skipping this third phase and going right to Lifetime Maintenance, I implore you not to do so. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Pre-Maintenance is mandatory if permanent weight loss is to be achieved. Let me repeat that: If you omit Pre-Maintenance, you may well be doomed to failure when it comes to maintaining your weight loss for the long term.
When it comes to the last few pounds, slower is better. Here ' s why: When Madge O ' Hara came to see me, she weighed 156( on a five-foot two-inch frame), and she planned to slim down to 115. She lost 21 pounds the first month, and I surmise that 6 or 7 pounds of that was water weight. The next month she moved to OWL and lost 7 more pounds. She then moved on to Pre- Maintenance and peeled off the last 13 pounds over a leisurely three months. By the time Madge reached her goal weight, she knew exactly how she was going to eat for the rest of her life-and controlling her carb intake had become automatic for her.
What You Will Learn in Pre-Maintenance
Now that you understand that Pre-Maintenance is the phase that bridges losing weight and maintaining weight, let me spell out exactly what this crucial phase will do for you. During it, you will:
• find your new Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing( CCLL) slowly, as well as your Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance( CCLM).
• explore more food choices, while learning how not to abuse them.
• become aware of the foods or situations that can make you lose sight of your long-term goals.
• internalize your responses to food so that what used to be a struggle becomes a conscious choice, one that serves you for the rest of your life.
• find out how flexible Atkins is.
• learn how to deal with temptation.
• learn how to immediately erase the problems created by making unhealthy food choices to prevent " yo-yo " weight gain and loss.
• develop a style of eating for a lifetime.
It ' s a Lifestyle
Pre-Maintenance is crucial to getting your weight under control for good, but it is also about far more important things-the first, of course, being your health. To reduce your long-term risks for conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes there is nothing more effective than maintaining a healthy weight. But I am also thinking about such things as your ability to make choices that are right for you, not for your spouse, your parents, your friends or even your doctor. When you realize you can be in charge of what you eat, how you look and how healthy you are, it empowers you in all the other aspects of your life. Instead of worrying about looking good to please someone else, you are likely coming to realize that what matters is how you feel about how you look and feel. You are learning the skills that allow you to take charge of your life.
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