Maintenance For Real People

[deerfu39]

Congradulations Sugarkang on your success. I'm gonna have to disagree with you [guess I'm in the 5% club]. Proir to 1970 our food supply wasn't nearly as processed as it is today. Sugar has become an ingredient in almost everything we eat even to the point of injecting meats with some type of solution containing it. We may be at the mercy of a food industry that may be very profit driven and not have our best interest at heart. Many people at work have tried their "own" versions of this diet and lost weight however when they slip back into their old habits [which were very similar to mine] again most all do regain. I know that there is some very complicated science behind all this but there is also some that's very simple. The keep it simple principle works for me.
I have never eaten better since I started this woe.

[IrishIrish]

When I go out or am in "social situations", that is when my guard it up. Too many slippery slopes out there to put my "carb sobriety" in jeopardy. I eat my carbs at home, thank you, where I can have some control over my environment.

[whereami]

Originally Posted by kibskix

i think i do NOT feel like a victim. i feel EMPOWERED. i choose to not eat things that are bad for me, and i take responsibility for every thing i put in my body. i absolutely eat -with- everyone else. that doesn't mean that because my bf is eating french fries and fried chicken from chilis, that i automatically -have- to eat it too. that doesn't even make any sense. it sounds like you're overly concerned with what people think of you. if you actually are still on induction like your thingy says you are, you'll learn soon enough, most people dont give a crap whats on your plate. what makes me able to do this forever is learning self control, learning whats good for me, and stepping up to be an adult and be responsbile for what i eat because i want to be healthy. if someone offers me things i cant have, i say no thanks. thats the end of it, they really dont ride you about it. and even if they did, tell them to eff off.

I could of written this word for word - There are so many food choices besides a sandwich that you could eat easily for lunch plus Im happy to eat what I have to in order to stay healthy and if anyone asks why Im eating like this Im also happy to educate them and explain to them why this WOE is healthy and works for me.

NOTHING TASTES BETTER THAN THIN!

[Emre Yigit]

My 2 cents-worth.

I agree with the original poster in that we are all liable to lapse, and that hoping that we shall for the remainder of our days follow the Atkins WOL is a little too optimistic. But I disagree about the motives.

I'm not knocking the diet (it works) or its principles (they make sense).

The problem (and why Atkins originated in the US) seems to me that the modern mode of eating (including lots of processed foods, sugars, etc) is profoundly unhealthy. I doubt that the whole issue is carbs. I have lots of friends who eat rice regularly, and yet are slim and appear not to suffer from health problems. I have relatives who have eaten pulses and yoghurt almost every day of their lives and have been off fats and most meats for the past 20 years and who are skinny and only have health problems because they're 95 - and even Atkins cannot grant us immortality. At the end of the day, its a trade-off between exercise, portion size, and avoidance of the really egregious foods.

We're all human, and prone to lapse. I cannot say that I will never ever again have a doughnut. But if I do, I know how to compensate for it, thanks to Atkins. Never having been a binge eater - more an office couch potato - I figure that by the time I get to Phase IV, I should have trained myself to be careful about what I eat and to take exercise. Atkins has also taught me how different foods affect me. So I'll be wary of eating them. And I must admit - now that I'm on rung 7 - that the variety of foods that I can eat is more than satisfactory.

(Having followed the diet religiously, and still losing weight at a fair clip, I also notice that I have a pretty quick metabolism, so maybe I'm just one of the lucky guys.)

What I have also learned is that instead of taking the easy way out, and ordering pizza, I should think about what I eat. And I figure that if I take half as much care with my diet as my mother did with mine when I was little, I should be relatively OK. Especially if don't skimp on the exercise. In this, I am lucky not to be living in the US, aka the Land of Sweet Temptation and manic food portions.

