Has anyone lost on one diet and maintained...

leanjogreen18
leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
edited November 13 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
on another?


I suspect that successful maintainers eat exactly how they ate when losing only a few 100 more calories. Am I correct?

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Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    My diet (as in food and drink choices) stayed virtually the same but my eating patterns changed.
    I did 5:2 fasting to lose weight, so the 5 days were already at maintenance.
    When losing weight I cut down some of the "fun" calories from things such as alcohol and snacks but never excluded anything.

    I regarded my overall diet as healthy and certainly enjoyable so didn't see the need to make radical changes, just a temporary calorie cut. No so called lifestyle change for me, just a period of dieting.

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    I have dieted down using typical "bro" foods (egg whites, chicken, rice, veg) with not much variation but maintain and bulk on anything using IIFYM principals.
  • DM01234
    DM01234 Posts: 317 Member
    The only diet I followed was the one where I ate what I wanted but less of it carefully tracking Cals In versus Cals out. During the process I learned a bunch about portion sizes, etc... which (so far) has accommodated a successful "maintenance" period for about 1 year after thus far.
  • marlysgirl
    marlysgirl Posts: 16 Member
    HGC to South Beach Diet
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    I'm not eating the same in maintenance. Since I have a lot more calories I have added fats I didn't eat daily and now I can eat more fruit.

    I've started walking daily for excersize so accounting for the excersize calories its a substantial addition.
    I'm enjoying eating more and feeling satisfied with the amounts.

    So far so good.

  • dbashby
    dbashby Posts: 44 Member
    You are correct for the most part people that maintain their weight loss generally eat the same foods that got them there with a little bit extra as allowed. This is why they say its lifestyle change not a diet. Most people who successfully lose weight in the first place have done so be eating the same foods repeatedly anyway. This lends itself to success because you know the calorie count in those foods and the desire to overeat the same foods over and over again is not as high as when you eat a variety of foods.
  • ibboykin
    ibboykin Posts: 97 Member
    For me personally I hate the word "diet". It's a lifestyle change. Of the plans that are out there, the one that puzzles me the most is these 30 day plans....so what do you do after 30 days?
  • marissafit06
    marissafit06 Posts: 1,996 Member
    Me! I tend to try all sorts of things when losing weight because I get bored easily. I ate almost no processed carbs, fast food and lowered my dessert intake. Now that I am maintaining it varies week by week. In general I eat what I want, but if my weight starts to creep up I go back to lower carbs and cut out fast food, snacks and dessert. I hate counting calories so it is easier for me that way.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    CI<CO to lose
    CI=CO to maintain
  • ibboykin
    ibboykin Posts: 97 Member
    For me personally, I don't do diets. I lead a very nutritional lifestyle. No, I'm not vegetarian. But I found this lifestyle to be one I can do long term. My dad did the same thing 39 years ago, lost 75 lbs. and has maintained that weight ever since.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
    January 1st 2016 starting weight 288 currant way 206. During my weight loss process I basically ate whatever I wanted it's just a matter of cico. Everybody has their own opinion on what you should eat but it's something that you should be comfortable with and incorporated into your everyday lifestyle. You don't want to go deprive yourself of anything because it's just going to lead you to failure. Once you start to maintain it's just a matter of learning and modifying your calories. During my weight-loss journey and now and maintenance I still eat pizza occasional Wendy's hamburger and have a beer on the beach
  • bfanny
    bfanny Posts: 440 Member
    If WW counts as a diet, I lost 45 lbs and I'm maintaining for 7 years :smile:
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    johunt615 wrote: »
    on another?


    I suspect that successful maintainers eat exactly how they ate when losing only a few 100 more calories. Am I correct?

    Sort of. I did alternate day IF for my weight loss phase (JUDDD). In a nutshell I rotated between very low calorie days (under 500c) and then maintenance level calorie days. Then as I came off of the weight loss phase I transitioned to 5:2IF (2 low days/5 maintenance days each week). And now 3 or 4 years into maintenance I do a different version of calorie cycling (which is really all JUDDD is)-I eat less calories during the week and then higher calories during the weekends. I also throw in a few days of 16:8IF each week too, which helps control calorie intake without me even having to think about it.

    Throughout all of it I've continued to eat the foods I like and I haven't cut anything out or made drastic changes to my food choices.
  • Shy_1114
    Shy_1114 Posts: 24 Member
    I lost the majority of my weight (the first 100 pounds or so) on Atkins. I lost the last 54 on just eating regular foods in moderation. I've kept the majority of the 154 off for about 8 years with fairly "normal" eating. I'm working on l losing 20 pounds of pregnancy weight right now, and I'm doing the moderation thing again. I was thinking about doing Atkins again, but I am breastfeeding and I'm not sure if being in ketosis is something that would mess with that.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Shy_1114 wrote: »
    I lost the majority of my weight (the first 100 pounds or so) on Atkins. I lost the last 54 on just eating regular foods in moderation. I've kept the majority of the 154 off for about 8 years with fairly "normal" eating. I'm working on l losing 20 pounds of pregnancy weight right now, and I'm doing the moderation thing again. I was thinking about doing Atkins again, but I am breastfeeding and I'm not sure if being in ketosis is something that would mess with that.

