Idea for a sticky for those starting maintenance

margueritemuguet3

Hi there! I am kind of back on here after I deleted my account for various reasons (but that's not the point).

I am in maintenance and doing well, thank you all because I owe a huge part of this to the great advice I have read on this particular forum! And I always enjoy reading your views, your individual stories and your thoughts.

I had an idea of a sticky and I would like to put it out there for you to review/criticise/give your thoughts.
We often read posts from people going into maintenance and expressing emotions such as fear, guilt, anger at themselves and in general being unsure on how to proceed. (This has also happened to me)

Now I wonder why, after a good or even great job on weight loss we are still 'held back' by our beliefs about nutrition.

So the sticky would simply say :
Write down all your rules, beliefs and equations on food, diet and sport/activity. Then next to/after each line you write exactly why you believe in that and what is so true for you in that statement.

Hopefully you might get a better insight on your behaviour around food and why you sometimes act in a way that might be opposite to what you think.

And a second step might be to challenge those thoughts one by one and incorporate "science based + personal experience-led" actions in you life.


I realise this will not cure all and everything but it might be surprising to tap into our unconscious beliefs and maybe feel the need to update them because of the new information we have gathered over time (which is also good to do in life).

There. I am eagerly waiting to see what you think and please do correct my english (it is not my language).
Thanks very much and have a great day/evening!

RoxieDawn

OP, please give us your sample sticky with the needed information/facts and science backed data so that people can use the sticky as a guide for instruction and assistance to maintaining.

I am eagerly waiting to hear what you would post for the sticky first...and I want to see and hear your science based facts as well.

THIS IMHO is not for posting a sticky, it is for opening up a chatter or blog..

margueritemuguet3

Well I did not intend to make a big thing out of it. Really my only intention was to ask people or rather direct people gently if they hadn't thought about the fact they might find it hard to move into maintenance if they still had beliefs holding them back.

But I see now how this is really not much going for a sticky. My bad. But still what do you think about this "advice". Would it be considered bad or ?

And you're right I would absolutely like to open the discussion to know what knowledgeable people in maintenance and whom have good science based advice (I'm thinking CICO for example) would think of asking this to fresh maintainers.

And I'd like to add that this is probably veeeery different for everyone and maybe over simplified but I hope to receive some thoughts other than my own.

Ps: I use the terms 'science based' often and it is to highlight the contrast between our beliefs that are sometimes not rational and verifiable facts.

middlehaitch

Sorry, changed my mind

vivmom2014

margueritemuguet3 wrote: »

...they might find it hard to move into maintenance if they still had beliefs holding them back.

Can you elaborate on this? I'm not sure what you mean.

margueritemuguet3

Hi. Yes, so what I mean is if for example someone has started dieting and firmly believes that nuts are too calorific even though they like them. Maybe they avoid nuts for the whole time they are dieting and forget about it.
They succesfully lose weight and then in maintenance they get the suggestion to up calories by consuming nut butters and whatnot. And they find themselves afraid of the act of introducing that food.

For me this highlights an irrational fear because they may not have remembered the belief they have associated with that food (at the beginning of their journey) and since they have had success without it maybe they forgot to reassess that belief.

Is this clear? I hope I use the right terms to convey my question...

And because we are often confronted with all kinds of messages from this dieting obsessed society, we can have multiple rules for ourselves we forgot along the way and might not have challenged them.

vivmom2014

margueritemuguet3 wrote: »

Hi. Yes, so what I mean is if for example someone has started dieting and firmly believes that nuts are too calorific even though they like them. Maybe they avoid nuts for the whole time they are dieting and forget about it.
They succesfully lose weight and then in maintenance they get the suggestion to up calories by consuming nut butters and whatnot. And they find themselves afraid of the act of introducing that food.

For me this highlights an irrational fear because they may not have remembered the belief they have associated with that food (at the beginning of their journey) and since they have had success without it maybe they forgot to reassess that belief.

Is this clear? I hope I use the right terms to convey my question...

And because we are often confronted with all kinds of messages from this dieting obsessed society, we can have multiple rules for ourselves we forgot along the way and might not have challenged them.

I think I understand. But we need to remember that maintenance is not a "finish line." Yes - it's a great destination to reach, but it is really another starting point...

Is that bad news or good? For me, it's both.

It's good because of the obvious: goal reached! It's bad because I know that I cannot go back to old [familiar, comfortable] habits without gaining. And you're right that there may be some fear to get around. The work of implementing new habits continues. The work of finding the balance between enjoying life & maintaining an acceptable weight continues.

margueritemuguet3

I agree with you. And thank you for taking time to read and reply.