Does your weight loss program offer a stabilizing/maintenance phase?

Hi Paula. Good question. Having worked with many many weight loss clients over the past 32 years, what I've basically discovered is the whole concept of "dieting" tends to lead to short term anger and long term failure. Therefore my approach is to skip the diet all together and go right to maintenance. I tailor make the food plan, lifestyle recommendations, exercise suggestions, and supplement protocols to fit the individual I am working with and essentially recommend that become their "new normal" eating style. It requires no transition or adjustment, and instead the client gets better and better at following their plan as time goes by. They enjoy their results and have no anxiety over 'if'' they can maintain. Be well! 

Paula too. (Keeping off 70 lbs 46 years)

Hello everyone.  Great question but I think there is one thing that needs to be taken into account before determining the ideal exercises or eating choices that an individual makes.  That is the determination of the EPIgenetic dispositions that the individuals body dictates.  For example I have a colleague that cut carbs and sugars and did the non-GMO, gluten free lifestyle for 7 years while doing crossfit regularly 3-4 times a week for 1-2 hrs per session and regardless of what the experts told her and her good decisions she continually gained weight.  Once she got tested based on epigenetic factors she found out for her to loose weight her genetic predisposition was for 10 minute high endurance exercise at a maximum no more than 3 times a week and that she had to consume carbs.  By making these #goodsmalldecisions she went from gaining weight to loosing 30 lbs in a few short months.  
Therefore, I think getting tested from a epigenetic platform that also provides the solution to the unique nutritional gaps to the individual should be the first step in determining what types of healthy eating choices and exercise programs a person should pursue.  If curious about such a platform I am available to answer any questions.  Please send me a private message.

One of our weight loss program options is considered an extreme weight loss program. We obviously realize this is not a diet plan that can be continued lifelong. For that particular program, we have an option to add on a maintenance program that we call “Clean Eating”, which focuses on high protein, moderate carbs, and low fats. We also encourage adding in a consistent exercise routine. This program is designed to lose about 1-2 pounds a week. But can be adjusted so the client can maintain his/her weight if he/she already reached the goal weight.  

For one of our other programs that is a diet that can be done lifelong, when people reach their goal weight, we will look at our client’s macros or calorie intake and make adjustments so that they can maintain their weight, if they don’t wish to lose anymore.

That's what we are all about.  We don't want to give you fish, we want to teach you how to fish!  Then we make a fun, safe environment where you want to go to get your fitness.  The 3 Elements is 1. Fitness (moving like we should be moving naturally) 2. Nutrition - Eat whole foods with a combo of Proteins, good carbs Carbs and healthy fats.  No sugars.  3 Recovery - plenty of hydration, proper sleep and mobility and stretching.  We want to teach a lifestyle so being healthy is a part of life.    

There should always be.  Draining therapy - ie weight loss - should always be done with proper vitality checks (a tired body will not detox well) and periods of challenge and effort followed by periods of rest and pat on the back stuff.  Few of us follow Thermal Energetics or the process of life.  We've gotten seduced by the labels, the snapshots of life like blood chemistry and diet plans but we've forgotten that all life is a process, and all our weight loss clients need to recoup the energy and be held to accountability to goals.

As a nutritionist I offer weight loss maintenance support which must include:

- Reiterating what made you successful at losing weight every day. Have a list.

- Repeating healthy patterns and new habits. Each time, give yourself a congratulations pat on the back.

- Regularly repeat/write down/talk about all the new things you love about your new body, new mindset, new lifestyle. Keep a journal.

- Have plans and food budgets each week so you can veer from your new healthy ways but will be back on track immediately.

- Get rid/avoid negative influences/ saboteurs - do not let them come back. If you can’t avoid them, by now you should be able to deal with them. It is in my Chapter 7- Weight Liss Starts in Your Brain.

- Importantly, go back on the scales once a week. Do not let one pound come back. This is how 12 pounds come back before you know it.

Finally surround yourself by supporters and people who share your new lifestyle.

My wife and I were inspired to adopt a new ketogenic lifestyle last July when we visited our daughter and her family.  Our son-in-law had lost over 30 lbs. since the last time we had seen him and we were amazed.  He told us he had gone keto and we started doing our own research.  We found that if was a way of eating that we could really do.  I love to cook and as a result, I love to eat good food.  All of the other programs I have looked at before were so focused on low fat that the food would end up tasteless.  Plus, most of the "low fat" for "lite" foods usually supplement sugars to boost the flavor lost by removing the fat.  Ketogenics relies on fat to fuel the body, so I loved this.  This also means depriving the body of carbohydrates.  Sure...I miss pasta, bread, potatoes sometimes.  But, I still enjoy eating the foods that I am eating, like as much bacon as I want, so these things don't become cravings.

So, now after 8 months, I have lost 30 lbs. and I feel terrific.  I never get those "lulls" during the day anymore and in general, I have more energy.  One of the benefits of keto is that your blood sugar levels remain fairly constant instead of the peaks and valleys from a more carb focused diet.  I just turned 68 and last July I had gotten to my peak weight of 222 lbs.  That was way too much weight on my 5'9" frame.  Anyway, I am a true believer and plan for this to be the way I live for the rest of my life.

That said, your question was about what to do when your weight goal has been reached.  I haven't gotten there quite yet.  I have 5-7 lbs. to go.  I have thought about it though.  I figure that when I get to my target weight I will allow myself the occasional indulgence of a good pizza with a full-carb beer or a wonderful pasta dish, etc.  I will still live keto.  I will just "cheat" every so often.  I am hoping that this will allow me to keep my weight within the range that I want.

There is one other possibility.  Before I turned 50, I was pretty much the same weight I was when I was in college.  My normal metabolism and active lifesyle kept me there and I could eat anything.  Then my body started changing and over the next 18 years I slowly gained about 40 lbs.  It is possible that when my body reaches its "normal" weight, that I will naturally stop losing weight.  I am interested to find out.

A diet weight-loss program is a patch, not a fix. If diets worked you would only need one. Diet weight-loss cannot be sustained because they don't teach you a lifestyle.

My program, No Diet Weight Solution, is all about how our bodies are designed to eat, sustain weight-loss and create a lifestyle that creates wellness. They don't have to keep coming back.

My program doesn't offer a maintenance phase since I don't directly deal nutrition. I work primarily on their relationship with food and how it makes them feel. I personally believe if we have the right mindset to respond to emotional stresses of our daily life and be in tune with our body (mindfulness, this will help them lose the weight. My clients are always welcome to reach out to me if they have questions but if I feel they are stuck then I would extend my services again. Happy Wednesday!

I think there are three aspects to successful weight loss. First and foremost is nutrition. I have classes/Challenges that provide education on bad carbs(sugar),good carbs, bad/good fats, fiber, how to eat out and much more.  Second I encourage clients to get active often starting with walking and going from there depending on their ability and goals.   And finally I try to create community (groups, partnerships) to support their new healthy lifestyle and work on mindset/personal development.  Many of my clients continue to participate in these challenges and exercise groups long after they reach their goals. Hope that helps.