Second Helping: Food & Life, Post Fat Pants

Play With Your Food: “Imitation” dishes are great for transition, rough for long term success

Russ Lane — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:34:48 +0000

Cookbooks tout such recipes and on a subtle level, they communicate "you must suffer for your fat sins" or even more dangerously, "you can lose weight while not having to think or substantially change your life and how it looks." I've yet to meet an maintainer who subscribed to either philosophy. It's one subtle example of how people trying so hard to help you lose weight -- even with the best of intentions -- are really setting you up to fail.

Play with Your Food: Classifying Your Pantry To Balance Weight and Interesting Food

Russ Lane — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:25:20 +0000

When you think of food in macro-nutrients, you have a foundation upon which to get creative with. The health/weight aspect's addressed -- then cooking just becomes a process of wedding the nutrients you need with flavors that fascinate you. Somewhere in there you build a newfound confidence from knowing that you’re not what you eat. You control your food, on your terms, and make something that used to drive you to tears, finally, at last, something inspiring.

Jedi Speak for Fatties Yes, sometimes weight maintenance makes you feel like a monkey throwing feces. It’s OK, really

Russ Lane — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:00:21 +0000

Doctors, researchers, marketers … there’s a lot of very smart people in weight loss. God love ‘em for it. But maintenance research is in its infancy and Center of Disease Control Statistics and the weight loss media clamor are all important but don’t seem to be enough. It’s because intelligence isn’t enough on its own. [...]

From the Editor Thanks for making Russ a Sparkpeople Motivator of the Day!

Russ Lane — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:16:50 +0000

Whew lord, but do I have a lot to talk about the path I’ve been this month back in North Carolina. The whole ballgame’s changed. I’ve spent the two years of this Web site choosing my words very carefully: discussing maintenance, post-weight issues, and answering “now what?” is so rare I thought I had to [...]

Play with Your Food Pan Sauces De-Buttered

Russ Lane — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:12:52 +0000

Pan sauces are boon for livening up otherwise tepid healthy eating and provide a skill to focus while navigating all the "Now whats?" of weight maintenance. You're still eating healthfully -- just now, hopefully, with a deeper sense of fun.

Play with Your Food This Health Food Ain’t “Fusion,” Just Interesting: Chipotle-Lemongrass Barbecue Sauce

Russ Lane — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:00:35 +0000

If you think of food in terms of cuisines and standard recipes, it's much more difficult to eat healthfully because, on a cuisine-by-cuisine basis, the available dishes are more limited. So to make interesting health food, I simply stopped thinking that way. Gastronomic purity -- a fancy term for "eating Italian exactly like an first-generation Italian grandmother would from scratch." -- just isn't a priority. Case in point: I had no desire to create a Thai-Eastern North Carolina fusion this weekend. I just peeked in my pantry one night after the gym and created a recipe I'll be making for the rest of my life.

Second Helping Toolbox Taking on Now what?: “Maintenance Predictors” Part 3 of 3

Russ Lane — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:06:13 +0000

And therein lies the key difference between weight loss and weight maintenance: results vs. progress. Weight loss is all about hitting a number, achieving a goal; maintenance is about the paradox of staying at said number while continually, gradually, building a life that makes the number irrelevant. There's isn't a Result to achieve anymore -- it's already been accomplished. The reward comes from finding ways to keep progressing in all the areas of your life while everyone else sits in a corner and mopes. I had enough moping and misery in my previous life, thanks. I demand better; I receive better each time I leave the gym, or try new clothes, or branch out of my comfort zone.

Second Helping Toolbox Interesting Alternatives to Fast Food and TV: “Maintenance Predictors” Part 2 of 3

Russ Lane — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 19:28:20 +0000

Now, now, don't say "Well, duh!" In attempts to stay contemporary, many fast food chains are marketing or creating "lite" menus and more healthful dishes. While they're a great last resort, the point is you can diet and still easily rely on the same restaurants that contributed to your weight. Again, flip sides of the coin. We're suggesting to trade one coin for a better one.

Second Helping Toolbox Simple Steps to Implementing “Maintenance Predictors” Part 1 of 3

Russ Lane — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:53:05 +0000

In some ways, Angela’s review of key maintenance predictors yesterday was a nice validation for those of us who’ve been slugging out on our own. After all, the National Weight Control Registry’s research is pulled from surveying successful maintainers. Yet in my interview with Graham Thomas, he explains that while they were able to determine [...]

Strength in Numbers Predictors and Behaviors of Maintenance

Angela Baldo — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:00:13 +0000

If I hear one more person say, "just keep doing what you did to lose the weight," I think I will scream. I have gained and lost 100+ pounds twice -- losing weight wasn't the problem, but keeping it off sure was. Because while similar to weight loss, maintenance has subtle, important differences, both in procedure and in psychology. This is the whole point of the Second Helping Online, and today I will focus on some specific strategies that have been shown to be statistically associated with successful weight management after loss.