Did maintenance (reaching your goal) meet your expectations?

Fursian

Hi all,

I've a bit to go before reaching maintenance, but catch myself on occasion wondering how I'll feel once I get there, will it be what I thought it would be? Happy? Sad? Will it prompt new goals? I really can't know until I get there, I guess, but would be very interested in hearing about your personal experiences of when you finally *arrived* at your destination and your expectations/reactions if you had any.

zoeysasha37

Well for me once I reached my goal weight , I realized that weight on the scale was only a very small piece of the puzzle. Someone can be 110 lbs but look terrible, they could have loose hanging skin and look flabby. Then someone at 180 lbs could look great with a tight stomach and abs. So I realized that weight isn't as important as I thought .
I see many people on here that are only concerned with dropping weight , and they may be in for a rude awakening when they get to goal. So now instead of worrying about the scale, I focus on fitness. ( im 135lbs, 5'8 tall)

Larissa_NY

My maintenance is my normal weight. I only have weight loss goals when I deviate from it by more than a few pounds, so my expectation is that I'll be back to normal and my jeans won't feel annoyingly tight anymore.

20yearsyounger

Fursian wrote: »

Hi all,

I've a bit to go before reaching maintenance, but catch myself on occasion wondering how I'll feel once I get there, will it be what I thought it would be? Happy? Sad? Will it prompt new goals? I really can't know until I get there, I guess, but would be very interested in hearing about your personal experiences of when you finally *arrived* at your destination and your expectations/reactions if you had any.

Maintenance itself probably doesn't make you feel any happier but you will need some new goals as the weight loss incentive disappears. I am happier to exercise a little less and eat a little more

HIITMe

Maintenance was harder to keep up with than weight loss mode.

becky10rp

Maintenance is a lot of work - but - in my opinion - completely worth it! Shopping for clothes is now fun! I've been maintaining for around 2 years - logging everything and exercising 6 days a week is crucial for me. I've made some wonderful friends on MFP who are as serious about this as I am. No - reaching maintenance doesn't make your life perfect - but - for me- when I can start each day looking and feeling great - it certainly helps!

speeno

I never had an "ideal weight" in my mind, I had an image of how I wanted to look, as I got closer to that image I moved the goal posts slightly and could see where I wanted to improve, I'm happy how I look now, but still want to be better

airangel59

Awesome feeling (never thought I'd get there). Ended up dropping #15 more than my "goal" number and now working on firming & toning, but consider myself very lucky that I don't have a lot of excess saggy skin. I'm still weighing/measuring/logging, weighing in weekly & working out 7 days a week as I was when in losing mode.

HippySkoppy

Initially I was a bit lost when I hit maintenance.....been in weight loss mode for so long that it took a bit of introspection on what 'new' goals I now wanted.

Getting my head around the 'range' idea of maintenance was tricky for me too....after trawling through the post here it has helped me understand a lot and I am glad the anxiety that I had over daily weight fluctuations has gone....to now that it is perfectly normal and others were successfully maintaining using this 'range' concept was heartening.

Now the diet is familiar and no hassle, still weigh and log everyday and I think I will not drop this ever. This period has seen me focus more on strength and building flexibility also making the most of building up my wasted muscles lost due to illness and get my core to be as strong as possible to help with osteoporosis.

kpeterson539

HippySkoppy wrote: »

Initially I was a bit lost when I hit maintenance.....been in weight loss mode for so long that it took a bit of introspection on what 'new' goals I now wanted.

Getting my head around the 'range' idea of maintenance was tricky for me too....after trawling through the post here it has helped me understand a lot and I am glad the anxiety that I had over daily weight fluctuations has gone....to now that it is perfectly normal and others were successfully maintaining using this 'range' concept was heartening.

