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Maintaining Weight Loss Without Getting Bored to Death

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Pearl One

Welcome to a five-week focus on maintenance (or what I call “preservation” (I’ll use both terms interchangeably until we all get used to the new word). Today in our first week we’re talking about how I’ve preserved weight loss for eighteen years to date.

So, you’ve done the hard work — the weight’s off, the jeans zip, the mirror gives a wink. But now comes the part no one talks about, the part where our eating plan gets boring, routines get stale, and you wonder if “forever” is really doable. Here’s the truth: weight loss maintenance doesn’t have to be bland, joyless, or rigid. In fact, it can sparkle — if you let it.

Maintaining Feels Like a Forever Job with No Excitement

I’m the first to say that one of the best habits I ever established was becoming super dedicated to tracking what I eat in a day. The habit is embedded into my heart and soul. I track on Christmas and on my birthday and on all travel. At the same time, I completely get that daily tracking, measuring, and looking for doughnut-substitutes over time becomes a major blah. Food can easily go from pleasure to tracking math to just giving up.

So let’s say that you’re now on the maintenance path. But once you’re well into your third month, the effort of maintaining feels boring, flat and pointless. I mean, who wants to preserve a thirty-pound weight loss?

(Yawn.)

Instead, it’s important to know that in our new, still young century we’re doing maintenance very differently than the last century where maintenance wasn’t even discussed.

I’ve learned that the most important part of preserving our original loss is making maintenance meaningful. We need to establish habits that feel natural to us, not performative. And to find ways to celebrate ourselves that feel enriching versus silly. Let’s build purpose and fun into our preservation-life. How to do it? The answers are inside our pen through journal-writing (see prompts in pearl two).

An example from my life: maintaining my weight loss became a done-deal after I had my babies. I knew that I didn’t want to go to the beach worrying about how I looked in my bathing suit and feeling uncomfortable the entire time because my jeans were cutting off my airway. I wanted my focus to be on my kids. The babies gave me purpose.

Today, I maintain for my one-day grandchildren, grand-dogs or grand-cats (a grand-bird would be wonderful too). I want to be fit and healthy enough to really be in their lives and not just watch from the couch. I also want to pass on to them how to deal with our food-gone-wild culture.

Maintenance isn’t about being perfect or having abounding willpower — it’s about being consistent, kind to yourself and curious. Some days you’ll feel like a rockstar. Some days you’ll just make it to bedtime. In either case, just continue on your Smart Eating Path. ♥

Pearl Two

The writing prompt pearl

The reasons for journal-writing are many but you’re looking to engage with your subconscious, to learn about new nooks and crannies inside of you, to examine your day-to-day and see what takes form. Based on pearl one, here are today’s writing prompts.

  • How have you engaged with maintenance in the past? Be as specific as you can.
  • What do you think about looking at maintenance from a new angle and a new century? Nobody talked about maintenance decades ago because nobody knew how to do. it. How do you think that impacted you?
  • A successful maintenance is about using the strength and flexibility of our minds to preserve our original loss. It was never about running ten miles every other day or eating only salad, it starts in our minds. What does this mean for your life?
  • How do you plan to manage the emotions that come from maintenance? Meaning how do you infuse purpose into your daily? How do you create an umbilical cord from your heart to your value system? ♥

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff. Apply to your own life.

Automatic Sequence:

  • Situation (be super concrete): I’ve gained five pounds after losing thirty.
  • Automatic thought: I can’t believe it but here I go again. What is wrong with me?
  • Feeling: irritation and hopelessness.
  • Action: I react by overeating.
  • Result: I always will be back and forth on my weight. It’s my own fault.

Chosen Sequence

  • Situation (be super concrete): I’ve gained five pounds after losing thirty.
  • Chosen thought: I’m fine. I’m doing something totally new here. There will be no drama, just curiosity. This is what Wendy says is part of the lifetime maintenance process.
  • Feeling: empathy for myself and an interest in diving into what’s working well and what needs help.
  • Action: I take time to read carefully through my tracker that I keep in the kitchen.
  • Result: It takes two weeks, but I’m back inside the four-pound weight window I established for myself. ♥

Pearl Four

The book-dessert pearl

As I’ve mentioned I love memoirs, I joke that it’s because I’m nosy, but it really is more to do with feeling connected to others. The funny thing about Sally Field’s memoir In Pieces is that as the reader we get to know her better, but it soon becomes clear that the author has long valued privacy. In her story, she starts at the beginning with the women who raised her. She is open and vulnerable. I mean, who knew that an actress of her stature would have to go out on a limb to play Mary Todd in the movie Lincoln? In Pieces is a rich, lovely book-dessert. ♥

Pearl Five

You do not find the happy life. You make it.” — Camilla Eyring Kimball ♥

It would be wonderful if you tell your doctors about our site the Inspired Eater.

Let me know in the comments below what you’d to more of: maintenance? Getting started? Dealing with the messy middle? I would love to hear from you.

Make it a fun week! And I hope to see you on Facebook.

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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In Endless Summers

Vacation Eating! 10 Smart Tips to Travel Without Gaining Weight

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Pearl One

One

Make a contract with yourself. About two weeks before a trip, the first thing I do is have a writing conversation with myself using my journal. I write about how I see my vacation unfolding and what I most want to experience in my getaway. I include “time at the pool” or “dinner at Max’s”, and I always include “planning how to not gain weight on vacation.” The goal is to not allow my stomach to get so crazy hungry that I’m likely to go Cookie Monster on vacation food.

