Is maintaining weight harder than losing weight?
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I maintain periodically every now and then, but this may not apply since I'm still overweight and my maintenance is at around 1800 excluding exercise. I find maintenance to be much easier than dieting, that's why I take maintenance breaks for months every time I feel a little burned out.
What I do is just eat ad libitum, whenever I feel hungry, Keeping up with exercise. I don't count calories. I just made a habit of weighing myself every day, so I know my absolute highest mega bloat weight and my absolute lowest light weight (a 6 pound difference between the two for me). If I see myself going above my highest weight by the slightest tick of a scale, I'm back to dieting until I reach my lowest light weight and so on. Usually takes about a week of dieting to correct a slight increase, in extreme cases two weeks.
I found that to be easier for me, personally, because instead of thinking about maintenance and foodstuff at all times I get to just relax and forget all about it until it's time to correct a slip, basically losing, gaining and maintaining the same 6 pounds. It's mentally easier for me to have to diet down periodically than being extra vigilant not to gain the weight in the first place.
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I set myself a weight maintenance threshold. So as long my weight stays in that threshold I am good. I spent the better part of 3 years losing the weight. I have no plans for gaining it back.0
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I find it harder. Not the intake associated with maintenance (food is awesome!) -- just that I find I am more dedicated and motivated when I have a goal in mind, and the goal of "maintaining" is just not as focused as losing or gaining to hit some sort of target. YMMV.0
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It's way easier...I can actually eat.
The problem is that most people just revert back to old eating habits...they don't really develop healthful habits while they're losing weight, they're just trying to lose weight...so they're at a loss when it comes to maintenance.
I would also add that so many people are of the mindset that exercise is for losing weight that they go to maintenance and either drop their fitness regimen altogether or spend significantly less time exercising...their energy expenditure goes down and their consumption goes up...guess what happens?
I've maintained without logging for 1.5 years. I continue to weigh myself regularly...usually 3 x weekly. I'm a stickler with portion control. I eat very healthfully...primarily whole foods and meals made from scratch, whole ingredients. I treat occasions like occasions and enjoy myself, but I don't let myself treat every day like an occasion. I exercise regularly.0 -
It's perceived as harder cuz tracking your food can never stop while maintaining. "Diets" have an end date and people don't plan for maintenance from the get-go. Does an alcoholic say "ok, I've been sober for 6 months now and did really well, back to the bar I go"? Nope.
The book Thin For Life is a great read BTW.
Jennifer
your friendly dietitian
this is not true for everyone. i maintain just fine without tracking. it's not comparable to an alcoholic at all for me. I was never addicted to food. I just needed to learn to eat less calories, but I don't need to track forever to do that. Now I'm sort of tracking in order to figure out my maintenance since I never really did that. Also might want to gain a few pounds since I went a little low.0 -
It's perceived as harder cuz tracking your food can never stop while maintaining. "Diets" have an end date and people don't plan for maintenance from the get-go. Does an alcoholic say "ok, I've been sober for 6 months now and did really well, back to the bar I go"? Nope.
The book Thin For Life is a great read BTW.
Jennifer
your friendly dietitian
You're a dietitian and you would have your clients track for life? I don't think that's really realistic. I've maintained just fine without logging and there are millions of people who do the same.
I'm a bit sad for your clients.0 -
SergeantSausage wrote: »The evidence tends to point to it being harder ... or something.
For every 10 folks I've seen lose weight, at least 7 or 8 of them don't/can't maintain - anecdotal for sure, but the massive number of folks who regain is self-evident, and ... "yo-yo" is a thing, right?
By definition they have dieted in that case, not made a lifestyle change. The latter means replacing all the bad habits with good ones.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »It's way easier...I can actually eat.
The problem is that most people just revert back to old eating habits...they don't really develop healthful habits while they're losing weight, they're just trying to lose weight...so they're at a loss when it comes to maintenance.
