Starting to think about maintenance

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I started at 148.5kg (23st5lbs), I now weigh 90.8kg (14st4lbs) and my BMI is 26.5. Although I haven't yet decided on a final target weight, it can't be far away, so I am thinking more and more about maintenance. One thing that bothers me is that if I go away for a couple of days, on my return I have always put on a kilo, sometimes more.

I have learned that if I immediately put my foot back on the accelerator, I can get rid of the added weight within three or four days. But I don't think that this happens to 'naturally thin' people, and I have wondered how hard it would be for me to stop this mini-yo-yo for good.

Last weekend was a chance to experiment – I was teaching on a weekend course, with all meals provided. Breakfast was a fully cooked breakfast, but they did have porridge, so that was OK. Lunch was a salad buffet, which was sort-of OK, except the 'main part' was cheese, which I no longer eat because of the high calories (a bit controversial, I know!) It was difficult to eat enough salad without depriving others. Dinner was meat/fish/vegetarian with potatoes and carrots and peas. Again, sort-of OK, except the 'main part' often involved some creamy sauce (which I scraped off), and – for the same reason as the salad – it was difficult to get enough carrots and peas. But there was fresh fruit, rather than crumble and cheesecake.

So I did manage to find things to eat, but nowhere near as much as I eat at home, where I eat huge piles of low-calorie food. It meant that I was pretty hungry most of the time, and I had forgotten how much I dislike that! Anyway, the result was that over the weekend I had lost 0.5kg (just over a pound) – the first time that I have avoided putting on weight during time away. I was pleased, but it had been difficult. I need to have another go at this.