Help I'm Scared to Go Into Maintenance

pkweier

lorrpb wrote: »

pkweier wrote: »

These are my stats:
SW 330 Jan 2016
CW 165.6
GW 165

59 female
5'5 Tall

I've been done this road many times and this time I want to make it stick. I'm scared I won't handle maintenance right as I have not before. Not to sure what I need to do to make it stick this time around . TDEE says I can eat 1589 MFP says 1660 at goal weight. I have it set for the lowest setting. I walk about 2 to 2 and half hours each day between 12 -15 thousands step each day. Right now I eat between 1000 to 1100 calories a day if I do eat 1200 which I know I should I feel stuffed. I'm scared that if I do eat 1500 calories I will gain weight back which will start me on a downward spiral. Any advice on how to start to maintain would make me grateful

Thanks in advance.

It took me 2 1/2 years to lose 150 lbs and every day I thought about maintenance, trying to figure out what had gone wrong before and what I would do differently this time. My pattern was always to gain 5-10 lbs per yer, for many many years. Small annual gains never seemed like a big deal, until you come to grips with the result when this happens for 25 years.

I've been in maintenance since last fall. I weigh daily, log in Happy Scale & Libra. I set a 5 lb maintenance range and when I get to the top of that, I cut back a little bit on my intake. This has meant eating about the same during the week as when I was losing, but eating out a bit more on weekends. That's where my calories add up, despite following many of the eating out tips. So if I need to cut, I basically reduce our eating out or try to be extra vigilant about what I order, how much of the served portion I eat, etc. So far, I'm at the exact same weight I was last Sept., with daily fluctuations of course. I celebrated my 40th anniversary and was able to fit into my wedding dress and my skinny mother's wedding dress from 1949!

Remember, if you start to gain (more than normal fluctuations) you don't have to keep eating at the same level, you can make adjustments! You will need to think about where you have failed in maintenance before and come up with a plan to address that weakness.

Thanks you so much for your inspiration. I eat out a lot and have since my journey. I have learned what works and what doesn't. 5 pounds is gonna be my range also. I just need to let it go any further than that.

mk2fit

I didn't have the large amount of weight to lose that you did. I lost 70+ pounds a couple of years ago and have been on maintenance since maybe May 2015. I may be an anomaly since I continued to lose weight for quite some time once I "called" maintenance (probably 20 more pounds). I have since stabilized and have found my "me" weight. It can be tough either way.

No matter what happens, you certainly have the tools to be where you want. Best wishes in your success.

P.S. I eat out a little more often when my weight dips.

pkweier

mk2fit wrote: »

I didn't have the large amount of weight to lose that you did. I lost 70+ pounds a couple of years ago and have been on maintenance since maybe May 2015. I may be an anomaly since I continued to lose weight for quite some time once I "called" maintenance (probably 20 more pounds). I have since stabilized and have found my "me" weight. It can be tough either way.

No matter what happens, you certainly have the tools to be where you want. Best wishes in your success.

P.S. I eat out a little more often when my weight dips.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts

mgtz69

Here is an article that was a real wake up call for me. I am 5 pounds from my goal weight and like you really scared about gaining it all back and then some. It has happened before, several times. At 48, I feel like this is it, the next time will be more difficult if not impossible.

https://www.livescience.com/53863-best-way-keep-weight-off.html

The big take aways were that:
1) former chubby people needed to always have a lower calorie number than those that never had to lose the weight.
2) former chubby people needed to exercise more than those that never had to lose the weight

The science is that your body always wants to go back to the original state.