Not disagreeing with you, as the "most people" claim may be true. I still find it easier to have a cutting or bulking goal than a simple maintenance goal - even though I might not go back to previous eating habits. Not sure why, but I simply feel more dedicated with a more focused goal that involves manipulating my diet towards some specific target that takes that manipulation to reach. With extended maintenance periods, I sometimes find other non-diet related goals take priority, and I can only manage so many priorities at any given time on necessarily limited effort and energy. Having a gain or loss goal seems to inspire me more to pay careful attention. Not true for all, surely.
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It shouldn't be harder.. you just need to burn fat walking or running.. if you notice you are gaining weight, go for HIIT.. and you are good to go.. that's my opinion0
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I think it would be harder. I made the mistake of going in two stages. I lost a lot of weight last August-December, then told myself my goal was to maintain through the holidays and then knock out the final 10-12 lbs to get to my goal weight.
After being VERY stringent about everything I ate, I moved to maintenance mode for calorie intake for 2 months. I continued to excercise, but I let things creep into my diet that I didn't touch for 5 months. I had some days that were wheels off (like when I ate a whole sleeve of girl scout cookies) or hit some fast food places that had been off limits.
But when I got on the scale at the end of January, my weight had only gone up 2 lbs. I think I would have been better off if I'd gained 10 lbs and been shocked back into my old eating habits. Now it's hard to stay motivated to eat totally clean when I found that I can eat a bit more like I used to without any consequences. But odds are my diet would completely slip back to what it used to be and without excercising at the ame rate, the weight would return.
I also found that when I started eating processed foods again...I suddenly found myself eating a lot more. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but the best part of eating clean is that I found I no longer craved the processed foods, junk food and snacks that leads to a lot of 'empty' calories. Keeping them in moderation will always be a challenge for me.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »It's way easier...I can actually eat.
The problem is that most people just revert back to old eating habits...they don't really develop healthful habits while they're losing weight, they're just trying to lose weight...so they're at a loss when it comes to maintenance.
Not disagreeing with you, as the "most people" claim may be true. I still find it easier to have a cutting or bulking goal than a simple maintenance goal - even though I might not go back to previous eating habits. Not sure why, but I simply feel more dedicated with a more focused goal that involves manipulating my diet towards some specific target that takes that manipulation to reach. With extended maintenance periods, I sometimes find other non-diet related goals take priority, and I can only manage so many priorities at any given time on necessarily limited effort and energy. Having a gain or loss goal seems to inspire me more to pay careful attention. Not true for all, surely.
For maintenance I really focus on my fitness and performance goals. Lifting for example...I eventually reached a plateau on some of my lifts...I had to figure out how to get beyond that...I had to take a look at my diet again and timing, etc. I switched some things up and ate a little more in general and BOOM...busted right through.
I'm also always trying to get faster on my bike...I did some rides last year and I'm going to do some actual races this year as well as some time trials to help me establish some more specific goals in that arena.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »It's way easier...I can actually eat.
The problem is that most people just revert back to old eating habits...they don't really develop healthful habits while they're losing weight, they're just trying to lose weight...so they're at a loss when it comes to maintenance.
Not disagreeing with you, as the "most people" claim may be true. I still find it easier to have a cutting or bulking goal than a simple maintenance goal - even though I might not go back to previous eating habits. Not sure why, but I simply feel more dedicated with a more focused goal that involves manipulating my diet towards some specific target that takes that manipulation to reach. With extended maintenance periods, I sometimes find other non-diet related goals take priority, and I can only manage so many priorities at any given time on necessarily limited effort and energy. Having a gain or loss goal seems to inspire me more to pay careful attention. Not true for all, surely.
For maintenance I really focus on my fitness and performance goals. Lifting for example...I eventually reached a plateau on some of my lifts...I had to figure out how to get beyond that...I had to take a look at my diet again and timing, etc. I switched some things up and ate a little more in general and BOOM...busted right through.
I'm also always trying to get faster on my bike...I did some rides last year and I'm going to do some actual races this year as well as some time trials to help me establish some more specific goals in that arena.
