I am now in my 11th year of working to maintain my body inside my normal BMI range, after successfully losing more than 57% of my total body weight.  At my highest weight I had a 52.9 BMI, and at my lowest weight in Maintenance I had a 20.3 BMI.

Here in Maintenance I do lots of personal experimenting with different types of diets and ways-of-eating.  I recently began a new diet experiment which I call “Freedom in Maintenance”.  

This current Plan Directly Restricts the total daily AMOUNT of food that I eat, (has a maximum daily calorie number), but does not restrict the KINDS of food eaten, nor restrict the FREQUENCY of eating.

The consistent repetition of actions is what establishes a habit, and most diet plans are designed to help create specific eating habits.  These diets set forth specific eating behaviors, and the dieter’s goal is to regularly follow those specific eating behavior patterns until doing so becomes almost involuntary.

This current plan is very different than almost all other diet plans in that it does not rely primarily on the “Habit” concept.  Its successful implementation  requires very little repetitious conduct, promotes ongoing individual variability and allows spontaneous eating decisions. This, however, is a calorie restricted diet, not an “intuitive eating” plan.

Here is a graphic
of my
Maintenance Plan

At this time, I’m choosing not to discuss the specifics of HOW I came up with this particular diet plan, nor WHY I am currently choosing to do this particular diet experiment, but I probably will do so at some future point. 

The daily maximum 900 calorie number was established because that is very close to the amount of calories that my body uses to maintain my body at my current weight. ... which is currently near the top of my Weight Range Maintenance Plan.  DietHobby has many articles discussing that issue, for one of these SEE: Projections About the Rate of Weight-Loss.

The graphic at the bottom of this page shows the basics of the Freedom in Maintenance diet plan. 

• The total amount of one day’s food is to consist of between Zero and 900 calories. 
• The amount of allowable meals in one day is between Zero and 9. 
  
• The allowable meal size is anywhere between a tiny morsel and a large meal. 
  
• The timing of the zero to 9 meals is totally random. 
  
• Every kind of food is permitted, nothing is forbidden and nothing is required. 
  
• The ONLY limitation is the 900 calorie daily restriction.
  

I will be recording pictures of some of my various Freedom in Maintenance meals in the Photo Gallery section of DietHobby (look under the heading RESOURCES)   Most of these food photos will be specific to size and measurement and also show a calorie count for that portion size.

During my lifetime of weight-loss and maintenance efforts, I’ve experimented with almost every diet.

All weight-loss diets necessarily involve some type of food restriction.  This is because every weight-loss “Diet”, “way-of-eating” or “lifestyle” requires eating less food than one’s individual body uses so that the body will make up the difference by eating itself for nourishment, i.e. consume its own stored fat for energy. 

(See The Essence of Diets - Part One  and  The Essence of Diets - Part Two).

While many Diets limit the Amount of food eaten by focusing on Indirect Restrictions such as limiting the Kinds of foods eaten and/or limiting the Frequency of eating, my own Diet preference is to Directly Restrict the Amount of food that I eat. 

I do this by working to figure out how many calories are in every bit of food that I eat, all the time, every day, AND immediately recording that information in an ongoing computer food journal.  I’ve now been doing this successfully every day for more than 12 consecutive years.   See ABOUT ME for my weight-loss and maintenance information.

When working to count calories, the task of weighing and measuring food accurately is very important. While the calorie numbers obtained will never be perfectly exact,  consistently paying close attention to careful measurements will provide calorie numbers accurate enough to bring weight-loss and maintenance success. 

There are many computer programs available that will help with calorie counting. 
For example: My Fitness Pal offers a basic free online program with a food diary and an excellent food database.


Successful calorie counting involves the issue of Portion Control.  Most of the time the best way to determine the amount of food in One Serving is to look at the Nutrition Facts label and measure it.  

A rough way to figure out how much food is in one serving is to fill a measuring cup with the suggested size portion of food and then empty it onto a plate.  That will help you learn what these serving sizes look like.

I also find it helpful to frequently use very small plates and very small bowls.

Measurement essentials are: 
measuring spoons, measuring cups, and a small kitchen counter food scale. 

When following measurement directions, remember that 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon means LEVEL, not mounded or heaping. 


Also ¼ of a cup is a level measurement in some measuring cups, but a distance below the brim for other measuring cups, however it is also never mounded or heaping.

There can be a great deal of calorie difference between 1 level teaspoon and 1 level tablespoon.

For example: butter or peanut butter. 1 level teaspoon is about 33 calories; 1 level tablespoon is about 100 calories…

BUT 1 heaping teaspoon is actually about 1 tablespoon (100 calories), and 1 heaping tablespoon is about 2 tablespoons. (200 calories).

 

There can also be a great deal of calorie difference between ¼ of a cup; ½ of a cup; and 1 cup.
 
¼ of a level cup of mixed nuts is about 225 calories. ½ level cup is about 450 calories. 
1 level cup is about 900 calories.  One heaping cup is about 1125 calories.

This past year or so I started recording pictures of some of my various meals in the Photo Gallery section of DietHobby (look under the heading RESOURCES) to record various meals that I’ve actually eaten as part of various experiments-of-one.  Most of these foods are specific to size and measurement and also show a calorie count for that portion size. 

I've also made quite a few Recipe Videos that demonstrate measurements and portion sizes.  You can find these under the header RECIPES.  Below is one of my Recipe Videos which demonstrates the Measurements of Peanut Butter.