eileenhealy wrote: »

I think I have read this article 20 times today... I am terrified of maintenance.. it scares me when i see these biggest losers regain their weight and I saw drew Carey on the price is right the other day and he also has regained a lot.. although he did get very thin so i think he looks better... I am still losing and trying to picture my life in maintenance... is there a way to find out if you have a damaged brm?

As confining as it might sound, I think the key is having your weight-loss diet closely resemble your (ahem) permanent diet.

If you aim for a relatively slow but steady rate of weight loss, the transition to maintenance might not be that abrupt!

dmedoff wrote: »

Although this stuff scares me, I think it is helpful to know it is coming and that when I reach my goal weight, it will not necessarily be easier and it might be even harder. I am committed to this WOE, and as @baconslave says, I have a say. I will find a way to keep the weight off.

Don't be scared. You should think about maintenance from the beginning, but worrying over it is putting the cart before the horse.

Learn, read, listen to strategies other people find helpful, experiment in what works best for you. Cement good habits and routines, and file away for maintenance what you pick up. Some people don't have a hard time maintaining, and others like me do. You won't know until you get closer. In the meantime, put an ever-updated maintenance plan in your pocket, which will evolve from the new lifestyle (habits, routines, and experiments) you are forming. You'll have tools in your toolbox that will help minimize the new learning curve you will experience once you reach goal.

I thought I could just eat to appetite for maintenance. Or wished I could. I tried it, and it just doesn't work for me. So I must log forever. A PITA, but not the end of the world.

The closer to goal weight, the more the body fights. Knowing that ahead of time takes the sting out of it. Life is happening to you, and all the unpredictability that carries, and will continue to do so the rest of your life. Figure out how to navigate that successfully and not let it derail you, and you'll be one step ahead when you go to maintenance mode. Weight will fluctuate for no apparent reason, you'll need to tweak what you are doing, you'll need to bounce back from hormonal imbalances or illnesses, and etc. And on and on. That's silly life for you.

Like I have in my profile pic right now:
"Losing weight is hard. Maintaining weight is hard. Overweight is hard. Choose your hard."
Life is hard. But we are strong.

Anything worth doing takes effort, right?

I don't know the medical and science behind LCHF and metabolism, there are many of you in this group that has a better handle on it then me. These are just my thoughts based on things I have read and contemplated since starting this WOE.

The take away I get from this article and other related articles is that we need to listen to our bodies. The BL people while on the show did not listen to their bodies. Instead they punished their bodies by restricting the calories and type of food consumed and vigorous and probably harmful exercise (there were a lot injuries reported during filming).

Some of the things I have learned about being on LCHF is that it is healing. Many of the members of this group have reported how LCHF have healed physical and medical issues. My first thought after reading the article is that these people need to be on LCHF, so that their bodies can heal from what they had done to it. Many of the people in this group promote that we listen to hunger signals and eat accordingly. Some days we may eat a lot less calories and some days we may eat a lot more. But we need to trust our bodies to tell us what it needs. I know for myself there has been times when I have eaten over 2,000 calorie, which is a lot for my 5' 2" frame. But my body liked it and I have often seen a weight loss the day after. A blog that I have come across awhile back had me thinking that we really need to trust our bodies to know what it needs.
http://myzerocarblife.jamesdhogan.com/wp/2015/03/when-lowering-carbs-causes-weight-gain/

If you look at the follow up video of the NY times article. http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000004377076/why-its-hard-to-keep-the-pounds-off.html?emc=edit_th_20160503&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=67918079

You will notice at the end the couple is measuring their food intake, labeling even how much calories that food item is. it seems to me that they are not listening to their bodies, but still telling their bodies what it needs to be healthy. I am not a proponent of CICO. I don't count calories. I just make sure I get enough fat in my diet and keep my carbs low. It is working for me.

My weight loss has slowed down. Partly because there has been days where I have not been so good. Partly because I think I am eating too much stuff like cheese which is okay on this WOE, but my body does not respond as well for weight loss. And partly probably because my body for whatever reason does not want to go further right now other than small few ounces every few days. I am learning to be okay with that, because that is what my body is telling me. I don't want to force my body to do more than it is willing. Sure I will make tweaks here and there but I am not going to look for that 1 pound a day loss anymore. I am listening to my body: do I feel energized?, Do I feel bloated?, Am I dizzy?, Am I hungry? etc...

On the subject of exercise. What I have read about LCHF diet is that vigorous exercise is unnecessary. Many people have even lost without any exercise. Here again I am listening to my body. I want to exercise because my body wants the physical activity. I exercise because it makes me feel good, keep the stress away. I just don't do the intense exercise I used to do with the mindset the more calories I burn the more weight I will lose.

The biggest take away is that slow is good. That is the conclusion that the couple in the video stated as well. As much as I want the big losses I had when I started this WOE. My focus has to be good health! Slow will hopefully help to look for signs of good health rather than signs of weight loss.