I couldn't agree more. I'm still in the introspection stage of the whole thing, even after 9 months of maintenance. I still have quite a bit to learn or to assess. It did, however, give me a bit of breathing space to focus on some other issues, like recomp and some other goals I want to achieve.

bsbprincess

thorsmom01 wrote: »

Well for me once I reached my goal weight , I realized that weight on the scale was only a very small piece of the puzzle. Someone can be 110 lbs but look terrible, they could have loose hanging skin and look flabby. Then someone at 180 lbs could look great with a tight stomach and abs. So I realized that weight isn't as important as I thought .
I see many people on here that are only concerned with dropping weight , and they may be in for a rude awakening when they get to goal. So now instead of worrying about the scale, I focus on fitness. ( im 135lbs, 5'8 tall)

I once got about 11 lbs from my now goal.. so I was at 161.... I felt fat still. Less, sure, but my stomach was still all squishy and hung down in like a fold (sorry, TMI... ew)

That really started teaching me this part. I never reached goal but I was so close and yet had so much work to do before I would have considered that I reached "goal" because I clearly had a lot of body fat left. Some will probably always be excess skin (had a tummy my whole life... I doubt it'll firm up this thought kills me)

I really think that this time (just starting back again) I need to focus more on measurements and my clothes sizes than the scale. Part of the reason I gave up was because the scale was stuck, but I bet I was still losing body fat % with the workouts I was doing.

spacepony

Here's my Cautionary Tale, if you will.

I started out this year at my highest weight in my adult life. After 5 months of logging and sweating, I reached my goal. I was ecstatic to say the least! But then I got a mean case of the "what now?"s. I'd never reached my goal weight my entire life. I literally didn't know what to do with myself. So, I kept going. Weight loss had become addicting, and I wasn't ready quit. Since I'd never been this thin/in shape before, I literally thought "There's no way my body gets smaller than this". I deduced from eons of reading weight loss articles that once you're body reaches too low of weight, it will start holding onto fat no matter what you do. That theory quickly debunked, as 3 months later I was cold all the time, feeling bones through my skin I'd never felt before, and getting extremely concerned looks from loved ones. My new skinny jeans were sagging, and yet still didn't feel "done" with it all. It didn't hit me that I definitely was indeed done until MFP told me that "If every day were like today"... I'd be dead by Christmas.

So I told MFP to put me on a slow, healthy gain track (I NEEDED TO GAIN WEIGHT!?! that will never stop blowing my mind). Now, after an extra boost of help from holiday goodies, I'm back up to my initial goal. So I guess you'd say the concept of maintaining is still brand new to me. I hope I can do it without going too far in either direction again. Balance is the key to everything in life, I know this now.

bsbprincess

Wow, spacepony, may I ask how much you lost in the 5 months?

middlehaitch

Mine was a 5 yr 30lb gain so all I did was return to the weight I had been most of my adult life.
However, along with my calorie counting I exercised, body weight, and cardio, and this gave me a much nicer body shape.

Exercising also meant I was fitter, this meant I could really enjoy all kinds of adventures on vacation in my 60's, that I wouldn't have had the strength or stamina to do in my 30's.

So to answer your question; reaching my goal weight was what I expected.
The extras I gained through exercise exceeded my expectations- I didn't have any.

Cheers, h.

sistrsprkl

thorsmom01 wrote: »

Well for me once I reached my goal weight , I realized that weight on the scale was only a very small piece of the puzzle. Someone can be 110 lbs but look terrible, they could have loose hanging skin and look flabby. Then someone at 180 lbs could look great with a tight stomach and abs. So I realized that weight isn't as important as I thought .
I see many people on here that are only concerned with dropping weight , and they may be in for a rude awakening when they get to goal. So now instead of worrying about the scale, I focus on fitness. ( im 135lbs, 5'8 tall)

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yesimpson

I was very happy to get to maintenance as it meant eating more! Although initially I grossly underestimated how much more; I continued to lose another half stone after reaching the point where I intended to stop, because I couldn't quite believe I could eat another 300-400 calories a day. It seemed to be more than anyone else was eating. I realise now this is fairly common after stopping eating at a deficit. It also took me a while to comprehend that my body has changed e.g. kept picking up size 12 tops to try on, and being surprised when they were too big.

I love being at maintenance. I try and keep in a range (between 120 and 124lbs). If my weight drops above or below, I eat more/less accordingly. I bank exercise calories sometimes for calorific events, and as I really enjoy exercise now I can eat a fair amount for someone of my size. This pretty much allows me to do what I want within reason, which is very freeing. I feel pretty confident in my own skin.

