In a Maintenance Funk (and fighting weight creep)

jrwms714

I don't know why it wouldn't be healthy, but, for me, that big a differences in range would be dangerous, and also hard to control to get back to my lowest weight. 123 is your lowest, and 135 your highest in the winter. That's a 12 lb. difference and could be hellish to get off. Winter is a source of craving for most of us ... I can only say that (and again, this is for me - we all have to figure out what works for us) I'd prefer to work on dealing with the winter cravings and ways to keep the weight in the lower range, and maybe up my exercise. But then I tend to gain 'way too easily, and have to be really careful. You know yourself and what you can/can't handle.

Springfield1970

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

vivmom2014 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

Maintenance just sucks!

/thread

lol. I haven't been in maintenance a long time, but I'm finding that I swing wildly between compliance and rebellion. Making myself log is like holding my feet to the fire - when, while losing, I was happy as a clam to log and see the nice green numbers at the end of the day. Now it's just a giant PIA and I have to force myself to care.

The upshot being I am up 5 lbs. since hitting goal. Not a tremendous amount but it needs to stop.

I have the unfortunate outlook that maintenance is just going to be losing and gaining the same 5 lbs...

I third the suckiness of maintenance lol.

I'm having an internal dialogue with myself right now because it really does seem that I (most of us?) do better during the weight loss phase vs maintenance. Now that I'm back at it I'm excited because I'm focusing on losing those few pounds of weight creep. My attitude towards myself and my weight has improved over the past few weeks seeing the scale change, clothes are fitting better etc.

So (just thinking out loud here), would it be a bad thing to be intentional about taking time off from maintenance? Like during the winter months ease off and eat as you please, up to a certain point (which is pre-determined and still doing weekly weigh-ins to monitor), and then after the designated time is up, go back into weight loss mode which carries you through the next few months?

I guess this could be considered yo-yo dieting, but if it was controlled and your higher weight was still at a healthy level (for example-spring/summer my window is 123lbs-125lbs and fall winter my weight window is 126lbs-135lbs, still solidly a healthy bmi).

Would this be detrimental towards health? So kind of like seasonal calorie cycling to stave off maintenance burn out?

Am I making any sense at all here

I usually take autumn winter off logging and have a higher weight window. With the weight training it ends up being a repair or bulking period which is fine by me.

January 1 is a good time to get back to logging and spring summer all the outdoor activity,training and lighter food keeps me lean.

Autumn/Winter is about boobs and butt. (129-132lb)
Spring summer is waist and legs. (126-129)

Small number changes but BIG difference.

ReaderGirl3

jrwms714 wrote: »

I don't know why it wouldn't be healthy, but, for me, that big a differences in range would be dangerous, and also hard to control to get back to my lowest weight. 123 is your lowest, and 135 your highest in the winter. That's a 12 lb. difference and could be hellish to get off. Winter is a source of craving for most of us ... I can only say that (and again, this is for me - we all have to figure out what works for us) I'd prefer to work on dealing with the winter cravings and ways to keep the weight in the lower range, and maybe up my exercise. But then I tend to gain 'way too easily, and have to be really careful. You know yourself and what you can/can't handle.

After this winter, the creep had me at around 133lbs. This was after a few months of not tracking (I think I quit around the holidays). After 2-3 weeks back at it I'm back down to 127lbs (some water weight loss at play I'm sure as well). I'm currently working on getting back down to 123lbs, but I'm eating at a deficit that works out to around .5lb now (changed it this week), so it will be a few weeks before I see 123lbs.

All of that to say, I don't know that it would be too difficult for me to get back into things in the spring? But, yeah definitely see how this could be a slippery slope situation. I may try it once and see how it goes?

vivmom2014

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

I third the suckiness of maintenance lol.

I'm having an internal dialogue with myself right now because it really does seem that I (most of us?) do better during the weight loss phase vs maintenance. Now that I'm back at it I'm excited because I'm focusing on losing those few pounds of weight creep. My attitude towards myself and my weight has improved over the past few weeks seeing the scale change, clothes are fitting better etc.

