Maintenance phase
Maintaining a healthy weight requires a certain amount of work. To succeed where so many others fail, you must sustain the good habits that allowed you to lose the weight in the first place. As Dr Gosselin so eloquently puts it, to maintain a weight loss in the long run, you must honour YOUR COMMITMENT every day.What is the maintenance program?
Once the weight loss phase is completed, the maintenance program allows you to reintroduce certain foods in order to reach an equilibrium point between energy intake and expenditure. The caloric intake is gradually increased over an 8 week period. During these weeks, we encourage you to develop a certain independence when faced with food and to learn to listen to your body's signals for hunger and satiety. You will then learn to add an extra food item on a daily basis in addition to the base of the weight loss program, to make good choices and to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to nutrition. The support framework offered throughout the maintenance phase will ease your fear of regaining weight. At the end of the 8 week period, we will suggest that you maintain this energy intake for the rest of your life.How does the maintenance program work?
The maintenance phase will be smoothly introduced into your current lifestyle. In fact, you will pursue your original program (dynamic, dynamic Option, energetic, active or swift) and then progressively add certain items to your daily menu.Don't be afraid ... the caloric increase is spread out over a stretch of time and is done gradually. The maintenance program is divided in 8 levels and each level provides roughly 50 calories more than the previous level.
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Therefore, once you reached the 8th Level, you will have increased your caloric intake by around 400 calories. If you follow the Dynamic program, (1400 calories) + 8 Levels (400 calories), you will consume approximately 1800 calories per day to maintain your weight.
If, however, you are following the Energetic program (1600 calories) + 8 Levels, you will consume more or less 2000 calories.
Please note that caloric intakes at the maintenance phase are estimated. Some adjustments may be made.
What is a level?
Each Level is represented by a list of foods.At Level 1, this list contains foods which provide around 50 calories. At Level 2, the suggested foods provide roughly 100 calories, so 50 calories more than Level 1.
At Level 3, each food provides 150 calories and so forth.
Level 4 = 200 calories, Level 5 = 250 calories, and so on, up to Level 8 where the foods suggested are equivalent to an extra 400 calories.
When can I access the next Level?
When your weight at the weigh-in is equal to or less than your healthy weight.For example: Healthy weight is 145 lb
Results at weigh-in 144 lb - OK, next level
The conference host will then give you another Level for the maintenance phase. If you were at Level 2, she will give you the Level 3.
I am currently at Level 5 and I would like to choose an item from Level 2 in my daily food allowance, is it possible?
As soon as you have completed your Level 1, it is acceptable to go back and forth between Levels. At Level 5, you must add 250 calories to your program base. I.e.: If you follow the Active program (1800 calories), your caloric intake is now 1800 + 250 = 2050 calories per day.
Knowing that Level 2 provides a list of foods of about 100 calories, it is possible to pick a food in this list. However, it is important to eat all your extras for the day. You must then make up for your missing calories by picking a food from Level 3 (150 calories) or again, 3 foods from Level 1 (3 x 50 calories). In fact, you have many opportunities to create combinations. All you have to do is consume foods up to 250 calories for that Level.
Here are a few examples: 5 x Level 1 (5 X 50 calorie foods).
One food from Level 1 (1 x 50 calories) + two foods from Level 2 (2 x 100 calories) = 250 calories which equals to Level 5.
I cannot locate my favourite food in the lists of foods allowed in the maintenance phase. Is it possible to eat it, and in which Level would you classify it under?
Each food category has its place in a sustained program for healthy eating. There are no more forbidden foods; it is with variety and moderation that you will succeed in maintaining your healthy weight. The food industry keeps introducing new products on the grocery store shelves; hence it is impossible to keep an exhaustive list up to date. When you wish to include a new food item on your menu, we suggest that you carefully read the nutritional label and assess what a serving contains to be able to classify it at the proper Level according to its caloric content.
I.e.: A strawberry flavoured soy drink has 140 calories per serving of 250 ml.
This product can be added to your Level 3 list and be considered an add-on for the Level 3.
Level 3 has a value of around 150 calories.
Should I keep a daily food journal at the maintenance phase?
The food journal is a tool in your program. If filling it represents a chore for you, stop writing everything down. But if it reassures you, keep a log for a while until you have cemented your new eating habits. Paying attention to your body's signals such as hunger and fullness, along with healthy food choices and an active lifestyle, will help you achieve long term weight management.At which point do I become a member for life (MAV)?
The MAV card is awarded when you have succeeded at all 8 levels of the maintenance program.What are the advantages of being a member for life Minçavi?
Minçavi is committed to offering all services (weigh-in and conferences) free of charge to all its lifetime members who maintain a healthy weight according to the policies of Minçavi (see maintenance phase policy).No new registration fees, or fees for missing a conference, will be charged to lifetime MAV members. Only pay the weigh in fee for the day your weight reaches over the maintenance limit which is written in your red notebook. If this is the case you must pay the weekly fees for that day and every week thereafter until you reach your goal weight again.
Maintenance phase policy
The lifetime MAV member agrees to obey these guidelines and act in good faith when determining his or her goal weight. 7 pounds (3 kg) below the goal weight will be tolerated; otherwise, Minçavi will assume the member wishes to pursue his or her weight loss efforts. Minçavi reserves the right at any given time to take away the privileges of the lifetime members (MAV) and demand payment for the weigh in fees to the members caught not respecting these guidelines - in other words, if the member actively pursues further weight loss once given the lifetime card from Minçavi.Efficiency of the program over the long run
Did you know that Minçavi has been evaluated scientifically to substantiate the efficiency of the program over the long run?Well then, we hereby announce that this study has demonstrated that the Minçavi program has a maintenance ratio clearly superior to other commercial weight-loss programs on the market.
Brief results of the scientific study of Caroline Gosselin and Guylaine Côté
The majority of these reports demonstrate that less than 10% of dieters maintain a minimum of 5% of their initial weight after a period of 5 years. The maintenance of a healthy body weight after 10 years is very rarely examined, particularly in commercial programs. A broad based study published in Bio Med Central revealed the results on weight maintenance of people who have reached their goal weight by following the Minçavi guidelines, some 2 to 11 years ago.In order to assess the results of the Minçavi Program, which is based on Canada's food guide, researchers Caroline Gosselin and Guylaine Côté have interviewed 291 women selected at random, over the phone. All the women lived in various regions of Quebec. They had followed the Minçavi Program for a period of at least a month. The data regarding starting weights and total weight loss was available, as well as their BMIs (Body Mass Index), ages and heights. Documents (weigh-in notebook) were verified in order to validate the information gathered. Results have shown that according to their current weights, the percentage of women who have maintained at least 5% of their initial weight loss correspond to the following statistics :
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Five to eleven years later, after having followed the program, 29.1% of all women maintained a weight loss of at least 10%.
In conclusion, the results clearly demonstrate that participants in the Minçavi program can maintain their weight loss in the long term, once they have reached their goal weight with a healthy approach.