I'm not new but wanted to say hi. I hope you're doing well!!!

I'm not new and am in maintenance now, but I thought I'd check in. I've finally figured out what it takes to maintain weight and still enjoy life and food. I've been able to stay in a 5lb range for the last 2 mos now even with a knee injury that has sidelined some of my workouts.

Something interesting that we discussed last night in my maintenance class was when to leave the weight loss program. I wish this had been discussed in weight loss, but I wanted to pass it along for those still in the program. Typically, in my program, people lose an additional 5lbs after leaving weight loss and going through our 6 week realimentation program of adding back food and increasing our calories. After that most people gain 5-10lbs in maintenance before leveling off. Our entire class of 20 people said that had been their experience. Most of us agreed that it coincided with adding complex carbs (beans, whole grains, etc) back into our diets. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing because as you add back in carbs after being in ketosis for so long your body is going to retain water for those carbs, that's just how it is. But mentally it's difficult for many of us to see that 5-10lb gain. Our behaviorist said she is now recommending that her patients lose 5lbs more than their goal weight with the expectation that they will gain those 5lbs back and possibly an additional 5lbs. Just something to think about and maybe not be surprised about when you all do get to maintenance.

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum and new to New Direction. I had my one week weigh in on Thursday. I lost 12.8 the first week. I agree with what a lot of people on here have said. The first week is hard. There were a couple of days that I didn't want to get out of bed. I made it through without cheating and it has gotten so much easier. I'm not going to say it is a breeze but I feel like I'm back to my old self for the most part. My brain is working again (I honestly felt brain dead the first couple of weeks) and I finally stopped acting as if I lost my best friend. I feel pretty confident that it will continue to get easier.

How's everyone doing since this thread is over 6 months old now?

Sue, 91 lbs gone is fab! Way to go!
I hope that I can post something similar some day!

I havent started
Need to do EKG and bloodwork
But, I'm getting closer!
love reading the success stories!
keep updating!!
keep up the continued VLCD success!!!

Omg wow Julie
Congrats

Dr apt next for ekg and blood draw!

Hi pweiss79 Glad you found us! Once you and Kate start there will be more of us now.

Our clinic doesn't want us to truly exercise yet but we were each given an orange stretch band with an instruction sheet to tone 10-20 minutes a session 2-3 x week. This is to get us in the habit of exercising and as we get closer to our goal we will transition to exercise easier if we have been doing the toning exercises. I haven't started doing it because there is so much to adapt to at first but now I am ready to start after 7 weeks. They say it will keep us from losing muscle.

I bought a $28.00 fat analyzer from Amazon to track my fat% and calculate my Lean Body Mass. I found it helpful to see how much LBM I am losing. Another reason to do my toning exercises! I was down 1 pound a week in LBM for 4 weeks in a row. Here is the link if anyone is interested. http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-306CN-Fat-Loss-Monitor/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=zg_bs_3777181_1

That's great Maral! You should order the fat analyzer I spoke of below. Easy way to track if you are burning muscle or fat. I think I read somewhere that it's typical to lose about 15% muscle when losing weight. Has anyone been told anything about that? I am going to ask at my meeting next week.

I agree with your doctor. It's important to exercise and get that back when you are transitioning and at your goal.

I just weighed in today after 7 weeks. Down 34 pounds. Still many, many months before I am reaching my goal!

Hi Everybody. I'm just starting on my New Directions journey. I go for my orientation on the 26th. I'm impatient to get going! I'm trying to make some positive changes prior to orientation-- even though I really want to binge on everything I'm going to be giving up for a while! I'm really nervous and excited. I'm ready to be healthy and give up the pills (blood pressure) and avoid diabetes. I was in Europe for 5 weeks this summer on an extensive tour- and could barely keep up. I was a turtle. Some things I didn't even enjoy because I was so tired by the time I got to where I needed to go that I couldn't appreciate the being there. ;-( I want to go back to Europe and climb those mountains again!

And- if the fellow Husker is still around on here- GO BIG RED!

Congratulations marallewis! I'm curious how you and the others avoid the desire to eat/snack while on the replacements? Is it easier/harder than you thought it would be?

Hi! I'm not new either. I started the New Direction program last July and had great success losing 70 pounds. A change in my insurance prompted me to move into the Outlook program (2 shakes/day and 1 meal). I've lost another 10 pounds on that program. Yesterday, I switched to what my center calls the "Individual Plan" where I no longer attend weekly meetings, but I do meet monthly with a nutritionist and get more attention. My plan still includes 2 shakes and 1 meal. With thirty more pounds to lose in order to achieve my goal weight and having hovered around the same 3 pound range for a couple of months, I am approaching this new phase in my weight loss journey with renewed vigor, but an open mind also.