So (just thinking out loud here), would it be a bad thing to be intentional about taking time off from maintenance? Like during the winter months ease off and eat as you please, up to a certain point (which is pre-determined and still doing weekly weigh-ins to monitor), and then after the designated time is up, go back into weight loss mode which carries you through the next few months?

I guess this could be considered yo-yo dieting, but if it was controlled and your higher weight was still at a healthy level (for example-spring/summer my window is 123lbs-125lbs and fall winter my weight window is 126lbs-135lbs, still solidly a healthy bmi).

Would this be detrimental towards health? So kind of like seasonal calorie cycling to stave off maintenance burn out?

Am I making any sense at all here

I think I get it. And I agree. Because, for me, taking diet breaks is a must. I am too rebellious (like @rhtexasgal mentioned about that kid throwing a tantrum) and there are weeks where I am just going to eat all the chocolate, I DON'T CARE.

Then I do care. So far I have not swung beyond a 5 lb. difference, caring/not caring.

Here's a riddle: what's the difference between 'diet breaks' and 'yo-yoing?'

If taking breaks works - do it. If the poundage gain is too daunting, rein it back in. That's about all I've got, (not much, I know.) Btw, thanks for starting this thread!

ReaderGirl3

vivmom2014 wrote: »

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

I third the suckiness of maintenance lol.

I'm having an internal dialogue with myself right now because it really does seem that I (most of us?) do better during the weight loss phase vs maintenance. Now that I'm back at it I'm excited because I'm focusing on losing those few pounds of weight creep. My attitude towards myself and my weight has improved over the past few weeks seeing the scale change, clothes are fitting better etc.

So (just thinking out loud here), would it be a bad thing to be intentional about taking time off from maintenance? Like during the winter months ease off and eat as you please, up to a certain point (which is pre-determined and still doing weekly weigh-ins to monitor), and then after the designated time is up, go back into weight loss mode which carries you through the next few months?

I guess this could be considered yo-yo dieting, but if it was controlled and your higher weight was still at a healthy level (for example-spring/summer my window is 123lbs-125lbs and fall winter my weight window is 126lbs-135lbs, still solidly a healthy bmi).

Would this be detrimental towards health? So kind of like seasonal calorie cycling to stave off maintenance burn out?

Am I making any sense at all here

I think I get it. And I agree. Because, for me, taking diet breaks is a must. I am too rebellious (like @rhtexasgal mentioned about that kid throwing a tantrum) and there are weeks where I am just going to eat all the chocolate, I DON'T CARE.

Then I do care. So far I have not swung beyond a 5 lb. difference, caring/not caring.

Here's a riddle: what's the difference between 'diet breaks' and 'yo-yoing?'

If taking breaks works - do it. If the poundage gain is too daunting, rein it back in. That's about all I've got, (not much, I know.) Btw, thanks for starting this thread!

You got it exactly I need to think about it some more but it's an interesting idea!

And yeah, don't know what to call it, yo yo dieting sounds so negative lol

aylajane

Actually this was sort of my plan for a few months one year and it worked pretty well. Once I lose 5 more pounds I may try this again:

Every month, I spend 3 weeks at a deficit and 1 week at a surplus. Since my surpluses tend to be bigger than my deficit, I need to keep the weeks unbalanced to even the calories out Knowing that one week a month I can indulge in anything makes it easier to not eat everything now - I just "schedule" it for that week if I really want something. And honestly by the end of that week I feel pretty bloaty and sick of eating, so its easy and I am eager to get back into "loss" mode.

Doing it this way, the "creep" is never more than a few pounds and it is pretty much water weight since on average for the month I am eating my maintenance. No different really than people who eat a deficit during the week and surplus on weekends and average it for the week.

In fact, I may do something childish and make one of those charts with a calorie "bank" for the month (i.e. 1800 daily calories is maintenance X 30 days = 54000 calories for that month. Every few days color in how many I ate so the bank "fills" . Towards end of month if my bank is almost full I will have to cut back, but no matter what not go over for the month. Lol - it might be a fun visual for a month or two! ANd that would let me be less regimented about which days I can over eat and which to eat at deficit...