Reading this article helped me change my motivations. I feel so good now. I can run, hike mountains, and bike. I can do these things in the same day. A year ago, just walking a mile was horrible. I like how I look, not just smaller but toner. Yes, I atill have some extra skin and a little mommy tummy. I am not trying to get a cross fit body. But, I do like how cloths look on me and I am not at sll shy about getting a bikini on at the pool nad beach. This is something that I dont want to lose. So my motivation is about keeping what i have and not about what i need to get rid of. My reward is actually what I gained, not the weight loss.

pkweier

mgtz69 wrote: »

Here is an article that was a real wake up call for me. I am 5 pounds from my goal weight and like you really scared about gaining it all back and then some. It has happened before, several times. At 48, I feel like this is it, the next time will be more difficult if not impossible.

https://www.livescience.com/53863-best-way-keep-weight-off.html

The big take aways were that:
1) former chubby people needed to always have a lower calorie number than those that never had to lose the weight.
2) former chubby people needed to exercise more than those that never had to lose the weight

The science is that your body always wants to go back to the original state.

Reading this article helped me change my motivations. I feel so good now. I can run, hike mountains, and bike. I can do these things in the same day. A year ago, just walking a mile was horrible. I like how I look, not just smaller but toner. Yes, I atill have some extra skin and a little mommy tummy. I am not trying to get a cross fit body. But, I do like how cloths look on me and I am not at sll shy about getting a bikini on at the pool nad beach. This is something that I dont want to lose. So my motivation is about keeping what i have and not about what i need to get rid of. My reward is actually what I gained, not the weight loss.

Thank you that was very helpful. I bookmarked it to go back to when I feel like I'm struggling. I will turn 60 in 2018 and like you I feel like this is it my last shot so I want to make it stick

b3achy

Since this app provides great motivation for those who are losing, but provides little motivation for maintenance as you no longer get all those 'yippie, you dropped weight' posts to your feed...there is a great monthly thread by @fidangul who allows us maintainers to post like when we were posting to the various weight loss threads. We all get to talk about our successes and our struggles, and it keeps me on track and accountable...you are more than welcome to join us -- http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10571171/maintainers-weekly-check-in-july-2017

Also, I concur to add calories slowly. I actually took a very conservative route where I was adding back the 100 calories monthly versus weekly to ensure that I wasn't gaining and giving myself a full month to make the call. I actually stopped a 100 calories shy of the calculators (1600 vs 1700) as it seems like I balanced out there with only a smidge of gain, but that was probably more because my workouts have slacked since I hit my goal, so I'm needing less calories as I'm burning less. That's actually been my personal biggest challenge...blowing off my workouts because I'm in maintenance now. Still working on that part.

pkweier

b3achy wrote: »

Since this app provides great motivation for those who are losing, but provides little motivation for maintenance as you no longer get all those 'yippie, you dropped weight' posts to your feed...there is a great monthly thread by @fidangul who allows us maintainers to post like when we were posting to the various weight loss threads. We all get to talk about our successes and our struggles, and it keeps me on track and accountable...you are more than welcome to join us -- http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10571171/maintainers-weekly-check-in-july-2017

Also, I concur to add calories slowly. I actually took a very conservative route where I was adding back the 100 calories monthly versus weekly to ensure that I wasn't gaining and giving myself a full month to make the call. I actually stopped a 100 calories shy of the calculators (1600 vs 1700) as it seems like I balanced out there with only a smidge of gain, but that was probably more because my workouts have slacked since I hit my goal, so I'm needing less calories as I'm burning less. That's actually been my personal biggest challenge...blowing off my workouts because I'm in maintenance now. Still working on that part.

Thank for the invite to the discussion as soon as I get below 165 I will join. I want to maintain between 160-165 I'm almost there. My issue last couple of times around was I slacked off my walking and watching what I ate due to the wrong thinking of "I made it" so no more workouts. WRONG THINKING on my part and what I will change this time around

pkweier

Question when I add the 100 calories is that per day say my maintenance daily is 1500 and right now I eat anywhere between 1100-1200 a day do I add 100 more a day or spread that 100 over the week.

Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question

seska422

pkweier wrote: »

Question when I add the 100 calories is that per day say my maintenance daily is 1500 and right now I eat anywhere between 1100-1200 a day do I add 100 more a day or spread that 100 over the week.

Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question

It's not a dumb question.

