Back in maintenance mode - yeee haaa!

Ah yes, so I am indeed back in maintenance mode. For me that means I've got back down to my I-feel-good-at-this-weight weight. My jeans are comfortable and I feel leaner. It also means that to maintain this weight I stick to a clean programme every day except Saturdays ... those are my 'free days'. I can eat whatever I want. This works for me.

It works on the physical level - I maintain this weight. And the food that forms the bulk of my diet is tasty, satisfying and nourishing to my body.

This maintenance mode also works for me on a psychological level - I know that come Saturday I can enjoy all the treat foods without guilt. I like to plan ahead ... if we're going to be at home I think about what new recipe I could try cooking. Or if we're going to be out, what restaurant fare sounds appealing. There is also plenty of leeway if we're invited to friends' place for say a barbecue. I get to partake in all the delicious foods on offer and enjoy the great company of friends! Can't get much better than that.

I guess what I really want to say is that I need this 'system' (for want of a better word) to maintain my weight. If I didn't follow this system I would be 20 pounds or more overweight. I am not naturally thin, I am not naturally inclined to eat healthy and really, I have to make myself exercise. I know in my heart that eating healthy and exercise is good for me, but it still requires effort and consistency.

Sickness + no exercise = no free meal

This past week my son and I were struck down by the nasty Rotavirus. While my son copped the worst of it with vomiting and diarrhea, I only spent a day in bed achy muscles, zero appetite and no energy. Unfortunately with viruses, they take their toll on the body and it does require recovery time.

That means I haven't exercised in about a week. I am not worried about that, I prefer to rest and recover properly than leaping back into exercise too soon and weakening my system.

However, it is this very situation that caused me to gain weight over the past 8 months. I would get a flu or cold, stop exercising BUT keep eating my free meal (actually I was enjoying free weekends back then). As my nutritionist says, 'you have to earn your free meals' ... and that is done through exercising.

So, no free meals for me until I start exercising again. This is very motivating! I am feeling better already! Truly. It is actually quite easy to lie in bed in the morning and think, 'hmmm, I should really give this thing one more day of rest to really get it out of my system.'

I was recently given some lovely organic lemons, this brought on a hankering for my favourite lemon slice recipe. I think tomorrow will be a great day to start walking again especially if I want to be eating that lemon slice this weekend!

The Free Meal/Day/Weekend

Mmmmmm, one of my favourite parts of this nutrition programme is the free meal. Thee Free Meal. It is the one meal (or day or weekend - if my metabolism is up to it!) when I can eat whatever I want. Yep, anything - ice cream, cake, potato chips, cookies, buttered toast, pikelets, hamburgers, french fries, gelato, chocolate, mince & cheese pies, garlic bread, cheese sauce ... I never have any trouble thinking of tasty treats each week.

And I can eat this food and *still* lose weight! When I first started on this programme it was actually kinda scary getting to eat my first free meal. Ginny had me on a clean programme (as in well-balanced, low fat, nutritionally healthy) for about the first three weeks. When she established that my metabolism was burning the fat as it should, she said I was now not only allowed to have a free meal, but I needed to have it. "It will keep the weight loss from plateauing," she told me.

I needed to eat this surge of calories so that my body, which was getting used to its usual daily quota of calories, would think "Whoa! What's happening?? I need to get busy and get burning all this extra energy!"

While I trusted Ginny completely, I was still a bit nervous about eating 'anything I wanted'. I mean, here I was *losing* weight easily eating healthy food, and now I had to eat the very foods that made me FAT for so many years. Well, it only took one free meal and my next check-in to prove I had nothing to worry about. Eating one free meal each week - and let me tell you, I did not hold back - the weight was falling off at 500g per week.

When I lost all the weight I needed to lose, I got to have 1 free day - I got to eat whatever I wanted all day long and eventually I was able to have entire free weekends.

What I love about having a free meal (or day or weekend) is that I never feel deprived. All week-long while I am eating a low-fat, well-balanced diet that keeps me satiated and feeling good, if I start hankering after chocolate or spot some delicious-looking cookies in the cafe window, I know it is only a short time before I can happily indulge in those treat foods. Nothing is off-limits.