Maintenance Busted!

nowine4me

After losing 70#, I successfully maintained for 6 months. My idea was to settle in, give myself a break, then hunker in to lose the last 10. My "drop back" to 1700 started March 1, and I have since gained 10 pounds. Up to 160. It's not water weight, or muscle or food in my tract. Its the result of completely losing control of my eating several days a week.

I'm fine on 1700 for 2, 3 or 4 days, then BAM -- 3500, sometimes 4000. Enough to wipe out the entire weeks work plus some. It's not true hunger causing this, it's like a little rebel in my belly screaming for me to feed it.

Has anyone else experienced something similar when transitioning from long-term maintenance back to cutting? Is there a physical/clinical explanation beyond the caveman concept? Perhaps knowing a solid reason would give me the tools to get over the hump. Thanks everyone.

seska422

Some people can take a break and then return to cutting with a renewed sense of purpose. I know from past experience that I'm not one of those people. Changing my calories (up or down) upsets the apple cart and it takes me a while to find a new groove.

All I can suggest is to distract yourself by doing something away from food availability on days where you feel like a bottomless pit.

Trina2040

I'm two years into maintenance this month and I still weigh in every morning and weigh everything that I eat. I don't take "breaks" because I'm worried about regaining. I'll have to watch my food intake forever. Trite but true; it's a lifestyle change. I love the way I eat now and want to continue to stay healthy. I still have pizza, chips, etc. occasionally, but I have to portion control to maintain. It's just too hard to have to think about cutting again.

That said, see your "break" as a learning experience. You've successfully lost the weight and you can do it again. Maintenance is no easier than losing, it takes time to figure out how to successfully maintain long term. You control the food, it doesn't control you. Eat an appropriate amount of calories with a small deficit so that you don't eat all the food on those bottomless pit days, which we all have. You'll drop that weight in no time, just have patience.

nowine4me

Thanks Seska422. If I can catch myself in the moment, it's helps to go for a quick walk outside, that's good advice.

I will add to this post that my cravings have been very specific. And no, I'm not pregnant. For example early in the month I saw something Salted Caramel that caught my eye -- so I bought ALL the salted caramel things like Biscotti, Noosa yogurt, Halo Top, etc and ate them. The next was cookies and cream, then yesterday Cinnamon Toast Crunch set me off. Which I don't even particularly like.

Machka9

Do you have fitness goals to work toward?

When I went into maintenance, I still wanted to drop a tiny bit of weight but had to go into maintenance because my sport needs fuel, and I just can't eat at a deficit and train and participate in events at the same time.

But because I have these goals, I also know I can't go crazy with my eating because I won't do well if I pack on a lot of weight.

So any time I think, "Oh, I'll just have one more of those", another voice in my head says, "Think about all the cycling uphill you have to do next weekend, do you really want to carry that up there?". Um. Nope.

Maybe you need to have something else to focus on, especially something fitness. Like maybe, if you like walking, planning to walk a half-marathon.

nowine4me

@Trina2040 - "you control the food, it doesn't control you" I need to keep that in front of me 24/7.

@Machka9 - I was training for a half marathon, which I completed last year while losing. That's a really good point, I do still run 3 days a week and lift 3 days a week, but I'm not working toward anything specific. I'll give that one some thought. Thank you!

swim777

seska422 wrote: »

Some people can take a break and then return to cutting with a renewed sense of purpose. I know from past experience that I'm not one of those people. Changing my calories (up or down) upsets the apple cart and it takes me a while to find a new groove.

All I can suggest is to distract yourself by doing something away from food availability on days where you feel like a bottomless pit.

Sounds like great advice! I'm also not one of those people! I'll have a great week and be so motivated and then blow all my progress with a crazy day or two! I'm trying to lower my range and struggling with that at the moment, but I'm GOING to get there!

starfruit132

That cinnamon toast crunch is evil lol. I cannot even have a bowl for the same reasons, and I don't even like it either. On another post, someone suggested to eat more meat when you get cravings. Not sure if you like meat, but it is not easy to overeat because you need to cook it and it fills you up.

GoldBikiniGoals

Is 1700 maybe too low? Depending on what maintenance is for you, with only 10 lbs to lose you could likely run a smaller deficit (like 250 cals a day) and not feel the need to binge. Might be worth a try.1900-2100 cals is my body's happy zone where I don't have big binge days. Lower than that and I'll never be consistent.

Anniebotnen

I agree with GoldBikiniGoals that 1700 may be too low. Is that total, or do you eat exercise calories back? How much protein? I have learned that I need to keep my protein at 30-35% to keep from getting hungry (also because I lift). And I avoid trigger foods. The main culprit for me is ice cream. When I really want some, I go to a nice ice cream place and get a cup with one or two scoops. I don't keep it in my house. I've been maintaining for the last 2 1/2 years.

nowine4me

Thanks for the positive thoughts. I'll trying messing with calories a little. Before upping to my maintenance calories (2100) I had typically been comfortable eating at 1700-1800 if I eat the right foods and time my meals properly.

