Refuse To Regain

Maintenance is a Marathon, Babe, Not a Sprint

By Lynn Haraldson

My friend Colton is always reminding me, “Life’s a marathon, babe, not a sprint.”

The same can be said for maintenance. Only I forget sometimes and fail to see the big picture when I’m living inside my bubble of scale-watching minutia.

In maintenance (to paraphrase Newton), for every emotion, there’s an equal and opposite “remotion.” Since reaching goal four years ago, I’ve been challenged/bored, frustrated/encouraged, confused/crystal clear and obsessed/aware. Thankfully, however, for every moment of obsession, I seem to have a moment of awareness, usually sparked by a fellow maintainer.

Ellen of Fat Girl Wearing Thin posted a blog recently about the betters and worsts of maintenance. She begins, “Maintenance is a bit like experiencing the ups and downs in a long-term relationship. There are good days when everything is going along just fine and dandy. But then, there are other days when there is a bit of, how shall we say… inner turmoil?”

When I was no longer pursuing a scale goal and the compliments died off because everyone got used to me looking the way I do now and very few people – let alone me – understood how to stay the same weight, the question I had to answer was, “Now what?” I spent more than two years pursuing the bright light at the end of the tunnel (my goal weight), but when I got there, no one handed me the light and said, “Here you go, hon! You’ll always know where you’re going now.”

As I commented in Laura Jayne’s recent post on maintenance, when I reached goal at 138 pounds, my body took me down to 128. Then I started thinking 120 might be even better. I got to 125 before I understood how obsessed I’d become with losing AND how afraid I’d become of gaining. I stopped losing, but I took that obsession into the gym and began over-training. I paid a high price physically, injuring joints that were already battling osteoarthritis.

Two years ago, I allowed myself (albeit reluctantly, I admit) to sit in my obsession and to take my exercise routine down several notches to see what happened. And what happened was...not much. I maintained for a year before I had knee surgery (which was a year ago tomorrow…wow…has it been that long already?). Then perimenopause hit like a ton of bricks late last year. The result: I’ve gained about 10 pounds from my ideal weight of 130-132. Coming to terms with my ever-changing body at age 48 has been the biggest maintenance challenge so far.

In maintenance, it’s imperative we direct the positive, determined energy we had while losing weight to other goals. To meet the challenge of my changing body, I decided last spring to concentrate my energy less on losing weight and more on exercise goals.

My first goal was to, by Labor Day, do a 20-mile bike ride with no more than a 5-minute break. Because I rode 19 miles in 1 hour, 35 minutes on Sunday (I was so proud of my knees!), I’ve changed that goal to 25 miles.

My second goal is to walk a 5K in 36 minutes, breaking my personal best of 38 minutes. So far I’ve walked 3 miles in 41 minutes, so I have a ways to go. But my thighs are strong and that makes me happy. I get outside and that makes me happy.

The other part of the challenge is, of course, food. I still watch my food intake, definitely. But I’ve loosened up some of my hard and fast rules, at least the ones that directed my obsession. For instance, I used to hate going out to eat. Was afraid to try food that – oh no! – might contain some fat! *eyeroll*

Now I love discovering new restaurants with fresh menus. I’m in love with Mad Mex and their pepita hummus, and their Overtly Masculine Grilled Portabello with Foo-Foo Tofu fajita is seriously fabulous. In my super-obsessed restrictive days, tabouli was taboo and tzatziki sauce was a no-no. Now, they’re my “usuals” at Greek Stop. It’s all about moderation and control and having the strength to get all Mom on myself when I beg for more than I need. Just as strong thighs make me happy, so does a good food find.

Maintenance doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Maintenance is part of the fiber of my life, and like everything in life, nothing stays the same. My body will change. My mind will change. These things happen over time. And time, as Lyn from Escape from Obesity wrote in a recent post, is the true measure of success.

Maintenance is a marathon, babe, not a sprint. There will be equals and opposites and obsessions along the way. But there can also be clarity and awareness that can take us on longer bike rides and faster walks, and lead us to some really excellent enchiladas and gyros if we just step outside the minutia and into the big picture. 

Dr. B: Food Meanie

by Barbara Berkeley, MD

My last blog, a quiz to evaluate your FIQ (Food Involvement Quotient) provoked some anger and annoyance.  That's not surprising, as my views on eating are often misconstrued or seen as Draconian.  So let me answer a few of the comments and see if I can clarify.

In answer to Chloe who asked, "What's the science behind all this?" I say:  the FIQ quiz is no more scientific than a quiz in one of those ladies mags you read at the dentist.  But, like everything I write, it's based on the perceptions gleaned from thousands of hours of treating patients who are overweight.  Refuse to Regain is a blog for people who are trying to lose or maintain pounds, ergo they have weight issues.  POWs, or previously overweight people. generally have to live by different rules than NOWs (never overweight people).  Food is more addictive, seemingly stronger in stimulating the brain, and is frankly more dangerous for them.  They have an easier time when they simplify, rely less on food for pleasure, and eat food that does not throw them under the bus ( I recommend an ancient diet low in starch and sugar).