I think the best thing I did to prepare for maintenance was lose weight very slowly. I was lucky in that I had only 30lbs to lose (for vanity more than anything else) so could take my time. Think it took me 18 months, but that meant a small deficit, lots of wiggle room for less strict weeks, and plenty of time to figure out how to keep things working for me long-term.

crb426

Love this question. When I set my original goal, I did with the thought of "that's crazy, how can I ever get that low?". Then the weight starting coming off, and the goal seemed achievable. I got to my goal, then realized that I did feel great, but could probably lose some more. I am now 3 pounds below my original goal and I'm in a very comfortable phase of kind of maintaining, kind of losing. I would like to see what 7 more pounds lost will be like, but I'm not in a huge hurry to get there. I'm enjoying the extra calories of being close to maintenance but still losing about 1 pound a month.

Basically, it's lovely getting to your goal weight. And fun to see where you go from there.

Francl27

Haven't reached it yet but I was 2 pounds away at one point and it's just clear that I'll never look like the image I had in my head... First, my shape. I hate my shape. Rectangle, medium/large frame... Not a very defined waist and wide hips. Then my genetics that give me slim arms and legs and all fat on my hips/belly, so unless I go down to 16% body fat or something, my hips will always be the first thing that people notice when I wear a dress...

And the loose skin. The more I lose, the worst my belly looks. I don't think all the lifting in the world would fix that, and I hate lifting, and that was the third disappointment really... that if I wanted even a chance at looking the way I wanted, I'd have to do something I hate 3x a week for the rest of my life. But I guess my expectations were unrealistic considering that I had massive stretch marks and was overweight/obese all my life (and started MFP at 34).

So, I had to throw my expectations out of the window and just be happy to look good in clothes and be healthier.

Then #4 for me, being hungrier at maintenance so I can't even fit all the treats I was eating while I was losing in anymore. Definitely wasn't expecting that one. Probably due to the fact that I exercise more now.

So yeah... definitely not what I was expecting at all, but I REALLY don't want to go back to being bigger either.

Fursian

@thorsmom01, @Larissa_NY, @20yearsyounger, @HIITMe, @becky10rp, @speeno, @airangel59, @HippySkoppy, @kpeterson539, @bsbprincess, @spacepony, @middlehaitch, @sistrsprkl, @GuitarJerry, @yesimpson, @crb426, and @Francl27, many thanks to you all!

thorsmom01 wrote: »

Well for me once I reached my goal weight , I realized that weight on the scale was only a very small piece of the puzzle. Someone can be 110 lbs but look terrible, they could have loose hanging skin and look flabby. Then someone at 180 lbs could look great with a tight stomach and abs. So I realized that weight isn't as important as I thought .
I see many people on here that are only concerned with dropping weight , and they may be in for a rude awakening when they get to goal. So now instead of worrying about the scale, I focus on fitness. ( im 135lbs, 5'8 tall)

A small piece of the puzzle, indeed! The differences between two people of the same weight and height, thanks to exercise, can be striking. It sounds like you've found yourself on a good healthy path!

20yearsyounger wrote: »

Maintenance itself probably doesn't make you feel any happier but you will need some new goals as the weight loss incentive disappears. I am happier to exercise a little less and eat a little more

Prior to my "journey", I had underestimated just how incredibly powerful having a goal could be for mind, body, and soul. Previously being an aimless person, I now cherish that I've happened upon a goal, and it's health related, yay! Like all good adventures, It's sad when they end, so I hope to transition over to many more goals (healthy ones!) after to follow.

HIITMe wrote: »

Maintenance was harder to keep up with than weight loss mode.

I don't doubt this! I've been reading all I can in preparation. The interesting, yet saddening, thing I've found while reading is that there is not much emphasis put on maintenance and beyond, it's mostly on losing/gaining the weight. So, once many people achieve their goals, I imagine quite a few are a truly lost! The material regarding maintenance that can be found here on MFP is excellent, and will help many I'm sure!

becky10rp wrote: »

Maintenance is a lot of work - but - in my opinion - completely worth it! Shopping for clothes is now fun! I've been maintaining for around 2 years - logging everything and exercising 6 days a week is crucial for me. I've made some wonderful friends on MFP who are as serious about this as I am. No - reaching maintenance doesn't make your life perfect - but - for me- when I can start each day looking and feeling great - it certainly helps!

airangel59 wrote: »

Awesome feeling (never thought I'd get there). Ended up dropping #15 more than my "goal" number and now working on firming & toning, but consider myself very lucky that I don't have a lot of excess saggy skin. I'm still weighing/measuring/logging, weighing in weekly & working out 7 days a week as I was when in losing mode.

