Need Maintenance tips/advice after keto
ettaterrell
Posts: 887 Member
im very low on carbs right and in another couple months should be at my goal. I would like to hear from people that have lost their weight and now in maintenance on how you do it (please add how long you've been in maintenance) any tips you have. What you keep your macros at? How many carbs and what kind do you allow? I have no intention on going back to my old eating habits so I need a gang plan. My ideas are to just up my carbs by 20 g every month and only allow what I call bad carbs in very special occasions. Maybe pizza once a month, any tips and stories of success or failure (what not to do lol) you can share will be great!
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I'm not in maintenance but I was maintaining 95 lb. loss for two years (recently gained a bit over the holidays due to low carb overeating, losing now again on strict keto LCHF). I think the a plan for maintenance needs to account for how carb sensitive you are. If, for example, you tend towards insulin-resistance and have to eat VLC to lose, you probably can't increase carbs as much as someone who isn't insulin resistant. If you want to try increasing carbs you might take a look at Atkins, as the pre-maintenance (Phase 3) and maintenance (Phase 4) parts the plan guide you on how to increase carbs without gaining. Another option is to stay low or very low carb and increase calories (mostly from fat) to maintenance level. That is likely what I will need to do when I reach my final goal.0
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I've been in maintenance for about 6 months, but I'm not eating any differently now than when I started losing weight. To me, maintenance = sustainable lifestyle, so that was my goal from day 1.
If your current diet is sustainable, why change it? If it's not sustainable, that could mean you're feeling deprived, and you'll end up overcompensating for that deprivation (e.g., binge eating).
The only difference for me is that I stopped logging my food. So as a first step, stop logging. Take the training wheels off and let your new habits guide you. Stop sweating macros and grams and start living normally.
I avoid foods that trigger overeating for me. Basically no pizza, no bread, no baked goods.
I don't freak out if I eat a few grains of rice in my curry, but I know if I allow myself occasional treats, I'm on a slippery slope. I'm always conscious of how I gained my excess weight, so I simply avoid anything that will get me there again.
It helps me to remember that habits are like well-worn paths. You've built new habits that have put you on a different path. But if you start walking down your old path again, it will feel just as easy and comfortable as it used to, and you'll be in that old carb-laden groove again.
A couple of random tidbits: protein never stops being satiating. If in doubt, eat protein. It still makes me so full that I'll skip a meal or two after a high-protein meal.
And exercise seems to help. It gives me a level of control over how I burn fuel, and it keeps me in that "food=fuel" mindset (as opposed to food=entertainment, comfort, etc.). Plus, exercise makes me feel and look pretty good.
Finally, take a look at research on long-term successful weight loss:
http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm0 -
This is off of the topic @ettaterrell, but I wanted to ask @wabmester if he could revive the thread that included his internal before and after? I can't remember where it was posted but feel it would be beneficial right now!
Carry on, but great advice @wabmester!0 -
I am not in maintenance but my losses stopped when I upped my carbs (unintentionally) by 10-20g per day. Higher carbs increased my appetite and I was eating enough for maintenance. I now know how much I can eat but the carbs were too much for me - my fasting blood glucose was up. My maintenance will have to have carbs under 30g, and 20g seems to work better. Maybe it will change one day.
Otherwise I love @wabmester 's advice. Makes good sense. 0 -
I will have to read the Atkins maintenance, thanks for that tip. No I don't feel deprived at all really and have no intention of eating my old foods (donuts, high carb and high fat foods) but right now I'm very strict and at some point I want to learn how to relax with out being scared of gain. I would like to have the occasional sweet potato / butternut squash or taco soup with beans. I'm in strict weight loss goal right now so none of this is in my diet. Sugars for sure won't come back as I've learned so much about how they affect me. So any tips on how others have managed with eating more than -20 g carbs in maintenance0
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I've been in maintenance for about 6 months, but I'm not eating any differently now than when I started losing weight. To me, maintenance = sustainable lifestyle, so that was my goal from day 1.
If your current diet is sustainable, why change it? If it's not sustainable, that could mean you're feeling deprived, and you'll end up overcompensating for that deprivation (e.g., binge eating).
The only difference for me is that I stopped logging my food. So as a first step, stop logging. Take the training wheels off and let your new habits guide you. Stop sweating macros and grams and start living normally.
