wb

[Nomoreexcuses]

I answered this question four years ago when I had been maintaining from cohens for about 6 months so Koh has reminded me of this wonderful post so thought it was time I updated...

1. Your Cohens Goal: 54-57kg
2. How long ago did you reach it? September 2013 @54.4kg
3. What is the most you have put on since finishing Cohens? 6kg
4. How far off goal are you now? I am 56.8kg so just nudging the top end of my goal range
5. Were you successful in getting back to your Cohens goal after weight gain? Not as of yet the closest I have gotten was 55.2kg
6. Your thoughts on maintaining..

Bit of an overview of my maintenance journey - For the first year of maintenance, I maintained around 56kg -58kg then for reasons I can't remember I went up to 60-61kg a few years after and just felt so frustrated that I had put half the weight back on (I started at 67kg). I was here for about a year up until two years ago when I was so sick of dieting and struggling with my weight and decided to go vegetarian. I also met a boy (who I am still with) who was amazing in terms of healing my relationship with food that was so love hate. This saw me drop my weight to 55-57kg (where I have been for the last two years) and stop being obsessed with food. I never EVER binge like I used to and have no desire to which seems crazy given I used to feel like I had no control and used to about three times per week. I started eating for my body and stopped eating sugar and this helped immensely. I changed my tastebuds from a sweet tooth to savoury and this has helped immensely too. Whilst I am still not 100 percent happy with my body and still want to get to 54kg (the bottom of my goal range) I need times like this to come onto the board and realise what a huge journey that I have been on and come out maintaining at a slim weight and having a much healthier relationship with food. I no longer feel embarrassed of my body and I feel confident to go out. Here is to improving that relationship even more and journeying to the bottom of my goal weight in a healthy way!

[lessthan10]

Hi

Congratulations on maintaining so well. You honestly deserve an accolade.

Can you perhaps enlighten me on ur maintenance habits. I understand that you have given up sugar and you are now vegetarian but what is a typical eating day in ur life like ...

Do u eat bread or any other carbs...what type of vegetarian food do u generally eat ..

My bad habits are sugar and binge eating hence all the questions...

[Kohinoor]

Hi all,
This topic in particular needs one little "warning" that I have no way of checking, but YOU all could, and let others know in here.



The subject I am referring to is this one:-
http://newyouforum.com/forum/showthr...654#post447654


It looks at this particular question:-

DID YOU KNOW - that doing a Reset (with no carbs) for longer than 48 hours can work against you, and have you GAIN weight?

Did you know? Please read and then comment in here if you have been affected by this little-known aberration.


Rock on,
Koh

[Winterboots]

Thanks Koh, I see that it was just over a year ago that I last visited .


It also seems that I am about the same weight as well so fairly happy with that as well as it means that while I am not the "perfect maintainer" who has stayed in goal range, I still have managed to stay within calling distance


It was a good reminder about the 48hr reset and I think sub-conscientiously maybe I have been doing this by adding a banana into my smoothies on exercise morning and having oats in my yogurt in the weekends. Maybe this explains why the weight is still falling off when I thought that it might have gone up. At the moment I am aiming to be lighter each Saturday morning - even if it is just by a couple of 100gms and not kgs - and this includes several meals of normal eating.


I would love to hear from other long term maintainers how they manage to stay within goal range - whether they experience the yo-yo of 48hr resets or can they go for months without any major weight gains or having to reset every week or so?


WB

[Greeni]

Hmmmm .... a few lessons i’ve Learned and still trying to apply during maintenance:
• you have to stay diligent - it’s a slow drift going off the grid
• Stick to the 48h reset rule no more - I too often went back to OP and longer resets and that usually starts a spiral of slowing your metabolism down and is a typical case of getting into yoyo-ing
• Start to move more and don’t see it as ‘yeah now I’ve done it, i can go back to normal’
I’ve seen many people getting that mindset and piling on again.

• Try to get rid of the guilt-feeling
• No all or nothing approach but if you slip up ... that’s fine adjust at the next meal
• While you’re on plan find rewards and fun things that have nothing to do with food
• try to understand yourself while you’re on plan- what are your triggers?
• What kind of eater are you? Emotional? Bored eater? Stress eater? All of the above? And try to deal with it...
• start with self care right where you are

• I always say where mind goes the body will follow ... this is all about mindset and how you see yourself, remember you are worth it!
• You deserve to be slim
• You are not an exception - you can be slim and healthy.
• trial and reassessment is okay - or trial and learnings... there’s no such thing as trial and error .. use it for your self development and learn from it.

ENJOY YOUR LIFE AND ENJOY THE FOOD YOU ARE EATING...
STOP MINDLESS EATING IN FRONT OF THE TELLY
IF YOU ENJOY YOU WONT SLIP AS MUCH OR FEEL DEPRIVED

That’s just a few lessons I’ve learned