ReaderGirl3

aylajane wrote: »

Actually this was sort of my plan for a few months one year and it worked pretty well. Once I lose 5 more pounds I may try this again:

Every month, I spend 3 weeks at a deficit and 1 week at a surplus. Since my surpluses tend to be bigger than my deficit, I need to keep the weeks unbalanced to even the calories out Knowing that one week a month I can indulge in anything makes it easier to not eat everything now - I just "schedule" it for that week if I really want something. And honestly by the end of that week I feel pretty bloaty and sick of eating, so its easy and I am eager to get back into "loss" mode.

Doing it this way, the "creep" is never more than a few pounds and it is pretty much water weight since on average for the month I am eating my maintenance. No different really than people who eat a deficit during the week and surplus on weekends and average it for the week.

In fact, I may do something childish and make one of those charts with a calorie "bank" for the month (i.e. 1800 daily calories is maintenance X 30 days = 54000 calories for that month. Every few days color in how many I ate so the bank "fills" . Towards end of month if my bank is almost full I will have to cut back, but no matter what not go over for the month. Lol - it might be a fun visual for a month or two! ANd that would let me be less regimented about which days I can over eat and which to eat at deficit...

Interesting idea! I'm really thinking of doing something different for maintenance, whether it be a monthly thing or yearly thing. I know there's people who can maintain year after year doing the same routine but I just get bored, which leads to loss of focus.

Love the chart idea!

jrwms714

This is such a great thread! For me, taking a break, as I wrote before, would be 'way too dangerous. I am ludicrously disciplined and need to do everything just so. That's how I am comfortable. For six weeks now, I have been following my maintenance cals (1600 - 1800 )+ gym cals, and after a year and a half, my goal range (136-138) has creeped up to 137-139 and I am not comfortable with that being a range. I think it's a gain. At least that's how I see it. So I am going back to weight loss cals (1250 + gym cals) and putting my head back into weight loss mode and not maintenance until I get back to 136 for a week and then into a range. For me, I need to be very careful. I gain easily and I would allow myself to think an upper range is OK, and then all hell will break loose ... and soon I'd be back where I started. I totally respect those of you who can take a break ... it wouldn't work for me. I'm far too compulsive and such a rule-follower that it would make me crazy. But that's how I am,in general, and it works well for me. Maintenance has been a non-issue for me because of that so at least it's helpful that way!

scrittrice

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

vivmom2014 wrote: »

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

I third the suckiness of maintenance lol.

I'm having an internal dialogue with myself right now because it really does seem that I (most of us?) do better during the weight loss phase vs maintenance. Now that I'm back at it I'm excited because I'm focusing on losing those few pounds of weight creep. My attitude towards myself and my weight has improved over the past few weeks seeing the scale change, clothes are fitting better etc.

So (just thinking out loud here), would it be a bad thing to be intentional about taking time off from maintenance? Like during the winter months ease off and eat as you please, up to a certain point (which is pre-determined and still doing weekly weigh-ins to monitor), and then after the designated time is up, go back into weight loss mode which carries you through the next few months?

I guess this could be considered yo-yo dieting, but if it was controlled and your higher weight was still at a healthy level (for example-spring/summer my window is 123lbs-125lbs and fall winter my weight window is 126lbs-135lbs, still solidly a healthy bmi).

Would this be detrimental towards health? So kind of like seasonal calorie cycling to stave off maintenance burn out?

Am I making any sense at all here

I think I get it. And I agree. Because, for me, taking diet breaks is a must. I am too rebellious (like @rhtexasgal mentioned about that kid throwing a tantrum) and there are weeks where I am just going to eat all the chocolate, I DON'T CARE.

Then I do care. So far I have not swung beyond a 5 lb. difference, caring/not caring.

Here's a riddle: what's the difference between 'diet breaks' and 'yo-yoing?'

If taking breaks works - do it. If the poundage gain is too daunting, rein it back in. That's about all I've got, (not much, I know.) Btw, thanks for starting this thread!

You got it exactly I need to think about it some more but it's an interesting idea!

And yeah, don't know what to call it, yo yo dieting sounds so negative lol

Let's call it a bulk-and-cut cycle. That sounds scientific and productive!