Harder to maintain than lose?? WTF

CycleGuy9000

Also, I looked at the last week of your Food Diary, and you are under-eating. That is going to catch up to you , and not in a good way. This site is designed with a calorie deficit figured into your Goal. Your Goal is just that. Eat that amount. Not 400 calories less than that amount on most days, like you have been doing. When you exercise enter the exercise here, and use those calories too.

You're right if you eat to few calories it's going to catch up to you, a week a ago I hit a plateau after weeks of losing 3-5 Lbs. per week which is why I started looking for a site like this and I'm so glad I did because now I can more easily record my exercise calories too. Back to calories though it's so important to at least eat the minimum because I started to eat less than my minimum and I thought that was ok because it would make me lose more weight but I stopped losing and even gained a pound back, then I learned that when I ate to few calories and was exercising a lot as well my body went into starvation mode so anything I ate it held onto for dear life. MFP put my minimum intake at 1400 but I did some research and that is to low for a man my height, weight and level of activity so I manually changed it, eat about the same calories every day ( around 1700 ), don't eat back my calories and the weight is coming right off again, I lost a whole pound yesterday!

CycleGuy9000

I wonder if that's just a phrase that goes around and people keep saying it....but WHY?

It's been making me think lately. (Note to self: Cut out all this over thinking crapola) Anyway...

I feel like maintenance is going to be just fine....I think exercise is probably super important at this stage but I don't think it will be harder.... I'm a lifetime logger that's for sure. And I really love working out so...

It seems like what I'm doing is sustainable and just for the record I don't eat clean, I eat healthy enough though. I had pizza last night. Yumm.

Any thoughts? Especially from people on maintenance?

I had the same exact attitude as you have as I was losing weight. Fast forward to now, as I've been in maintenance for around 5 months, and I've definitely been smacked upside the head by a reality check.

1. There's no more seeing lower numbers on the scale. No more compliments. No more buying smaller sized clothes. All of these are 'highs' you get while losing weight. Your big motivations to keep at it disappears. I didn't realize how important these were, until they disappeared.

2. Losing weight gives you a goal to work towards. I remember the morning I hit my goal weight and it was incredibly anti-climatic. I was like 'this is it?' The world did not stop to give me applause, I did not suddenly look like a model. My husband just grunted when I told him. I felt let down and a bit blue to be done losing-it had been such a big part of my life for 6 months and bam, done.

3. It's VERY easy to get lazy. You begin by telling yourself you can just 'eyeball' servings sizes. Portions begin to get bigger. Extra calories start to slip in. You start creeping up to the high end of your maintenance range, but figure that you've 'earned' the right to relax a bit. But....

There's a 95% statistical failure rate with long term weight loss success (keeping the weight off, within a small percentage, for more than five years). That number is staggering! And that's regardless of what diet plan you follow.
ONLY 5% OF US HERE will have long term success with the battle over our weight. That's very sobering to think about.

Weight loss is a fairly short period of time (usually less than two years for most of us). Maintenance is 20, 30, 40+ years. That's the hard part-finding the right mindset to get you through the rough spots you're going to run into over the course of many, many years.

A great book to read is Rethinking Thin, by Gina Kolata. It's about the history of the dieting industry and also looks at studies that have been done/are being done about obesity, dieting, weight loss and the reality of maintenance. It was a good wake up call for me, who though maintenance was going to be easy (and now that I'm in it, I totally get it now).

Very well said, good points.

Zaniejane

Years ago when I met my goal and should have been on maintenance, I stopped watching what I ate and gained the weight back. What made it hard for me was when I ate a family sized bag of potato chips a few days in a row and didn't gain. I thought "hey! I can eat all the junk I want and stay the same weight!! I lost the weight originally by my version of " clean eating" and wasn't really understanding the concept of calorie surplus .

This time I followed an IIFYM approach and I have been maintaining for about four months after reaching my goal weight. i wont be able to exercise much over the next three months, but im confident that i can maintain without exercise. I still track what I eat and notice when I go over.

Onlineasllou

This thread is coming at a good time for me. I have been struggling with related issues lately. A few weeks ago, I reached my preliminary goal and my weight-loss counselor encouraged me to "enjoy it more" -- buy new clothes, take pleasure in my accomplishment, etc. The plan was to lose another 20 pounds more slowly, over a period of 18 monhts. What happened? I went on vacation and gained almost 3 pounds in a week -- withOUT feeling as if I made a pig of myself. I thought I was just "eating normally" and enjoying myself. I have worked hard all week trying to lose some of it again ... but my weight has stayed the same. It's so discouraging ...