I note which days of my trip will likely be challenging. For example, if on day one I have a five-hour flight, I plan to have a PB&J sandwich in my purse. Two if necessary. I’ve also gotten a lot of mileage out of cheese sandwiches. And sliced apples are always a good idea. (Apples are amazingly filling.) Getting hungry at the airport and on the plane? A thing of the past.

Two

Two weeks before the trip, I consciously eat really well. I basically eat to be at the lower part of my four-pound weight window. I give up wine, breads and amp up the fruits and veggies.

Three

Motivation. In the days before we leave, I pump myself up by journal-writing about what really matters most to me on this particular trip (my responses usually have nothing to do with food).

I tether myself like an umbilical cord to the what-matters-most thought. Here’s how: I “put” the thought into a bracelet or ring and tell myself that each time I look at the bracelet or ring I’ll remember what it’s representative of i.e. you’re building smart eating habits and you no longer confuse food-porn with a blast of a vacation. Lusting for food-porn is merely a sign that you need food-food.

Four

More motivation. Music! Pick only one song to use for your trip-song. Might I suggest Tom Petty’s song “I Won’t Back Down” (“they can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won’t back down”); Katy Perry’s “Roar”; and Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What doesn’t kill you”). Adopt one song that you “hear” in your head and carry with you on your trip. Use your song as needed and share in the comments below which song you chose!

Five

How I eat. I know with the fad eating styles out there, it might be hard to hear what sounds like one more, but the eating style that’s worked for me: breakfast like a king, lunch like a princess and dinner like a pauper with two afternoon snacks included. Science backs my personal experience with this study here.

Six

Small is big. I was in the fancy concierge lounge of a cruise ship recently and marveled at the beautifully prepared small sample-bites the staff laid out. Sometimes we’d find savory bites and sometimes sweet, but it was always just two or three-bites worth of food. And just those few bites really filled me up. Color me blown-away. When I’m pondering a second scoop of ice cream or more lasagna, I default into remembering how filling three bites can be.

Seven

I always do this. Always, always. When I come across desserts in the evening or even cookies in the afternoon I save the treat to eat in the mornings only to have with my coffee. Read more about how sweet breakfasts work here: Brownies for Breakfast.

Eight

Adjusting. Be real about what you “have to” taste at your destination. If something is so iconic that you “have to try it” like Italian ice cream in Italy, just plan for it. For example, if I eat a large breakfast and medium-sized lunch, I might have two scoops of gelato around 4:00 pm, but then not eat dinner on top of the gelato.

Nine

Staying full. I keep fiber and/or protein bars in my purse at all times so that I never get too hungry to make smart food choices. Again, hunger is not a friend at least for now. Letting yourself get hungry is the exact path to careening off the Smart Eating Path. So keep bars in your bag.

Ten

Smart. I keep a running log on my phone about what I’ve eaten and count the calories or points for each food. Tracking our food has been studied and the most successful at weight loss and preservation are the trackers.

Planning and tethering to “what matters most” in a trips is what let me return home at the weight I choose to be. ♥

Pearl Two

Grab your journal and write to these prompts:

  • What could I do to mess up my trip?
  • What can I do to set myself up for solid success?
  • How do I usually eat when I’m on vacation?
  • If your trip eating habits start off well, but then peter out what can you introduce into the equation to achieve success?
  • Is it not a fun vacation if you don’t “eat and drink” big?
  • If yes, then ask yourself what will take the place of “eat and drink.”
  • If you’re following Pearl One, does all the work involved feel off-putting?
  • What are your thoughts on this topic: “I take my smart eating habits with me on trips just like I bring my prescription medication.”
  • Go through the ten tips in Pearl One and write about each topic and include what doesn’t worry you and what very much does worries you.
  • Are there solutions to address what does worry you?

Does the idea of planning and prepping seem like an excessive amount of work for a one-week trip? Over time, you’ll embed smart travel eating habits and it’ll be far easier to take habits on a trip. While it’s not easy, there’s nothing like returning home having gained all of six ounces. ♥

Pearl Three

Sequencing is taken directly from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The purpose of sequences is to help us move from reacting to circumstances to responding. I encourage you to do a sequence a day in your journal. Powerful stuff.

Automatic Sequence

This sequence is about me in my high school years.

Chosen Sequence

  • Situation (be super concrete): I have a memory of being in the quad and complimenting one of my favorite teachers and she replied, “Wendy, you’re being a brown-nose.”
  • Chosen thought: Mrs. Harris deflected my compliment because she felt too in the spotlight.
  • Feeling: empathy.
  • Action: While I didn’t know as a teen how to create better sequences for myself, I’ve since learned to compliment others.
  • Result: I had to re-learn a long time ago that everyone loves to get an authentic, from-the-heart “nice boots” every day of the week. Or as Mark Twain said, “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

Pearl Four

Books love us and want us to happy.

I have a great memoir for you today. It took a second or two to get into but The Next Day, Transition, Change and Moving Forward by Melinda French Gates, is worth it. NPR calls it,”Deeply personal… [Gates] takes readers inside the moments that have defined her.”

She writes about her values, and children and divorce. I loved this memoir. ♥

Pearl Five

Every small step you take is a promise to the part of you that still believes.” ♥

Anonymous

If you enjoyed reading this post, I’d appreciate it so much if you’d share it with others.

Make it a beautiful week! And I hope to see you on Facebook.

♥, Wendy

You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.

Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!!

I am not an expert, doctor, surgeon, nurse, dietician, or nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

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