The Atkins diet regimen concludes with lifetime maintenance. This is the time to maintain your new eating plan and keep yourself at your target weight. Your new behaviors will now become a permanent way of life. You discovered exactly how many carbohydrate grams your body can handle while still maintaining your goal weight during the third phase, pre-maintenance. This phase will see you putting this technique into action and learning to live with your desired carb level on a daily basis.
During lifetime maintenance, you will continue to broaden your meal options and consume more carbohydrates than before. You can consume some of the foods you liked before starting your weight loss program, depending on your unique metabolic demands. If you do decide to eat these things, you must do so in moderation and sparingly.
The simplest strategy to sustain your weight loss is to keep your daily carb count close to your optimal carb count. It is typical for your weight to vary by two or three pounds from time to time. The variation in your weight is caused by hormonal changes in your body.
You will also learn how to overcome your prior poor maintenance behaviors. Dealing with real-world issues is necessary to lose weight and keep it off. You'll learn how to cope with stress eating, emotional eating, and holiday eating. You'll also devise strategies for dealing with restaurant dining. The difficulties encountered during the maintenance phase are numerous, but they are surmountable.
It all comes down to planning. When you've been on the Atkins diet for a while, you'll know precisely how many carbohydrate grams you can manage. You've also discovered which foods cause carbohydrate cravings and which foods cause binges. Over the course of your OWL and pre-maintenance periods, you've learned coping skills that you'll need to employ in lifetime maintenance.
Make a pledge to yourself that you will never return to your old weight. This will help you prepare for lifelong maintenance. Make the pledge by donating all of your "fat" clothing. In this manner, if you begin to gain more than five pounds, you'll be aware that you need to tighten your belt and eat healthier. Also, write down in a notebook or on a list all the advantages of your new, slimmer size. Write about how much better you feel and how well you're doing. This will instill your new way of life in your mind and emotions.
Choose a weight goal range for your lifetime maintenance. This is a weight range that you are comfortable with. If your original weight reduction target was 165 pounds, your lifetime maintenance goal would be 160 to 170 pounds. If your weight begins to creep up toward 170 pounds, you know you're eating too many carbohydrates. Never allow your weight to fluctuate by more than 3 to 5 pounds in any way.
Make it a point to weigh yourself at least once a week. This once-a-week weigh-in will give you a decent indication of how you're progressing with your maintenance regimen. Use your weekly weight as a guideline for your eating habits the following week.
In addition to following these instructions, keep up with your workout routine. Your metabolism is totally dependent on the quantity of exercise you get. Making a commitment to exercise goes hand in hand with making a commitment to continue eating well.
You can make lifetime maintenance straightforward and uncomplicated by following these instructions.
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