Second Helping Toolbox
Simple Steps to Implementing “Maintenance Predictors” Part 1 of 3
There's two kinds of mysteries: ones that are fun to solve and others that you'd rather avoid dealing with. Whichever type of mystery you consider maintenance, let's take the mystery out of it altogether.
In some ways, Angela’s review of key maintenance predictors yesterday was a nice validation for those of us who’ve been slugging out on our own. After all, the National Weight Control Registry’s research is pulled from surveying successful maintainers.
Yet in my interview with Graham Thomas, he explains that while they were able to determine “predictors,” the actual methods people use wildly vary.
So let’s get you thinking on what would work for you. Here’s some simple suggestions or straightforward questions to ask yourself to help you implement these into your existing routine. This is by no means comprehensive — our entire Web site addresses these six predictors — but this will help get you thinking, and most importantly, get you doing.
1. Longer duration of weight loss maintenance (more than 2 years)
Makes sense; the longer you do something, the easier it becomes. This is a scientific version of “you can’t just diet, you have to change your lifestyle.”
Diets are merely eating structures, and while necessary, also have an endpoint. Not to dismiss difficulties with shifting from chronic overeating to hellbent hard work, but really it’s like shifting from one extreme to the other. Flip sides of the same coin. Maintenance, however, has no specific “endpoint” and is akin to walking between the extremes — ditching your penny for a lovely shiny quarter.
The trick’s in slowly replacing the old coin. This is such an all-encompassing topic that providing “simple steps” toward this is the entire point of this site. So instead, I’ll just overview the big trends for what the successful maintainers consider in some fashion.
This entire site examines these next two bullet points, but here’s a breakdown:
- Self-monitoring | We discussed this in an earlier post, but keeping track of your weight and have contingency plans in place to tweak — at this point you know what works for your body, you don’t need us or anyone else to tell you that. See the number and adjust, and trust yourself. Until you know what works for you stops working, trust yourself (gasp!). You’ve earned that right.
- Setting a weight range — maximum high AND maximum low | By giving yourself a weight range to stay between, you have flexibility and can avoid post-fat stress easier. The scale also loses some of its power over you — there’s no one Magic number that determines success and failure.
- Branch out in your eating/exercise … | Research has demonstrated you don’t need exercise to lose weight, but it’s invaluable toward keeping it off. There are many scientific explanations for this, but they usually overlook one thing: the idea is to avoid boredom with the mechanics of weight management. Having eating/fitness goals beyond “I must look like a personal trainer” can be a frustrating goal. “I want to learn to run a 5k, perhaps a martial art.” What haven’t you done that might seem interesting? Sometimes this requires tweaking your eating/exercise, but staying engaged and actually enjoying your “I’m managing my weight” time cannot be overstated.
- … While branching out in life | If you’ve already accomplished your weight goal, what else can you change that isn’t directly related to your eating/exercise? This is deeper than saying “pick new goals.” The life-changing elements of weight loss don’t automatically happen for a lot of us — other people’s reactions to our weight loss, by their nature, don’t necessarily effect how we see ourselves. So whether it’s your workout routine, eating, clothes, sex life, etc. — pick something you’ve been reluctant to try. And then just try it. Just in losing weight you already branched out of your comfort zone. What’s one more thing to try?
- Realize that people who don’t “have” a weight problem are doing the same thing as you | You see the same weight lifters, trainers, athletes and amateur athletes daily if you work out at a gym. And when you do, you’ll find sometimes they’re lean and strong. Other times they add body fat, and in the span of weeks they dart back and forth. That’s no different from us, save one distinction — they don’t consider themselves to have a “weight problem.” If the tweaking of managing weight is getting you down, all it really means is congratulations, you’ve arrived. You’re no longer the afflicted “fat person” in the room — you’re just like everyone else who manages their weight.
- Stop worrying about “perfect” | Another reason I’m ambivalent toward all the “success story” talk is sometimes you don’t feel like the weight loss success story. You’ll have binges, and recoveries, and tweaking. Like our beloved heroic Carla Marie Ciampa, you’ll have people in your life thinking You’re Doing it Wrong. What matters here, isn’t the short term, but the long term. Self-monitoring and weight ranges help provide a safety net for you to not gain weight back, and trust in them. “Maintenance” doesn’t end just because you have a bad day, or even a bad week.
“Maintenance Predictors” Examined
Part 1: Predictors of Maintenance: An Overview
Part 2: Longevity and Consistency
Part 3: Lessening TV and Fast Food
Part 4: Including Breakfast and Not Letting “Now what?” Get you Down
2. Dietary consistency
An authoritative way of saying “just because you hit goal doesn’t mean you can eat like you used to again.”
- Structure, if you dig it | Food journaling is The Solution for some folks — personally, I use it only when my eating requires close scrutiny. But it’s available to you.
- Make high-quality, portioned controlled eateries your friend, not your enemy | For former binge foods you grieve, find restaurants that serve in single portions (small gelato, single slices of pizza, etc.) and extremely high quality. Put some money into it, and demand quality instead of quantity. Food snobbery for the win! The trifecta of taste, cost and time involved in eating out all combine to make a great experience, but not one demanding excess. In other words — portion control that requires no thought or “willpower.”
- Focus on cooking | In which case, your shopping list and pantry handle dietary consistency for you without you think about it much after you leave the farmer’s market, grocery store or specialty market. If you cook more than you eat out, all the “what to eat” decisions occur at time of purchase. At home, all you need concern yourself with is portion control in your cooking.
- Use “problem foods” as garnish | Subtle and powerful, garnishes are a weight-friendly secret weapon. Again they provide built-in portion control for “problem foods” and balance missing certain foods and eating wisely.
- Explore cuisine | We hop around the globe, culinary speaking, and my cooking could be called Hyper Fusion if I cared to. I love my biscuits and shrimp and grits, things I grew up with, but in the process of weight loss I expanded my life — began examining new cuisines and finding dishes within them that worked for my body. This turned healthy eating into an adventure, as did learning to cook. But the more you step beyond the confines of The Way Things Were, the foods that punctuated The Way Things Were rarely hold the same power over you. And if they do, then you know something’s amiss.
Questions for You | Maintenance, as Graham said, is ultimately something you do on your own terms. What strategies have worked for you? If you regained weight in the past, what areas tripped you up the most, and how can you approach is differently?