To illustrate this point: this summer I went to the US on holiday (Orlando to be precise.) I like pancakes, so when I learnt what IHOP stood for, I popped in. First off, I realised that US pancakes are fat. Where I come from, they're much thinner (crepes, in fact) and if you want more than two, you'll just have to order two portions. Second, instead of having just one kind of filler - say some fruit or jam - they come loaded with all kinds of stuff. The waitress looked at me with deep sadness in her eyes when I told her that I really didn't want eggs, hash browns, sausages, orange juice, whipped cream and maple syrup on top of the pancakes. Whichever way you cut it, that is not a healthy meal.

So, when I enter maintenance, I shall avoid the silly stuff - the pasta, the cakes, the sugar, the bread (fortunately not a big bread person) - *most* of the time. After all, it seems to me that maintenance is essentially about eating sensibly, not entering a faddish whole new world of cooking. I expect that if you resolve to never ever eat something you like - say corn bread - once you do, you come off the wagon hard. I just promise myself to be sensible. And I will cut down on the fat content. And take Stevia, not sugar, with my tea or coffee.

But if I lived in the States, I grant that it would be much more difficult. A country that makes a fad of restaurants that have "all you can eat" buffets, breakfasts, lunches and dinners, whose small chocolate bars would be considered family size elsewhere and where a visit to the cinema must be accompanied by several to the toilet as the "small" coke size is enough to wash your clothes in is not a healthy place to live unless you happen to be permanently 16 and exercising like crazy. The proportion of morbidly obese people in the States is not surprising.

That being said, there is an easy way out, even in the States. I'm 42, and I have to do a fair bit of client entertaining. And in my country, if you skimp on food when it comes to family gatherings, client meetings or the like, its the height of bad manners. (One big advantage: our portion sizes are much smaller than in the US). But at these things, I just point out that "I have to be careful with my sugar" and everyone shuts up. It allows me to eat whatever I like. And a glass or two of wine does not interfere with my diet, so I am not exactly being a spoilsport. If, after saying that you are watching your sugar intake, your friends still pressure you to eat loads of unhealthy stuff, tell them to stuff it.

So I do not agree that office peer pressure is sufficient reason to stray too far from the Atkins diet maintenance phase. If we have to sin, let us enjoy it, not do so because we're pressured into it. And too much sin is always boring. A little can go a long way. Just ask the French.

[liv]

Emre
Way to go on your Atkins journey. You've done so well. Good job

I think you make many good points. We seem to enjoy getting our money's worth when we go to restaurants over here and that may have led to the problem of giant portions. Breakfast joints are remarkable places. But as a person on Atkins I actually like them because I know they will always have legal options for me there

But I also believe with the low carb gurus that some people really are overly sensitive to certain carbs and will put on weight or increase their appetite and therefore eat more and put on weight just by eating starches and sugars. So in that sense the problem is not just that you eat a lot but the choices you make. The foods that you mention people you know eat, such as pulses and yogurt, are not anything like white bread, sugar and potato.

I am from Europe and I think the obesity epidemic has clearly moved there too. I think over-reliance on convenience foods is to blame particularly things like store bought breads and breakfast cereals (those has to be among the worst things a person can eat)

I don't think Atkins thought we would always eat like saints. In Atkins for Life he talks about how it is the choices we make most of the time that will count. There may be the odd exception here and there but that is OK as long as we choose the right food usually.

Also be a bit careful. I am kind of talking from experience and also by following threads of people here on ADBB that reached goal. Maintaining it darn hard. You think you can do this and that but for many of us we really cannot. So whatever you decide to do when you reach goal, do it slow. There is a big slippery slope out there.

Keep us updated. It is so good to hear about people who are following the program and having it work so well for them. We all need these kinds of updates.

[mcarr36]

I would never dream of eating something that was bad for me because of peer pressure. I have had the occational fast food burger WITHOUT the bun. I get questioned all the time about how I eat. People ask me "how do you stay so thin" and "why don't you eat bread" or "why can't you have just a bite of this cake?" Maybe some people think I am weird or crazy but most of the time I feel like people admire me and wish they could also be a size 2. I have been thin and fit for many years, all thanks to low carbing. I share my way of eating with anyone that wants to know. I love helping people and encouraging them. I have cheered for many friends as they lost weight following the Atkins diet. If I ate 40-50 refined carbs a day, I would gain weight. Not worth it! I maintain my weight at 25 net carbs a day and those are 25 complex carbs. I would never waste my percious carbs on junk. I am never ashamed at how I eat. I am very proud of the way I eat. Who cares what other people think. I am the one wearing my little jeans!

[RitaCeleste]

If you can maintain on that, fine and good. A lot of people can't. I think we have choices because people have pressured the fast food places into selling a hamburger without a bun. Or offering us a salad so we don't have to bring a brownbag in with us. I have no social life really. I eat out only with my family occasionally. We go to the all you can eat buffets. I can find all the steak and salad I want on one. Other things on others. My weakness is TV dinners. I miss the 2 mins in the mirowave. But if I use my carbs up on this, I feel hungery and I end up eating extra. Also my over all diet is missing veggies by ALOT. And not its far from healthy. Being more hungery increases the chances I'll overeat and regain the weight. That being said, why must you do lunch with your peers everyday? Do you all not decide to take seperate lunches once in awhile? When I cheat on the diet by going out, I eat ALONE mostly. I don't have a job or peers to worry about. People will always tease you about choosing to be thin and healthy if that is not a choice they willing to make for themselves.

[ziggy]

im a body builder so my glucose stores can save me from higher carbs and such but even i have my limmits

i have been on atkins for 5 years but the past few months i tried some carb up tests and this is what i found

first carb up i ate lots of sugar/candy and potatos and it made me feel sick and dizzy and then all my muscles over my whole body got very sore i literally could barely move

im guessing the reason to that was cause all my insulin receptors on my muscles were very senseitive cause i eat low carb atkins and haveing all that sugar from these candy things overflooded my muscle glucose stores

well i did not want to do anymore tests after that so for a month i ate normal atkins


then i gave it another shot i ate differnt food this time less sugar ice cream and potatos and afterwards i felt sick but my muscles seemd to be ok this time but later the next day i caught a cold lol


so again i did not want to do anymore tests but i wanted to try and find something so a month or so later i tried another test


this time i ate 2 bananas and i think that was it and i felt fine my muscles caught all the glucose so i didnt gain any fat but 2 bananas could maybe be matainence on atkins so i was only like half off the diet that day


then my most recent test i ate 75% a bag of these tortilla chips with lime flavor that were made mostly out of whole wheat & white corn well that did it i felt sick and must have gained 6-7 pounds of water and 3-4 pounds of fat the most fat gain out of all the carb ups


so right now my next test is to try atkins matainence 80 carbs a day but for now im gonna 20-30 carbs a day and or get into ketosis to lose this fat xD

iv been on atkins for 5 years now but i still dont eat more than 40 net carbs a day mostly but now that im a body builder i believe i could matain my weight at 70-80 carbs a day unlike years ago before i was a body builder where i could only eat 30-40 carbs a day to matain weight


everytime i ate high carb besides the 2 banana day i felt very crappy and got gas and never wanted to feel like that again so im very thankful for the atkins diet which makes me feel great and healthy

[mizski]

Originally Posted by sugarkang

I started thinking about what makes maintenance such a hard thing to do. I don't accept the notion that "our bodies are all different." 95% of Americans before 1970 were not overweight. So 95% of us are the same. 95% of us can eat 70-100grams of carbs while maintaining a decent body fat...

This is probably true once one is in maintenance. Probably more true when one has been in maintenance for a while and their bodies are used to being at a healthy weight and eating properly. At least, I hope this is true!

Originally Posted by sugarkang

I think the social aspects of low carbing is what's difficult. Real people work. We go OUT TO LUNCH and we eat with friends/co-workers. And lunch in the modern world = sandwich or fast food. You don't want to be the only idiot with a lettuce bun burger.