I go in tomorrow for my big consult and to get my "shopping" done. I was really impressed with my first meeting last week, which ended up being a one on one with me, a PA and the bariatric doc (all women). Julie, are you in the Lincoln area? (Im a Husker too) My doc was pushing big for exercize starting week two- once ketosis is achieved- so I can gain and maintain muscle mass and not lose valuable muscle that helps to burn fat. She also said she likes to introduce 1 meal as soon as possible so we can start learning healthy eating habits ASAP while still under regular supervision. Tomorrow we'll discuss my 20 page questionaire, weight loss goals and our approach to them. We'll discuss the results of my initial blood tests and we'll customize the program for me. Then I'll "officially" start the replacements on Thursday. Im so excited and scared. I'm ready to get this show on the road!

Thanks for reaching out Lisa! I live in Omaha.

Your clinic is run so much different from mine. I have never seen a bariatric doctor, just the PA in my meetings but I would like to! They seem to be for those patients doing the bariatric surgeries. I don't feel the PA I see really gets all the science behind ketosis, just restates the basics and yet I'm very interested in the science part as I am an RN!

The registered dietician who leads our class is super sweet and supportive but gets her science facts wrong sometimes! I have done lots of research on ketogenic diets since starting, it's all VERY fascinating. I had always been a die hard Weight Watcher devotee and never researched any other kind of diets before so I was unfamiliar with the concept of ketosis. I've learned that many people continue ketogenic diets even after losing weight due to the other side health benefits. I asked our RD about modifying the New Direction maintenance portion when I get to that point and eating a low carb/high fat diet with no sugars/starches so I could stay in ketosis and she said I couldn't do it, that I would eat too much fat, that it was unhealthy, that it was not realistic and not sustainable. Hmmm...I just said okay. Still I know of many people have lived on LC/HF or Paleo-Keto diets and stayed in ketosis for years and decades with great success (even children with epilepsy and people with diabetes) so I was a little taken back that she couldn't say anything positive about it. Being in ketosis has REALLY helped my painful joints so much due to it's anti-inflammatory properties and my acid reflux is gone now too, I have no swelling in my feet or hands! I don't have sugar cravings and don't miss the peaks and valleys of hypoglycemia before and after my meals! I have learned so much about what makes us fat by Gary Taubes (author of Good Calories, Bad Calories and this video https://youtu.be/lDneyrETR2o , and how the food industry is so tied up into money and poor nutrition, see this video by Tom Naughton https://youtu.be/DIt80PxvKn8.

A couple weeks ago we were going over the topic of fats in class. Now for a long time saturated fats have got a bad rap but the science is coming around more this past decade that it's inflammation that causes heart disease and that we don't have to fear fat like we have been told for years. Our RD said "eating saturated fats is like pouring fat down your sink and clogging up the plumbing."
It's just not so. Read here: http://thebigfatsurprise.com

I attended another day for class one week and before class I was sharing how I prefer to use a blender and ice with extra water than the shaker container and another lady said that the RD told their class that they could not use a blender because it would destroy the protein!! What??!! I do appreciate the behavior portions of the education because that is my weakness.

Rather than eating one meal sooner, we TALK a lot about meals so we know how to eat when we are done and she follows the diabetic exchange program. She is all about tracking but really feels strongly that we can't rely on using MyFitnessPal and that we need to learn the exchange program as a foundation. I know it's part of the New Direction program but seems a little outdated to me when we now have such easy apps on our phones like MFP! I just keep my mouth shut so as not to be negative around others in the class.

One more weird thing she said and then I'll quit my "rant". We had a lady doing VLCD so no meals and she was going on a vacation with her family and wanted to switch to the LCD just for her vacation (where you eat a meal but they eat carbs so they are not in ketosis). The RD said she couldn't do it, that she had to stick with the meal replacements. I suggested she do a modified LCD during her vacation and just eat protein and very low carb veggies, etc and stay under 50gms like they tell us to do with the meal replacements) so she would stay in ketosis and the RD said no, that even if she did that it would knock her out of ketosis. That was just flat out incorrect but I kept my mouth shut.

I can't say for sure what I will do when I reach maintenance but I have learned a lot by watching LOTS of YouTube videos and joining the Keto-Adaptation Facebook group. I appreciate NOT having to cook and grocery shop during all my research so I will continue with New Direction for my weight reducing portion, after that I may not continue with my RD for the 2 year after losing portion.

I am also curious what other people have been told about exercise but will start a new thread. This is LONG already!

Is that bit about the blender ruining the protein true? I always use a blender to mix water, ice, hot cocoa mix and powdered peanut butter. Our nutritionist even used a blender in a recipe session.

I don't want to give up using my blender.