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I've decided to start a journal about MAINTAINING weight-loss over the long term. This is not an easy subject for me, because it's something I've struggled with over the years. Finding the right balance of calorie density and exercise has been surprisingly complex for me, given that a low-fat whole foods plant-based diet is clearly superior to any other way of eating. But once a food addict, always a food addict.

So, I am going to use this journal to share my diet modifications, research and - yes - failures. I've been bouncing between 140 and 160 pounds for years depending on the season of year. The other SAD (seasonal affective disorder) is a problem for me. Here in Michigan you can go weeks without seeing the sun in the winter, and my body wants to hibernate. Exercise is going to be key for me this winter.

I started Mike Teehan's Holiday Challenge at my 'normal' set-point weight of 155 pounds. By simply logging my meals and not eating in-between meal snacks, I have lost 8 pounds as of today. So I was clearly deceiving myself about being at my 'set-point'. According to the weight chart in The McDougall Plan (based on studies from Dr. Kempner's Rice Diet) I should actually weigh between 127 and 132 pounds. I don't think I've weighed that since I was a child. But we'll see what 2012 brings.

Expect links to recipes, videos, blogs, and reviews of my favorite nutrition books. Be warned that the three pillars of my diet are Dr. McDougall's Maximum Weight Loss, Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live and Dr. Barnard's Breaking the Food Seduction, so not everything I write will be 100% McDougall kosher.

Feel free to 'question my authority' or add in your own struggles and triumphs. I won't be offended. I believe one learns from questioning and debate, and my skin's so thick it's practically bullet-proof If you are shy, go ahead and pm me, I'll be happy to answer any questions off-line.

Good luck to all my fellow travelers on this path.

Kate

Cool journal idea. I look forward to reading and learning

I also look forward to reading your posts.
I was a little thinner last year at this time. I am by no means overweight, but I know I could be leaner, thinner and healthier. I applaud you for sticking to the excursion challenge and losing weight. My husband gave me the P90 exersize program for Christmas that I had asked him to get me, so I am a little more motivated to get back down to the weight I am most comfortable at.

I don't know how you made all those Christmas cookies and not eat a one. I did not do as well with the cookies in my house and am glad that most of the treats are no longer here. I'm striving to keep these things out of the house in 1012.

Kris

Great idea Katydid!! One thing Ive always wondered, not that Ive had to worry about it in reality, is how hard in maintaining!! There have been some who have gotten the weight off following McD but they regain. Fortunately they lose again, but I know most of us dont really think staying lean is possible. I guess getting rid of the diet mentality is a good thing too. Im working on that right now.

Thanks for being such a huge motivator for me!!

You are going to be interesting to read, Katydid. Your openness is really appreciated. I'm sure we will all learn a lot from you!:)

Greetings from a fellow food addict.

I am a creature of extreme routine. I thrive on a lifestyle so repetitious and predictable that I think would bore most people to tears. And as long as I keep to my routine, I eat well and maintain my weight. But add in some holidays, vacation, or DH's business trips and everything comes unglued, literally, in short order. I'm still struggling with how to manage these less predictable events.

I weigh about 10 pounds more than I did when I became a star McDougaller four years ago. I have been up and down that scale of 10 pounds at least a dozen times in the past four years. All the gains are the result of non-routine events which I did not manage well enough. I am VERY tired of this pattern.

I look forward to reading your journal and seeing what I can learn to help me better manage the inevitable disruptions in my routine; thanks for starting it.

Karen

I look forward to learning from you. It will help me with my "quick fix" mentality. I tend to look at reaching my goal weight as the end of the struggle. It is likely I need to be prepared for more of a life long challenge, so I am looking forward to following along in your year, and learning much.

One of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of Mike's Holiday Challenge was to lose 10 pounds between Halloween and my birthday on January 11. I did pretty well. As of this morning I weight 147 pounds, down 8 pounds from my starting weight of 155. Much better than the typical weight gain I experience over the holidays.
But...a challenge is a challenge and I do not quit without a fight.
So...can a person who is not actually overweight lose 2 pounds in a week and still maintain a well-balanced diet? That will be my next challenge. We shall see .
Since a 'falure to plan is like planning to fail' let's start with a plan:
1. I've been trying to get in 30 minutes of exercise a day. Someways that ends up being really only 20 minutes aerobic with some weight lifting. For the next week (hey, you can do anything for a week), I'm going to upgrade that to a full 45 minutes. 15 minutes in the morning on the Gazelle, and 30 minutes in the evening on the treadmill. Maybe it will become a habit
2. I made up a batch of BRM Gluten-free Cornbread to go with my Hoppin' John and greens on New Year's Day. I made it completely McDougall with egg replacer and rice milk, but it is definitely a calorie-rich food. I still have 2/3 of the pan left, so now the birds and the squirrels are going to get a treat. Bye-bye cornbread. Back to MWL.
3. I haven't done a spot check of my caloric intake in a while. I tend to drift upward if I don't watch myself into the 2000 calorie range where I actually start to gain weight. So tonight out comes MyFitnessPal and I'll get an idea where I stand.
4. Once I know the nutritional values in a typical day, I'm going to see if doing a rice-based Mary's Mini really gives you any nutritional advantage. I've done Mary's Minis in the past with some success, but I've never compared caloric counts between a rice-based plan and the standard MWL. How much of the effectiveness of a MM is due to caloric restriction and how much is due to food boredom? The scientist in me wants to know.
5. Depending on the results, I will either continue 'as is' or switch to a Mary's Mini for a week. I will track here.

