Three years ago, my daughter Karen and I went over to our local Jenny Craig. Karen had finished her college eligibility in track and field, and wanted to shed her shot putter pounds. Little did I know that she and her dad had conspired to convince me to join, too, which of course I did. What a difference that decision has made! A month after we joined, Mr. F was so impressed with our progress (and with the fact we were eating chocolate cupcakes and losing weight) that he joined, too. Collectively, we have lost a fairly decent-sized NFL lineman.
This is Weight Loss Maintenance?
I’ve lost weight successfully before, but the difference this time is that I’ve been able to maintain the loss. It took me about ten months to shed 80 pounds, but I’ve kept my weight in a 3 lb. range in the more than 2 years since then. Maintenance is a whole different mindset than weight loss, and there is just as much of a learning curve as there is with weight loss. One of the most helpful bits of advice comes from Brian Wansink and his Mindless Eating website: People who maintain healthy weights have a system for doing so, and are very regular in their habits. My system is not too different from other people in the National Weight Control Registry:
- Get on the scale daily. Little gains are much easier to deal with than big gains.
- Eat a diet that is low in protein and fats.
- Exercise.
- Avoid watching TV.
- Eat breakfast.
I would also add “Don’t make excuses.” It’s not water weight, it’s not the time of the month, it’s weight, so fix it now.
Probably the biggest difference between my system and the NWCR advice is that I do not do any formal, sweaty exercise. Mr. F and I walk several miles a day, which to me is walking, not exercise. It seems to be enough, however, that we feel healthy. The other trick we’ve learned is to have the occasional treat that you truly enjoy. We do not “waste” our calories on “routine” treats, like the cardboard cookies you can buy at the store. If we’re having a treat, it’s a TREAT. Mr. F just baked me one of my favorites, lemon meringue pie, and he spares no expense or quality. I wouldn’t bother making things with artificial sweeteners–yuck. I’d rather have the real thing, just less often. This seems to make maintaining a weight loss effortless, as you’re not going without.
So why “stay on” Jenny Craig? Well, we like the convenience of using their foods, and after some very careful label reading, it is virtually impossible to duplicate the healthfulness of their products and their tastiness in the regular supermarket. This is Nestle, after all, and Nestle makes most of the food we buy in high end restaurants anyway. So we use their foods when we want to, make our own when we want to, and keep our weights where we want them. Hard to complain about that.
Three years ago, my daughter Karen and I went over to our local Jenny Craig. Karen had finished her college eligibility in track and field, and wanted to shed her shot putter pounds. Little did I know that she and her dad had conspired to convince me to join, too, which of course I did. What a difference that decision has made! A month after we joined, Mr. F was so impressed with our progress (and with the fact we were eating chocolate cupcakes and losing weight) that he joined, too. Collectively, we have lost a fairly decent-sized NFL lineman.
This is Weight Loss Maintenance?
I’ve lost weight successfully before, but the difference this time is that I’ve been able to maintain the loss. It took me about ten months to shed 80 pounds, but I’ve kept my weight in a 3 lb. range in the more than 2 years since then. Maintenance is a whole different mindset than weight loss, and there is just as much of a learning curve as there is with weight loss. One of the most helpful bits of advice comes from Brian Wansink and his Mindless Eating website: People who maintain healthy weights have a system for doing so, and are very regular in their habits. My system is not too different from other people in the National Weight Control Registry:
I would also add “Don’t make excuses.” It’s not water weight, it’s not the time of the month, it’s weight, so fix it now.
Probably the biggest difference between my system and the NWCR advice is that I do not do any formal, sweaty exercise. Mr. F and I walk several miles a day, which to me is walking, not exercise. It seems to be enough, however, that we feel healthy. The other trick we’ve learned is to have the occasional treat that you truly enjoy. We do not “waste” our calories on “routine” treats, like the cardboard cookies you can buy at the store. If we’re having a treat, it’s a TREAT. Mr. F just baked me one of my favorites, lemon meringue pie, and he spares no expense or quality. I wouldn’t bother making things with artificial sweeteners–yuck. I’d rather have the real thing, just less often. This seems to make maintaining a weight loss effortless, as you’re not going without.
So why “stay on” Jenny Craig? Well, we like the convenience of using their foods, and after some very careful label reading, it is virtually impossible to duplicate the healthfulness of their products and their tastiness in the regular supermarket. This is Nestle, after all, and Nestle makes most of the food we buy in high end restaurants anyway. So we use their foods when we want to, make our own when we want to, and keep our weights where we want them. Hard to complain about that.