Let's say you are eating 1200 calories. You would change that to 1300 on Sunday and eat 1300ish every day of that week (or for two weeks if you want to shift a little more slowly). The next Sunday (or whenever you are ready to increase your calories again), you would add 100 so that your new daily goal is 1400 and you would eat 1400ish every day of that week.

The idea is to ease into your maintenance calories rather than changing to them abruptly.

pkweier

seska422 wrote: »

pkweier wrote: »

Question when I add the 100 calories is that per day say my maintenance daily is 1500 and right now I eat anywhere between 1100-1200 a day do I add 100 more a day or spread that 100 over the week.

Sorry if that sounds like a dumb question

It's not a dumb question.

Let's say you are eating 1200 calories. You would change that to 1300 on Sunday and eat 1300ish every day of that week (or for two weeks if you want to shift a little more slowly). The next Sunday (or whenever you are ready to increase your calories again), you would add 100 so that your new daily goal is 1400 and you would eat 1400ish every day of that week.

The idea is to ease into your maintenance calories rather than changing to them abruptly.

That's what I thought just wanted to be sure

suetour

Maintenance is very scary I was able to do for one full year after losing 105 but once I left the program I was in I slowly began lose the battle. So I joined back here this Wednesday. I haven't gained all my weight back but I know if didn't start back I would have been right back where I started I used be size 5X. But are at the perfect time to realize you have a food control issue just like the rest of the people here. We all have think eating choices of it as brand new lifestyle not a diet. Adding back too many calories can be dangerous. I would just add back more healthy lean protein, extra veggies with healthy dips, frozen yogurt, etc. If start back with no true plan you may end turning to bad habits ie: old junk food, you will spiral out of control, Trust me I know. As you introduce these new calories try weigh yourself every few days to see if your weight is effected. I think that is the best way. Trust your judgement it feels wrong don't indulgence. We are all like that, we like we are in food jail and maintenance becomes our get out of free pass. Choose you first not food. I wish you all the best. Add me as friend. I will encourage if want.

pkweier

suetour wrote: »

Maintenance is very scary I was able to do for one full year after losing 105 but once I left the program I was in I slowly began lose the battle. So I joined back here this Wednesday. I haven't gained all my weight back but I know if didn't start back I would have been right back where I started I used be size 5X. But are at the perfect time to realize you have a food control issue just like the rest of the people here. We all have think eating choices of it as brand new lifestyle not a diet. Adding back too many calories can be dangerous. I would just add back more healthy lean protein, extra veggies with healthy dips, frozen yogurt, etc. If start back with no true plan you may end turning to bad habits ie: old junk food, you will spiral out of control, Trust me I know. As you introduce these new calories try weigh yourself every few days to see if your weight is effected. I think that is the best way. Trust your judgement it feels wrong don't indulgence. We are all like that, we like we are in food jail and maintenance becomes our get out of free pass. Choose you first not food. I wish you all the best. Add me as friend. I will encourage if want.

Thanks you so much for your encouragement and your right it's a lifestyle change. I just tried to add you as a friend but there was a error let me know if you got it or not

rbee2015

Load the WeightGrapher App. It is free. Since you weigh everyday, start putting that info into WeightGrapher, then you will see your trend and won't get freaked out with the scales fluctuations. This app has saved my sanity.

pkweier

rbee2015 wrote: »

Load the WeightGrapher App. It is free. Since you weigh everyday, start putting that info into WeightGrapher, then you will see your trend and won't get freaked out with the scales fluctuations. This app has saved my sanity.

Thank you I will check it out. By the way I love the bee picture

dmhayes14

Thanks for all of the information. I am just at goal weight now (probably a little lower than I expected) and when I switched to maintenance my calorie intake jumped significantly and I was shocked. My calorie burn daily hasn't changed and I was worried about eating a larger amount of calories. I had actually stopped tracking food on MFP b/c I was becoming a bit too consumed by it. But I found I was not eating all of my daily calories. I am just now starting to log food again in my diary - to make sure I am hitting the necessary calories. Good luck to all on the maintenance journey!