Members of the board, we've got mail:

"I was thin until about age 40. Then I dealt with taking care of my Mother who was dying from cancer and passed away in 2000.

After that I gradually put on 20 pounds which I finally lost through the Atkins diet and exercise. The problem now is that I am no longer doing Atkins but have continued the exercise (Weight and Cardio) 5 x a week and the weight is creeping back on. I have decided that No-Carbs and Low-Carbs doesn’t fit my true lifestyle. Do you have any suggestions for lifelong maintenance?"

Congrats on losing the weight and incorporating exercise. Congrats also on recognising that it was slipping back on.

I ditto the food journal suggestion. You had a system down while doing Atkins that worked for you. Now you just need to adjust and figure out how much bread, grains, fruit, etc. you need every day.

I would suggested looking at the DASH eating plan

KD recommended it a while back. It is a little like the food pyramid thing. It can give you an idea of how many servings of fruits, vegs, grains, dairy, etc. are optimum for good health.

You may need to adjust your portion sizes. You have been on the Atkins for a while, you may be experienceing "backlash". Maybe there are some foods that were "forbidden" before and that you really missed and you may be eating larger portions or more often than you really should be. You may be used to eating larger meat portions and need to down size those.

Hang in there - you'll figure this out!

Denise

Ditto to the tips that everyone else has offered. The only other thing that I can think of is maybe you should change your exercise routine up a little. Your body may be becoming "use" to the types of exercise that you are doing. Trying something new that you think you would enjoy might help with your stress too.

I also agree with what has been posted and think that the idea of a food journal is great. I find that I often "fool" myself by not thinking about or "counting" those extra bites, postions, sips. When I get really clean, I see why I might be up a few pounds.
What about an exercise journal as well. It may be that you need to do some more weights to build muscle to burn fat.
I have had lots of success posting by getting very specific about what I am eating and doing so that others can help.

Remember that it's all about burning off what you take in. In switching away from no/low carbs you probably added in more calories.

In addition to the recommendations already made, you may want to keep a food journal for a few weeks and see how many calories you are taking in. Then slowly start reducing by cutting out fats or eating smaller portions.

Hang in there - you can do it!

Try adding in more whole grains, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, oatmeal for breakfast.

Also smaller mini-meals every three to four hours to keep your metabolism up.

Find something to do to cope with stress and grief, if its walking, swimming, cooking complicated but healthy food (curries are a good example, some kind of craft.

Replace "bad" fats (butter, cream, hydrogenated oils) with "good" fats (avocado, oily fish, seeds and nuts). Your body does need a certain amount of fat and protein.

Cate

Yes!

My first suggestion would be to check the thread for yesterday's (Tuesday's) homework by Coaster Girl where everyone listed the 5 baby steps that have been most critical to their success in weight loss and healthy eating.

The two other threads that would be helpful would be the Baby Steps 101 - Food and Baby Steps 101 - Exercise that were posted recently by GoingSkiing (Denise).

Bottom line, you want to increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and fiber, make the switch (if you haven't already) from "whites" (bread, rice, etc.) to wholegrains, drink lots of water every day (phase out those sodas), and eat at regular (3-hour) intervals throughout the day to keep your blood sugar and metabolism on an even keel. Start making those changes a little at a time and, along with the exercise program you already have going, you should start seeing results pretty soon!