Here is a quote from Chloe:

    "My gut feeling is that if you looked at who is capable of constructing elaborate, gourmet food,     you'd find they were people from higher income brackets, because such culinary skill is a     well-known class  marker. These people have absolutely no trouble stocking their cellars with     fine wines, filling their cupboards with pesto and quinoa AND staying very trim."

My response is that I have had contact with (and treated) innumerable people who were gourmands that became obese.  Many of them were, indeed, from higher income brackets...because they could afford such fare.  But they were susceptible to these foods and became fat.  People who can live a life that is centered around food and yet remain lean are indeed a different breed, but not because of income. If you are one of them, you know it already.  Indulge, enjoy.  But take care. Research like that from the Framingham Study tells us that the vast majority of today's Americans will become overweight in time.  If you are not one of  the people who can immerse yourself in the food world and stay lean, join the party.  Most of us are right there with you. 

One of the most difficult things to tell a new patient is that she (or he) will have to drastically alter her eating style if she wants to maintain weight loss. She will have to give up most of the sweet and starchy foods she loves.  She will have to work on making a food conversion.  At that moment, I become Dr. B:  the Food Meanie (or sometimes, a lot more unkindly, the Food Nazi). At that moment, it is impossible for the new dieter to believe that she could ever enjoy a simpler, more genetically consistent approach to food.  That idea is rejected out of hand.  "My grandparents used to eat bread and cake and potatoes and they were thin", she might argue. While that might have been true for previous generations, they were never metabolically "broken" by years of modern eating.  It's my belief that most of us are.  As a result, we have lost the ability to handle the foods that we used to eat.  It's a kind of overuse syndrome.  After a lifetime of overuse of starch and sugar, we've become highly intolerant:  in the gut, in the brain, in the adipose tissue.  Worst of all, this intolerance sets off an insulin response that triggers just about every modern scourge from heart disease to cancer.  If you are one of the susceptible, tell me honestly:  are these foods worth playing with?

 

Another reader said,

    "Outside of North America and Great Britain, people eat wonderful, interesting, nutritious foods     while generally managing to keep their weight at a reasonable level. They love food, respect     food, and nourish themselves in both creative and healthy ways......Our family eats excellent,     nutritious and tasty home-cooked meals. This, to me, is living, not the bland, fear-based world     that you appear to advocate in this article."

The truth is that outside of North America and Great Britain things are not so rosy. In fact,  the entire developed world is experiencing skyrocketing obesity rates.   What I conclude from this is that our modern diet is overwhelming the world (the WORLD!) and it may therefore be pretty foolish to think that a susceptible individual is the one person who can avoid bad consequences.  Do I advocate some fear when dealing with our modern diet?  As Sarah Palin famously said, "You betcha!". 

But a "bland, fear-based world" is not the take-away.  To the contrary, eating a diet that is full of the original products of our earth is extremely wonderful and can be done with endless variation.  We have nothing to fear from fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, fish, seafood, nuts, berries and the like.  Let's enjoy them fully.  If this involves an enjoyment of cooking (and even an immersion in the healthier aspects of the Food Channel!) it's fine.  But simple eating, with little fuss, can be a zen-like experience and just as lovely as creating fancy combinations.  I wrote about this kind of food conversion many months ago in a post called From Coke to Chardonnay. 

Alexie, who is maintaining her weight loss in Europe, wrote an interesting comment about what it's like to eat there.  Food  is bought in small amounts from day to day, is beautifully fresh and non-processed and is prepared at home.  Here's more of what she said:

    "But food is also work. We cook all our meals and when we go to restaurants we can be     confident they're cooking the meals from scratch as well. We eat at regular times, because that's     the social norm, and we use our legs to get everywhere. Walking in nature on the weekends is     expected by our colleagues and friends and you're considered strange if you spend too much     time on the computer......

    What you say about the obesogenic environment is absolutely true. When people are drowning     in relentless food advertising and hundreds of different, bad choices, where fresh food is     expensive and 'exercise' is something done at an expensive gym, then there are going to be             health problems as a result. That needs to be changed.

    But one of the changes that does NOT need to happen is for people to lose interest in food.     That's just as unhealthy as the other."

My response to you, Alexie, is that you have described the perfect food environment.  Unfortunately it is not the one we live in here.  Because we in the U.S. are so drenched in unhealthy foods, we often develop a  preoccupation with foods that can kill.  This is what my FIQ quiz was intended to unearth.   Unfortunately, we can't eat as we'd like or as we are encouraged to do, but must develop strategies for self-preservation.  It's painful and tragic.

Essentially, my strategy is to suggest that we learn to love a simple but elegant way of eating.  Some may see this is Food Meanie-ism, but in fact it is enjoyable, freeing and so very healthful.  Is it the only solution?  No.  But it is a darn good one