    Ok so this is what I was after in my OP. How was the transition from Atkins to just regular eating? Any weight gain? Was there a time lapse during transition
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    I lost my 63 pounds eating ~40c/30/30. I maintained about 2 years doing the same then switched to keto for a reason other than weight and have continued to maintain. I've kept the same level of calories and activity throughout maintenance changing only macros/what I eat.
  • canadjineh
    canadjineh Posts: 5,396 Member
    edited November 2016
    Lost with low carb/low fat/mod protein. Maintain with low carb/high fat/ mod protein.
    Oops, forgot maintenance with intermittent fasting.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    Lost over 100 lbs. via keto. Gained 27 lbs. vis keto. Lost 15 lbs. via psmf. Maintaining via LCHP for a couple of weeks before cutting again, then gonna give "bodybuilder" macros a try for theh bulk after that. I am not a carb fan, but I am willing to give it a try for a cycle to see if there's anything to the claims. If my gains end up being identical to (or less than) my CKD gains, I'm going back to that from now on.

    The cutting diet will pretty much always be the same though, because it works, it works fast, and I care about as much about "sustainability" in a diet as I do about stock portfolios in Libya.
  • khhregister
    khhregister Posts: 229 Member
    I lost 7 pounds on a juice fast a couple of years ago. That brought me down from 187 to 180. Since then, I've been hovering right around 180 (15 lbs overweight). I'm on a simple CI<CO diet, higher protein and lower carb than I used to eat. But it's been very slow going, mainly because I loose a couple of pounds and get complacent and undo all my good work with a week off from the gym and eating out too much (not measuring).
    So I've got a lot of good experience at maintenance in this style of eating, but not a lot of good experience at losing with this current diet.
    I need to work on consistency. I truly believe I can lose this way, but I have to cut out these fairly regular lapses.
  • jrwms714
    jrwms714 Posts: 421 Member
    Pretty much the same as when I was losing. Maintenance for 2.5 years now. I allow myself a treat almost every day but never think of it as a treat. And I am a little less compulsive about logging calories, although I do it daily. I just don't log extra things like tomato slices or a pickle, any more. I eat as I did when I lost ... because it's just how I ate then and how I eat now. I am all about healthy, so fats and red meat and white stuff (bread, potatoes, etc.) just aren't a part of my diet. You are right - most maintenance people pretty much eat the same as when they lost ... at least those who maintain 5 years +, I believe.
  • allie2girlz
    allie2girlz Posts: 42 Member
    lost weight using low carb high fat (moderate protein), have maintained for six months with same food just trying to eat a few more calories. I think I need to add a few more healthy whole carbs back to my diet (sweet potatoes, quinoa) so I don't have to worry so much about losing more weight. I currently eat about 25g carbs per day, thinking about trying 50g carbs per day and seeing how that works for me
  • Tweaking_Time
    Tweaking_Time Posts: 733 Member
    I lost 75 pounds in 18 months...

    Atkins...did this diet first. Lost 35 pounds fast. Missed pasta bad! Switched to:

    Weight watchers...did this diet 2nd. Lost 15 more pounds. Missed real food with fat in it bad. Switched to:

    Diet and Exercise...lost last 25 pounds doing this. Felt great. No diet other than counting calories and burning those babies off. Ate whatever I wanted. Drank what I wanted. Counted calories. Maintained weight now for 4 or 5 years.

    P.S. I drank beer and bourbon on all three plans...I just counted the calories.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I don't consider the way I eat to be a "diet", yes it's MY diet...it's just a way of eating. When I'm cutting I eat high volume veg, lean meat, protein bars, protein ice cream, coffee, flavor and dress with hot sauce. Honestly...not much. Now, my TDEE is low, so when I'm in maintaining I just throw some avocado and cheese back in my diet.

    Wow that sounds boring.
  • quietapathy
    quietapathy Posts: 15 Member
    When I maintained, I just didn't count calories. I was able to keep my weight within a few pounds, just never lost any. So when I decided to lose a little more weight, I started counting calories again. But I don't eat any differently, except for the period I went vegan. I just make sure to weigh myself regularly when maintaining and not counting calories so I can see if I'm putting on pounds, because sometimes I'm in denial when my pants start fitting a little tighter :)
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