I avoid foods that trigger overeating for me. Basically no pizza, no bread, no baked goods.
I don't freak out if I eat a few grains of rice in my curry, but I know if I allow myself occasional treats, I'm on a slippery slope. I'm always conscious of how I gained my excess weight, so I simply avoid anything that will get me there again.
It helps me to remember that habits are like well-worn paths. You've built new habits that have put you on a different path. But if you start walking down your old path again, it will feel just as easy and comfortable as it used to, and you'll be in that old carb-laden groove again.
A couple of random tidbits: protein never stops being satiating. If in doubt, eat protein. It still makes me so full that I'll skip a meal or two after a high-protein meal.
And exercise seems to help. It gives me a level of control over how I burn fuel, and it keeps me in that "food=fuel" mindset (as opposed to food=entertainment, comfort, etc.). Plus, exercise makes me feel and look pretty good.
Finally, take a look at research on long-term successful weight loss:
http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm
So how did you eat when you started?0 -
I am not in maintenance but my losses stopped when I upped my carbs (unintentionally) by 10-20g per day. Higher carbs increased my appetite and I was eating enough for maintenance. I now know how much I can eat but the carbs were too much for me - my fasting blood glucose was up. My maintenance will have to have carbs under 30g, and 20g seems to work better. Maybe it will change one day.
Otherwise I love @wabmester 's advice. Makes good sense.
That's what I'm scared of adding healthy carbs back is going to increase my cravings.... And yes lots of great advice to get me thinking.. Thanks everyone
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@wabmester's advice does make a lot of sense! I asked this question I think last month and got some good responses. My takeaways from my thread, based on my own history (PCOS and suspected insulin resistance):
* gradually increase carbs (maybe 5gm/wk) till I hit what seems to be the sweet spot for me. I have a hunch I'll end up under 80 gm/day long-term but it might be more like 50.
* with the carb increase, use that to add fruits, veggies, maybe more nuts.
* With foods I want to add back in (even on a limited basis), experiment with one new food a week to see how my body responds. I've noticed joint inflammation/aching disappear since starting keto so that might give me clues along with what the scale does and how I feel otherwise.
I will probably keep tracking for a month or two after I hit goal and continue to weigh in at least once a week. I know from previous experience that I can rebound quickly and am prone to yoyo within a 20-lb range if I'm not careful (I can gain SO fast but have to work very hard to lose it again) so I will be cautious.
I also may aim to recomp rather than just maintain. If so, I need to research how to do that on keto/LCHF.0 -
I wanted to ask @wabmester if he could revive the thread that included his internal before and after?
There's no way I could find that old thread, and I can't even seem to find the original pics, but I do have a small version in my profile:
ettaterrell wrote: »So how did you eat when you started?
Flexibly.
I roughly targeted 100g/d of carbs, but I found a couple interesting things along the way:
1) I lost interest in carbs, so I naturally dropped lower than my target.
2) With exercise, I could burn off carbs pretty much on demand, so I was producing a lot of ketones even on 100g days.0 -
Nice!!! Thanks0
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@ettaterrell When I asked my doctor "what about maintenance?" his answer was "just add veggies." Not starchy veggies, but anything else. That will up carbs a little and calories a little until I find my maintenance point. Since I'm out of heavy loss mode now, I'm slowly moving into maintenance, even 40lbs out from goal. He says that for success, it's not a flip of a switch. Most won't go from "lose weight" today to "maintenance" tomorrow very easily. It's a slow roll from losing to maintenance. That allows me to find my sweet spot for macros and make peace with it in my head.
For me, that means my cals have been upped and my loss has slowed to about 1lb a week or so. If I lose the last 40lbs in 1-2 years, I'll be on track.0 -
That's a good idea I might start that after a few more lbs just easing back into it with adding more veggies I've been stalled since New Years just from eating one bowl of taco soup and a few bites of black eye peas so this really has me wondering what is gonna happen when I add them back more often0
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Yeah, I won't be able to add back most grains. They just don't work well for me. But even adding a little fruit or a higher carb veggie is fear-inducing. I know that if I just stopped losing, I'd friggin' lose it. Really, I would lose it mentally. So this whole "add cals/carbs back" is happening very slowly.0
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