Even if I only lose 1/2 pound in the next week I will still be thrilled NOT to be starting the new year with a 10 pound deficient.
Kate

Just for reference, I am repeating last Year's New Year's post:

"I can't say I've done all that great in the last six weeks. I ended up gaining a pound and a half over the holidays. Not terrible, but not what I wanted. I discovered that Dr. McDougall is dead right about nuts. I can't limit myself to only one ounce a day when they are end the house. I just love nuts too much. I end up overeating on them. So the nuts are out next year accept for the occasional walnut. For omega-3 and 6's, I'll stick with ground flaxseed, hemp seed, sunflower seeds or sesame seeds - non of which I have any particular craving for. I'll need to look up JeffN's seed mixture for my morning oatmeal.

I have also found that I don't do well when I'm off work. I don't know how stay-at-home mom's do it. I couldn't stop eating this last week while off for the Christmas to New Year holiday. I had plenty to do around the house, I just couldn't stop thinking about food. It was all good vegan food, but way too much. I think one day I had oatmeal twice, plus soup with brown rice, a huge sweet potato with greens, and air-popped popcorn. Clearly I need carbs for some underlying comfort. The new year is alway depressing for me.

My diet for next year is going to remain unprocessed, gluten-free and plant-based. I also like JeffN's salt restrictions. I still need to lose the stevia in favor of whole food sweeteners. I may start using dates in small amounts a la Chef AJ. My goal is to get all my food (accept canned tomatoes) in its natural state and bring my grocery bill to below $50 per week. The bulk food store is going to be my new best friend. I'm also going to check out Sam's Club for their prices on large packages of frozen vegetables for SNAP recipes. My limit here is freezer space."

I think the main difference between last year and this year, was that back in October I stopped eating between meals and got in touch with my 'true hunger'. This year I breezed through the holidays, including 10 days off work without so much as a extra cookie. No in between meal snacking has now become my number one rule - wait - make that number two. Number one rule is 'never pass up an opportunity to use the a bathroom'

Kate

Today I started a rice-based Mary's Mini for one week to see if I can reach my goal of losing 10 pounds between Halloween and my birthday next Wednesday.

Being a chemist, I am somewhat addicted to data. The following quote hangs over my desk at work:

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."
Sherlock Holmes - A Scandel in Bohemia

So out comes my iPad and into the MyFitnessPal app goes everything I ate today. Mind you, I am not measuring my food in order to restrict, but to get accurate data. This is an experiment.

This is what I ate today (and will eat for the next week):

Breakfast: Brown rice blended with a ripe banana, cinnamon, ground flaxseed and hot water and served over hot blueberries, green tea

Lunch: SNAP with brown rice, salsa, baby carrots, clementine (cutie), green tea

Dinner: large salad with fat-free dressing, stir-fry veggies, red cabbage, edamame, brown rice, sesame seeds, another cutie, herbal tea.

Total for day: 1219 calories, 235g carbs, 8 grams fat, 44 grams protein, 705 mg sodium, 51 grams fiber (79% carbs, 6% fat, 15% protein).

This being a Mary's Mini, I will eat the exact same 3 meals for the next 7 days. My starting weight is 147 pounds.

While 1200 calories doesn't sound like much, I know from previous studies that I will maintain my weight on only 1500 calories a day. And because there are so many green and yellow veggies, I'm going to be eating a LOT of food. Just how much I will show you tomorrow - I took pictures .

Kate

Looking forward to following your experiment. Did you ever compare your experimental 1500 calorie maintenance level with any of those calculators that take your height, weight, and approximate activity level? I've always wondered if those things are even close to accurate.

That's an interesting question. I did a google search asking the question: how many calories do I need to maintain my weight? And got 4 different answers from 4 different sites. They ranged from 1725 to 2350 calories. Then I remember the post from last week about Ruth Heinrich. Someone added up the approximate calories in her two salads a day and got about 1200 and she maintains her 125 pound weight while running marathons. So who knows. The online calculators are no doubt designed around SAD eaters.
I've read that the metabolism of vegans is just slower. That's a good thing, since it means you'll live longer . There is theory that links lifespan to number of heartbeats - slowing down your metabolism means fewer heartbeats and longer life. But it also means a greater sensitivity to cold in vegans and a need for fewer calories since your basal metabolism will burn fewer calories at rest. We shall see.

Here is an interesting link about metabolism and lifespan from Dr. Fuhrman's blog:
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/he ... evity.html

Kate

So how much food do I get for my 1200 calorie Mary's Mini diet? I promised pictures and here they are:

Breakfast is homemade cream of rice made with 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, 1/2 a banana and 1/2 cup blueberries. Add green tea and stevia for 233 calories.



Lunch is a SNAP meal of greens, frozen vegetables, 1/2 cup brown rice, tomatoes, salsa and nutritional yeast. Add baby carrots and 2 'cuties' for 502 calories. Note the microwave steamer.



Dinner starts with a BIG salad (you may not be able to tell by the picture, but that's my biggest serving bowl . Add 2 TBS of fat-free dressing for 98 calories.



Then comes a stir-fry of red cabbage, asian-style frozen vegetables, broccoli, edamame, 1/2 cup brown rice, 2 TBS sweet and sour sauce and 1 tsp sesame seeds. A ton of food for only 386 calories.



That's 1219 calories for the day. And I definitely did not go to bed hungry

One of my fellow chemists at work made a comment today that I was looking rather 'yellow-orange' lately. Hmmm - I wonder why?

Kate

Would you link more info about the steamer? Thanks a bunch!

great. eating vegan slows one's metabolism dandy (said "she whose metabolism runs at a snail's pace so she is usually cold, has low BP and is slow all over WITHOUT eating vegan")

they have also called it "efficient metabolism" meaning my body clings to fat like crazy.

looks like a cool journal, Katy a