I began this series because for once I wanted to write about what I've observed working well, rather than my theories about what might work well, during my maintenance. I've put on a couple of pounds and lost them again several times now, and I finally feel confident that I can adjust, and that I can keep making decisions to delay indulgences.
Brief summary:
I introduced the series here. By failure-free I mean that this set of habits lacks self-sabotaging emotional content , in particular that I've internalized that departing from my plan in one instance doesn't mean I am destined to depart from my plan in the future. Then I described seven well-established features of my new way of eating, ways that I simply live now, which form the backdrop.
In this final post, I'll list the habits that I have seen that I do take up when I see I need to re-establish my commitment to maintain my weight. I tend to add them only one or two at a time, and in roughly the order they appear here.
Habit 1. I begin the day with my "signal breakfast." I define a signal meal as a sit-down plate that's appealing but that's designed to make me feel like I'm starting off the day just perfectly, and that's returned to again and again when the same signal needs to be sent. It sends a message to myself that I'm already sticking to a plan. And since I normally make the decision to re-commit myself first thing in the morning (right after stepping on the scale!) beginning right away with a breakfast that always makes me feel successful is a key part of my habit constellation. I'm on the right track immediately, and at the end of the day (no matter what else happens) I will have had at least one success.
Habit 2. I move to eating on schedule. Meals regularly spaced, and snacks at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., with nothing in between.
Habit 3. I control the size of the two snacks. My old standby: up to an ounce of cheese, up to an ounce of nuts, and up to an ounce of fruit.
Habit 4. No seconds: fill the plate once, and I'm done. This one almost always takes several days to get well established, but after a while I remember my strategies: brew coffee before sitting down so I can have a cup right away, enjoy a stick of gum or a piece of dark chocolate while I clear the table, and leave the serving dishes in the kitchen.
Habit 5. Control the plate. at least half of the plate covered by plain vegetables, up to a quarter of the plate with something starchy or with a dressed vegetable, and up to a quarter of the plate with the entree. (This one's pretty easy to re-introduce because to me that's what a "normal" plate looks like.) I usually allow extra room for salad since it's so fluffy.
If I get all of the above going pretty well and it still seems like I need a bit of an extra "kick," I add two more intensive habits.
Habit 6. Measure sources of "extra" calories. These are high-calorie things like salad dressing, cheese, milk for my tea, butter, and jam. I use what I need to enjoy my food, and leave the extra off.
Habit 7. Cut drastically back on bread, most grains, and all sweets (except dark chocolate). I'll allow myself one serving of bread or grains at each meal, but none at snacks, and I'll carefully measure them.
One thing that's interesting about these habits is the order they come in. Although I never attempt it till last, I'm convinced that Habit 7 is the most directly effective at taking pounds off of me. I know that most of my "extra" eating is from breads and grains. I'd probably have an easier time of it if I could establish Habit 7 right away instead of last! But the truth is that it's harder than all those other habits, and I think it takes several days working on my other habits to get me into the frame of mind where I can easily tackle the bread/grain problem.
Usually, though, by the time I get this far, the extra couple of pounds is already off. I suppose if I ever need to drop double-digit weight again, I'll return to these habits plus perhaps a few more... maybe even counting calories again. For now, though, the seven backdrop features and the seven failure-free habits seem to do the trick for me, again and again.
That concludes the weight loss writing... for a while!
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