Hi!
I have thought about this and have decided that I have been in maintenance ever since I first reached goal. Even when I put on more than a few pounds. Just semantics!!
As you may know, I no longer weigh myself, so it is harder to know how close to goal I am. I know I am a bit above it, judging by my clothes, but I don't think by much, so that is fine by me. I am still a lot slimmer than when I started 5:2. What I am concentrating on is eating nutritiously according to hunger, most of the time.
I recently returned from a 10-day holiday where I think I may have lost weight, despite no fasting and eating what and when I liked. But we were VERY active, so I think the activity accounted for all - and more - of the food I consumed. What a bonus! The biggest indulgence was a triple choc muffin - which we had on 2 occasions, it was SOOOOOOO yummy!! OH and I did at least share it. We ate out on 3 evenings, on one occasion having 4-courses and several alcoholic drinks (it was our 25th wedding anniversary). The food was such good quality, and the serves of sensible sizes, that we didn't feel like we had overindulgenced at all.
As I have written elsewhere, my main challenge remains overeating in the evening, especially milk chocolate. But overall I am happy with where I am at. I am able to enjoy a wide range of foods, and don't exclude anything from my diet, though there are foods I don't have very often. I think my most successful maintenance strategies are:
- putting off breakfast for as long as possible and not always having breakfast (though there are days when I am genuinely hungry first thing, so will have breakfast at a more "usual" time)
- eating a wide range of nutritious foods during the day on almost all days (evenings can be different!!)
- increasing the amount of moderate-heavy exercise I do to 1 1/2 - 2 hours almost every day
- drinking several glasses of warm water every day
Best wishes to fellow mainteneers!
Posted: 15 Nov 2016, 20:38