Now, the good thing about today's eating styles is that so many people have different needs/wants. Some people are vegetarian, diabetic, have food allergies, etc. And don't forget about all the super picky eaters. It's not uncommon for people to have meals that are not "typical." I think the key here is to not go down the "I can't have a bun because I'm on a diet" route. You don't have a bun because you don't want or like a bun. Case closed and who cares because it's more fun and important to gossip about how the boss tripped over the carpet and spilled his coffee.

Originally Posted by sugarkang

I've started eating fried chicken and nuggets and other things and I'm still losing weight. Eliminating these foods seems so over the top and unnecessary. Depriving yourself makes you lose weight fast NOW, but makes you fail down the road and binge on cakes. So eat a normal carby "main food" but take out the super carby sides like french fries, baked potatoes and chips. Sodas are obviously on the "no" list.

Shame, shame on the fried chicken and nuggets, sugarkang. Don't you realize that this is Atkins and you will get scolded for not reading your DANDR??? Seriously, those foods are crap and you know it. Eating these foods will lead you straight to diet purgatory. For your diet penance, eat a stalk of broccoli.

Originally Posted by chinadoll

While I agree that we should be able to eat more "normally" at Maintenance, the fact is that fast food blossomed in the 70s and 80s and the 95% who were thinner before did not have the fast food and oversize portions that are now part of our daily diets. There have been a lot of articles over the years about how serving sizes have become huge compared to the 50s and how fast food has gone from a once a month treat to a daily staple, so I don't feel that eating a daily fast food lunch would ever allow me to maintain my weight loss.

Eating out and portion size are key factors on why we are so fat. People seldom ate out during the 50s and what is available nowadays on a kiddie menu were adult portions years ago.

It does raise a curious question about what the average healthy diet was in say the 1950s as opposed to now. I am betting there was a lot less sugar and processed starch and a lot more real food including more veggies, leaner meats, water consumption, and fruits overall.

Well, actually there were a lot of sugars and starches. Meals always had some kind of starch and it was usually of the white variety: white potatoes, white rice, white pasta, white bread. The white breads did not have all the chemicals and soy like today though. Starches were an economical way to stretch one's budget and the way most mom's were able to feed their (often large) families with a small amount of meat was to add more starches. Meats were fattier cuts too because the animals weren't factory raised. Vegetables and fruits were plentiful during the growing season (spring through autumn) and in winter there were canned, what you canned yourself from your garden, or the typical cold crop veggies (lots of root veggies). In the winter, fruits were usually citrus or again, whatever you canned during the warmer weather. These were preserved in a sugar syrup. Note I said sugar, not HFCS. Beverages were usually milk for the kids. Soda was a rare thing, usually saved for someone's birthday party or such. In the warm weather there was homemade lemonade...with sugar.

So, by today's standards, the 1950s diet does not seem that healthy. However, the food itself was much healthier than the foods of today. People ate smaller portions of home-cooked foods. Most dinners included some sort of dessert such as a homemade cake or pudding. You had a small amount. Overall the portions of each meal were much smaller and very important, people were more physically active.

This is a great discussion and as a newbie, I don't see how it will change how I diet. It is good to discuss these things and hash them out. And I think most people will realize that eating the way that made them fat/unhealthy will only continue to make them so.

[Slidesdownmountains]

Haaaang on, am I missing something? Since when were sandwiches, KFC and MacD's the only options for lunch? Not only is that a way to rid yourself of lots of excess cash, that food is total crap - saturated fats, little or no fibre and full of sugars! Yeck!! They should be eaten as an occasional fast food option, if at all, NOT everyday!! If your work colleagues eat that sort of thing every day they must be famished by mid-afternoon?

(Last time I had a Maccy D meal (before started this WOE) I found that my mood changed to aggravated for no apparent reason about an hour later - anyone else find that certain foods can tip mood?)