Lovely posts! So positive! I am looking forward to all of this! I personally love the structure that logging and exercise brings to my life, so I'd really like to continue long after I've reached maintenance.

@bsbprincess, glad to hear that you're getting back into it! Wishing you every bit of success!

spacepony wrote: »

Here's my Cautionary Tale, if you will.

I started out this year at my highest weight in my adult life. After 5 months of logging and sweating, I reached my goal. I was ecstatic to say the least! But then I got a mean case of the "what now?"s. I'd never reached my goal weight my entire life. I literally didn't know what to do with myself. So, I kept going. Weight loss had become addicting, and I wasn't ready quit. Since I'd never been this thin/in shape before, I literally thought "There's no way my body gets smaller than this". I deduced from eons of reading weight loss articles that once you're body reaches too low of weight, it will start holding onto fat no matter what you do. That theory quickly debunked, as 3 months later I was cold all the time, feeling bones through my skin I'd never felt before, and getting extremely concerned looks from loved ones. My new skinny jeans were sagging, and yet still didn't feel "done" with it all. It didn't hit me that I definitely was indeed done until MFP told me that "If every day were like today"... I'd be dead by Christmas.

So I told MFP to put me on a slow, healthy gain track (I NEEDED TO GAIN WEIGHT!?! that will never stop blowing my mind). Now, after an extra boost of help from holiday goodies, I'm back up to my initial goal. So I guess you'd say the concept of maintaining is still brand new to me. I hope I can do it without going too far in either direction again. Balance is the key to everything in life, I know this now.

These insights are invaluable, thank you for sharing! I'm relieved your story turned into a positive experience for you! It sounds like you're headed for brighter places!

@Francl27, thanks for sharing your experiences! I guess a big part of this, for all of us, is being realistic. I believe this is one of the keys to unlocking long lasting success.

Thanks again everyone, for all the great posts! Well done on all your progress thus far, and what you're all yet to achieve!

arditarose

Nope. I will probably never arrive at my destination. I never really knew what my goal was. The weight doesn't matter as much as physique and strength do. I've gotten as low as I could weight wise and tried a recomp. I've cut down to a pretty low body fat %, just to start gaining weight (and muscle) pretty much immediately. Now I'm fluffy and strong. Then I'll cut again to see what it's like with more muscle and low body fat %. This is definitely not a short term thing for me.

neldabg

This thread is so helpful. I am forever grateful that you maintainers share tips and experiences with the community.
I'm so nervous since with less than 10 lbs to go, I am to reach my goal before spring/summer, and I worry about getting a handle on how to stay within my range. Having been overweight my entire life, I never thought I'd see the day where I would conclude that weight loss is the easy part. Maintenance looks like a whole different ball game. I'm doing my best to plan ahead for the challenges just as I planned ahead for the challenges of weight loss. I have three plans so far, and I know it'll take hard work and trial-and-error to get into the rhythm of maintenance.
As someone preparing for maintenance, I can definitely say that I am happy to have gone through this journey. I do look different than I expected, but I am happy. I love being short and slender. I think key here is that I never really hated my image no matter what weight I was. I *was* frustrated that I never seemed to have any control over my eating habits, but I still loved myself when I had a BMI of 31. I don't compare myself with the latest look; I have my own body standards. My current body is one I worked hard for, and as such I am proud of it. My new goals involve less cardio and more strength training through yoga, pilates, bodyweight exercises, and *maybe* weights/resistance bands. Ultimately, I want a super flexible and strong body.

nxd10

No, it was much better and much easier than I expected. And I wanted and needed to exercise more.

reachingunder120

When I first started losing weight I thought when I got to around 120 I would look good/feel good. But then when I reached around 124 to 122 I realized I already looked great and felt great. So now my username is a joke and I'm maintaining. Maintaining is way nicer because I can eat more so I feel like freaked out that I'm gonna gain all the weight back if that makes sense. I guess maintaining has shown me that I can do it and reach my goals so now I've been feeling more at ease if that makes sense

Fursian

@arditarose, @neldabg, @nxd10, and @reachingunder120, many thanks for your posts!

