“Lifetime” is a very complicated word. For those people who have been struggling with their weight for a “lifetime,” a diet that actually helps you keep the weight off for good may sound something like mission: impossible.
In our world today, diets are hyped up to be a façade of permanent successful weight loss which consists of food that supposedly tastes great, with endorsements by C-list celebrities who try to convince you that they eat the same cuisine, when they actually have their own personal chef cooking their every meal. This is not often the reality of a diet, and it certainly doesn’t help you reach your goals of permanent weight loss. It also doesn’t help that you are expected to become involved in rigorous checklist maintenance, which requires you to write out all of your diet planning on your own.
The BistroMD plan is different because it is in touch with reality. We live on Earth, not on planet Hollywood, which is why there is a phase in our plan called, “Phase 3: Lifetime Maintenance.” Follow the program and you will never need to diet again! How can we say this? Like the earlier phases of our program, it has been customized to meet the needs of individual patients, refined through trial and error and perfected. It works!
How It Works
During the first three to six months of this phase, you will gradually add a variety of foods to your diet to determine how much your body can tolerate without a weight gain. Doing this will allow you to discover how to stabilize at your healthier weight, so you can eat normally without regaining unwanted pounds. You will also continue to practice the success strategies you learned during the weight-loss phase of the program.
Many people tell us that this phase is the most challenging part of the program. Why should this be true? Maybe because the “urgency factor” doesn’t seem quite so urgent. “I feel healthier, more attractive, and I’ve achieved my goal."
Granted, you rejoice that you have “done it” and you are “cured.” Now, we urge you to appreciate the value and necessity of this phase for one simple reason: if you don’t, you could undo all the good you have worked so hard to achieve.
Stabilizing at Your New, Healthier Weight
In order to stabilize your body at your new weight, you must maintain your weight within three pounds long enough to allow the weight-regulating center in your hypothalamus to accept your new weight as “normal,” and to make adjustments in your metabolic feedback system. This helps to reset your set point and frees you from checklist maintenance.
Your set point is like a thermometer. When you are overweight, your set point adjusts upward to accommodate your body’s increased caloric needs. When you lose weight, your set point must be adjusted downward so that it does not activate those annoying metabolic “alarm bells”—the ones that lead to cravings, overeating, weight gain, and that maddening cycle known as “yo-yo dieting.”
Look out for part two of this article, and to learn more about steps you can take to promote lifetime maintenance, read one of the related articles below:
