irish molly
Maintaing LT loss on GL
Wow!! I can't believe that it is now two years since I finished a six month stint on TFR. I started out at a whopping 294 pounds. I had just let myself go over a period of about ten years and the weight piled on. In my time on 100% TFR I lost 87 lbs in total.
I then decided to face the real world of food and also tackle the remainder of my target loss. After a lot of thought and research I decided to follow a Glycaemic Load (GL) plan and also keep an eye to total calorie content but not obsessing about it.
GL helped me bring about another loss of 29lbs bringing me to an overall loss of 116lbs over a total period of one year. Boy did it feel good to be back to my old self!!!
Since then I have been maintaining pretty well. Some weeks I lose a pound or two and others I stay the same and some others I will gain a couple of pounds. I, of course, have a gain if I decide to pig out a bit any week or for a few weeks!! It's all down to me to decide what goes in my mouth!! In the last two years both Christmas holidays have led to 9lb gains which I tackled through strict low gl foods for 4-6 weeks.
For me, maintaining is a matter of being aware of food but not being obsessive. I was never skinny so I just have to make sure that calories in are less than calories out, otherwise I get a gain.
Food is no longer the centre of my life. I eat to live not live to eat. This is the most important mindshift that any of us need to make to maintain losses.
Following these steps has helped me keep my weight in a 170-180lb range which I am happy with.
1-Portion sizes are very important. Keeping them small is key. It is too easy to eat bigger and bigger portions.
2-Watch the snacks. I weaken some days and have too many snacks, especially late in the evening. This can be a slippery slope so I need to be very careful.
3- Keep up the water intake. I find drinking up to two litres of water every day really helps. 80% of the time we feel hungry it is,in fact, water our bodies crave.
4-Eat more veg that grows above the ground than root veg.
5-Eat little or no wheat. Replace these with oat and rye products. Wheat and wheat products really bloat me and lead to weight gain.
6-Avoid as much as possible processed foods and “diet” products. I choose naturally low fat and healthy foods where possible.
7-Substitute beans of all sorts, lentils and quinoa for potato pasta and rice.
8-I'm no saint so I adopt an 80/20 rule. I will have treats once or twice a week but try to get back in control pretty quickly. Never let a bad day lead to a whole week of blow outs as it is then very hard to get back on track.
The most important thing to help us maintain losses is to change our attitude and relationship with food. I really feel this is key otherwise we will remain on the yo yo rollercoaster of gaining weight and going on yet another diet. I did that until two years ago and I am happy that my relationship with food has now changed. Unfortunately, I am one of these people that only has to look at food to gain weight!!! so I just have to be watchful in order to maintain my losses. For me, GL has been such an easy way to do this. I love it as I don't think about food at all now.
Let's keep fighting the flab. We can do it!!
I then decided to face the real world of food and also tackle the remainder of my target loss. After a lot of thought and research I decided to follow a Glycaemic Load (GL) plan and also keep an eye to total calorie content but not obsessing about it.
GL helped me bring about another loss of 29lbs bringing me to an overall loss of 116lbs over a total period of one year. Boy did it feel good to be back to my old self!!!
Since then I have been maintaining pretty well. Some weeks I lose a pound or two and others I stay the same and some others I will gain a couple of pounds. I, of course, have a gain if I decide to pig out a bit any week or for a few weeks!! It's all down to me to decide what goes in my mouth!! In the last two years both Christmas holidays have led to 9lb gains which I tackled through strict low gl foods for 4-6 weeks.
For me, maintaining is a matter of being aware of food but not being obsessive. I was never skinny so I just have to make sure that calories in are less than calories out, otherwise I get a gain.
Food is no longer the centre of my life. I eat to live not live to eat. This is the most important mindshift that any of us need to make to maintain losses.
Following these steps has helped me keep my weight in a 170-180lb range which I am happy with.
1-Portion sizes are very important. Keeping them small is key. It is too easy to eat bigger and bigger portions.
2-Watch the snacks. I weaken some days and have too many snacks, especially late in the evening. This can be a slippery slope so I need to be very careful.
3- Keep up the water intake. I find drinking up to two litres of water every day really helps. 80% of the time we feel hungry it is,in fact, water our bodies crave.
4-Eat more veg that grows above the ground than root veg.
5-Eat little or no wheat. Replace these with oat and rye products. Wheat and wheat products really bloat me and lead to weight gain.
6-Avoid as much as possible processed foods and “diet” products. I choose naturally low fat and healthy foods where possible.
7-Substitute beans of all sorts, lentils and quinoa for potato pasta and rice.
8-I'm no saint so I adopt an 80/20 rule. I will have treats once or twice a week but try to get back in control pretty quickly. Never let a bad day lead to a whole week of blow outs as it is then very hard to get back on track.
The most important thing to help us maintain losses is to change our attitude and relationship with food. I really feel this is key otherwise we will remain on the yo yo rollercoaster of gaining weight and going on yet another diet. I did that until two years ago and I am happy that my relationship with food has now changed. Unfortunately, I am one of these people that only has to look at food to gain weight!!! so I just have to be watchful in order to maintain my losses. For me, GL has been such an easy way to do this. I love it as I don't think about food at all now.
Let's keep fighting the flab. We can do it!!
I'm only on day 9 of trf so I have a long way to go but it's so good to hear success stories :-D
