Congratulations! You have reached Week 10 of the Nutribar weight-loss program.

With everything you have learned in the preceding weeks, you are well on the road to sustaining a better quality of life.

If you have achieved your ideal weight, see "Body Talk" for tips about maintenance dieting. It is time to start modifying your diet. Maintenance dieting is just that. It helps you maintain your weight. All you have to do is make wise food choices. And keep up the exercise!

If you are still working towards your weight-loss goal, then you'll be inspired by "Mind Talk ".

In this final installment of the Nutribar weight-loss program, we summarize the key points of maintaining a positive attitude, and offer guidelines for maintaining your desired weight.

MIND TALK

Adjusting your attitude
Take pride in your body and yourself, express your feelings and needs, set reasonable expectations for yourself, and you'll create a healthy, livable lifestyle.

Since most people find it much easier to lose weight with outside support, don't hesitate to reach out. Read all the information you can about weight loss, or seek help from a registered dietitian, psychologist, or other weight-loss expert.

The behavioural side of weight management focuses on restoring certain life skills that may be lacking. One example is being able to say "no" to excessive demands made on your time, instead of trying to find emotional relief by overeating. Remember that you count, so make time for yourself. When planning your day, put your good health in the "absolutely-must-do" list. Make your health important to you, and you will find ways to achieve a healthier lifestyle. All it takes to remaster the basic life skills is some conscious effort, and practice.

Paying attention to your emotional needs and limits can make weight management feel more natural. It's really a case of feeding your body what it really wants, and what it really wants might not be food. There are other rewards in store. Not only will you notice positive changes within yourself, but also in how well you relate with your family, friends and co-workers.

Nurturing Skills
Ask yourself: Are you truly hungry? Or are you emotionally hungry?

Many people eat when they feel lonely, angry, anxious, sad or bored. Fatigue also makes people overeat. If you fail to recognize your true need, you risk developing an emotional or "stress" appetite. True needs are masked as a desire to eat, since eating is so soothing.

Recognizing your true needs is a nurturing skill. Before reaching for food, make sure it is hunger you are responding to and not a feeling. If you need a boredom break at the office, leave your desk and walk around the building. Check in with yourself periodically to see how you feel, and what you might need. Determine whether a little outside support would be helpful.

Limits Skills
Ask yourself: Do others demand too much from me? Are my expectations for myself too low?

Protect yourself against stress by setting limits. Setting limits guards against unreasonable demands made on you at home and at work. Be sure to set limits on your own behaviour, too. For example, put limits on your eating–remember, wise food choices and portion control–and put limits on your feelings. You might not feel like exercising but do it anyway, barring sickness, because you know your body needs it. Set reasonable expectations for yourself. These are all instances of setting effective limits.

Health & Vitality Skills
Being able to set limits and find appropriate ways to nurture yourself restores emotional balance, making it less likely that you will abuse food. However, there is another skill, and that is building vital energy, and investing this energy in activities that hold meaning for you, including work. This approach to life will refresh your spirit, and keep your morale high.

Ask yourself: How does my body feel? Am I taking care of my body? Am I eating regularly?

Ask yourself: Do I eat only when hungry? Am I making healthy food choices? Is eating a pleasure? Which tastes, textures and colours give you the most pleasure: soft and creamy, hard and crunchy, salty or sweet? This self-knowledge will help you make healthier food choices.

Ask yourself: Do I pause in the middle of the meal to ask whether the food still tastes good, or to see if I am full?

Ask yourself: Am I physically active? Is my work meaningful? Am I taking enough time to restore my spirit?

BODY TALK

Maintaining your new weight
Once you reach your desired weight, it is time to loosen the diet restrictions. Continue with the Nutribar plan, but make small modifications in line with your own lifestyle and food preferences.

1. Create your own meal
Substitute one meal a week with the foods of your choice. For example, a sirloin steak for dinner makes a fine substitution, or you may wish to select other lean cuts of meat. Just be sure to substitute healthful choices. Continue with your weekly substitutions if you find your weight remaining consistent.

Keep in mind that weight does fluctuate, so do not be alarmed if you gain one or two pounds. If substituting one meal a week works for you, you can begin substituting another meal of your choice, or perhaps a low-fat dessert.

An alternative to substituting a meal is to add more grains, fruit or milk to the Nutribar menu plan. Add beans to a salad, or have another slice of bread, preferably whole grain.

Whether you substitute a meal or add to a meal, you will be adding more calories to your daily intake. But keep in mind that the more you exercise, the more you get to eat to replenish your body with fuel.

2. Keep a daily record
Write down the foods that you eat, the portions, where you eat, even how the food was prepared, etc. Keeping a record allows you to maintain a sense of control over your food choices. You can spot eating patterns easily, and decide what works best for you.

3. Increase variety
Continue to eat the same foods, but instead of jam on bread, have peanut butter, butter or margarine. Or instead of butter on a sandwich, use mustard.

4. Replace the daily Nutribar with an extra meal
One day a week, replace a Nutribar meal with a meal of your choice. For example, have waffles or pancakes for breakfast. Just choose healthier alternatives, watch the portions, and watch what you add in the way of sauces or dressings.

5. Continue exercising
If you have been less than disciplined about this important part of weight management, weight maintenance is the time to really get serious about it! Any type of physical activity is beneficial. Begin walking more, and build up from there. If you have been exercising faithfully, increase the amount and the intensity. Burning more calories allows you to eat more.

CONCLUSION

Well done!
There you have it! By sustaining improved eating and lifestyle habits, you will feel better, have more energy, sleep better, stay more focused, and feel less stressed.

If you need additional support in the weeks ahead, go back and reread some of the topics. “Regaining Control” (Week 3), “5 Steps Toward Change” (Week 5), and “Healthy Pleasures Part I and Part II” (Weeks 4 and 7), contain excellent tips to keep you in line. One last word of advice: To enhance the overall health benefits, quit smoking if you have not already done so, and limit the amount of alcohol you consume.