I agree with all of this. I was afraid at first too, but I weigh daily so I am assurred that I am "good". I can eat a whole lot more, and my goals have changed from being skinny to being strong. Now I have fun playing with my macros and trying to hit that goal every day!!0 -
I imagine it won't be as "forgiving". If you overeat while at a deficit, maybe you delay losing weight. If you overeat while on maintenance you could very well gain weight. That's what bugs me about the concept. Plus that I'd have to think about it forever...0
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I think part of what makes it more or less difficult is how different dieting is from what you were doing before and how different maintenance will be for you. I needed to lose 15 pounds that I put on over the course of about 8 years. I obviously was consuming more than I needed but not by a huge margin and my food choices were generally good - just went a bit heavy on alcohol. To lose all I really needed to do was to cut out my alcohol, and to maintain, add it back but just not as much as I was before. If I had a 4x a day giant fast food meals habit, what I would need to maintain is going to look a lot different from my prior habits and would be more difficult.0
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They are equally hard. Or actually, equally easy is a better way of describing it.
I didn't find losing weight to be that hard, and since I maintain the same as I lost (but with a few more calories), I don't find maintaining to be that hard.
My habits are pretty solid now. If I deviate, I pop up a little. Once I return, I settle back into my maintenance range.
My advice: Lose weight the way you want to live your life, but with a little calorie deficit. No crazy fads, no insane exercise.
Then, once it's time to maintain, there's nothing scary about it. Just eat a bit more. Done and done.0 -
What helps me is still being really happy that I am thin every single day. Every day I look at that scale and I'm still in a zone I consider a victory. My goal is to STAY then, not get thin. And I really do love to eat, so enjoy picking out my very favorite calories and savoring them and leaving mediocre food on my plate. It's been three years. My only regret is I didn't so this years ago.
I could have written exactly this.
I love being this weight. That's awesome motivation to stay this weight. I love good food. Food that isn't good is no longer worth it.
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amusedmonkey wrote: »I maintain periodically every now and then, but this may not apply since I'm still overweight and my maintenance is at around 1800 excluding exercise. I find maintenance to be much easier than dieting, that's why I take maintenance breaks for months every time I feel a little burned out.
What I do is just eat ad libitum, whenever I feel hungry, Keeping up with exercise. I don't count calories. I just made a habit of weighing myself every day, so I know my absolute highest mega bloat weight and my absolute lowest light weight (a 6 pound difference between the two for me). If I see myself going above my highest weight by the slightest tick of a scale, I'm back to dieting until I reach my lowest light weight and so on. Usually takes about a week of dieting to correct a slight increase, in extreme cases two weeks.
I found that to be easier for me, personally, because instead of thinking about maintenance and foodstuff at all times I get to just relax and forget all about it until it's time to correct a slip, basically losing, gaining and maintaining the same 6 pounds. It's mentally easier for me to have to diet down periodically than being extra vigilant not to gain the weight in the first place.
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Oh yes I lost three stone before it took ages then put it on practically overnight when I was Ill and I think you get complacent0
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It's been easier for me because I get to eat more. I still track my food through MFP. I don't think I'd be successful without tracking. Perhaps one day. I still run and lift. I also have goals I'm working towards which helps as well.0
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You sound determined go for it0
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It can feel harder, depending on how much slack you cut yourself. If 'maintenance' means keeping yourself precisely within 2 - 3 pounds of your goal weight at all times, for example, that could be very hard, due to the way weight tends to naturally fluctuate, and the way our eating and exercise habits morph throughout the seasons.0
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Yeah exactly0
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I think that how you approach your "loss" phase will impact how you find maintenance. Warning signs for a challenging maintenance?
1) your "loss" diet severely limited one macro or food type
2) you looked at dietary and activity changes as related to weight loss rather than just being healthy for life
3) You regularly had "cheat days" or "days off" from weight loss, as opposed to accepting fluctuations in intake/loss as normal aspects of healthy living
4) You couldn't wait to be "done" so you could "eat again."
Those 4 things are a recipe for yo yoing all over the place.0
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