14 days no logging

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newhighnewlow
newhighnewlow Posts: 50 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
and I'm sure I'm generously over-eating.

its always so hard for me to maintain once I've hit the goal weight or accomplished some other goal (like running a marathon). My unhealthy relationship with food means I get to tell myself "I deserve it after so long being good" and "I earned it"

fundamentally - food is still a reward, eating well is still a temporary phase, and and motivation is still best when it is to fix a big problem or achieve a major milestone.

So I can continue to try and change this mindset (harder than it sounds - given that I totally know what's wrong with it academically, but emotionally that has no impact)... or I can somehow turn maintaining into a big goal.

Anyone else out there have a way to pursue and celebrate maintenance instead of just "keeping things steady"?
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Replies

  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
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    When im off to work outside home city for a week or more, i consciously eat a little less than i want to, and end up maintaining. Just experience from 2 10day stints. No idea if i can carry this on at home for years at a stretch.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    It’s helpful to know what your normal body fluctuations are. You can eat perfectly and weight will still fluctuate and there’s nothing to be done about it, so don’t panic too soon. That’s why a moderate range is suggested.
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Logging is really the only way to be accurate unfortunately.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    Not logging is all well and good if you are stepping on the scales most weeks and seeing that you are in your maintenance range. Sometimes it takes logging to keep us thinking about how much food is going in.

    I no longer need to log my food (been at maintenance since 2013) but I am a creature of habit, how much I eat hardly changes from day to day but I still step on the scales frequently and if I saw a prolonged time at the high end of my goal range I would cut a snack out until I'm back in my comfort zone.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Lean59man wrote: »
    Logging is really the only way to be accurate unfortunately.

    True - but it's also not a requirement to be accurate (or precise to be more accurate!) to manage your calorie balance and manipulate your weight in the way you choose.
  • Sunnybrooke99
    Sunnybrooke99 Posts: 369 Member
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    Celebrate change, but not with food. Get yourself monthly massages, plan a trip, or take a day off work to do your own thing.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Maybe you are overeating, maybe you're not? Do your weigh yourself regularly?

    What if you try to shift the contents of "eating well" from "being really virtuous with food" to "feeding myself regularly and reliably, eating everything I want, but responsibly"?

    You need to tend to the small, seemingly unimportant daily tasks too, not just fix the holes when they appear, or get too big to be ignored. Don't rely on motivation for this - or do you rely on motivation for showering, going to work, brushing teeth, vacuuming, paying bills? Or do you just to it, from habit? Do you need "motivation" to eat, or do you eat because you are hungry? If you don't consistently overeat, you won't regain. If you don't worry so much, and don't glorify/demonize food, it will stop being a big issue, and become just one of those normal, daily, important, but not immersive, parts of your life.
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
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    Bry_Lander wrote: »
    newhighnewlow wrote: »
    fundamentally - food is still a reward, eating well is still a temporary phase, and and motivation is still best when it is to fix a big problem or achieve a major milestone.

    Does food need to be a "reward", or can it be conceptualized primarily as fuel; fuel that ideally you enjoy eating and tastes good, but isn't a driving force in your life?

    Eat to live, don't live to eat.
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Ive lost 8kg, am 76kg at 5'11 now. Ive decided to quit weighing and logging food, because that is not how i wish to continue living. It was a great tool for losing weight, but im where I want to be weight wise.
    Am planning to recomp for at least 6 months, weighing myself frequently to stay in a range with intuitive eating. Lifting weights will give me the physique that i desire, gradually. Will reassess after 6 months.
  • newhighnewlow
    newhighnewlow Posts: 50 Member
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    Bry_Lander wrote: »
    newhighnewlow wrote: »
    fundamentally - food is still a reward, eating well is still a temporary phase, and and motivation is still best when it is to fix a big problem or achieve a major milestone.

    Does food need to be a "reward", or can it be conceptualized primarily as fuel; fuel that ideally you enjoy eating and tastes good, but isn't a driving force in your life?

    that's my point... I know it "should" be fuel. But the emotional side of me doesn't listen to what my brain knows.

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