How to not be one of those "I lost X pounds but then I gained X of it back!"

livelifeinbliss

Aslong as you dont go back to your old eating habits, you shouldnt gain all the weight back. Eat the right foods and enjoy life!

shadowconn

I'll end up weighing myself once a week in maintenance. If I gain, I'll go back to what I am doing now for a few days and try and eliminate whatever it was I was doing that caused it.

SLLRunner

DrEnalg wrote: »

I see lots of those pop up around here. I'm a few pounds from what I previously said was my goal weight (really, I think I'm at goal at this point). I'm trying to seriously start thinking of what maintainence and recomposition will look like for me.

How do you *not* become a statistic, as they say?

Been there, done that, several times to be honest, and I'm not going back. Ever.

I have changed my relationship with food, have incorporated some tools into my dietary plan (weighing food, logging, paying attention) and have been maintaining for over a year and a half. This is the first time I've been at a healthy BMI/weight range, and the first time I've maintained for this long.

If you have lost weight in a slower and sustainable way, with the last of your weight lost at a half pound a week, maintenance may be easier because you will not have such a huge calorie jump.

ilovesweeties

Where does the 5% figure come from? I feel like continuing to use MFP in maintenance gives me a greater chance of keeping my weight the same than if I wasn't. What is the successful maintenance rate for MFP users?

I also cant help thinking we should stop worrying about "being in the 5%" and consider that we are increasing that 5% to 10, 20, 50... 100% successfully maintaining!

exact0ninja

I think the best thing to do would be to develop a routine and habits that are natural and that you don't think of when you do them. Like, "Oh man. I have to eat these three veggies for lunch for my diet." Instead, best case scenario is that you would automatically go for those veggies because you really like them. Same goes for exercise. I think it is important for people to create a diet and plan that they love from the beginning so that when they reach their weight, it won't be hard to keep their habits and they can easily indulge every now and then without feeling guilty.

caroldavison332

My tastes have changed in the 40 days since I changed to eating to live. ONE Lindt choclate ball tastes outstadingly yummy. The second, not so much. So I only eat one ball (75 calories) instead of a whole bar (300 calories). I've adapted to my vegan salads at work (I like the vinegar sour) and prefer it to chef salad elsewhere. I prefer to eat my burger from my hand so its caramelization hits my taste buds directly instead of being buffered by a hamburger bun. As a diabetic I know that I can't afford to drink calories (that is sugar water) so its nothing but water and coffee with creamer for me. It's working great-I've lost 14.5 pounds.

Alidecker

I was almost at Maintenance, then I became one of the 95% we are discussing and now working it back off. I know exactly when I started gaining the weight back. When I got close to my goal, I decide to do a triathlon. I kept up with my weight lifting and gym workouts, but added in more swimming, biking and walking/running in the mornings to train. I could eat a lot more then and keep the weight off....the triathlon was over and I kept eating. Then somewhere along the line I stopped weighing myself regularly and here I am. Luckily I didn't regain the 130# I lost, only the 30. Luckily I kept up with the fitness part of changing up my life. This time I will keep up with the better eating part.

allaboutthecake

For me it was being proactive in my own health. I knew my body better than the docs. So when things didn't add up, I kept pushing for more tests. Turned out the dr. experts were wrong and I was right. So if you have a sense that something is not quite right with yourself, don't sit around and wonder what's up....get yourself checked out and keep pushing for answers if what they tell you doesn't fit your symptoms. Gaining weight can be a symptom.

halofan4life

Hey! I'm one of those guys. Lost 150. Put 55 back on over 3+ years. I had to adjust to life with a kid and stopped logging. Don't stop logging and using MFP. I intend to use a tool like this for the rest of my life.