When you've lost weight with diet and exercise

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Losewtforlife4him
Losewtforlife4him Posts: 422 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So what happens when you've lost weight with diet and exercise...sometimes exercising 2 hrs a day...do you notice weight coming back? Getting flabby? I guess I'm worried because I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life right now and worried that what if I couldn't keep up this pace of exercising for life? Even if I continue to keep tracking which is my goal to do? I want to keep moving so it's not that I don't want to. I start to worry about the "what ifs"...what if I couldn't for health reasons...a life change...breaking a foot or arm...I had a brain tumor a few years ago and know how quickly life can change. I guess it's a little scary but then I have to remember that I got through that and could again no matter what. Does anyone else struggle with these thoughts or do you have experience with being able to keep the weight off being at maintenance or deficit and not always being able to exercise?

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  • Losewtforlife4him
    Losewtforlife4him Posts: 422 Member
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    That should say sometimes exercising 2 hrs a day...do you notice weight coming back? Getting flabby, when you've had to stop the exercise for whatever reasons or not being able to realistically keep it up to that amount...
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I wouldn't exercise 2 hours a day in order to lose weight. Find a lifetime activity or two--activities that you intend to keep up long term. Of course the unforeseen can happen (brain tumor, etc.) but in those situations you adjust your calorie intake so that you don't gain weight due to moving less. But, in general, begin as you mean to go on and you'll be fine.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited May 2016
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    I'm 56 so realise that there will come a day (hopefully not soon!) when I won't be able to exercise as much and as hard as I can and do now.

    So I will have to adapt my balance of diet, exercise and activity. But that's just the same process of adaptation as changing circumstances, jobs, lifestyle, sports, injuries, children, career, etc. etc.....

    I haven't got flabby since I've been maintaining, quite the opposite.
    Weight only comes back if you don't get your calorie balance right.
  • Losewtforlife4him
    Losewtforlife4him Posts: 422 Member
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    solieco1 wrote: »
    "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." - Corrie Ten Boom

    Live today the best you can. :)

    Thank you!! This is going up on my refrig! Love it and appreciate such great wisdom. Very true and I needed to read this. God bless!

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    That is why is important to get calories in check with diet. It is easier to eat less than to burn off excess calories. Two hours of exercise a day for the rest of your life just to burn calories? That does not sound like much fun, I would rather exercise because it is fun!
  • Losewtforlife4him
    Losewtforlife4him Posts: 422 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    I wouldn't exercise 2 hours a day in order to lose weight. Find a lifetime activity or two--activities that you intend to keep up long term. Of course the unforeseen can happen (brain tumor, etc.) but in those situations you adjust your calorie intake so that you don't gain weight due to moving less. But, in general, begin as you mean to go on and you'll be fine.

    I agree. That makes sense. This has to be for life. I guess I'm really enjoying moving and I've really done well with my recumbent bike with helping with weight loss because I can read while sitting on it lol! Sometimes an hour or more has gone by and I'm still reading! Then when I do strength training on top of it, that makes it longer. Some weeks are different though with my work schedule and just life.
  • Losewtforlife4him
    Losewtforlife4him Posts: 422 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    That is why is important to get calories in check with diet. It is easier to eat less than to burn off excess calories. Two hours of exercise a day for the rest of your life just to burn calories? That does not sound like much fun, I would rather exercise because it is fun!

    No, I don't mean that I exercise just to burn calories. It is fun! I worry most of all (trying not to worry!) that what if I couldn't move...it would be all diet. Would I feel hungrier and feel the need to dip into eating more calories if that were the case but exercising does help with burning the calories too. Does that make sense?

  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,710 Member
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    I fell into this trap several years ago. I was doing quite intense 60 - 90 min. cardio sessions on the treadmill and the elliptical 6 days per week. I really liked the way I felt afterwards, but two concerns kept getting louder and louder in my head: 1) Do I really want to spend this much time per day doing mindless cardio? 2) What happens if I get injured?

    I decided it was more important to my health and the quality of my life to learn to NOT rely on that amount of cardio. Instead I adjusted my diet and now warm up for 10 min. on the treadmill and lift for 30 or 40 min. and that's it. Much more enjoyable and sustainable for me.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    When I don't exercise I am not hungrier. I know what my calorie intake is to stay at maintenance and if I exercise I add the calories to my diary and eat those back.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
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    I'm there with you. I mountain bike 4 times a week for about an hour. As I like to push myself, I end up getting a really intense workout. I fear, as you do, that if I injure myself then I won't have the deficit, and without it, my weekly indulgences will have to be curbed. Going into maintenance and not going overboard on calorie splurges is my plan but I hope I won't need to implement it.
  • Losewtforlife4him
    Losewtforlife4him Posts: 422 Member
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    Thanks for understanding. I didn't know if anyone else ever feels this way. Nice to know I'm not alone :smile:

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