I've lost and regained before, but then I had other things to blame it on as I developed hypothyroidism and broke my ankle. But this time, there is no "extenuating circumstances" to blame the weight gain on.

It looks like I am going to have a hard time learning how to find maintain successfully.

BrunetteRunner87

Losing weight felt great, every pound lost was a victory that inspired me to lose more. Then I got where I wanted to and got lazy and started to gain. I knew I was gaining and would be good sometimes, but it was depressing to gain, so instead of being inspired by my loss it was the opposite - I was discouraged by my gain. So I gained half of it back.

LadyAsrai

I think maintenance is harder, because moderation is difficult for me. I end up either eating a relatively low amount of calories, or eating whatever the hell I want even when I'm not hungry. It's sort of difficult to just eat a constant amount. I can't just allow myself a bit more leeway, a few hundred more calories. Give an inch and I'll take a mile. I can have my control while losing mixed with the occasional cheat day, but then I can't eat my TDEE without going far under or over that number. Also, as people have said, when you're losing weight, you get to see the results, feel yourself becoming thin, clothes fitting better, people giving compliments-- all of that is rewarding. And then maintenance seems like you've reached your goal, but instead of relaxing, you have to keep working but without the results.

Lennonluv2

I honestly feel like I will be motivated to keep the weight off by the way I feel, and/or remembering how I was so heavy that it hurt to walk.

I can't wait to walk into a room full of people and not start counting the minutes when until it's time to leave.

I can't wait to like the way I look. I think I will be motivated when I go for yearly physicals and my blood pressure isn't high. It will be fabulous when I can hug my husband and my stomach doesn't get in the way.

Maybe it won't be as hard as it will just be different. I don't have any jump for joy moments on weigh in day, and I haven't received a single compliment from anyone except my husband.

I'm doing this because the alternative is pain. Knee pain, back pain, hip pain etc. and vanity as well. I'm a 5'8'' blue eyed strawberry blonde, I want to be hot again.

All the responses were really good. I'm grateful for MFP and for all you guys who are willing to share what you've been through.

SJVZEE

I honestly feel like I will be motivated to keep the weight off by the way I feel, and/or remembering how I was so heavy that it hurt to walk.

I can't wait to walk into a room full of people and not start counting the minutes when until it's time to leave.

I can't wait to like the way I look. I think I will be motivated when I go for yearly physicals and my blood pressure isn't high. It will be fabulous when I can hug my husband and my stomach doesn't get in the way.

Maybe it won't be as hard as it will just be different. I don't have any jump for joy moments on weigh in day, and I haven't received a single compliment from anyone except my husband.

I'm doing this because the alternative is pain. Knee pain, back pain, hip pain etc. and vanity as well. I'm a 5'8'' blue eyed strawberry blonde, I want to be hot again.

All the responses were really good. I'm grateful for MFP and for all you guys who are willing to share what you've been through.

Your on the right path, because you're actually thinking about maintenance ahead of time. So many people don't do this and end up not having a plan of action for what happens next. Going into maintenance with your eyes open, so to speak, is probably one of the best things you can do, to help your chances of long term success

Lennonluv2

I honestly feel like I will be motivated to keep the weight off by the way I feel, and/or remembering how I was so heavy that it hurt to walk.

I can't wait to walk into a room full of people and not start counting the minutes when until it's time to leave.

I can't wait to like the way I look. I think I will be motivated when I go for yearly physicals and my blood pressure isn't high. It will be fabulous when I can hug my husband and my stomach doesn't get in the way.

Maybe it won't be as hard as it will just be different. I don't have any jump for joy moments on weigh in day, and I haven't received a single compliment from anyone except my husband.

I'm doing this because the alternative is pain. Knee pain, back pain, hip pain etc. and vanity as well. I'm a 5'8'' blue eyed strawberry blonde, I want to be hot again.

All the responses were really good. I'm grateful for MFP and for all you guys who are willing to share what you've been through.

Your on the right path, because you're actually thinking about maintenance ahead of time. So many people don't do this and end up not having a plan of action for what happens next. Going into maintenance with your eyes open, so to speak, is probably one of the best things you can do, to help your chances of long term success

Thank you. I am only a third of the way there but I dream about it....what I will look like, how I will feel. lol

AuntieMC

bump

abuck_13

I don't think it is too difficult if you treat it the right way - don't become fixated on a single number. There are any number of things that can cause a fluctuation of a couple of pounds over a week. I currently have myself in a 5 pound window. As long as I do not go over the top end during the course of a week, I don't worry about it. I have had my weight "drop" three pounds from the day before without really doing anything, then jump back three the next day. In talking with a number of trainers, if you are in a maintaining mode, and staying within a five pound window over the course of time, you should be fine.