Here are a few changes I'm making to see how it goes.
1) no more jars of almond butter, only one-serving packets. The jar makes it way too easy to grab a scoop and another and another, then the belly gremlin wants chocolate and ice cream and more almond butter
2) get back to drinking more water, especially now that it's warming up, I've been slacking on this while it was cold
3) minimize sugar early in the day. Eating sweet things makes me crave more sweets. But I'll never give up my treat after dinner
4) stay OFF the Cinnamon Toast Crunch aisle at the grocery store, it's the same one that has the cookies and candy and pop tarts. Bad things happen there.

Thanks for chiming in. Great input.

BeeerRunner

Whenever I go on vacation I take a break. I usually gain 5 to 8 lbs. It can be hard to go back in calorie deficit, but I never go really overboard. I may eat up to maintenance, but not 3000 calories or anything. I do find if I'm not doing something, I tend to eat out of boredom. When I stay busy, I'm less likely to snack.

Gamliela

If I go 400 calories over my tdee once in a while it doesn't change my weight. So maybe a few 'higher' days, but not too high, would be ok for you. You can always eat under your tdee next day to make up for it. I know this works for some people, make your calories a weekly goal amount, not daily. just imo

crooked_left_hook

nowine4me wrote: »

Thanks Seska422. If I can catch myself in the moment, it's helps to go for a quick walk outside, that's good advice.

I will add to this post that my cravings have been very specific. And no, I'm not pregnant. For example early in the month I saw something Salted Caramel that caught my eye -- so I bought ALL the salted caramel things like Biscotti, Noosa yogurt, Halo Top, etc and ate them. The next was cookies and cream, then yesterday Cinnamon Toast Crunch set me off. Which I don't even particularly like.

I think the trick here is don't buy it Just walk past those isles in the grocery store, don't even stop to look. If you know you have a trigger food, do not keep it in the house. This doesn't mean you can't ever have it...I crave gourmet doughnuts and salted caramel ice cream, quite often, but I won't keep it in the house. If I want it I have to walk, not drive, myself to the doughnut or ice cream shop, eat my single serving there, then walk back. Granted I live in a city where I can walk to these places, but the same principle could apply even if you have to drive there. If you have to work to get it that creates a space for you to stop and think about how serious your craving actually is. Go for a walk, do some chores, then if you STILL want that treat then go have it, just don't bring it home.

becca5446

OP, thank you for posting. I am struggling with the same thing (incidentally, our workout routines are virtually identical, I run every other day and lift on the opposing days, five days a week). I hit maintenance last summer, and stayed there until recently but its like suddenly I can never be full and I constantly crave sweet things. This seemed to coincide with when my brain adjusted to my new size, if you know what I mean. I've gained ten pounds and cant seem to control the impulse to eat sweets to get the ten pounds back off! Please keep us updated how things go for you because I need help too!

lilawolf

I purposely eat lower during the week so that I can have a 2500-3000 calorie day (or 2). I always have during both loss and maintenance. Maybe it would help to know that yes, you CAN have a huge serving of X on Friday. Easier to put it off (IMO) than to say no. I did this even when I wasn't working out as much as I do now. A quarter of a family size chicken garlic pizza and a whole bottle of wine on Fridays pretty much without fail. Maybe the same idea would help you? I'm trying to decide if my splurge is going to be pizza or boneless wings this week.... With my workouts, I might even be able to do both.

Make sure you're eating your exercise calories back too or if you want to do the TDEE method, you might want to recalculate. 1700 is likely too low with 6 workouts a week.

nowine4me

Thanks for the input everyone--great advice here. Getting plenty of sleep is super important to keeping on track too, so adding that to the list. Managed to string together a few good days--just in time to leave on vacation Thurs!

nxd10

I found when I upped my calories a little I'd add in carbs first. That made me really hungry for more food. If I was careful to up my calories with protein or fat I was fine. It's a carb thing and much more likely if you're a bit insulin resistant from being long term overweight.

And congratulations! You're still doing okay. Get back on the wagon.

victoria_1024

I've been maintaining since April so almost a year. I noticed my weight slowly creeping up because of holidays, vacation, and overall lack of activity in the winter months. I was only a couple pounds over my maintenance range but decided to buckle down and take off a few pounds. I did it easily but then had a weekend out of town and put them all back on again. Buckled down again and then all last week I really struggled with eating compulsively for no apparent reason. I don't know why my brain is fighting me on this right now! Every time I decide to eat at a deficit again for a while, I can't stick to it long and end up binging or overeating.

Currently I'm up about 4-5 lbs from where I want to be. Probably some is water weight though from overeating this weekend. Stayed within my calorie range today but I switched back maintenance just to see how that goes and try to reset my system. It's tough.

icemom011

What if you tried to ease into cutting by lowering your calories very gradually, kind of slowly tricking your brain into deficit. Sort of the reverse on going into maintenance? Maybe 50-100 calories every week or two, take your time with it, continue with your training and do your best. I like your plan overall, plus lots of good advice from mfpers here. I'm currently trying to cut as well, just to go down a few more pounds after maintaining for 4 months. I have good days, and not so much. I think i will employ some of the things mentioned here as well, and obviously you know what to do, good luck

jeepinshawn

I did a bulk over the winter, my first one, and gained 10lbs or so, and just this month started cutting. I lost interest in body building and want to ruin and just be overall athletic. So I'm on about a 500-750 calorie cut. Some days more some days less depending upon activities levels. Logging again had been harder then I remember. I think I'm going to try doing the deficit on my 5 work days and day at maintenence on my 2 days off...