@neldabg, It really is wonderful that there is so many tips and experiences shared here (MFP), I too am very grateful!

@nxd10, Really good to hear. I have a feeling that maintenance will be easier thanks to CICO.

@reachingunder120, That does make sense, yes! Yeah it could turn out that I'll get to a certain weight, like you, and want to maintain that without going any further.

CorvusCorax77

for me maintenance has been hard. I haven't figured out how to maintain a stable weight. I fluctuate under and over my goal weight.... but by a bit. My goal was 135, I went down to 123 and up to 148. Considering I started near 180 and considering I started strength training when I was at my lowest weight, 148 (which is where I am presently) might not be so horrible. But I feel like I will always have an somewhat unhealthy relationship with food and i'll either be over consuming, under consuming, or having to strictly keep track of and be mindful about my eating.

CorvusCorax77

for the record, I first hit my goal weight 5 years ago... and while I think 148 lbs is too heavy, I think it's fair to say that I am maintaining to some extent- I'm nowhere near what I was when I was pushing 180.

VeryKatie

CorvusCorax77 wrote: »

for me maintenance has been hard. I haven't figured out how to maintain a stable weight. I fluctuate under and over my goal weight.... but by a bit. My goal was 135, I went down to 123 and up to 148. Considering I started near 180 and considering I started strength training when I was at my lowest weight, 148 (which is where I am presently) might not be so horrible. But I feel like I will always have an somewhat unhealthy relationship with food and i'll either be over consuming, under consuming, or having to strictly keep track of and be mindful about my eating.

As I hover between 5 and 12 lbs above my goal weight, these are the same feelings I'm having. Technically haven't tried actually maintaining since I never hit my goal though... but still. I worry it will be effort all the time forever. I have to keep telling myself that if I do it for 10 years it SHOULD be habit by then!!!

dopeysmelly

I've found maintenance harder than losing, but more rewarding, after I got used to not having the "instant" reward of a lower number on the scale and a slightly lost feeling for a few months. My weight has drifted up beyond where I want it to be, and I'm working on losing that, but my health is something that I'll be working on forever, so I don't mind having to make corrections. I lost weight mainly because of health reasons, but losing a load of weight didn't actually improve my serum cholesterol as I expected, so I had to change how I ate again. Your weight isn't everything, and it can be tough getting your head around that. Our society is so focused on being the right weight for happiness and health, whereas it's so much more complex than that.

Having more calories is nice, I suppose, but I'm more interested in stuffing more activity into my day than more calories into my mouth.

And the best feeling ever?! Actually running, cycling, walking for hours, loving the feeling of moving my body, beating my daughter at running (she's 10), seeing real muscles in my arms when I work out and then being able to slip into a clingy, trendy dress to go out with DH.

PamOliva

Great question. I lost 35 lbs and look better than I expected. I got my 20-something body back. But I am 53 and that means losing weight took fat off my face and that was a great surprise and adjustment for me. I have lines that I've never had before. BUT, I am SO much happier and at peace that I would not change a thing.

As for maintenance, I've only been there 2 months but so far I find it easier than weight loss. I can eat a little more and exercise less and have not gained weight. But still early days for me.

_0o0o0o_

Basically: Yes. Reaching my goal did indeed meet my expectations physically. This doesn’t mean that my body is perfect now, though, because I never expected perfection, just a certain level of improvement.

Maintenance has been surprisingly OK, but emotionally it hasn’t been easy to switch from hyper-focus on my weight and eating towards a more holistic approach to improving my life. I think one needs to be hyper-focused on weight loss to lose successfully, but this is ultimately unsustainable. When I was in the weight loss bubble, I felt pretty successful about my life and like I could achieve things that I set my mind to. Once I started coming out of this and tackling issues in other areas I lost some of that confidence and sense of purpose. I tried making new body improvement goals to keep me on track, but I haven't been successful sticking to those. I've mostly been working on other parts of my life, but trying not to gain in the meantime.

In the end, weight loss is important and it will absolutely improve your life if you get into a normal weight range, but it won’t solve all your issues, and you may have to face the music: your weight is/was not to blame for everything you are/were unsatisfied about.