Forget Weight Loss, Maintaining Is Key
Building on the theme of last week's "30-In-30" column, I'd like to discuss that joyous day that everyone who has ever gone on a weight loss plan continually strives for--REACHING YOUR GOAL! WOW, what a feeling it is to reach the pinnacle of your journey and say emphatically that you DID IT! WOO HOO!
But in the weeks, months, and years following that whoosh and emotional high that comes from losing weight, especially a SIGNIFICANT amount of weight like I did, something rather odd starts to happen: temptation to overeat still exists, old habits find their way back into your routine, you let your guard down by allowing one too many "indulgences" in your life as a reward for your success, so forth and so on.
While there's certainly nothing wrong with having one or two bites of something in a week's time that aren't necessarily low-carb friendly, when you make them a habit during your maintenance program they can consume you to the point that you'll notice your weight start to creep back on again.
That's why I prefer to stay solid "on plan" and put my planned splurges on the calendar rather than having them be spontaneous. Some people call it controlled cheating. I don't like that phrase because "cheating" implies there is something wrong with it. If done every once in a while, then it's not going to be harmful to you and may very well keep you on your low-carb program much better than 100% strict all the time--both during weight loss and weight maintenance.
To that end, weight loss is just the beginning. It's the maintenance phase where the rubber meets the road because you will need to find that happy medium between being super strict versus loosy goosy. There is a proper balance for YOU that may take some frequent changes to stay at your new weight.
Click here to read more about how to attain long-term weight maintenance success and why this is even more important than the weight loss.
But in the weeks, months, and years following that whoosh and emotional high that comes from losing weight, especially a SIGNIFICANT amount of weight like I did, something rather odd starts to happen: temptation to overeat still exists, old habits find their way back into your routine, you let your guard down by allowing one too many "indulgences" in your life as a reward for your success, so forth and so on.
While there's certainly nothing wrong with having one or two bites of something in a week's time that aren't necessarily low-carb friendly, when you make them a habit during your maintenance program they can consume you to the point that you'll notice your weight start to creep back on again.
That's why I prefer to stay solid "on plan" and put my planned splurges on the calendar rather than having them be spontaneous. Some people call it controlled cheating. I don't like that phrase because "cheating" implies there is something wrong with it. If done every once in a while, then it's not going to be harmful to you and may very well keep you on your low-carb program much better than 100% strict all the time--both during weight loss and weight maintenance.
To that end, weight loss is just the beginning. It's the maintenance phase where the rubber meets the road because you will need to find that happy medium between being super strict versus loosy goosy. There is a proper balance for YOU that may take some frequent changes to stay at your new weight.
Click here to read more about how to attain long-term weight maintenance success and why this is even more important than the weight loss.
Labels: 30-in-30, diet, healthy, Jimmy Moore, low-carb, weight loss, weight maintenance
posted by Jimmy Moore at
2/13/2007 07:57:00 PM
2 Comments:
Spot on Jimmy!
Your maintenance should be celebrated!
Indeed the maintenance phase is where the rubber meets the road - but to extend that analogy, it is also important how much torque you can apply to that rubber to accelerate away as quickly as possible from temptations... even during planned splurges.
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