I’m vegan – and allergic to legumes, but reading all this just underscores the need to get back to my usual diet of

- protein shake breakfast
- salad for lunch
- quinoa & veggies for dinner
- small snack and no food after 8:30 or 9pm on weeknights
- no snacking!

Idea of a “binge” day really makes me think about eating disorders — I like to look at my caloric intake over the course of several days or a week at a time. As others have said – a calorie is a calorie, burn more than you take in.

I wouldn’t have imagined it, but the transition to a maintenance diet is actually harder than going on the diet was. I’m still not sure how much to eat, and I really don’t want to gain the weight back. At this point, if I gain it back it’ll be really unhealthy.

As for weight loss, have you checked out this post from Timothy Ferris where he proves that this slow-carb diet works? He shows pictures of himself and talks measurements like a guy…who’s just lost fat and gained muscle. You eat protein (like meat..sorry) along with beans, and a small rotation of the same kind of veggie. You can also eat quinoa — but no bread, no rice. Then on the one day off every week, you eat whatever the heck you like.

It’s been working great for me, though I am not allowing myself any sugar or chocolate until Easter.

check out his site here for more deets:
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-20-lbs-of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any-exercise/

Also note that he’s a 20-something guy and isn’t a chef. His depictions of food are, for the most part, a way to get calories and certain nutrients in, as opposed to blissfully biting in to something…

Amanda,
Thank you so much for your comment. I know what you mean about the motivation of the scale. I’ve actually been trying to get away from that, to focus mostly on the health aspects of eating well and not worry too much about the scale (except for the weekly progress tracker–hmm. Rethinking that one, too!). Thr irony for me is that I’ve been through this cycle a few times already. The first two times, gave away my “fat” clothes, only to have to buy more down the road when I regained weight. But I do remember the days of wearing skirts and clothes I actually like–would love to return to those days! Thanks for the great words of encouragement.

I know I certainly don’t count anymore (I’ve been maintaining for 3 months or so), though I did for a very long time (and have the notebook with a page each day with my weight that morning, the foods I ate and their calories, for a few months worth of days..) and the knowledge definately has stuck with me. Now while I don’t write it down anymore, I still know how much everything is worth so making lower calorie selections is a lot easier. That being said, I don’t know just how successful I’ll be in the long run–I can’t study when I’m hungry, AND i eat when I’m nervous or procrastinating, and now that its crunch time I’m gaining weight like crazy. I’m trying to cut back on my intake to shed some of it again: I’d really rather not have to diet intensly again. :-/

Ricki I wish you the best of luck: I know for me the biggest motivation was seeing the pounds come off DAY BY DAY. Feeling hungry sucks but it helps a lot when the next day you step on the scale and literally see you’ve lost an entire pound, sometimes more. I know a lot of this is attributable to water flux, when you last ate, how active you were, bowel movements even–but who cares? When it comes down to it you see a smaller number and you go YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. You’re totally willing to do it agian because you cant wait to step on the scale the next day and see another one shed (which mind you isnt how it worked–many days were ‘cut even’ with the occasional up–but overall it did work.)

Another big motivation was revamping the wardrobe. Felt amazing to have a whole new set of nice, shape-fitting clothes that showed off my body and got me lots of great compliments.

Best of luck, I’m reading along (though most of it is ‘lurking’) and definately rooting for you!

Until the day I realised I’d lost 50 pounds, I had never thought about the total loss before. I know that sounds weird, but it’s true. I think it’s partly because I wanted to focus on the total loss of inches instead of pounds, but in any case, I stepped on the scale and it suddenly hit me that I was 140 pounds, exactly 50 pounds less than my starting weight.

That was ten weeks ago, and I’m now down to 132. I’m happy at this weight — the issue now is to figure out how to get onto a maintenance diet after almost a year of eating 1500 calories a day. I’m used to eating less now, but my problem was always the mindless eating. I didn’t realise how much the little things added up.

I think I’ll probably always need to count calories, but it has been very freeing for me. I never feel deprived because I can always have 100 calories’ worth of anything I want.

Thanks so much–means a lot to me! And have no fear, The Girls have already gobbled up their own rewards!!

Megan,

WowWowWow. Congratulations! Fifty pounds!! Funny, I’m sure such a loss wouldn’t be something I just “realized” one day–makes it sound almost like you weren’t aware at the time! Please, share. How did you do it? Help! Tell all!!!

Courtney,

Thanks so much! And I’m so glad you enjoy the blog (and it may be cliche to say, but I really enjoy writing it!).

LisaRene,

Thanks so much–very appreciated! I have to admit that I often enjoy a movie made from a book, but just not the ones with J.R. in them . But I think you’ll enjoy Eat, Pray, Love.

Your maintenance method is tried and true, and I have counted calories in the past (may need to go back to that). I’m not one of those anti-carb people–I think as long as they’re complex carbs, you should be able to eat as much as you’d like (as long as you know how much is enough for your own body–I’m not quite there, yet).

Congrats on your reward!

I feel most books should never be made into movies, they just don’t do them justice. I’ll pick up a copy of Eat, Pray, Love – to read, not watch

I think the idea of keeping a basket full of your “loss” is a great idea! When we look in the mirror we don’t see the difference in ourselves but if you can literally lift a basked full of your “loss” it will make a great point.

Myself, I maintain my weight by counting calories. I burn off more then I consume, period. I thrive/love/live on carbs. If I could re-name my blog it would be “The carb queen”.