Fear of Gaining

TimeforchangeEtd

Hello lovely people,
Lately I am really struggling with the fear of gaining weight back which is resulting in me constantly wanting to lower my calories or eat the same thing everyday. I know that is not the way to go but I am getting bored of the food that I KNOW will help maintain my weight. I still have more I would like to lose but I am hoping to maintain this weight for the next month before I begin seriously and actively working on losing more. Any advice or helpful motivational tips?
I am SO grateful for this safe space to ask questions! Thanks guys!

quiksylver296

Do you use a food scale and measure all your food in grams? Do you then log all of your food into MFP? As long as you do this, and stay at your daily calorie goal, you cannot gain fat. You can eat whatever food you want, as long as you stay within your calorie goals.

Your weight is a math equation.
If your Calories In are greater than your Calories Out, you gain.
If your Calories In are less than your Calories Out, you lose.
If your Calories In are equal to your Calories Out, you maintain.

ETA: I keep thinking of your "fear." Don't take this the wrong way, but it's very concerning to me. It makes me thinking of a very disordered relationship with food. Maybe that's me reading into it. But if it truly is that bad, please get professional help.

TimeforchangeEtd

I appreciate your concern but yah I must say you're reading into it. Thanks for your advice though.

Charis50

Hello, lovely you! My only suggestion is this: Trust yourself.

You have exactly the skills you need already. You know that reducing your calories too much will only sabotage you in the long run. You also know that eating the same foods day-in, day-out will bore you to death. Neither of these are required for you to be successful in maintaining your weight until you're ready to lose a bit more.

So add a little variety to your diet, keeping a reasonably close watch on your calories (and macros, if that's important to you). Weigh as you have normally done--not more often, not less. Make sure you're getting enough activity.

Of course your weight will fluctuate a little. We're human women, so that's normal. Set a range of fluctuation that you can live with (plus or minus 3 pounds of where you are today? 5 pounds?). If your weight goes above that, then *immediately* return to the strategies that helped you shed the pounds in the first place.

But really, let go of the worry. You've got this!